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Athena's Reading List 2017


Athena

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On 14-9-2017 at 5:59 PM, Athena said:

I read Sara Barnard - A Quiet Kind of Thunder. This is a love story about Steffi, who has selective mutism and struggles with anxiety, and Rhys, who is deaf. I really liked this book. It feels like the disability representation was well done, though I cannot speak from experience myself. I really enjoyed reading about these two characters. The book is written from Steffi's perspective. I thought the book had a good message and I liked it a lot.

 

Apologies if this makes me sound enormously ignorant - but what is selective mutism?

 

Have you ever read any books by Dirk Bracke, by the way?

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22 hours ago, Lau_Lou said:

Hi, Athena. Hope you are well.

 

You read such a diverse range of books. It's lovely to see. Your reviews give me a buzz to want to read more themes and come out of my reading comfort zone.

 

Hi Lau Lou, I'm well, I hope you are too :).

 

That's nice to hear :). I like lots of different things, which is nice on one hand as I love the variety and I couldn't just read 'one genre' the whole time (I'd get burned out on that genre), but on the other hand, sometimes it makes me worry as I think that maybe some people are probably only interested in some of the reviews I write, because I read lots of different things and they read for example only adult fiction or young-adult fantasy or whatever. I have thought before about starting my own blog or YouTube channel, but I fear with the diversity of genres and age ranges I read not many people would be interested in most of the content. I'm happy with my thread on BCF though and any nice replies I get here :). Most of the reading I do does fall in my own comfort zone.

 

14 hours ago, Alexander the Great said:

Apologies if this makes me sound enormously ignorant - but what is selective mutism?

 

Mutism is when a person cannot speak (from the word 'mute'). For example, I once read a book by Diane Chamberlain (Breaking the Silence) in which a young child experienced a traumatic event, and after that she stopped speaking to anyone. Of course, it is also very possible someone cannot speak due to a physical inability to do so.

Selective mutism is when a person cannot speak in certain situations. For example, for Steffi in A Quiet Kind of Thunder, she can speak but only when she is in a small group of people she trusts - such as family members. At school she cannot speak due to social anxiety.

 

14 hours ago, Alexander the Great said:

Have you ever read any books by Dirk Bracke, by the way?

 

I read Buitenbeen by Dirk Bracke, and I liked that book. I looked him up, I had no idea he'd written so many books! Have you read anything by him?

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Just now, Athena said:

 

Hi Lau Lou, I'm well, I hope you are too :).

 

That's nice to hear :). I like lots of different things, which is nice on one hand as I love the variety and I couldn't just read 'one genre' the whole time (I'd get burned out on that genre), but on the other hand, sometimes it makes me worry as I think that maybe some people are probably only interested in some of the reviews I write, because I read lots of different things and they read for example only adult fiction or young-adult fantasy or whatever. I have thought before about starting my own blog or YouTube channel, but I fear with the diversity of genres and age ranges I read not many people would be interested in most of the content. I'm happy with my thread on BCF though and any nice replies I get here :). Most of the reading I do does fall in my own comfort zone.

 

 

Mutism is when a person cannot speak (from the word 'mute'). For example, I once read a book by Diane Chamberlain (Breaking the Silence) in which a young child experienced a traumatic event, and after that she stopped speaking to anyone. Of course, it is also very possible someone cannot speak due to a physical inability to do so.

Selective mutism is when a person cannot speak in certain situations. For example, for Steffi in A Quiet Kind of Thunder, she can speak but only when she is in a small group of people she trusts - such as family members. At school she cannot speak due to social anxiety.

 

 

I read Buitenbeen by Dirk Bracke, and I liked that book. I looked him up, I had no idea he'd written so many books! Have you read anything by him?

 

I'd heard about mutism, but never about selective mutism. Very interesting!

 

I've read quite a few books by Dirk Bracke. He's very popular with young teenagers, which is my age when I read his books. I haven't read anything by him since then, though. So I mostly know Het Uur Nul (about aids), Het Engelenhuis (teenage prostitution/delinquency), Een lege brug (about autism and sexual abuse), Blauw is bitter (child prostitution), etc. As you can see, his books are typically about serious issues or struggles and he writes a story about it, which is a good way for teachers to bring up the subject in class. And he's a good writer, so the kids actually like reading the books. He also has a book about a deaf girl. I think the last book I read by him was Zij en haar, about a lesbian girl.

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39 minutes ago, Alexander the Great said:

I've read quite a few books by Dirk Bracke. He's very popular with young teenagers, which is my age when I read his books. I haven't read anything by him since then, though. So I mostly know Het Uur Nul (about aids), Het Engelenhuis (teenage prostitution/delinquency), Een lege brug (about autism and sexual abuse), Blauw is bitter (child prostitution), etc. As you can see, his books are typically about serious issues or struggles and he writes a story about it, which is a good way for teachers to bring up the subject in class. And he's a good writer, so the kids actually like reading the books. He also has a book about a deaf girl. I think the last book I read by him was Zij en haar, about a lesbian girl.

 

They sound like the kind of books I like! It looks like my library has several of those you mention, so I shall add them to my library list :).

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Over the past ~10 days I have been reading Aad van Toor - Moe, ik kan een salto! and Bas van Toor - Allememaggies!.

 

These are an autobiography and a memoir by two of my favourite childhood artists, they made TV series under the name Bassie & Adriaan (Wiki-link, I have mentioned them on this forum before, but that was a long time ago). Anyway, I really loved reading the autobiography and memoir of these two people (they're brothers). It was awesome to hear about their early life, their time as The Crocksons, their time on TV (children's TV series), behind-the-scenes stuff and after, and all these things. Aad van Toor's autobiography is just over 500 pages and contains a lot of content, so I enjoyed that one more than Bas van Toor's memoir (which is a lot shorter), though I liked that one as well. Both books have photographs in them, and I also enjoyed seeing these. I would recommend these books to any fan of Bassie & Adriaan or for those who remember them as The Crocksons (on their YouTube channel you can see some bits of their work). I felt really nostalgic reading these books and think I will be re-watching some of the TV series :).

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I read Ashley Mardell - The ABC's of LGBT+. It's a bit hard for me to review this book, but I have to say I found it very informative and interesting. The illustrations are nice too, as are the personal stories of the people littered throughout the book. I would recommend this book to anyone who wants to know more about LGBTQIA+ terms.

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I re-read Jacques Vriens (ill. Annet Schaap) - Het Achtste Groepie Tegen Het Soepie. I read this book many years ago when I was a child (and I've read it several times). I haven't re-read it in some time though, and it was nice to re-read it again :). It's about the two highest classes in primary school, who are fond of fighting with each other and who bully each other. It's kind of a tradition at this school but this year they're going quite far. The teachers and some kids want to stop it. We focus on a couple of children and I liked the characters. Anyway, I enjoyed re-reading this book.

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It's going up and down :). Some days I feel like reading, some days I don't.

 

I've been reading a couple of magazines too. Me either, it feels like time's gone by so fast! I hope you'll be able to get back to books soon :).

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September 2017 Summary

Books read: 14
Pages read: 3581

Genres:
Fantasy: 2 books
Contemporary Fiction: 9 books
Biographies: 2 books
Information: 1 book

Age Ranges:
Infants: 0 books
Children: 9 books
Young-Adult: 1 book
Adult: 4 books

TBR vs. R:
Re-reads: 8 books
New Reads: 6 books
Combination: 0 books

Most impressive / Favourite(s) of the month:
Sara Barnard - A Quiet Kind of Thunder
Aad van Toor - Moe, ik kan een salto!
Ashley Mardell - The ABC's of LGBT+
Bas van Toor - Allememaggies!
Rachel Renée Russell - Dork Diaries 1: Dork Diaries: Tales from a Not-So-Fabulous Life (re-read)
Liz Pichon - Tom Gates 1: The Brilliant World of Tom Gates (re-read)
Jim Smith - Simon Sukkel 1: Ik Ben (G)Een Loser (Barry Loser 1: I am (Not) a Loser)(re-read)
Lincoln Peirce - Big Nate 1: The Bog with the Biggest Head in the World (re-read)
Stephan Pastis - Timmy Failure 1: Mistakes Were Made (re-read)
Andy Griffiths and Terry Denton - Treehouse 1: The 13-Storey Treehouse (re-read)
Dee Shulman - Mijn Supergeheime Dagboek: Reality-tv: Een Nachtmerrie! (Polly Price's Totally Secret Diary: Reality TV Nightmare) (re-read)
Jacques Vriens - Het Achtste Groepie Tegen Het Soepie

Pretty enjoyable:
V. E. Schwab - Shades of Magic 2: A Gathering of Shadows

Somewhat enjoyable:
Nanda Roep (ill. Georgien Overwater) - Ch@tgrlz 2: Ch@tgrlz & -Boys

Disappointments / Least favourites of the month:
Krystal Sutherland - Our Chemical Hearts (abandoned)

Abandoned book:
Krystal Sutherland - Our Chemical Hearts (page 104 out of 316, ~33%)

Shortest books read this month:
Dee Shulman - Mijn Supergeheime Dagboek: Reality-tv: Een Nachtmerrie! (Polly Price's Totally Secret Diary: Reality TV Nightmare) (re-read) (128 pages)

Longest books read this month:
Aad van Toor - Moe, ik kan een salto! (504 pages)

Other Notes:
Still struggling with my reading slump!

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I'm calling it a slump based on how it feels. I've had some moments / hours of spare time, but in those times I often haven't felt like reading (which I would have normally done). It started in May when for some reason my brain wanted to read 10+ books at once, while I can only really cope with 1 book at once, 2 if one is an information book, if I must, but preferably just 1 at a time.

 

By comparison, last year and the year before I had some months where I read 30 or more books per month, many of them short children's books from the library, but also some longer adult and YA books.

 

The 9 children's books (of which 8 were re-reads) I (re-)read this month I probably all read in about an hour per book (they have lots of pictures etc), that's how long those kinds of books with lots of pictures usually take me. Aside from that I read 5 other books.

 

I'm calling it a slump based on how I've been feeling, and that I've had time to read, but I really didn't feel like reading, sometimes no book appealed to me, and because of that I have read quite a bit less books than in previous times.

 

Things like watching TV or interacting socially cost me a lot more energy than to read a book. When I'm a bit tired, I can often not watch anything anymore nor interact socially nor play a video game or anything like that. All I can do then, is read (or lie on my bed, or stare into space / the ceiling / the wall). It's the one thing that doesn't cost me so much energy to do (alternatively I like to have a shower, but I don't want to take more than one shower in a day). But I often haven't been feeling in the mood to read, instead just had to stare into space which feels like a waste and is not much fun (my ADD brain sometimes drives me crazy if I'm "not doing anything but thinking"). Other times I went and did things that were more tiring, because I didn't feel like reading, which in turn made me even more tired.
 

But I can understand that it may seem odd for someone else, who might not read more than 5 books in one month, or something like that. I didn't mean to seem arrogant in my post or anything, I'm sorry if I came across as that or if I made you feel bad. That was never my intention.

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It`s odd, isn`t it ; sometimes being able to tear through lots of books, and sometimes losing the ability to even read a few pages every day. ;(

 

Do you like having  baths as much as showers ? I haven`t had a bath in years ( a poorly back makes it awkward to get in and out of the tub) but I like showers and have an exciting range of shower gels to choose from. Currently, I`m into vanilla. :) 

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Have you tried changing the sorts of books you're reading?  I think we probably all have times when we can't really get motivated to read, and the last time I did that, I changed the level of reading: I found I'd been ripping through loads of easy reads, none of which actually engaged me very much and none of which actually made much of a mark.  I got stuck into a 'big' book (it was a Dickens), and that seemed to turn things round.  Equally, I've needed something light sometimes to alleviate feeling a bit overwhelmed by yet another 'serious' book. And so on.   Nowadays, I rarely read series of books at one go, or loads of books by one author, simply to try and sustain my enjoyment.  So, if you're reading a lot of children's and YA books, maybe something different? 

 

Another thing I tried which seemed to work on that occasion, was simply backing off reading altogether - not just books, but magazines, newspapers, even the internet - the lot!  After a couple of weeks of nothing, I was mentally screaming to get back into it!

Whatever, hope you get your mojo back soon.

 

 

Edited by willoyd
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I think @willoyd's suggestion is a good one :) 

 

I was really struggling from the middle of July through to August, and then I had my time in hospital so I had time to read but no real motivation. I got stuck into Lorna Doone, and while I only rated it a 3/5 and it took me ages to get through (I think it's around 700 pages paperback) I found it's really kick started my mojo. 

 

Before that I was trying shorter, easier reads and still taking ages to get through them! 

Edited by Alexi
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On 10/2/2017 at 10:57 AM, Lau_Lou said:

I find that when I have a reading slump, I dislike everything to do with books. 

Like you say, it depends on the person, and what the slump means to them.

 

Do you find re-reading books you've enjoyed in the past helps a lot?

 

Yes, I find that re-reading books sometimes helps me out of my slump :). Not always though, but sometimes. Last year in the summer I was in a reading slump, and re-reading The Midwife's Confession by Diane Chamberlain (a book I love), got me out of my slump (if I remember it correctly).

 

On 10/2/2017 at 1:07 PM, Madeleine said:

Oh no I didn't find it arrogant at all, just wondering how you found the time to read them all!  I appreciate some of them were short reads, but it's still a great total!

 

Thanks, I'm glad I didn't make you feel bad :).

 

On 10/2/2017 at 6:38 PM, Little Pixie said:

It`s odd, isn`t it ; sometimes being able to tear through lots of books, and sometimes losing the ability to even read a few pages every day. ;(

 

Do you like having  baths as much as showers ? I haven`t had a bath in years ( a poorly back makes it awkward to get in and out of the tub) but I like showers and have an exciting range of shower gels to choose from. Currently, I`m into vanilla. :) 

 

It's quite odd, yes :(.

 

I prefer showers, but on occasion I like having a bath. Most of the time I take showers, because I find it easier to wash my hair in the shower, than in the bath (my hair is long). But sometimes I have a bath. I also have several shower gels to pick from, I like to vary :).

 

On 10/3/2017 at 11:05 AM, willoyd said:

Have you tried changing the sorts of books you're reading?  I think we probably all have times when we can't really get motivated to read, and the last time I did that, I changed the level of reading: I found I'd been ripping through loads of easy reads, none of which actually engaged me very much and none of which actually made much of a mark.  I got stuck into a 'big' book (it was a Dickens), and that seemed to turn things round.  Equally, I've needed something light sometimes to alleviate feeling a bit overwhelmed by yet another 'serious' book. And so on.   Nowadays, I rarely read series of books at one go, or loads of books by one author, simply to try and sustain my enjoyment.  So, if you're reading a lot of children's and YA books, maybe something different? 

 

Another thing I tried which seemed to work on that occasion, was simply backing off reading altogether - not just books, but magazines, newspapers, even the internet - the lot!  After a couple of weeks of nothing, I was mentally screaming to get back into it!

Whatever, hope you get your mojo back soon.

 

Yeah I do try that, it's a good suggestion :). I do vary somewhat, since I find it hard to read several books by one author in a row, I quickly get author or series 'burnout'. So after reading a book of one genre, I usually switch to another genre (or at least, another author) for the next book. But I could read a genre (or type of book) that I don't often read, that's true :).

 

I've tried that too sometimes, though I don't think I could not read anything for a couple of weeks, usually not more than a couple of days if we include all kinds of reading. But I have had days or a week where I didn't read in any book for a while, but I do usually read something, ie. on the internet or a message on my phone from a family member.

 

On 10/3/2017 at 10:47 PM, Alexi said:

I think @willoyd's suggestion is a good one :) 

 

I was really struggling from the middle of July through to August, and then I had my time in hospital so I had time to read but no real motivation. I got stuck into Lorna Doone, and while I only rated it a 3/5 and it took me ages to get through (I think it's around 700 pages paperback) I found it's really kick started my mojo. 

 

Before that I was trying shorter, easier reads and still taking ages to get through them! 

 

I'm glad your mojo is better :).

 

On 10/3/2017 at 11:39 PM, Little Pixie said:

I'm heartened by how ' I don't feel like reading 'is met with shock, horror and International concern. ;)

 

Me too :D!

 

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I read Carry Slee - Timboektoe 1-4: Timboektoe Compleet, which consisted of:

 

Carry Slee - Timboektoe 1: See You in Timboektoe
Carry Slee - Timboektoe 2: 100% Timboektoe
Carry Slee - Timboektoe 3: Timboektoe rules!
Carry Slee - Timboektoe 4: Timboektoe rocks!

(total 816 pages)

 

The story is about a brother and a sister (they're teenagers) whose parents buy a campsite in France. I enjoyed reading these four books. It was good to read something Dutch again, too. The story involves a whole group of characters and there are several storylines going on in each book. A lot of the books I've read lately, were in first person, but these books were in third person and in past tense (and in Dutch), and it was good to read something a bit different (in terms of language at least).

 

As for what I'll read next, I'm not sure. I might try Willoyd's suggestion and not read in a book today.

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I didn't read for a day, then yesterday I read Simon Brett (ill. Tony Ross) - Dagboek van een Ettertje 1: Dagboek van een Ettertje (How to be a Little Sod 1: How to be a Little Sod). This is a 126-page book written from the point of view of a newborn baby, who wants to make life really difficult for the parents. I found the book to be humourous and I enjoyed reading it.

 

Not sure what book I'll read next, but we'll see. I might not read in any book today and then start something tomorrow.

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After spending a few days of not reading any book, I then re-read R. L. Stine - Kippenvel: Het Spookt Bij De Buren (Goosebumps: The Ghost Next Door). This was a short read, it only took me maybe about an hour to read this. It was nice to read it again. This is a horror book for children. I didn't find it as spooky as I would have liked, but perhaps that was because I knew the plot twists already.

 

I then read Loes den Hollander - Schijnvertoon, this is a literary thriller (according to the cover of the book). I found the first half to read more like literary fiction and not much of a thriller. However, prior to reading the book I had read a review of it which said this same thing, so I was expecting it and it therefore didn't bother me as much as it otherwise would have. For others, don't go in expecting a really suspenseful thriller, that's not what the book is like. The second half of the book is less slow paced and brings more tension and suspense, though still not as much as I've seen in some other thrillers (but this didn't bother me hugely as I'm not a huge fan of thrillers anymore though I did use to be when I was a teenager). I liked the writing style and the short chapters and I read this book pretty quickly, it was a quick read. Overall then it's not a book I'll remember much about 5 years from now, but it was definitely an enjoyable read and I liked it.

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