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Athena's Reading List 2017


Athena

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I read Dave Eggers - De Cirkel (The Circle). I thought the concept of this book was really interesting. It took me a bit of time to get into the book, as in the beginning I was wondering what certain terms / words were in English (I read the Dutch translation) and I had to get used to the writing style.

 

Later on in the book it got quite suspenseful and I wanted to keep on reading it. It took me longer to read the first half, than the second. But that's how it usually is for me. I felt we didn't really get to know the main character, Mae, all that well. I still enjoyed reading the book though. The ending was different than what I was expecting. I would've liked a different ending, I think.

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I read Dr. Matt - When It Comes To Relationships, You've Been An Idiot. Because I'm busy re-organising my (physical) books, I wanted to read a borrowed book or something from my e-reader instead. It didn't take me long to long back to a paperbook heh. I read the first book by this author a few years ago and enjoyed it. They're kind of anti-self-help books, kind of a self-help spoof book? It's written in a humourous way. The author's first book is called Just Stop Having Problems, Stupid!, and I liked that one when I read it. Dr. Matt is not a real person.

 

Unfortunately the second book he wrote was kind of a disappointment for me. I enjoyed it in the beginning but later on I got confused and wasn't enjoying it so much anymore. To be honest though, I had a bad day yesterday and I was in a bad mood because of that. So perhaps I would've enjoyed the book more, had I read it while I was in a better mood.

 

In short, I liked the author's first book, but I didn't like this second book.

 

---

Has anyone else had that happen? If you're not in a good place mentally, then maybe you don't enjoy a book as much?

 

I'm hoping the weekend will be nicer than yesterday was for me. I mean, it could've been worse of course, but it was definitely not a good day.

 

Re-organising my books is going well. This weekend my dad and my boyfriend plan to sort out the last bookcase. My room / library consists of two rooms, with an open doorway in between (there's no door in it, the wall was broken open). One room is mostly done, the other I have to get started on. There are more bookcases in the second room so it might take me a bit longer to organise than the first room. We'll see. I'm excited. I probably won't be doing lots of re-organising in the weekend as we've got some family coming over and other things going on.

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I hope you feel better soon, Athena!

 

I've had that happen to me when my goddaughter wasn't doing well - I was feeling sad and worried, and didn't enjoy the beginning of Library of Souls as much because of it. When she did better, I enjoyed it a lot more.

 

Good luck reorganising!

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16 hours ago, Athena said:

I read Dr. Matt - When It Comes To Relationships, You've Been An Idiot. Because I'm busy re-organising my (physical) books, I wanted to read a borrowed book or something from my e-reader instead. It didn't take me long to long back to a paperbook heh. I read the first book by this author a few years ago and enjoyed it. They're kind of anti-self-help books, kind of a self-help spoof book? It's written in a humourous way. The author's first book is called Just Stop Having Problems, Stupid!, and I liked that one when I read it. Dr. Matt is not a real person.

 

Unfortunately the second book he wrote was kind of a disappointment for me. I enjoyed it in the beginning but later on I got confused and wasn't enjoying it so much anymore. To be honest though, I had a bad day yesterday and I was in a bad mood because of that. So perhaps I would've enjoyed the book more, had I read it while I was in a better mood.

 

In short, I liked the author's first book, but I didn't like this second book.

 

---

Has anyone else had that happen? If you're not in a good place mentally, then maybe you don't enjoy a book as much?

 

I'm hoping the weekend will be nicer than yesterday was for me. I mean, it could've been worse of course, but it was definitely not a good day.

 

Re-organising my books is going well. This weekend my dad and my boyfriend plan to sort out the last bookcase. My room / library consists of two rooms, with an open doorway in between (there's no door in it, the wall was broken open). One room is mostly done, the other I have to get started on. There are more bookcases in the second room so it might take me a bit longer to organise than the first room. We'll see. I'm excited. I probably won't be doing lots of re-organising in the weekend as we've got some family coming over and other things going on.

 

 I haven't had that happen actually. Because when I am in a bad mood I probably wouldn't try to read. That's  a new concept to think about for me, as books tend to disassociate me from my surroundings anyway and take me into another world, I doubt if I could stay in a sour mood if I had a good book... 

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8 hours ago, Alexander the Great said:

I hope you feel better soon, Athena!

 

I've had that happen to me when my goddaughter wasn't doing well - I was feeling sad and worried, and didn't enjoy the beginning of Library of Souls as much because of it. When she did better, I enjoyed it a lot more.

 

Good luck reorganising!

 

Thanks, Alexander :). That makes a lot of sense!

Thanks!

 

6 hours ago, vodkafan said:

 I haven't had that happen actually. Because when I am in a bad mood I probably wouldn't try to read. That's  a new concept to think about for me, as books tend to disassociate me from my surroundings anyway and take me into another world, I doubt if I could stay in a sour mood if I had a good book... 

 

Ah, well when I'm tired, reading is one of the few things I can do (there are many things I cannot do when I feel tired, or they would make me feel a whole lot more tired and I'd probably not have the brain capacity to be able to do them). Perhaps you're right and the book was simply not good.. or it was just the wrong time to read that type of book. Something completely fictional might have been better, rather than an anti-self-help / spoof book on how to deal with relationships.

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On 29.6.2017 at 11:56 AM, Madeleine said:

I agree with you too, Athena , when I used to go to my friend for one of her children's parties I'd only be there for a few hours and be completely exhausted -the constant attention-seeking, having to smile inanely at the slightest thing the child did - another drawing, hooray! - I don't know how parents manage being with them all the time!  I've never been maternal either (as you can probably guess from what I've just said), maybe it's a selfish thing and if I'd met the right person, but I don't think so.  Give me a dog any day, although they can be exhausting as well.

 

I don't think it's a selfish thing at all. It's just a preference, just like wanting to have children is another type of preference. We each have our own preferences and anyone who tells us it's wrong or selfish can bugger off. 

 

I don't think I've read novels on the topic, but I'll keep my eyes open :)

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On 15.7.2017 at 9:53 AM, Athena said:

Has anyone else had that happen? If you're not in a good place mentally, then maybe you don't enjoy a book as much?

 

I can't recall a particular time or a particular book, but yes it's happened. It's annoying :(   Sometimes it might be just better to put the book aside and give it another go later on. Depends on how far along you are in the novel. I think for us mood readers it's probably more common than for others. 

 

On 15.7.2017 at 9:53 AM, Athena said:

 

I'm hoping the weekend will be nicer than yesterday was for me. I mean, it could've been worse of course, but it was definitely not a good day.

 

I'm sorry you had a bad day :empathy:  I hope you're feeling better today! 

 

On 15.7.2017 at 9:53 AM, Athena said:

 

Re-organising my books is going well. This weekend my dad and my boyfriend plan to sort out the last bookcase. My room / library consists of two rooms, with an open doorway in between (there's no door in it, the wall was broken open). One room is mostly done, the other I have to get started on. There are more bookcases in the second room so it might take me a bit longer to organise than the first room. We'll see. I'm excited. I probably won't be doing lots of re-organising in the weekend as we've got some family coming over and other things going on.

 

I wish I could see it all happen :D Book organizing is so much fun! :smile2: Looking forward to seeing some pictures! 

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15 hours ago, frankie said:

I can't recall a particular time or a particular book, but yes it's happened. It's annoying :(   Sometimes it might be just better to put the book aside and give it another go later on. Depends on how far along you are in the novel. I think for us mood readers it's probably more common than for others. 

 

I agree, it probably is more common for us mood readers.

 

15 hours ago, frankie said:

I'm sorry you had a bad day :empathy:  I hope you're feeling better today! 

 

Thanks :hug:, I do feel better today than I did on Friday.

 

15 hours ago, frankie said:

I wish I could see it all happen :D Book organizing is so much fun! :smile2: Looking forward to seeing some pictures! 

 

It's a lot of fun! Yesterday my dad and my boyfriend did the last bookcase, it's done now ready for some books. And this morning my dad hopefully fixed the built-in shelves by putting some paper behind them, so I can put a few books there too.

 

Things are still quite messy though, as I'm not done organising yet. Here are some pictures I took a few days ago to two weeks ago (so the last bookcase isn't on there yet). So a bit has changed since then. Sorry for the mess! Not everything is going where it is placed now, btw, it's just a temporary storage. I needed to put the books somewhere. I have two rooms that are connected with an open doorway, I don't have any good pictures to show you that though.

 

Books in the window ledge:

BooksInWindowLedge_025.jpg

 

Lots of mess all over the place:

WorkInProgress2_025.jpg

 

Boxes with books and books in bookcases and window ledge, mess!

WorkInProgress1_025.jpg

 

Here you can see the built-in shelves. My dad now put some paper behind them, so you won't see some of these bricks anymore, to keep the dirt out. I guess I'll have to take an up-to-date picture later :). All the plushies on the table will go back in the bookcases, once I'm done re-organising the books I will find new places for the plushies too :). And also for the bookstands of A Song of Ice and Fire / Game of Thrones / Stark.

OneSideOfTheRoom_WorkInProgress_025.jpg

 

Travel guides and cookbooks, picture taken one and a half weeks ago, I've added a few books since then (not a great picture, the lighting isn't optimal and it's a bit blurry. I took it with my phone).

TravelGuidesCookBooks_025.jpg

 

Fantasy corner, work in progress, from a few days ago, this was before I put all the plushies on the table and before I moved the books that were in the built-in shelves originally.

08-FantasyCorner_025.jpg

 

Horror books:

HorrorBookCase_025.jpg

 

Biographies, books about books, 1001 books and some information books:

BiographiesBookCase+BooksAboutBooks+1001Books+1InformationShelf_025.jpg

 

Information books:

InformationBookCase_025.jpg

 

My throw pillows part one (not sure if I'll keep them where they are now). Michael made the Matilda ones for me :wub:, the three in the middle I bought online.

ThrowPillows1_025.jpg

 

Throw pillows part 2 (again not sure yet if this will be where I keep them). These I bought online.

ThrowPillows2_025.jpg

 

Mess from two weeks ago:

01_TBR-Soon-On-Sofa_025.jpg

 

The last bookcase:

LastBookCase_025.jpg

 

I think I will have to take some up-to-date pictures! But currently, since my dad and my boyfriend did the last bookcase yesterday and I needed to make space for them to work, things are a bit messy and I need to move ie. the table back to the middle and things like that. So I have to do some work first before I can make photos. If I feel up for it later this week I'll take some up-to-date pictures, of everything :).

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23 hours ago, Madeleine said:

That last book photo looks like my room.... you're doing a good job of organising everything, well done.

 

Thanks Madeleine :).

 

17 hours ago, Little Pixie said:

Exciting ! So full of possibilities. :) 

 

Those cushions are lovely. :D

 

Thanks Sarah :).

 

Thanks, I'm quite happy with the cushions :D.

 

I filled up the last bookcase yesterday (as in, the last bookcase that was put together, not the last to fill up) with historical fiction. What's left to do is, paranormal (/ urban fantasy), classics, detectives / mysteries, thrillers, the manga + graphic novels & comics etc (including Donald Duck pockets), science-fiction & dystopians, rom-coms and contemporary fiction.

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13 hours ago, More reading time required said:

Wow, the fantasy bookcase looks as well stocked as any Waterstones shelf. :)

 

Thanks, MRTR :)!

 

Quote

I also like how you have the horror books in a corner section - good for hiding. :D

 

I hadn't thought of that. What an interesting thought :D.

 

12 hours ago, Alexander the Great said:

Wow, I really admire you for having the courage to reorganise all of those! Looks like a book lover's heaven :) 

 

Thanks, Alexander :)!

 

I've organised my historical fiction, my paranormal & urban fantasy, my English classics, my detectives & mysteries and my thrillers. What's left is manga & Donald Duck pockets, science-fiction & dystopians, rom-coms and contemporary fiction & Dutch literature that are not thrillers. When I'm all done, I plan to make and post more pictures :).

 

I haven't been reading much, but I have been busy with the re-organising and with cataloguing.

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After a few weeks, I'm done re-organising my room / library! I had so much fun :D. And I am happy with the end result. Here are some pictures!

 

First, an overview of the room(s).

 

Room1_025.jpg

 

Room2_025.jpg

 

Room3_025.jpg

 

ThrowPillowsOnSofa_025.jpg

 

Room4_025.jpg

 

Room5_025.jpg

 

Room6_025.jpg

 

Room7_025.jpg

 

Room8_025.jpg

 

 

Some more detailed pictures of each book case.

 

Travel Guides & CookBooks:

BookCaseTravelGuidesCookBooks_025.jpg

 

Fantasy:

Fantasy1_025.jpg

 

Fantasy2_025.jpg

 

Fantasy3_025.jpg

 

Fantasy4_025.jpg

 

Fantasy5_025.jpg

 

Fantasy6_025.jpg

 

Horror:

Horror_025.jpg

 

Biographies / Memoirs, Books About Books, 1001 Books & 1 Information Shelf:

BiographiesMemoirsBooksAboutBooks1001Books+Inf2_025.jpg

 

Information:

Information1_025.jpg

 

Science-fiction & Dystopians:

SF1_025.jpg

 

SF2_025.jpg

 

Detectives & Mysteries:

Detectives_025.jpg

 

Thrillers:

Thrillers_025.jpg

 

Historical Fiction:

HistoricalFiction_025.jpg

 

Paranormal / Urban Fantasy & Classics in English:

ParanormalUrbanFantasyClassicsEnglish_025.jpg

 

Rom-com:

Rom-com_025.jpg

 

Rom-com1_025.jpg

 

Rom-com2_025.jpg

 

Rom-com3_025.jpg

 

Contemporary Fiction + Donald Duck Pockets, Manga, & Dutch Literature:

CF123_025.jpg

 

CF45_025.jpg

 

CF1_025.jpg

 

CF2_025.jpg

 

CF3_025.jpg

 

CF4_025.jpg

 

CF5_025.jpg

 

And a video I made giving a quick tour. The quality is not great, but the high quality video would have taken me half a day to upload with my not-so-fast internet connection, so I had to make the filesize smaller and thus reduce the quality.

 

 

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Wow! :wub: I loved  looking at all the pictures! That was a lot of work but what fun getting to re-organize your books! :smile2: I love it how you guys got the radiator going through one of the bookcases! :D:D  Pure genius!  

 

It totally looks like you live in an antiquarian! :wub: Oh and I love the throw pillows!! :wub:

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On 24-7-2017 at 9:29 AM, Chrissy said:

If you ever need a book sitter, then let me know. :D

I am sitting here with a stupid grin on my face looking at all your books! It must have been so satisfying to organise them. 

 

Thanks, Chrissy :D.  I'm glad you liked seeing the pictures. It was incredibly satisfying and fun to organise my books!

 

On 24-7-2017 at 10:34 AM, Lau_Lou said:

That looks amazing. I'm seriously awestruck! 

Enjoy all your hard work :) 

 

Thanks, Lau Lou :). Glad you liked the pictures!

 

16 hours ago, Alexander the Great said:

You never told us you live in a bookstore!

 

Lol, thanks, Alexander :)!

 

3 hours ago, frankie said:

Wow! :wub: I loved  looking at all the pictures! That was a lot of work but what fun getting to re-organize your books! :smile2: I love it how you guys got the radiator going through one of the bookcases! :D:D  Pure genius!  

 

It totally looks like you live in an antiquarian! :wub: Oh and I love the throw pillows!! :wub:

 

Thanks, Frankie :D! I'm glad you really liked looking at the pictures :D! It's nice you like my pillows too  :). It was clever how my dad and Michael made the bookcase work through the radiator, I'm proud of them.

 

1 hour ago, More reading time required said:

Just wow! :o 

 

Thanks, MRTR :)!

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Wow, I am in awe of your library. It's amazing, and exactly what I'd love to have at some point in my life. I'm glad you enjoyed re-organising everything and that you're happy with the end result :)

 

I love the throw pillows, too!

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