Athena's Reading List 2017

[Athena]

Today I read Maartje van Houwelingen - Doorzichtig. For some reason this book caught my eye at the library. I hadn't heard anything about the book or the author, but I liked the synopsis so I borrowed the book. The book is about a girl who dies and comes back as a ghost. She discovers the ghosts can go to Earth but usually live in Ghost City. Ghost City is in danger though, a mysterious organisation is trying to destroy it.

 

I went into this book with somewhat lower than medium expectations. Because I hadn't heard anything about the book, there was no hype, and I was expecting it to just be okay. I was pleasantly surprised however, because I really enjoyed this book. It's suspenseful, I didn't want to put it down. I thought the author had some good imagination and was creative, the world was nice. I liked the characters. The book was nicely written. If I'd level one complaint it's that in the book within a chapter going to another scene / following another character happened just the same way normal paragraphs happened (on a new line instead of having an extra white line in between), so there was no distinction between the new scenes and normal paragraphs within that scene. I would've preferred this extra line there. Other than that though, I really liked the book and was very pleasantly surprised by how good it was.

 

After finishing the book, I went onto Google and found out the author of the book lives in my town and is a teenager who goes to the same high school my sister went to! The school recently moved to very nearby my house here and I walk past it on most days! This is her debut novel and the fact that she's a teenager makes her debut novel all the more impressive. I think this is the first time I've read a book by someone who lives in my town, at least that I know of (I don't always look into detail in which area exactly an author lives). The back of the book said the inspiration for the book came as the author looked into the local canal here. She had to write part of it for a school project (according to the school's website) but it ended up becoming much more than a school project (I don't exactly know what the project entailed). Anyway, I find it totally exciting to have read a great book by someone, a high school student, from my town. Amazing.

[Little Pixie]

Oh, how lovely !  

[Chrissy]

I love that you found, read and enjoyed the book before you found out about the author. That is so cool! 

[Hayley]

What a great story! Both for the teenage author and for you finding that book! 

[pontalba]

It was also interesting seeing the names in this book, since it's written by someone who lives in Belgium, the names are more Belgian / Flemish compared with the Dutch names I see in books written by Dutch authors. I realise this might not mean much to someone who reads only English but maybe some names are more prevalent in ie. England vs. US or vs. Australia or something like that? I personally find it hard to distinguish between American and English and Australian names, to me a lot of them are similar (ie. I feel both countries have people named certain names, James, Peter, Stephen to name some common names. One might have originated in one country but then spread to another), but maybe when you live in one of the countries you have a better feel for these things.

You're right, it is difficult to tell which English speaking country a name comes from. Unless the author gives a location, or names a particular characteristic of the place it can be a little confusing. (Or as I'd say discombobulating).

It throws me off until I can place the location.

[Athena]

Oh, how lovely !

 

Yes .

 

I love that you found, read and enjoyed the book before you found out about the author. That is so cool! 

Me too ! I think it worked out better not knowing anything about the author. That way I didn't go into the book with any specific expectations or prejudices or such. It was so much fun to find out afterwards though.

 

What a great story! Both for the teenage author and for you finding that book! 

 

Thanks .

 

You're right, it is difficult to tell which English speaking country a name comes from. Unless the author gives a location, or names a particular characteristic of the place it can be a little confusing. (Or as I'd say discombobulating).

It throws me off until I can place the location.

Me too sometimes!

[vodkafan]

Today I read Maartje van Houwelingen - Doorzichtig. For some reason this book caught my eye at the library. I hadn't heard anything about the book or the author, but I liked the synopsis so I borrowed the book. The book is about a girl who dies and comes back as a ghost. She discovers the ghosts can go to Earth but usually live in Ghost City. Ghost City is in danger though, a mysterious organisation is trying to destroy it.

 

I went into this book with somewhat lower than medium expectations. Because I hadn't heard anything about the book, there was no hype, and I was expecting it to just be okay. I was pleasantly surprised however, because I really enjoyed this book. It's suspenseful, I didn't want to put it down. I thought the author had some good imagination and was creative, the world was nice. I liked the characters. The book was nicely written. If I'd level one complaint it's that in the book within a chapter going to another scene / following another character happened just the same way normal paragraphs happened (on a new line instead of having an extra white line in between), so there was no distinction between the new scenes and normal paragraphs within that scene. I would've preferred this extra line there. Other than that though, I really liked the book and was very pleasantly surprised by how good it was.

 

After finishing the book, I went onto Google and found out the author of the book lives in my town and is a teenager who goes to the same high school my sister went to! The school recently moved to very nearby my house here and I walk past it on most days! This is her debut novel and the fact that she's a teenager makes her debut novel all the more impressive. I think this is the first time I've read a book by someone who lives in my town, at least that I know of (I don't always look into detail in which area exactly an author lives). The back of the book said the inspiration for the book came as the author looked into the local canal here. She had to write part of it for a school project (according to the school's website) but it ended up becoming much more than a school project (I don't exactly know what the project entailed). Anyway, I find it totally exciting to have read a great book by someone, a high school student, from my town. Amazing.

 

That girl will go far! Must be great to have a published book under your belt before you have even left school !

[Athena]

That girl will go far! Must be great to have a published book under your belt before you have even left school !

I agree, it's very impressive!

[Madeleine]

That's very exciting, and good for her!  Sounds like her career is off to a good start.

[Athena]

I read Jenna Evans Welch - Liefde & Gelato (Love & Gelato). This was a nice, though not brilliant read. It's about a teenage girl who loses her mother to cancer, and who then moves, at least for the summer, to Italy, to spend time with a man her mother was close to when she was younger. I quite liked the descriptions of Italy and Italian things, such as icecream and the buildings. I also liked the Italian words in the book. I guessed one plot twist but didn't guess others. I did think the main character made some decisions during the course of the story I didn't agree with, but then there would've been less story if she had done what I think I would've done. Overall then this was an enjoyable summery read, that isn't a new favourite book of mine but that was enjoyable to read.

[Athena]

I read Amy Tintera - Reboot 1: Reboot (Reboot) and Amy Tintera - Reboot 2: Rebel (Rebel) (both are Dutch translations of books originally written in English). This duology is about Wren, a Reboot (17-years-old). Some people, after they die, come back as a Reboot. Wren was shot 5 years ago, and after 178 minutes she came back as a Reboot. Reboots are stronger, faster and less vulnerable than humans, but the longer they've been dead, the less human they are. Wren is the deadliest Reboot there is, with her 178 minutes. Callum 22 however is still quite human. Wren has to train him as a soldier, but that doesn't go that well. I don't want to give away more of the synopsis, as I feel the synopsis on the back of the first book (both the Dutch description on my library loan and the English one seen on GoodReads), I feel, reveal a bit much.

 

There was a lot to like about this duology but I also had a few issues. First off, the concept was quite original. The books have a lot of action and suspense. I liked the characters. I liked that the books weren't afraid to talk about gory things that happened during the action. What I liked less was that I still have some questions having finished this duology. I would like to know more about certain aspects. The world building could've been better (it was an interesting world! I just wanted to know more about it). I also felt at times that things happened a bit too 'easily'. There were a couple of cliches in the first book, which I didn't like at first but once I got going in the story it mattered less and the story became more original then. I liked the second book more than the first. I did find it a shame not all the questions were answered, but I liked some more original things happening in book 2.

 

Then there was the writing style. Or the translation. I can't quite put my finger on it, but somehow it didn't 100% agree with me. Especially during the first book, I sometimes had trouble concentrating and kept having to re-read lines I accidentally skipped. I don't know if that has anything to do with the book, or whether it was just me being very tired (or a combination of them). I have read a number of reviews for these books, and all of them either liked the writing style or didn't comment on it (I read some Dutch and some English reviews). So maybe it was just me feeling tired, I'm not sure. I've been quite stressed the past few days so that doesn't help my concentration either.

 

Despite all this you might think I didn't enjoy this duology. But I did! I read book 1 in 2 days (a little bit during one day, most of the book the next day) and book 2 in 1 day. They definitely made me want to keep reading to find out what would happen. It was refreshing that this was a duology rather than the usual trilogy. The concept was original, the action was good, the characters were interesting as were the interactions between them (for the most part). Overall then I enjoyed reading this duology though I do wish more questions had been answered.

[Athena]

I borrowed an omnibus from the library: Carry Slee - Fatale Liefde & Bangkok Boy.

 

Carry Slee - Bangkok Boy

Strangely enough this book is first in the omnibus, even though the title makes you think it's the last. Anyway.. I hadn't a YA book by Carry Slee in quite some time. I liked this book, but I had a few issues with it. The story is told from two perspectives, Bo and Joep. Joep breaks off the relationship with Bo suddenly and she's confused as to why he's done this. Then it turns out he's gone to Thailand, so she can't just ask him. She decides to travel there too to try to track him down.

 

The story was very suspenseful and I loved the short chapters (and paragraphs), alternating between the two viewpoints. I also liked the characters. I was less keen on the drugs, alcohol, and the kissing (and more) of strangers, I felt some of those scenes were unnecessary for the story. They are things I would never do and I cannot imagine why anyone would want to, so such things always grate on me a bit, especially when, one scene in particular, was in my opinion wholly unnecessary as in my mind it didn't do much to move the plot or do anything for character development and I really didn't like the scene (or even reading the scene!).

 

Anyway.. aside from those things I did enjoy the book. It was a bit scary and sometimes I saw beforehand that things were a bad idea. But I quite liked the development of the story overall and I liked the way it ended too (and one twist in particular). Overall I would say it's not one of her best books, but then, those I probably have very nostalgic feelings with. But I did enjoy reading the book, it was definitely worth the read.

 

Carry Slee - Fatale Liefde

Then I read this book. I actually prefer this one over Bangkok Boy. This book is about Amber and Liz (who are friends) and her boyfriend Djawad. Amber meets Leon and goes out with him, Liz has been with Djawad for 2 years. Amber inherits money from an aunt who passed away. The girls want to start a fashion company together, with the money. Something strange is going on with Djawad, he seems to be keeping a secret. And is Leon really who he says he is...?

 

Like I said in the beginning of this paragraph, I actually preferred this book. I can't tell you why exactly though because of spoilers (even though there aren't many Dutch or Belgian people on this forum, people who'd be likely to (be able to) read the book). I quite enjoyed this story and the directions it took. There wasn't a scene like I mentioned in the previous 'review'. I liked the short chapters in this book. Overall I enjoyed this one more than I did Bangkok Boy, though both were enjoyable reads.

[Athena]

February 2017 Summary

 

Books read: 15

Pages read: 4159

 

Most impressive / Favourite(s) of the month:

Maria V. Snyder - Chronicles of Ixia 1: Study 1: Poison Study (re-read)

Maria V. Snyder - Chronicles of Ixia 1: Study 1: Poison Study Chapter One Valek's POV (re-read)

Maria V. Snyder - Chronicles of Ixia 1.5: Study 1.5: Assassin Study

Cassandra Clare - The Mortal Instruments 2: City of Ashes

Maartje van Houwelingen - Doorzichtig

Brian Selznick - De Wonderlingen (The Marvels)

 

Slightly less my favourites but still really good, this month:

Victoria Farkas - Dik in mijn Hoofd

Diane Chamberlain - Keeper Of The Light / Kiss River 2: Kiss River

 

Pretty enjoyable:

Jenna Evans Welch - Liefde & Gelato (Love & Gelato)

Carry Slee - Fatale Liefde

Amy Tintera - Reboot 1: Reboot (Reboot)

Amy Tintera - Reboot 2: Rebel (Rebel)

 

Enjoyable but I had some issues:

Carry Slee - Bangkok Boy

 

Biggest disappointment(s) / Least favourite(s) of the month:

Chérie Carter-Scott - If Life is a Game, These are the Rules

 

Abandoned book:

Ava Dellaira - Liefdesbrieven Aan De Sterren (Love Letters To The Dead) (page 34 out of 334, 10%; I wasn't in the mood for this type of book, the book itself might still be quite good, I just wasn't in the mood for it and didn't feel like reading it (library loan))

 

Shortest books read this month:

Maria V. Snyder - Chronicles of Ixia 1: Study 1: Poison Study Chapter One Valek's POV (re-read) (~6 pages)

Maria V. Snyder - Chronicles of Ixia 1.5: Study 1.5: Assassin Study (~30 pages)

 

Longest books read this month:

Brian Selznick - De Wonderlingen (The Marvels) (647 pages)

Cassandra Clare - The Mortal Instruments 2: City of Ashes (453 pages)

[Athena]

I read Geronimo Stilton - Knaag Gezond, Geronimo! (Non Abbuffarti, Geronimo Stilton!). This is a children's book about healthy eating, in the form of a Geronimo Stilton story. It was pretty short but I thought it contained some nice information for children. Of course, there wasn't much new information for me (other than how many calories children need, which I had no idea of), but it was still nice to read about Geronimo and his nephew and other characters.

 

 

Then I read Tim Collins (ill. Andrew Pinder) - Dagboek van een Vampier Watje 1: Dagboek van een Vampier Watje (Diary of a Wimpy Vampire 1: Diary of a Wimpy Vampire). This book draws inspiration of the Diary of a Wimpy Kid books, but puts its own spin on it by making it the diary of a teenage vampire. I've read most of the Dorkius Maximus books and quite enjoyed those (I just found out by looking it up there is one I hadn't heard of, so I'll keep my eye out for that one at the library).

 

This book is meant for an older age range, at least according to what the library has it classified as. I quite enjoyed reading this book. I wasn't expecting a couple of the twists. The book had some nice illustrations. The library copy is falling apart a bit so I had to be a bit careful in reading it (and therefore the reading wasn't as comfortable as it otherwise would have been, as I didn't want to worsen the condition of the book by accident). Apparently there are more books in the series, though I don't think they have all been translated (so that the library would have them). It seems they have the Dutch translation of book 2 in the series, so hopefully I can find that one some time.

[Athena]

Yesterday I read:

 

Paul van Loon (ill. Hugo van Look) - Dolfje Weerwolfje 7: Weerwolfgeheimen

Paul van Loon (ill. Hugo van Look) - Dolfje Weerwolfje 11: SuperDolfje

Paul van Loon (ill. Hugo van Look) - Dolfje Weerwolfje 12: Weerwolf(n)achtbaan

Paul van Loon (ill. Hugo van Look and Saskia Halfmouw) - Dolfje Weerwolfje 14: Een Miniheks In Het Weerwolvenbos

Paul van Loon (ill. Hugo van Look) - Dolfje Weerwolfje 17: MaanMysterie

 

I quite enjoyed reading these books. I enjoyed book #14 a bit less than the others, but it was a lot smaller and I'm not familiar with Foeksia (who makes a big appearance in the book, it's a crossover between 2 of his series). It does make me think though that maybe I should check out the Foeksia books . Book #12 took place in the Efteling, which is a famous Dutch themepark. That was quite nice, to recognise things from there. Book #11 had really nice colourful illustrations. I love the characters in Dolfje Weerwolfje and the humor. The illustrations in all the books were nice (though those in #11 in particular, I'm a sucker for lots of bright colours heh). I love this series. There are a few left now to read (hopefully I can find them at the library some time).

[Athena]

I read 2 graphic novels and 6 picture books today.

 

First, I read Raina Telgemeier (colouring: Stephanie Yue) - Smile 1: Smile (Smile). I quite enjoyed the first Baby-Sitters Club graphic novel, which is also by this illustrator. Smile is a memoir, detailing part of her life when Raina was a teenager. She falls and loses her two front teeth. The story is about her slowly getting her teeth fixed (through lots of ordeals! It sounded horrible) but also about her life at school. I quite enjoyed reading this memoir and I really liked the illustrations. Since I've had braces myself, I could identify with some of Raina's feelings. I'm very happy though that my journey with braces wasn't as bad as Raina's (I'm happy I never lost any teeth!).

 

Then I read some picture books:

 

Lemony Snicket (ill. Jon Klassen) - The Dark

I wasn't expecting a lot from this but it was enjoyable.

 

Jeanne Willis (ill. Jane Chapman) - Monkey Found A Baby

I didn't enjoy this overly much. The rhymes were a bit repetitive, repeating lines. I'm sure children appreciate that sort of thing though. For me it kind of made the rhythym be stuck in my head and I didn't like that. The story and illustrations were allright. I did like that the text rhymed, I mean, the rhymes were nicely done. I have found that for rhyming it works better if I say the book out loud in my head (because it's an English rhyme, I don't think I need to do that for a Dutch rhyme). Of course, after reading this book, I had trouble to not hear the rest of the books I read in my head. Hearing the text being pronounced is way slower than reading it, for me, so this was kind of annoying. Not the book's fault though, just my weird brain!

 

Mick Inkpen and Chloë Inkpen - I Will Love You Anyway

This was a cute story about a dog. I was a bit confused at first because I accidentally read the book while skipping a few pages, because several times the pages were kind of stuck together (due to just being printed - this book is a brandnew library copy).

 

Julia Donaldson and Sara Ogilvie - The Detective Dog

I quite liked the rhyming in this one. The illustrations were quite nice too.

 

David Melling - The Star-Faced Crocodile

This was allright. I didn't totally get the connection between a crocodile and a star.

 

David Melling - Hugless Douglas: Hugless Douglas and the Great Cake Bake

Here I also accidentally skipped two pages. I liked the illustrations in this book. The story was allright.

 

Lastly I read Kazu Kibuishi - Amulet 1: De Hoeder van de Steen (The Stonekeeper). I wasn't sure what to expect from this graphic novel, and I clearly had trouble remembering what the book was about BEFORE I read it, as I told Anna it was about something a bit different than it was. This is a graphic novel about two children who lose their dad in an accident. Their mother moves with them into an old family house. The mother gets abducted by a strange creature, and the two children (a younger boy and an older girl) end up in some kind of fantasy world. I wasn't sure if I was going to like this, but I liked it! It was pretty good. The illustrations were quite nice and the story was suspenseful. Apparently there are 6 other volumes out in the series, with more of them planned. It seems the library has two other volumes with a third being on order, so hopefully I can borrow those some time.

[Athena]

I read Allie Brosh - Hyperbole and a Half. This is a memoir based on Allie Brosh's blog. The chapters in the book are about various things, such as Allie's childhood, her dogs, her depression. The book consists of illustrations accompanied by text. The illustrations are quite cute and the book is funny. I laughed / giggled out loud a couple of times. I identified with the depression chapters, those were a particular highlight for me (it's also the two chapters / posts on the blog that made me buy this book). I quite enjoyed reading this memoir. It's funny yet also deep at times. It looks like another memoir will be released later this year (in paperback), so I plan to be buying that when it's out (or pre-ordering it).

[Inver]

You do like reading don't you....  

[Athena]

Yes I do !

[Athena]

The lovely Diane sent me Vanessa Greene - The Beachside Guest House. So very kind of you !!

 

 

[Athena]

I read Nick Spalding - Life... 1: Life With No Breaks and Nick Spalding - Life... 2: Life On A High. I've read a few rom-com novels by Nick Spalding. These two books are memoirs. Life With No Breaks was written over the course of just over one day (30 hours), Life On A High was written during two long plane flights (from the UK to Australia and back). The memoirs contain various stories from when Nick was younger, musings on various subjects, things like that. I quite enjoyed reading these two memoirs and learning a bit more about an author I like. The books are written with a lot of humour (though, if it's not your kind of humour, you probably won't find it as enjoyable to read). While I didn't think these memoirs were quite as funny as Hyperbole and a Half by Allie Brosh (see a couple of posts ago), which I read before this, they were still funny and I enjoyed reading them. A reason for me to read them, was that I had read several of Nicks novels and liked them. If you're unfamiliar with the author, I suppose the book might not be quite as enjoyable then, but you might find it fun nonetheless to learn about the author and what he thinks of things. I didn't agree with him on everything, but a lot of what he said made sense to me. I loved reading the funny stories of things that happened to him when he was younger.

[Athena]

I read Vanessa Greene - The Beachside Guest House, which the lovely Diane gifted to me . I really liked this book and I read it pretty quickly. I started it yesterday afternoon and finished it today. I didn't want to stop reading it. It was a nice, easy read. I really liked the short chapters. Because the book was a nice easy read I didn't need to stop much to process it and this meant I could read the book more quickly. I liked the characters. There was one I didn't like, but then you're not meant to like that character, so that makes sense. I liked the writing style of the book, and if I come across any more of the author's works I might well give them a go . Thank you so much again, Diane !!

[Inver]

Oh I'm so glad you enjoyed it Gaia.  And yes I agree, very quick reads. Here other two books had a similar 'tea' type theme to them too, although that one had the added bonus of being in a nice warm background to it being on a Greek island.

 

The other two books by Vanessa are:-

 

'The Seafront Tea Rooms' by Vanessa Greene

'The Vintage Teacup Club' by Vanessa Greene

[Athena]

I've added those two to my wishlist and might be quite tempted to buy them soon, whenever I order something next from my usual webshop . Thanks so much again !

[Athena]

I read Jodi Picoult - Harvesting the Heart. This is one of her earlier novels (her second one actually, just after Songs of the Humpback Whale which was her debut), and it's a bit different than her later, newer novels. The book is about a woman named Paige whose mother abandoned her when she was five, and a man named Nicholas, who works / studies in the field of medicine and comes from rich parents. Paige and Nicholas get married, but Paige is worried she won't be a good mother when she gets pregnant.

 

The story is told from both Paige's and Nicholas' points of view. Paige's is written in first person, Nicholas' in third person. This book was enjoyable but I don't consider it as good as some of Jodi's later books. For example, among my favourites I count My Sister's Keeper, The Pact, House Rules, Sing Me Home, Nineteen Minutes, Handle With Care, Perfect Match. I could narrow that down if I had to. But I liked all of those books, better than Harvesting the Heart (I also liked several other Picoult books better than HtH but I don't want to name them all..). I liked HtH better though than Change of Heart or the abandoned Songs of a Humpback Whale (I might go back to that when I run out of Picoult's books except that one).

 

That said, I did enjoy reading Harvesting the Heart. I like Jodi's writing style and I thought the parts to do with the child / baby were particularly interesting. I also liked the parts about Paige's art. I liked the way the book ended. I do feel some of the conflict in the book could have been avoided if the characters had been more clear to one another how they felt. I could understand parts from Paige and parts from Nicholas and why they did what they did, I could identify with it. But I couldn't idenfity with some other things.

 

The books is I think a bit slower than Jodi's later books and didn't have as many interesting twists. There was also spoiler:

 

 

no court case and not really an ethical dilemma.

 

I'm not sure if that's a spoiler or not but I've put it in spoiler tags just in case.

 

You can kind of tell Jodi is still finding her voice, in comparison with a lot of her later novels. That said, I did enjoy reading this book. It took me a bit of time to get into it, it's not the kind of book that I was like 'must read book instead of doing anything else because I must know what happens RIGHT NOW', but I did enjoy reading the book and am glad I read it.