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Athena's Reading List 2014


Athena

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Scott Meyer - Magic 2.0 2: Spell or High Water

 

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Genre: Fantasy, Science-fiction

Age-range: Adult

Format: Paperback

Pages: 431

Synopsis: (no synopsis because the book is part of a series)

 

My thoughts: After reading book one in this series I wanted to immediately read book two (both of them birthday presents from my boyfriend).

 

The story continues just after book one. A lot of the characters we met in book one, make another appearance here. But there are also a lot of new characters. I really liked the new characters, certain ones in particular. Some new concepts and elements are also introduced. It's hard to talk about it exactly without spoiling some things (don't worry, I won't!). Some things are really cool, some things are mindboggling (but in a nice way).

 

There are plenty of unexpected plot twists to be found. The book has an ending and I really appreciated this. I found out this morning there is going to be a book three (yay! :exc:), and towards the end of book two I was worried it might not end but it did have a good conclusion.

 

In the beginning the book tells you bits of what happened in book one, you could read this one on its own but you would spoil parts of book one for yourself.

 

Overall I really enjoyed reading this book and I can't wait for book three (I've preordered it, something which I don't often do). If you liked book one, you'll like book two. The same things I said about book one, apply here, I still really liked the writing style, there were references, there was plenty of humour and there were great characters and cool spells and mechanics. It's a great blend of fantasy (magic and such) and science-fiction (technology).

 

Rating: ***** (10/10)

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I received a birthday gift from Devi :exc: :exc: :

 

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They are:

 

Catherynne M. Valente - The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairland in a Ship of her Own Making 1: The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairland in a Ship of her Own Making

Philip K. Dick - A Scanner Darkly

Philip K. Dick - Ubik

 

Thank you so much, Devi! :friends0: :friends0:

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Do you love those covers? I thought they were awesome when I saw them. :)

 

You are most welcome Gaia. Sorry they didn't turn up on time for your birthday.

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Do you love those covers? I thought they were awesome when I saw them. :)

 

You are most welcome Gaia. Sorry they didn't turn up on time for your birthday.

They are very beautiful!! I love them :).

 

That's okay, I'm happy to have got them in the end :friends0:.

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Barbara Taylor Bradford - Hidden (QuickReads)

 

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Genre: Contemporary Fiction

Age-range: Adult

Format: Paperback

Pages: 136

Date read: 07-11-2014

Synopsis (GoodReads):On the surface, Claire Saunders has it all. She has a rewarding career in fashion and a talented concert pianist daughter. Her loving husband is one of the country’s most trusted diplomats.

 

She thinks she’s hidden her secret from her best friends, but they know her too well.

 

Can her friends get her out of harm’s way and protect her from a man who is as ruthless as he is charming and powerful? And along the way, can Claire learn to stop protecting the wrong people?

 

My thoughts: It was another read-a-thon, so I read another QuickReads book (three remained). I picked this one, because I have a few novels by this author on my TBR and was curious to see what her books would be like.

 

This story immediately drew me in. It's pretty suspenseful throughout. I guessed a few of the plot twists but quite some were unexpected and pretty good. The characters were really interesting and I thought the book was well written. It reads easily (it's part of the QuickReads series, so that was one of the aims). As with most short books, I wish it was longer. It was really well done within the 136 pages with big font, but I felt it could also have been a longer novel with some more added detail on for example side characters (this is not a criticism though, just something I noticed).

 

Overall I really enjoyed reading this book, it's an entertaining novella that deals with the subject of domestic abuse very well within the pages.

 

Rating: ***** (9/10)

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Ann M. Martin - The BabySitter's Club 19: Claudia and the Bad Joke (re-read)

 

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Genre: Chick-lit

Age-range: Children's, Young-Adult

Format: Paperback

Pages: 132

Date read: 08-11-2014

Synopsis: (no synopsis because it's part of a series)

 

My thoughts: Book 19 was the next BSC book I owned in English, to read (for the read-a-thon). I've read it many times before in Dutch.

 

This was a really nice story and it was great to read it again. There is a wise lesson to be found in it, which is nice for children and young teenagers. I did feel bad for Claudia in this book though as she has some bad luck in it. But overall I really enjoyed reading this book, the BabySitter's Club series never fails to cheer me up and give me nostalgic feelings.

 

Rating: ***** (10/10)

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A. C. Baantjer and Simon de Waal - De Waal & Baantjer 5: Een Rat in de Val

 

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Genre: Detective

Age-range: Adult

Format: Paperback

Pages: 186

Date read: 08-11-2014

Synopsis (me):A car is found in the water, but when it is pulled up, it turns out there is a dead body behind the wheel.

 

My thoughts: I recently managed to find book 5 in this series at the book fair (and book 9). I was at the time missing books 1, 5 and 9 so I was very pleased to have found these two. Since I already read books 6 and 7, I thought it'd be nice to go back to read book 5 before continuing on with books 8, 9 and 10. I normally read a Baantjer book during the read-a-thon so this time was no exception.

 

This book was pretty suspenseful and there were many unexpected plot twists. It's a good story and I really liked the writing style. It was great to read about the criminal investigation department of Amsterdam and about the various streets of Amsterdam and such. I think that's one of the things that these books (and also the Baantjer / De Cock series) do really well, is the portrayal of Amsterdam and how its police works.

 

Overall then I really enjoyed reading this book. I realise they probably haven't been translated into English (I mean, only some of the Baanter / De Cock series have I think, according to GoodReads, and that one is more famous) but at least I have this review for my own keepsake (if that's the expression?).

 

Rating: ***** (9/10)

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Loes den Hollander - Nooit Alleen

 

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Genre: Literature, Thriller

Age-range: Adult

Format: Paperback

Pages: 95

Date read: 08-11-2014

Synopsis (me):Aline thinks she has a good life, but then her neighbour tells her that Aline's husband is lying to Aline.

 

My thoughts: I bought this book about a month ago in the charity shop. I have various novels by the author on my TBR, but for the read-a-thon I like to read shorter books so I decided to read this novella and see what this author's writing style is like.

 

This is a very interesting story about a woman, her husband and her neighbour. Her neighbour tells Aline that she thinks Aline's husband is cheating on her. The story is told from three different points of view, though Aline's chapters are longer than the other two POVs. I thought this was an interesting way of telling this story. It's a literary thriller (as it says on the front), which means that it's suspenseful but also psychological, there's depth behind the characters and their thoughts and motivations (like in literary fiction). I thought the writing style was really good. At times the book was a little bit scary because of what happens (but this is probably a good thing in a thriller!). There are quite a few unexpected plot twists in this story.

 

Overall I really enjoyed reading this book, and I look forward to read the authors longer novels I have on my TBR. I also have two short story collections by her on my TBR, so hopefully those will be good too.

 

Rating: ***** (9/10)

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Norma Fox Mazer - Missing Pieces

 

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Genre: Contemporary Fiction

Age-range: Young-Adult

Format: Paperback

Pages: 149

Date read: 08-11-2014 <-> 09-11-2014

Synopsis (back of the book):Jessie Wells doesn't know her father. He left one day, saying he'd be back in a few hours. But he never came back.

Curious about her father, she decides to do some investigating. But she may not be prepared for what she discovers...

 

My thoughts: I read one book by this author before and really liked that one. I like to read short books for the read-a-thon so I picked this one. I have one other (short) book by the author on my TBR but somehow the synopsis to this one sounded slightly more appealing or such.

 

This is a story about a teenage girl who tries to find out more about her father. She lives with her mother and greataunt. Other characters include her friends. I thought the characters in this book were pretty good, and quite interesting to read about. I liked the writing style.

 

I didn't enjoy this book as much as I did the other book I read by the author, called Girlhearts (which GoodReads says is part two in a series but I didn't notice this when I read it). Girlhearts however was one of the first few contemporary Young-Adult English books I read quite a few years ago, so it's possible that my memories of it are more positive. I'll have to re-read it to find out.

 

I had one main problem with this book and that was the ending. It was unsatisfying and abrupt. It's a bit of an open ending. I would've liked to know what happens beyond the ending. If the book had had a better ending, I would've given it a higher rating.

 

Overall then I enjoyed reading this book, I just wish it had a better, less abrupt ending. But I liked the story a lot up to that point. If I had to recommend a book from this author I'd have to recommend Girlhearts as at least at the time of reading it I really liked that one.

 

Rating: **** (8/10)

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Neil Gaiman - Coraline (Dutch translation)

 

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Genre: Fantasy

Age-range: Children's

Format: Hardback (ex library copy)

Pages: 173

Date read: 09-11-2014

Synopsis (GoodReads):When Coraline steps through a door to find another house strangely similar to her own (only better), things seem marvelous.

 

But there's another mother there, and another father, and they want her to stay and be their little girl. They want to change her and never let her go.

 

Coraline will have to fight with all her wit and courage if she is to save herself and return to her ordinary life.

 

My thoughts: I had seen the film of Coraline several times and really liked that. I also read The Ocean at the End of the Lane (by the same author) in the summer and really liked it. When I saw Coraline, albeit the Dutch translation, in the library sale, I couldn't pass up that chance. I like to read short books for the read-a-thon and I was quite curious what the book would be like, so I decided to read it.

 

First off, this book has some illustrations that are quite pretty. The book is pretty suspenseful and there were some scary, creepy bits! I remembered bits of the film as I read the book and looking back to it I think the film did a great job of portraying the book, with a one difference near the end of the story. The story of the book was really enjoyable to read and I really liked the writing style. The author has a lot of imagination to think the story up. I want to watch the film again now that I've read the book.

 

Overall I really enjoyed reading this book. The author has a lot of imagination and even though I knew bits of what was going to happen due to seeing the film, I really enjoyed reading the story. I definitely recommend if it sounds like your kind of book.

 

Rating: ***** (10/10)

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George Asakura - A Perfect Day for Love Letters 1: Volume 1

 

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Genre: Chick-lit

Age-range: Young-Adult

Format: Paperback

Pages: 192

Date read: 09-11-2014

Synopsis (GoodReads):Five letters, five chances of love...

 

• When a librarian receives a love letter hidden in one of her books, she finds a very unlikely reading partner.

• The meanest boy at school sends a letter that falls into the wrong hands, compelling him to reveal a side of himself that no one ever expected.

• A mistreated young girl finds hope in a friend, and the strength to leave her troubled past behind.

• There’s a single love letter–and its author could be any one of a number of boys. Now the search is on to discover the tender wordsmith’s identity.

• When a mailman befriends a blind woman who recently lost her companion, he tries to heal her loneliness through love letters.

 

My thoughts: I try to read a manga book for the read-a-thon, this time I picked this one, because while it is part of a series all five short stories stand on their own and have an ending.

 

Below follow some general thoughts, along with little bits about each story individually. I thought all the love letters in this book sounded very sweet, they were really nice to read. As usually with manga, sometimes I find it hard to recognise which character is who or who says what. The artstyle was interesting and different, while it's not the prettiest style ever (in my view) it was nice to look at.

 

Letter 1: Love Letters in the Library

This was a short and sweet story about a girl who works at the library and who gets a love letter. Plus, it features books, which is always a plus in a story.

Rating: (****) (8/10)

 

To the One Who Doesn't Know Me

This was a nice story about a boy who seems a bit scary (with his funky hair and tattoos), but who sends a love letter to someone. I thought it was a nice story but would've liked more detail on the characters.

Rating: (****) (8/10)

 

Flowers Blooming in the Snow

This story is about a boy and a girl. I was a bit confused what happened in one scene. It was a nice story but I would've liked more depth in regards to the character. A big issue is touched on but not fully explored. It was an enjoyable story to read but not one of my favourites of this collection.

Rating: (****) (7/10)

 

Love Letter Panic

This is about a girl who gets a love letter, but she doesn't know who sends it, so she tries to find out. I got a bit confused with the names of the characters in this one. I wasn't sure which name belonged to which face / which character. I thought the story was a bit confusing and a bit predictable.

Rating: (***) (6/10)

 

The Mailman's Love

This was a sweet story about a mailman and a blind girl. It was quite sweet.

Rating: (****) (8/10)

 

Overall then I enjoyed reading this book but preferred some stories over others. The artstyle was different but sometimes I was a bit confused.

 

Overall Rating: **** (7/10)

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Disney - Donald Duck Pocket 199: Bezoek Uit De Ruimte

 

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Genre: Comic

Age-range: Children's

Format: Paperback

Pages: 254

Date read: 09-11-2014

Synopsis (me): Stories of Donald Duck and other characters.

 

My thoughts: I recently bought this and another Donald Duck pocket when they had a deal on in the supermarket. I thought, since it's the read-a-thon, it might be nice to read one of the two of them. I picked this one because the other one is number 202, though the stories inside all stand on their own (except for the last page which is a teaser for the next one, 200) in these pockets.

 

I used to read a lot of Donald Duck pockets and Donald Duck magazines when I was a child and young teenager. I had a subscription to the magazine for quite a few years and I kept them all. Anyway, reading this pocket with new (to me) stories was very enjoyable and nostalgic. What was also nice, was that some of the stories featured some more current technology, which was not the case for the stories I read back when I was a child for obvious reasons (though they did feature technology of that time).

 

Here's a list of the stories in the book and my rating:

 

Oom Dagobert - Bezoek Uit De Ruimte

I really enjoyed this story, about Scrooge McDuck (in English), or Oom Dagobert in Dutch, who goes on an adventure with the nephews. The science-fiction element was very good, I really enjoyed this story.

Rating: (*****) (10/10)

 

Mickey Mouse en de Klauw van McCrom

This is a story about Mickey Mouse and Goofy who travel to Scotland. It involves different legends and was entertaining to read.

Rating: (*****) (9/10)

 

Superdonald en de Verraderlijke Rivaal

This is a story about Superdonald and a rival superhero. I hadn't heard of Superdonald before so this was a really great story to read.

Rating: (*****) (10/10)

 

Donald Duck en de Raadselachtige Reünie

This is a story of Donald Duck, Katrien and a reunion they go to. It was very enjoyable to read.

Rating: (*****) (10/10)

 

Commissaris O'Hara en de Moeizame Vakantie

This was a short story about the police commissioner who has to take a holiday. It was short and funny.

Rating: (****) (8/10)

 

Dubbelduck - Contra Agent Zero

This was a suspenseful story about Dubbelduck, again a concept I hadn't read about before. I really liked this story, it kept surprising me with plot twists.

Rating: (*****) (10/10)

 

Donald Duck en de Vreedzame Huizenruil

This is a story of Donald Duck who wants to go on a holiday and decides to trade houses with a family whose house is near the beach. It was pretty nice and I enjoyed the drawings of their home.

Rating: (*****) (9/10)

 

Overall I really enjoyed reading this book. Most of the stories were really good and very enjoyable to read.

 

Overall Rating: ***** (9/10)

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Dee Shulman - Mijn Supergeheime Dagboek 2: Reality-tv: een Nachtmerrie! (Polly Price's Totally Secret Diary: Reality TV Nightmare )

 

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Genre: Contemporary Fiction

Age-range: Children's

Format: Hardback

Pages: 128

Date read: 09-11-2014

Synopsis: (no synopsis because it's part of a series)

 

My thoughts: I bought this short illustrated children's book at the book fair in September and thought it'd make a good read-a-thon read.

 

This story is about Polly who lives with her mum. Her mum is an actress and when she is asked to be a star in an episode of reality tv she decides to do it. Polly doesn't like this at all, the cameras at her house, because the whole school will see her crazy mum. Her mum has a personal spiritual coach who is also an important character in the story, called Vanille. She kind of moves in with them to prepare Polly's mother for the TV recordings, in a spiritual sense.

 

This book had great illustrations, I really enjoyed these. The story is told through text that Polly writes down in her diary as well as these illustrations. The story is pretty funny. It takes place in the UK (England) but I wouldn't have known this except for the one mention of the name. There is a brief mention of a John Boyne book, which I thought was quite nice since I have it on my TBR. The story is very entertaining and the illustrations are great. The characters were really good and interesting and made for some funny moments.

 

Overall I really enjoyed reading this book, even though its target audience are children. I thought it was really well written and the illustrations are very pretty.

 

Rating: ***** (10/10)

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Simon Sukkel and Jim Smith - Ik Ben (G)Een Sukkel 1: Ik Ben (G)Een Sukkel (Barry Loser and Jim Smith - I am (NOT) a Loser 1: I am (NOT) a Loser)

 

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Genre: Contemporary Fiction

Age-range: Children's

Format: Paperback

Pages: 239

Date read: 09-11-2014

Synopsis (GoodReads, for the English version):I've never minded that my name's Barry Loser because my coolness has always cancelled it out, but ever since Darren Darrenofski joined school with his horrible little crocodile face he's been completely ruining my life about it."

 

Follow Barry as he tries throw off his loserness, take revenge on the terrible Fronkle-burping Darren Darrenofski and finally become a winner.

 

My thoughts: I saw this book at the book fair in October and was immediately attracted to the cover (it should be pointed out, the blue in the image does not at all match the blue of my actual cover. The blue of my actual cover is much more medium blue and not cyan-ish). I didn't pick it up at first but then saw the third book in the series (which I thought might be the second book) as well so then I went back to get both. I thought they would make good reads for the read-a-thon, since they're relatively short and have illustrations in them. The book has various chapters.

 

This was a great story for children. The illustrations are very pretty, first off. It should be pointed out that the people don't look exactly like humans, for example they have very big noses, which makes for some comical elements. The character names were really good and I think well translated. For example, Simon Sukkel is actually called Barry Loser in the original English version. But I really enjoyed the Dutch names of the characters, each name saying something about the character. The characters themselves were pretty good too, they were all distinctive and interesting. The story reads easily and it was really enjoyable to read about Simon's adventures in trying to become less of a loser and more cool (or 'kiel' as they say in the Dutch version, vs. 'keel' in the English version). Ratjoch, or Ratboy in English, is a tv show Simon's a fan of, which I thought was well thought up as well. There's also a made-up fizzy drink that has a role in the story. The author of this book has a lot of imagination and the drawings are great.

 

Overall I really enjoyed reading this book and am glad I picked it up and read it. The drawings are very pretty and it's a very enjoyable story of Simon's life.

 

Rating: ***** (10/10)

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Barry Loser and Jim Smith - I am (NOT) a Loser: My Mum is a Loser

 

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Genre: Contemporary Fiction

Age-range: Children's

Format: Kindle

Pages: 17?

Date read: 09-11-2014

Synopsis:Look! Another keel short story by me, Barry Loser, the best book-writer in the whole wide world amen! This one is about my mum and her tea towel. And there's also a bit about a giant robot octopus.

 

My thoughts: It was getting pretty late on Sunday evening, so I decided to instead of starting the third book in the series, I'd read the two short stories first. This story and My Dad is a Loser (see next review) are free short stories for the Kindle. They are meant as teasers for people to get interested in the bigger books, for them to get a feel of the story. They are both stories of their own.

 

I had to get used to the English names instead of the Dutch ones, since I read the first book in this series in Dutch, but because it was a short story there weren't that many characters or names. This was enjoyable to read but it was short, I'm guessing maybe 15-20 pages. I did feel that in the Kindle version the illustrations looked a bit small, the formatting wasn't optimal. The illustrations could've been bigger on the screen and then less white space around them etc. Overall though this free short story was enjoyable to read but it wasn't as good as the full length first book. For anyone who wants a free standalone taster of the world though, it works.

 

Rating: **** (8/10)

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Barry Loser and Jim Smith - I am (NOT) a Loser: My Dad is a Loser

 

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Genre: Contemporary Fiction

Age-range: Children's

Format: Kindle

Pages: 17?

Date read: 09-11-2014

Synopsis (GoodReads):For all non-loserish dads and their sons. Read this little book to find out why I, Barry Loser, am definitely not at all loserish, even though my dad definitely is.

 

My thoughts: Because it was getting late on Sunday evening, I decided to read the two free short stories of this series first before starting the third book. They are meant as teasers for the full novels but are standalone short stories.

 

The first book didn't show much of Barry's dad (or Simon, in Dutch). It was nice to see more of him in this story. It has about the same length as My Mum is a Loser, the other free short story. I enjoyed reading it and think it works as a teaser, but it wasn't as good as the full length book. Overall though it's good for a teaser and I'm pretty sure children would enjoy this a lot.

 

Rating: **** (8/10)

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Simon Sukkel and Jim Smith - Ik Ben (G)Een Sukkel 3: Ik Ben (G)Een Sukkel Meer

 

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Genre: Contemporary Fiction

Age-range: Children's

Format: Paperback

Pages: 239

Date read: 09-11-2014 <-> 10-11-2014

Synopsis (GoodReads):"My mum’s embarrassing enough just being my mum, but now she’s won The Voice of Feeko’s competition it’s even worse."

 

Barry’s mum has become a bit of celebrity, and now he can’t go anywhere without seeing a poster of her eating a chocolate digestive or wiggling her bum in a pair of jeans. It’s so annoy-embarrassing, and everyone at school is making fun of him.

 

But you can’t keep Barry down for long . . . With the help of his napkin collection, new girl Nancy Verkenwerken and a snail called Snailypoos, Barry is determined to prove once and for all that he is not a loser.

 

My thoughts: After finishing the first book in this series and the two short teaser stories there was still a little bit of time before bedtime so I decided to start the third book in this series. I didn't finish it on Sunday, but instead read the rest of it this morning.

 

This was another great full length book. Yes, I missed a few things that happened in book two, but gladly they were briefly explained throughout the story (in a noninvasive way). The same things that hold for the first book, also hold for this book. The illustrations are quite pretty and the book is funny. Simon's mum becomes the look of the local supermarket and now people are teasing him with it. This book holds more adventures of Simon and how he deals with this. I really enjoyed reading this book and think children would enjoy it too. There are some new characters in this book, some of which I think might've been introduced in the second book. I quite liked these new characters.

 

Overall I really enjoyed reading this book, it was quite funny, the writing style is very nice and the illustrations are very good.

 

Rating: ***** (10/10)

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I'm sorry Gaia, I somehow completely missed your Birthday! Happy Belated Birthday!!  :sign0072:   You got some amazing presents, I love the T-shirt, it's very, very cool :cool: And I hope you enjoy the Gilmore Girls :smile2: It's a fabulous series! And your dress is so pretty! Thanks for posting the pics :) 

 

 

And I'm glad you enjoyed I've Got Your Number :smile2: And Wonder! I haven't read that one myself yet, but I've reserved the book from the library and I'm on the waitlist :) 

 

And congratulations for having read (over) 200 books this year, that's one speedy reading journey! :D 

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I'm sorry Gaia, I somehow completely missed your Birthday! Happy Belated Birthday!!  :sign0072:   You got some amazing presents, I love the T-shirt, it's very, very cool :cool: And I hope you enjoy the Gilmore Girls :smile2: It's a fabulous series! And your dress is so pretty! Thanks for posting the pics :) 

 

 

And I'm glad you enjoyed I've Got Your Number :smile2: And Wonder! I haven't read that one myself yet, but I've reserved the book from the library and I'm on the waitlist :) 

 

And congratulations for having read (over) 200 books this year, that's one speedy reading journey! :D

Thanks Frankie :D!! I hope you enjoy Wonder once you can borrow it :).

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