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Athena's Reading List 2019


Athena

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A couple of new reviews.

 

 

Meg Wolitzer - The Female Persuasion

I liked this book but I also had a couple of issues with it. The first chapter in particular, was hard to get through. The writing meandered quite a bit. But in the end I did enjoy reading most of this book (other than the first chapter).

 

 

Peter F. Hamilton - Night's Dawn 3: The Naked God (re-read)

I loved re-reading this book and finishing off the trilogy.

 

 

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2 recent reviews.

 

 

Cathy Hopkins - The Kicking the Bucket List

A nice but weepy chick-lit/rom-com book. It made me want to hug my loved ones close.

 

 

Loes den Hollander - Duivelspact

This was a pretty good psychological Dutch thriller. Even a few days after I finished it, I was thinking about it.

 

 

 

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I haven't caught up with all of your book reviews yet (and thus haven't commented yet!) , so I will watch your summary once I'm done. Looking forward to it. Your summaries give a book addict like me a proper analytical fix! :D

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Graphic works I read during the July BCF Read-a-thon:

 

 

Yoshitoki Oima - A Silent Voice 5: Volume 5

A nice continuation of the series, good volume! Ended on a bit of a cliffhanger.


Natsuki Takaya - Fruits Basket 7: Volume 7 (re-read)
Natsuki Takaya - Fruits Basket 8: Volume 8

I prefer volume 7 over volume 8.


Skottie Young - I Hate Fairyland 4: Sadly Never After

The ending confused me. I liked the rest of it though.


Nagata Kabi - My Lesbian Experience with Loneliness 2: My Solo Exchange Diary 1
Nagata Kabi - My Lesbian Experience with Loneliness 3: My Solo Exchange Diary 2

I liked these two manga memoirs.

 

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A review of The Core by Peter V. Brett, book 5 in the Demon Cycle quintet. I also read The Great Bazaar & Brayan's Gold, and Messenger's Legacy.

 

 

It was enjoyable to read the conclusion to this series. The Demon Cycle is an adult fantasy series that contains quite a bit of gore and some sex. Every night the demons come and attack the humans. Arlen, living on a farm with his parents, wants to fight back rather than hide inside. I read the first book in this series in 2012, so it's been a long time and I couldn't quite remember some things when I started on The Core. It's definitely better for me to read the books once all (or most) are out. Anyway, I enjoyed reading this series.

 

 

 

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I thought I'd commented about the January-June reading summary but clearly I forgot to press 'submit reply'! I blame the recent heat...

 

I find the organisation of your charts really satisfying to watch. I wish I could see my own reading that way but I know I wouldn't be able to keep track of everything properly! 

 

I have thought of reading the Demon Cycle series so it's really interesting to see your review of the whole series! Very glad it was spoiler free too :lol:.

I really like the idea that you get too see backgrounds of different characters from different cultures as the books progress. I think I'll keep a look out for the first one!

 

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9 minutes ago, Hayley said:

 

I find the organisation of your charts really satisfying to watch. I wish I could see my own reading that way but I know I wouldn't be able to keep track of everything properly! 

 

I

 

Me too! I definitely would like to be more organized with my reading, but it doesn't work out that way. I'm going over to YouTube, to catch up on all of your videos.

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15 hours ago, Hayley said:

I thought I'd commented about the January-June reading summary but clearly I forgot to press 'submit reply'! I blame the recent heat...

 

It was really hot! I don't blame you :friends3:.

 

15 hours ago, Hayley said:

I find the organisation of your charts really satisfying to watch. I wish I could see my own reading that way but I know I wouldn't be able to keep track of everything properly!

 

Thank you so much :)!!

 

15 hours ago, Hayley said:

I have thought of reading the Demon Cycle series so it's really interesting to see your review of the whole series! Very glad it was spoiler free too :lol:.

I really like the idea that you get too see backgrounds of different characters from different cultures as the books progress. I think I'll keep a look out for the first one!

 

Thank you :)!! I hope you find it some time for a nice price and that you enjoy it if you decide to buy and read it :).

 

14 hours ago, karen.d said:

Me too! I definitely would like to be more organized with my reading, but it doesn't work out that way. I'm going over to YouTube, to catch up on all of your videos.

 

Thank you so much Karen!! How have you been? I noticed you hadn't been posting much. I hope things are okay with you and yours :hug:.

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The latest book review is of E. J. Copperman - Haunted Guesthouse Mystery 2: An Uninvited Ghost, I read this book together with Sarah (Little Pixie). It was an enjoyable read with some unexpected twists!

 

 

 

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27 minutes ago, Athena said:

.

 

 

Thank you so much Karen!! How have you been? I noticed you hadn't been posting much. I hope things are okay with you and yours :hug:.

Hi, I'm fine, haven't really posted too much lately, but I hope to get back to posting on here. Also, thanks for visiting my blog, I am still trying to figure out how blogging thing works!

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11 minutes ago, karen.d said:

Hi, I'm fine, haven't really posted too much lately, but I hope to get back to posting on here. Also, thanks for visiting my blog, I am still trying to figure out how blogging thing works!

 

:friends3:

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Reviews of the books I read last week:

 

 

Here's the list of books mentioned:

 

Yoshitoki Oima - A Silent Voice 6: Volume 6
Yoshitoki Oima - A Silent Voice 7: Volume 7
Edward van de Vendel (ill. Floor de Goede, Ype + Willem) - Sofie en de Pinguïns 1: Sofie en de Pinguïns
Craig Holden Feinberg and Dale Petersen - The Little Book of Shocking Food Facts
Prunella Bat - Milla & Sugar 2: Een Fee Uit Duizenden (Milla & Sugar 2: Una Fata Su Un Millione)
Tania Lacy and Danielle McDonald - Tracy Lacy 1: Tracy Lacy is compleet kierewiet!!! (Tracy Lacy 1: Tracy Lacy is Completely Coo-Coo Bananas!!!)
Chris Riddell - Goth Girl 4: Goth Girl and the Sinister Symphony
Ans Ettma-Essler - ADD: Verdwalen in een hoofd vol prikkels
Yvonne Jagtenberg - De Fantastische Max van Mars
Mathilda Masters and Georgien Overwater - De Keukenprins van Mocano 4: De Grote Ontsnapping

 

I'm continuing reading my library loans :).

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  • 2 weeks later...

A couple of recent book reviews.

 

 

Sigrid Landman - Chaos met Autisme

I really liked this autism memoir. The author is autistic and is the mother of an autistic daughter. She also has an autistic husband (the author, not the daughter).

I liked it so much that I ordered the other books this author has written.

 

 

H. N. Kowitt - De Loserlijst 3: Afgang (The Loser List 3: Jinx of the Loser)

This was a nice read, but nothing spectacular.


Anna Ruhe (ill. Claudia Carls) - De Magische Apotheek 1: Er hangt een geheim in de lucht (Die Duftapotheke 1: Ein Geheimnis liegt in der Luft)

I had a bit of trouble getting into this book, but once I was into it, I really enjoyed it.


David O'Connell (ill. Claire Powell) - The Dundoodle Mysteries 1: The Chocolate Factory Ghost

This was a nice children's adventure book with fantastical elements.


Simone Kortsmit - Turntoppers 1: Nikki op Turnkamp
Simone Kortsmit - Turntoppers 3: Gymroddels

I enjoyed book 3 more than book 1, but both were good. I'd like to find book 2 at the library some time.


Frank Cottrell Boyce (ill. Steven Lenton) - The Astounding Broccoli Boy

This was really good! Funny and a nice read!

 

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Liesbeth Smit - Ik moet nog even kijken of ik kan

A Dutch book about introverts. I'm not 100% satisfied with the above book review, but I wasn't sure how to improve it. I liked the book and it made me think, and I liked feeling the recognition. The tips were good but I didn't really need them as because of my autism and ADD I severely have to limit my input signals intake, which I've been doing for some time now. The book was a nice read.

 

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  • 2 weeks later...

Whoops, as per usual I forgot to update this with my recent book reviews.

 

 

Mirjam Mous - Test.

A good YA thriller taking place in the UK by a Dutch author. Suspenseful. One scene featured violence against animals and I had to skim that one.

 

Buddy Tegenbosch - Oog om Oog

An excellent read, YA by a Dutch author, mental health, great characters and great location. Nicely written, I loved this one.

 

Buddy Tegenbosch - Livestream

YA thriller that takes place in New York, written by a Dutch author. Suspenseful.

 

 

Leigh Bardugo - De Kraaien 1: List & Leugens (Six of Crows 1: Six of Crows)
Leigh Bardugo - De Kraaien 2: Kraai & Koninkrijk (Six of Crows 2: Crooked Kingdom)

This series has been so hyped. I enjoyed reading the books but I also had a couple of things I liked less about the books. I loved the characters and plot twists.

 

(note: I've changed the thumbnail to the right one, but it's not showing up yet.)

 

Helena Fox - How it Feels to Float

I really enjoyed this YA contemporary fiction story by an Australian author about mental health with #OwnVoices for that as well as #OwnVoices LGBT elements. A teenage girl lost her father when she was 7, yet she sees him and talks with him. Grief is a theme in this book.

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  • 2 weeks later...

 

All Out, edited by Saundra Mitchell and contains short stories by: Anna-Marie McLemore, Natalie C. Parker, Nilah Magruder, Mackenzi Lee, Robin Talley, Malinda Lo, Dahlia Adler, Kate Scelsa, Scott Tracey, Tess Sharpe, Alex Sanchez, Kody Keplinger, Sara Farizan, Tessa Gratton, Shaun David Hutchinson, Tehlor Kay Mejia.

A queer YA historical fiction anthology. There were some stories I loved, some I didn't like and some that were just okay. So, a mixed bag, which is the usual case with anthologies. Historical fiction isn't my favourite genre. I liked that each of the stories started off with saying what time period it takes place in, as well as the place/town/country name.

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Natsuki Takaya - Fruits Basket Volume 9
Natsuki Takaya - Fruits Basket Volume 10

Nice to continue the series. Sometimes the amount of characters gets a bit overwhelming.


Nicole Melleby - Hurricane Season

Absolutely loved this middle-grade book with themes of mental health and LGBT elements. Fig lives with her dad, who is mentally ill. The book is also about art and music, Fig's dad is a pianist but he hasn't given any concerts for years. She starts to read about Van Gogh and his art, in order to understand her dad, who is an artist (but then with music).


Victoria Jamieson - Roller Girl

This was a nice middle-grade graphic novel about a girl who gets into roller derby, and it's also about friendship. I didn't know much about roller derby so aside from enjoyable, this was also an educational read for me.


Nick Sousakis - Unflattening

This non-fiction graphic work is what the author used as this thesis/research for his study. It's a philosophical exploration of certain ways of thinking. It's kind of hard to explain this book. I felt like some of it went over my head, though that could have been, because I was really tired when I read this book.


Shannon Hale and LeUYEN Pham - Real Friends 2: Best Friends

The sequel to Real Friends, though you don't necessarily need to read that one in order to read this one. Best Friends is a middle-grade graphic novel about friendship between girls and being popular.


Stan Lee, Peter David and Colleen Doran - Amazing Fantastic Incredible

This is Stan Lee's memoir, it's a graphic memoir, drawn in comic book style. I really liked this a lot. It has some humour in it too.


Edgar Cantero - Meddling Kids

This book had a really cool premise (a group of children and their dog used to solve mysteries. Now, as adults, the group returns to their childhood town, to solve a mystery they previously thought was solved, but wasn't.), but unfortunately I did not like this book. I didn't jive with the writing, there were some odd choices regarding the writing and the plot was different than I thought it was going to be. I did like some of the twists, and the LGBT elements, though one LGBT element was not well done. I don't recommend this book.

 

I'm currently re-reading Peter F. Hamilton - Commonwealth Saga 1: Pandora's Star, which is a huge book. It's taking me a while to get through it, though I am enjoying it a lot.

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  • 4 weeks later...

On top of my head, I'd list these 3:

 

Bianca Toeps - Maar je ziet er helemaal niet autistisch uit (autism memoir)

Elise Cordaro - Anders gaat ook (autism memoir)

Nicole Melleby - Hurricane Season (middle-grade contemporary fiction story involving mental health)

 

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Some thoughts on the books I read during the past ~30 days. I went on holiday so I read some books on my Kindle, as well as some paperbooks.

 

Video 1 (Note: the second half of the video is me talking about my YouTube channel).

 

 

Books mentioned:

 

Peter F. Hamilton - Commonwealth Saga 1: Pandora's Star (re-read)

I really enjoyed re-reading this adult epic space opera hard science-fiction book. Book 1 in a duology, I'm currently re-reading book 2.


Susan Hatler - Kissed by the Bay 6: All About That Kiss

I enjoyed reading this romance book. I wanted to read book 7 in the series as well, but somehow something is wrong with the (international) file (namely that it contains completely the wrong book). I've reported it to Amazon but as far as I can tell, I don't think it's fixed yet.

 

A. C. Buchanan - This Other World

Science-fiction short story about an autistic woman living on an alien planet as an immigrant.

 

Jay Bell - Like & Subscribe

Short story, m/m romance. It was a nice read.


Jay Bell - Language Lessons

Short story, m/m romance. Liked this one a bit less than Like & Subscribe.


Ada Hoffmann - Fairest of All

Free short story:

http://futurefire.net/2019.50/fiction/fairest.html

I absolutely loved this. It's a magical, beautiful story with autistic characters and I loved it.


Josine Bouwmans, Ina van Berckelaer-Onnes, Sander Begeer - Autisme en ADHD in een Persoon

An autism and ADHD memoir, I liked it but wished it was longer.


Shawn Inmon - Rock 'n Roll Summer

Free piece through the author's newsletter, about a summer and a concert festival the author went to when he was younger.


Shawn Inmon - One Last Stop

Free short story through the author's newsletter, about a trucker and a girl in a bar.


C. G. Drews - The Boy Who Steals Houses

YA contemporary fiction about two autistic teenager brothers and found families. Because their father abuses them, and later on their aunt abuses them, they decide to run away from home. I loved this book so much.


Elise Cordaro - Anders gaat ook

Autism ADHD memoir. I pre-ordered this in March, it came out in September. I really loved this book. Very recognisable and the author also had some interesting tips and advice.


Brandon Sanderson - Dreamer

Short story that is kind of weird to describe without giving too much away. It was okay, wasn't a big fan.


Vanessa Greene - Summer Evenings at the Seafront Hotel

Short rom-com story about a girl who works as a receptionist at a hotel, it was enjoyable.


Hanneke Hendrix - De Verjaardagen

A Dutch author's debut novel about two misfits/outcasts who live in the same small village. Boris has a tendency to destroy things, Lies has a skin disease and because of that wears bandages. I really liked most of the book but I wasn't so keen on the ending.

 

Video 2, the books I read during the BCF October 2019 read-a-thon:

 

 

Books mentioned:

 

Natsuki Takaya - Fruits Basket 11: Volume 11

Natsuki Takaya - Fruits Basket 12: Volume 12

The next 2 volumes in the Fruits Basket manga series. I loved volume 11, volume 12 was good but not as good as 11.


Ann M. Martin, Gale Galligan, Braden Lamb - The Baby-Sitters Club Graphic Novels 7: Boy-Crazy Stacey

The newest Baby-Sitters Club graphic novel, based on the novel Boy-Crazy Stacey. It was an enjoyable, nostalgic read.


Alice Oseman - Heartstopper 2: Volume 2

A YA m/m romance graphic novel (the author releases pages on the Tumblr page for free, but I wanted to read the paperbook). I loved this volume, just like the first one. I love Nick and Charlie's relationship.


Raina Telgemeier - Smile 3: Guts

Book 3 in the author's graphic memoir series. Guts takes place when Raina is in middle-school. She has an upset stomach and at first thinks it's a virus/bug. But she keeps having an upset stomach. Great mental health representation. I really enjoyed this one.

 

I'm currently re-reading Peter F. Hamilton - Commonwealth Saga 2: Judas Unchained and I also started to read Veronica Henry - A Night on the Orient Express today, together with a friend from BookTube.

 

Thanks for stopping by in my thread! I hope you are doing well too!

 

 

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  • 2 weeks later...

I'm glad you enjoyed the majority of the books you reviewed. How annoying that the 7th Kissed by the Bay download gave you the wrong book though! I hope they'll fix that soon so you can read it.

I forgot, until you mentioned it, that Humble Bundle do books. When I discovered Humble Bundle I didn't have a kindle, so I didn't really pay that much attention to the books (I have used it a few times for games though). I'll have to have a look at the book section now, so thanks for mentioning it :lol:.

 

I know the second part of that video is mostly aimed at other booktubers, but I just wanted to say that you definitely shouldn't feel like you have to put all your time and energy into watching other peoples videos, especially when they aren't doing the same for you. Even for people whose videos you really like, who are your friends and so you want to support them, they would understand if you don't have the energy to watch all of their videos for a while. And, if they don't, they aren't very good friends. And you deserve good friends!

 

Your read-a-thon graphic novels all look really nice. I like the cover for Guts, it's so simple but effective! The American school years (or grades) always really confuses me too. I can also never tell how old people are meant to be when they talk about being in college in America, it seems to be very different to here.  

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13 hours ago, Hayley said:

I'm glad you enjoyed the majority of the books you reviewed. How annoying that the 7th Kissed by the Bay download gave you the wrong book though! I hope they'll fix that soon so you can read it.

 

Actually the author contacted me when she saw my video and fixed it! So I hope to be reading it soon :).

 

13 hours ago, Hayley said:

I forgot, until you mentioned it, that Humble Bundle do books. When I discovered Humble Bundle I didn't have a kindle, so I didn't really pay that much attention to the books (I have used it a few times for games though). I'll have to have a look at the book section now, so thanks for mentioning it :lol:.

 

Not all of their book bundles are as interesting to me, but sometimes one can find some gems :). Other times it is non-fiction programming books or something like that, which I'm not as interested in. I'm subscribed to their newsletter so I get an email for every new bundle.

 

13 hours ago, Hayley said:

I know the second part of that video is mostly aimed at other booktubers, but I just wanted to say that you definitely shouldn't feel like you have to put all your time and energy into watching other peoples videos, especially when they aren't doing the same for you. Even for people whose videos you really like, who are your friends and so you want to support them, they would understand if you don't have the energy to watch all of their videos for a while. And, if they don't, they aren't very good friends. And you deserve good friends!

 

Thank you so much :friends3:!!

 

13 hours ago, Hayley said:

Your read-a-thon graphic novels all look really nice. I like the cover for Guts, it's so simple but effective! The American school years (or grades) always really confuses me too. I can also never tell how old people are meant to be when they talk about being in college in America, it seems to be very different to here.  

 

Guts was a great read! I love the cover too. Yes, that's so confusing! Glad to hear I'm not the only one who gets confused with it.

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