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Athena's Reading List 2019


Athena

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Book reviews of books I've read in the past ~30ish days:

 

 

Veronica Henry - A Night on the Orient Express

Enjoyable read but it had a bit too many different characters and storylines that didn't intersect as much as I'd hoped.


E. J. Copperman - Haunted Guesthouse Mystery 3: Old Haunts

Very enjoyable mystery that I read together with Sarah (Little Pixie).

 

Shawn Inmon - Halloween in Tangleton

Short horror story that came for free with the author's newsletter. Enjoyable but a bit predictable.

 

Natsuki Takaya - Fruits Basket 13: Volume 13
Natsuki Takaya - Fruits Basket 14: Volume 14

I enjoyed these 2 volumes in the Fruits Basket series, Volume 14 more than 13.


Peter F. Hamilton - The Commonwealth Saga 2: Judas Unchained (re-read)

After over a month, I finally finished re-reading Judas Unchained! I loved re-reading it, but am also happy to move on to some shorter books haha.


S. K. Ali - Love From A to Z

YA contemporary fiction with Own Voices Muslim representation (the author's 2nd novel). MS representation also. I loved this book, some of the themes it discusses are islamophobia, racism, grief, coming of age.


S. K. Ali - Saints and Misfits 1: Saints and Misfits

YA contemporary fiction, the author's debut novel. Own Voices Muslim rep. Themes of rape and sexual violence. The writing wasn't quite as polished as the author's second book, but it was still a really good read.

 

 

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  • 2 weeks later...

Thoughts on recently read books.

 

Sofie Hagen - Happy Fat

 

This is a memoir & information book about the author's life as a fat person, fatphobia and diet culture. I really liked this book and related to the author in some aspects.

 

Maggie Ann Martin - To Be Honest

A YA contemporary fiction book about a fat teenage girl whose mother is fatphobic. The mother participated in a weight loss reality TV show and since then has become different and is strict for her daughter. The main character's older sister, is just moving to college. I really enjoyed this book. I wish it'd gone on a bit beyond the ending.

 

Linda van Rijn - De jaarclub (& Plek 218)

A Dutch literary thriller. it's wintery, which is why I picked it to read now that the weather is getting colder etc. It was a nice read, but I felt it took a bit too long to get suspenseful and then it was somewhat quickly resolved / revealed whodunnit. Plek 218 is a short story that was in the end of my edition, and I found this story an enjoyable read.

 

Asten Clarke - Who Am I?: An Autism & BPD Story

This is a short, self-published memoir by an autistic author who also has BPD (borderline personality disorder). It was a pretty nice read, but I would've liked to hear more about BPD as I don't know lots about it. Some knowledge of autism and BPD recommended, I don't think the book would be as easy to follow if you don't know much about autism.

 

Kate Darbishire - Speechless

A middle-grade contemporary fiction book with a main character who has cerebral palsy. She is in a wheelchair. She hardly speaks and when she does it sounds weird to other people. She gets bullied at school and doesn't have any friends. Her mother ends up in the hospital and then her grandparents come to stay to take care of her and her older brother. Her father is away a lot for work. The grandparents don't know the children that well.

 

Henry Fraser - The Little Big Things

A memoir by Henry, who had an accident when he was 17, that made him paralysed from the shoulders down. He becomes a mouth artist, making paintings using his mouth to hold paintbrushes. It was a really interesting read.

 

A Note to those who are wondering why no video:

There currently is something going on with YouTube, the FTC and COPPA.

Link to Google Support

Link to news article

Google 'YouTube FTC COPPA' if you want to know more.

My video making is on hold until I know more about what does and doesn't count as "kids' content". If you set your videos as kids' content, you lose features like comments and likes. If you set your videos as "not for kids", you can be fined a lot of money per video if FTC or YouTube algorithms deem the video is for kids. What I would think, discussing middle-grade and children's books is kids' content, discussing YA and adult books is not. But it remains to be seen. YouTube has not yet responded much. A lot of creators are confused. I may have to leave YouTube altogether. All of this has me hugely stressed out. Anyway, so no videos until further notice.

 

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5 hours ago, muggle not said:

How many books have you read year to date. :)

 

201 books this year so far :). 48,362 pages. I'd like to get to 50,000(+) pages by the end of the year. But as ever, I'm also just reading what I feel like reading, so we will see.

 

Thank you for stopping by in my thread :)!

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Time to update with some recently read books! I could swear I had already written about the first few of these.. but it seems not.

 

Chimamanda Ngozi Adiche - We Should All Be Feminists

This was an interesting feminist read, though I substract a bit from the rating for the book just being focused on ciswomen/cismen, not taking trans people into account.


Chimamanda Ngozi Adiche - Dear Ijeawele: A Feminist Manifesto in Fifteen Suggestions

The author writes a letter to her sister about how to raise her daughter in a feminist way. It was a nice read.


Marie Lotte Hagen and Nydia van Voorthuizen - Damn, Honey

This is a short read for young-adult, that is feminist, which talks about various aspects. It was a really good read.

 

Marie Lotte Hagen and Nydia van Voorthuizen - Heb je nou al een vriend?

I loved this! Such a good feminist book about many things people say to womxn (anyone not a cis-man) and how to respond to it. It also talks about men and masculinity, the patriarchy, many studies/research that was done, the authors talk about many of their own experiences.


Scarlett Curtis & Others - Feministen Dragen Geen Roze En Andere Leugens (Feminists Don't Wear Pink And Other Lies)

This is a book with many essays (by many authors) to do with feminism. I read the Dutch translation of this, which adds some essays by Dutch feminists. I enjoyed this book a lot. I'm currently reading It's Not OK To Feel Blue and Other Lies by Scarlett Curtis & Others, a book with many essays (by many authors) on mental health.


Natsuki Takaya - Fruits Basket 15: Volume 15
Natsuki Takaya - Fruits Basket 16: Volume 16

It was nice to read the next 2 volumes of the Fruits Basket series (manga). I had intended to finish the series this year (I started it this year too), but since I skipped reading from this series for a couple of months (I skipped a read-a-thon, I read library loans for another), I'm kinda behind on that. But that's okay, I will just finish it next year :). The series is about the Sohma family, whose members are cursed with the Zodiac curse, they all connect to a Zodiac animal. Tohru Honda, a teenage girl who has lost her mother (and lost her father longer ago), has to live on her own. Several people of the Sohma family, invite her to live with them. She finds out more about the Zodiac curse as the books go on.


Hope Larson - All Summer Long

This is a middle-grade graphic novel about a girl. Her best friend is a boy (I am totally blanking on their names lol). He is becoming more distant and over the summer he is going to football camp. She feels lonely during this summer.


Megan McDonald (ill. Peter Reynolds) - Fleur Humeur 4: Fleur Humeur Voorspelt De Toekomst (Judy Moody 4: Judy Moody Predicts the Future)

I read Fleur Humeur 5 / Judy Moody 5 (Doctor Judy Moody) in 2018 and enjoyed it. A few months ago, I found another book in the series, at a library sale. I decided to read it for the previous BCF Read-a-thon (December). It was a nice read.

 

Tom Watson - Stick Dog 1: Stick Dog

This is an illustrated book about Stick Dog and his 4 friends, who want to eat a hamburger. It was funny, I enjoyed reading this story a lot.

 

Okay, that's caught me up so far! I'm currently reading It's Not OK To Feel Blue and Other Lies by Scarlett Curtis & Others; and Christmas 1: A Boy Called Christmas by Matt Haig.

 

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You've read loads in December so far! I'm glad you've enjoyed what you've read too :). Looking forward to hearing your thoughts on A Boy Called Christmas, I've heard good things about it and Matt Haig is an author I've been considering reading for a while.

 

I hope the youtube stuff isn't stressing you out too much either. I know a lot of people are having real problems with it. Hopefully they'll realise that they've just confused the majority of creators and sort something out soon.  

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10 hours ago, Hayley said:

You've read loads in December so far! I'm glad you've enjoyed what you've read too :). Looking forward to hearing your thoughts on A Boy Called Christmas, I've heard good things about it and Matt Haig is an author I've been considering reading for a while.

 

Thank you :)! I'm loving A Boy Called Christmas so far. I'll be sure to post my thoughts about it when I've finished it :) (my friend and I are reading about 40 pages a day and expect to be finished with it next Sunday).

 

10 hours ago, Hayley said:

I hope the youtube stuff isn't stressing you out too much either. I know a lot of people are having real problems with it. Hopefully they'll realise that they've just confused the majority of creators and sort something out soon.  

 

Thank you, I hope so too!

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  • 2 weeks later...

Two recently finished books:

 

Scarlett Curtis & Others - It's Not OK to Feel Blue & Other Lies

This is a book about mental health, with essays (about mental health) written by a variety of people. It's edited by Scarlett Curtis, the same person who edited Feminists Don't Wear Pink And Other Lies which I read earlier this month (see this post). This book about mental health was a really good read for me.

 

Matt Haig (ill. Chris Mould) - Christmas 1: A Boy Called Christmas

This was a really nice Christmassy read. I read it together with a friend. It's about a boy named Nikolas who lives in a cabin in the woods with his father. His father goes north to find evidence of the elves for the King, because he'll be paid a lot for that. Nikolas's aunt comes to live with him but she's horrible, so he runs away to try to find his father. The illustrations were nice too. This book was a nice, seasonal read to read a few weeks before Christmas :).

 

 

 

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Latest reads:

 

Justina Chen - Lovely, Dark, and Deep

This is a contemporary YA novel about a teenage girl who suddenly gets extremely sensitive to sunlight, and how she has to deal with that and change her life. There is a romance plot too. I really enjoyed reading this book.


Philip Pullman - His Dark Materials 1: The Golden Compass / The Northern Lights

I read this book together with a friend. This is a fantasy story that takes place in a kind of alternate England. It'd be a bit difficult to try to condense the synopsis, but I really loved reading this book and look forward to read the other two books, next year. I had previously seen the movie The Golden Compass but not read the book.


Daisy Bell - The Christmas Guest

An adorable and emotional read about a puppy who runs away from his abusive/neglectful home, and ends up with a family of 3, named Claire, Ben and Emily. Emily is Claire's and Ben's little girl and she's ill. The book is written from the point of view of the puppy who hopes he can stay with his newfound family.


C. G. Drews - The Boy Who Steals Houses 0.5: The Girl Who Steals Christmas

A free short story written by the author. It is a prequel and it is not necessary to have read any of the other works by the author. I loved both of her novels (A Thousand Perfect Notes, and, The Boy Who Steals Houses). This short story is about the DeLainey family celebrating Christmas.

 

There are a few days left in the year.. maybe I'll finish another book. We will see. I'm currently not reading any book, I just finished The Christmas Guest before dinner and then read The Girl Who Steals Christmas. May start a new book tomorrow, I'll see what I feel like doing with my (spare) time.

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18 hours ago, Athena said:

Latest reads:

 

Justina Chen - Lovely, Dark, and Deep

This is a contemporary YA novel about a teenage girl who suddenly gets extremely sensitive to sunlight, and how she has to deal with that and change her life. There is a romance plot too. I really enjoyed reading this book.


Philip Pullman - His Dark Materials 1: The Golden Compass / The Northern Lights

I read this book together with a friend. This is a fantasy story that takes place in a kind of alternate England. It'd be a bit difficult to try to condense the synopsis, but I really loved reading this book and look forward to read the other two books, next year. I had previously seen the movie The Golden Compass but not read the book.


Daisy Bell - The Christmas Guest

An adorable and emotional read about a puppy who runs away from his abusive/neglectful home, and ends up with a family of 3, named Claire, Ben and Emily. Emily is Claire's and Ben's little girl and she's ill. The book is written from the point of view of the puppy who hopes he can stay with his newfound family.


C. G. Drews - The Boy Who Steals Houses 0.5: The Girl Who Steals Christmas

A free short story written by the author. It is a prequel and it is not necessary to have read any of the other works by the author. I loved both of her novels (A Thousand Perfect Notes, and, The Boy Who Steals Houses). This short story is about the DeLainey family celebrating Christmas.

 

There are a few days left in the year.. maybe I'll finish another book. We will see. I'm currently not reading any book, I just finished The Christmas Guest before dinner and then read The Girl Who Steals Christmas. May start a new book tomorrow, I'll see what I feel like doing with my (spare) time.

I loved 'His Dark Materials' and was hoping to re-read the books this year, but never got the opportunity. Hope it can be on my reading goals for 2020. Happy New Year!

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11 minutes ago, karen.d said:

I loved 'His Dark Materials' and was hoping to re-read the books this year, but never got the opportunity. Hope it can be on my reading goals for 2020. Happy New Year!

 

I hope you can re-read the books next year! I'm planning to read the 2nd book together with a friend in Feb/March -ish. I suppose I'll read book 3 a while after that.

 

Happy New Year to you too!!

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  • 3 weeks later...

For whoever is interested, on my YouTube channel I created some videos regarding my statistics of my 2019 reading.

 

Part 1:

 

Part 2:

 

Part 3:

 

Part 4 will up be in 2 hours from when I'm writing this post.

 

Part 5 will be up in 1 day and 2 hours, from when I'm writing this post.

 

EDIT:

 

Part 4:

 

Part 5:

 

Edited by Athena
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