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Athena's Reading List 2020


Athena

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Alice Peterson - A Song For Tomorrow

This book is adult contemporary fiction, based on an actual person. The book is about Alice, who has CF and wants to be a singer. I really enjoyed this book. The CF representation seems much better than in Five Feet Apart (see an earlier post in this thread). I loved the characters, the plot, the writing. The book is written from 3 perspectives. Alice's perspective is in first person present tense. Tom's perspective is in third person present tense. And Mary's perspective is in diary form (first person also). Mary is Alice's mother, Tom meets Alice near the beginning of the book. I loved this book, I thought it was really good. I didn't know much about the actual Alice, so the book was more of a surprise to me (though of course, I don't know how much of it is fiction).

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Lizzie Huxley-Jones (editor), Gemma Williams, Rachael Lucas, Kerima Çevik, Amelia Wells, Tjallien De Witte, Nell Brown, Robert Shepherd, C. F. Prior, Megan Rhiannon, Grace Au, Reese Piper, Ashleigh J. Mills, Helen Carmichael, Katherine Kingsford, Tristan Alice Nieto, Agri Ismaïl, Laura James, Waverly SM - Stim: An Autistic Anthology

This is an anthology of things written by autistic people. There are both fictional pieces and non-fictional pieces. I really enjoyed all of the pieces, except the very first one.


Emma Smith-Barton - The Million Pieces of Neena Gill

This is a YA contemporary novel about a British-Pakistani female teenager living in Britain, whose brother disappeared about 10 months ago. The novel is a lot about mental health and grief. I really liked it.


Philip Pullman - His Dark Materials 3: The Amber Spyglass

Book 3 in the fantasy middle-grade series (though some might say it's not middle-grade but younger YA instead?). I really liked this ending to the series, I buddy read it with 3 friends and we all really liked the book.


Gail Honeyman - Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine

I was a bit hesistant to go into this book because @karen.d DNFed it (I'm not sure if/when she'll see this). But then this month (May) is mental health month and several people I know were reading the book. So I decided to try it too.

I really liked this book, but I struggled with the word usage in the beginning. As someone whose first language isn't English, the book used quite a few words that were unfamiliar to me. A few times I stopped and looked things up, other times I did not as doing so does take you out of the story. After the slower beginning (to me!), I got more used to the word use and was also able to read a bit more / being able to concentrate better. The book's ending surprised me. Overall I'm glad I read it because I really enjoyed the book.

 

 

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  • 2 weeks later...
On 5/20/2020 at 10:38 AM, Athena said:

Lizzie Huxley-Jones (editor), Gemma Williams, Rachael Lucas, Kerima Çevik, Amelia Wells, Tjallien De Witte, Nell Brown, Robert Shepherd, C. F. Prior, Megan Rhiannon, Grace Au, Reese Piper, Ashleigh J. Mills, Helen Carmichael, Katherine Kingsford, Tristan Alice Nieto, Agri Ismaïl, Laura James, Waverly SM - Stim: An Autistic Anthology

This is an anthology of things written by autistic people. There are both fictional pieces and non-fictional pieces. I really enjoyed all of the pieces, except the very first one.


Emma Smith-Barton - The Million Pieces of Neena Gill

This is a YA contemporary novel about a British-Pakistani female teenager living in Britain, whose brother disappeared about 10 months ago. The novel is a lot about mental health and grief. I really liked it.


Philip Pullman - His Dark Materials 3: The Amber Spyglass

Book 3 in the fantasy middle-grade series (though some might say it's not middle-grade but younger YA instead?). I really liked this ending to the series, I buddy read it with 3 friends and we all really liked the book.


Gail Honeyman - Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine

I was a bit hesistant to go into this book because @karen.d DNFed it (I'm not sure if/when she'll see this). But then this month (May) is mental health month and several people I know were reading the book. So I decided to try it too.

I really liked this book, but I struggled with the word usage in the beginning. As someone whose first language isn't English, the book used quite a few words that were unfamiliar to me. A few times I stopped and looked things up, other times I did not as doing so does take you out of the story. After the slower beginning (to me!), I got more used to the word use and was also able to read a bit more / being able to concentrate better. The book's ending surprised me. Overall I'm glad I read it because I really enjoyed the book.

 

 

I'm glad you liked this book, even though it wasn't my cup of tea. Maybe I should give it another go sometime.

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5 hours ago, karen.d said:

I'm glad you liked this book, even though it wasn't my cup of tea. Maybe I should give it another go sometime.

 

If you do, I hope you enjoy it. If you decide not to, I get it, there are plenty more nice books out there!

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Some recently read books.


Tommie Niessen - Tommie in de zorg
This is a Dutch memoir written by a health care worker. I'm not sure exactly how to translate his job title into English. He works mostly with elderly people, he visits them at home and helps them with various things. My mum was given this book through her work (she works in health care, at a health care organisation), and after she read it, she gave it to me. I really enjoyed reading this book. Tommie sounds like a really nice person and you can tell he really cares about people.


Adam Kay - This is Going to Hurt 1: This is Going to Hurt
This is a memoir written by someone who was a junior doctor with the NHS, in the UK. It's really funny and also insightful. There's quite a bit of medical knowledge in the book that the author explains with footnotes. An amazing read.

 

Eoin Colfer - Artemis Fowl 2: De Russische Connectie (The Arctic Incident) (buddy read)
I read book 2 in the series, together with someone else. I enjoyed this book, but not quite as much as the first one. The main thing is though, is that I did not enjoy the reading experience as much. This is not the fault of the story. What it is, is that I bought my copy of the book second-hand at a second-hand shop. It turns out, that most likely, the previous owner had a cat, because I had an asthma attack when I read the first quarter of the book. I put the book in the freezer after that. Because this was a book I buddy read together with someone else, I took the book out of the freezer to read the chapters for each day on that day, and put it back after. Gladly my allergies were less bad then, but still noticable unfortunately. I've never had this happen before with a second-hand book, hopefully it won't happen again. But from now on any second-hand books I buy, may be spending 24h in the freezer first when I get back home after purchasing.

 

Adam Kay - This is Going to Hurt 2: Twas the Nightshift Before Christmas
This was a nice read, not quite as funny and interesting as his first memoir, but a bit more of the same. Still, it was a nice read.


Juno Dawson with Dr. Olivia Hewitt (ill. Gemma Correll) - Mind Your Head
This is an information book about mental health written for teenagers (so YA). It has nice illustrations too. I didn't learn a lot of new information (but then I haven't been a teenager for some time), but I did find it a nice read.

 

Maia Kobabe, Phoebe Kobabe - Gender Queer
This is a graphic memoir, the author is gender queer. I loved this.

 

Megan McDonald (ill. Peter Reynolds) - Fleur Humeur 1: Fleur Humeur (Judy Moody 1: Judy Moody)
I've read books 5 and 4 in the series (in that order), and found book 1 a couple of months ago second-hand. It was nice to read this first book, it was a nice read. It's a series written for children, maybe 7ish years old?? It's younger than middle-grade (8-12 year olds). You don't need to read the books in order, they are sort of standalone stories with the same characters.

 

K. Ancrum - The Wicker King 1: The Wicker King
K. Ancrum - The Wicker King 1.5: The Legend of the Golden Raven

This is a YA novel, The Wicker King. The Legend of the Golden Raven is part of the book told from another character's perspective. I really liked The Wicker King. I've read The Weight of the Stars by the same author, which I really liked. The Wicker King is her debut novel. It's a bit hard to explain this book. It's about two teenage boys who are friends, and one of them starts seeing this fantasy world. It has mental health rep, and I loved how the pages slowly get darker as the character struggles more and more to live his life. The Legend of the Golden Raven was just an okay read, but, it was free, so, I figure why not. I had heard from others that it didn't add a lot, which I agree with. But I thought since it was free I'd give it a go, and I don't regret that. I would not pay money for it, so am glad it was free, but it was an allright read giving a bit more insight.

 

Holly Goldberg Sloan and Meg Wolitzer - To Night Owl From Dogfish
This is a middle-grade novel about two girls. Their dads are dating (each girl is a single child who lives with her dad). They haven't met and live two states apart (they live in the United States). The girls start emailing with each other, one girl emails the other about their dads being together and neither one of them likes that. The dads want to send their respective daughters to the same summer camp, to make them get along because they may be a family in the future. The whole book is emails and letters. This was a really good read. I liked the characters and the story went into directions I was surprised by.

 

Deirdre Beneken Genaamd Kolmer, Loes den Hollander, Annelies Bast & Others - Momenten van... : Verhalen over vroeger
My mum was given this book through work and after reading gave it to me. This is a book with stories of the past, written by various people and accompanied with older photos. Some of it is written in prose, there are a few poetry pieces / poems too. This was a nice read, some pieces were more interesting than others to me, but I liked it overall.

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  • 3 weeks later...

Thoughts on books read recently, or rather, I read almost all of them during the BCF June read-a-thon, and the first one I finished early in the month, on one of the first few days of June. I've not done much reading in the past week. Instead I've been packing some of my book collection into boxes, and unpacking them at the new house and creating various book piles on the floor (so many..! haha). Some of the books are on bookshelves, but most of my bookshelves are still in my old room. I'm taking a break today from packing books in boxes.

 

Bethany Rutter - No Big Deal

YA contemporary fiction about a teenage white fat girl who is trying to find love. Her mother isn't supportive of her and her size and is on a diet and wants her daughter to be on a diet with her. Bethany is happy with herself and her size, but some of the people around her, are not. I really liked this book.

 

Now we get to the BCF June Read-a-thon reads. I'm going to be very brief here because.. there are a lot of them and I'm tired from last week's efforts.


Ann M. Martin and Katy Farina (col. Braden Lamb) - Baby-Sitters Little Sister Graphic Novel 1: Karen's Witch

I really liked this graphic novel adaptation of the original novel. I wasn't a huge fan of the size of the people's heads in comparison to their bodies, it's not an artstyle I usually like (that element I mean). But I enjoyed reading this and the art and colouring was pretty.


Robin Ha - Almost American Girl

A very impressive graphic memoir about a teenage girl from South Korea whose mother takes her, without warning, to the US to live there.


Ruby Elliott - It's All Absolutely Fine

A collection of the author's comics, focused on the author's mental health. There is a lot of humour in this book. I really liked this so much. It reminded me of Allie Brosh's Hyperbole and a Half, which is a book I love.


Jen Wang (col. Lark Pien) - Stargazing

This is a graphic novel about a girl called Christine living in a Chinese-American community in the US. A new family moves close to her. Moon is a girl that people tell rumours about. Christine is wary of Moon but her mum asks her to try to become friends with Moon.


Rainbow Rowell and Faith Erin Hicks (col. Sarah Stern) - Pumpkinheads

A graphic novel about two teenagers who work at a pumpkinpatch. This year it is their last year that they have this job, because then they move on to college / university etc. Deja, a black fat girl, and Josiah a thin white boy, have been friends for years, but only see each other during the times that they work at the pumpkinpatch. They work together at the same.. shop thingy (I can't remember the name whoops). Josiah has had a crush on this girl who works at a different part of the pumpkinpatch, and Deja is urging him to, for this last time that they work there, try to talk to the girl, before he moves away and might not see her again. This was a nice graphic novel.


Kayla Miller (add. col. Katherine Efird) - Olive 1: Click
Kayla Miller (add. col. Miguel Co) - Olive 2: Camp

This are two graphic novels about a girl called Olive. The first one is about a theatre performance show her school is doing. The second is about when she goes to summer camp. They were nice reads.


Jennifer L. Holm and Matthew Holm (col. Lark Pien) - Sunny 1: Sunny Side Up
Jennifer L. Holm and Matthew Holm (col. Lark Pien) - Sunny 2: Swing It, Sunny

This is two graphic novels (and it turns out there is a third I didn't know about) about a girl called Sunny. In the first one, she gets send to spend a while with her grandfather who lives in a retirement home. There is a reason for that, but that'd be a spoiler.


Catherine Hapka - Plants vs. Zombies: Save Your Brains!

This is a short book intended for children who are learning to read. I love the original game Plants vs Zombies so that's why I picked this up.


Peter Bently and Steven Lenton - Cruella and Cadpig

A short picture book in mini format released for World Book Day (is that what it's called? I'm trying to remember). It's based on The Hundred and One Dalmatians (in the sense that it involves characters of that). It was an okay read.


Alex T. Smith - Claude: Best in Show

Again a short mini picture book released for World Book Day, it was a nice read.


Mike Brownlow and Simon Rickerty - Ten Little Bookworms

Another World Book Day release.. and with the cute bookworms on the cover how could I not get this haha. This was a nice and cute read.


Thanhha Lai - Inside Out & Back Again

This is a novel told in verse, about a girl living in Vietnam. She and her family are forced to flee when the Vietnam War gets close to their home. The novel is based on the author's experiences when she had to flee Vietnam and go to the US as a ten-year-old girl. I loved this book, it was really good.

 

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14 hours ago, karen.d said:

I've heard people on YouTube mention 'Pumpkinheads' and it looks interesting. After reading 'The Arrival' by Shaun Tan, I'm definitely interested in getting into graphic novels.

 

I'm putting The Arrival on my wishlist :D!

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1 hour ago, Athena said:

 

I'm putting The Arrival on my wishlist :D!

 

It's fantastic on many levels! The illustrations are beautiful.

 

'The Lost Thing' is also really cute too.

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Some thoughts on recent reads.

 

Peter F. Hamilton - Chronicle of the Fallers 1: The Abyss Beyond Dreams

I started reading this book sometime in May, and finished it partway through June. I mostly really enjoyed this book. It was a new-to-me read, and I look forward to read book 2 to finish off the duology, later this year. Now I love Hamilton's book and he is one of my favourite science-fiction authors. I really enjoyed the plot twists in this book, and those times when something just clicked and I was like.. oooh now things make sense!

One thing that I noticed though, is something that I noticed with Hamilton's earlier books as well. This one was published in 2014. With his earlier works, say from the 1980s and 1990s, I found it more excusable, but I would hope the author would start to do better soon. The thing is that the author uses the white-is-default trope. A character's skin colour is usually only mentioned in his books, if it is non-white. With a lot of the characters the skin colour is not mentioned, and then on occasion it is and it turns out it's white. We need this 'othering' of people of colour to stop.

Also most of his main characters in his books (that I've read) are usually white, not all of them (for example, Ozzie is Black, Paula has some Asian features, etc). But if you go out of your way to describe the skin colour or features of (side) characters who are darker-skinned, then you should, in my opinion, also mention the skin colour of the main characters who are white.

I don't know if the author is aware of it (if not, I hope he becomes aware of it soon, but maybe he already has since I haven't read anything newer than his 2014 book..), but I hope the author would change this aspect of his stories soon.. because I couldn't help but find it a bit grating/painful every time it happened in this book (and it stood out to me more so, because of the current times in the world, with the Black Lives Matter movement being much more spoken about and on social media and in the news. I'm educating myself and trying to understand things more and more).


Eoin Colfer - Artemis Fowl 3: De eeuwige code (The Eternity Code)

This was book 3 in the Artemis Fowl series, and I buddy read it with my friend again. We both really liked this book. I'm glad the reading experience was much better for me, than the one I had with book 2 (with the book I had called the 'cat book', because it made me super allergic).


Renée Watson - Some Places More Than Others

This is a middle-grade contemporary fiction book about a Black 11-year-old girl who lives in Oregon (in the United States). She wants to visit New York (City), to learn more about her family and her ancestors. I loved this book, it was such a good read.


Claire Kann - If It Makes You Happy

This is a YA contemporary fiction about a queer fat Black teenage girl named Winnie. The book is about friendship, love, family, food. Winnie's granny runs a diner with a '50s theme. During summers Winnie likes to work there. I really liked this book. I also really liked the author's debut novel, which is Let's Talk About Love (I read it a while ago), which is what made me pick up her second book.


John F. Taylor (ill. Tad Herr) - De AD(H)D Survivalgids (The Survival Guide for Kids with ADD or ADHD)

I felt in the mood to read something in Dutch, with illustrations, for children. I picked up this book off my shelves. I bought it in a library sale a few years ago. As someone with ADD, I'm interested in books about it. I didn't think beforehand I'd learn a lot of tips from this, as I am no longer a kid who goes to school (because I've graduated, and all that), and as such am not the target audience. It was still a nice read though. What I was not expecting, was that the book was humourous. I really liked that, it was funny! I also really liked the illustrations, and that the characters in the illustrations were a variety of people. There were quite a few characters who are non-white (which I've realised even more in these current times, is so important, that non-white kids see themselves represented too). There was also a Black/brown girl in a wheelchair. The illustrations in the book are printed in a greyscale.

 

 

 

 

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23 hours ago, Athena said:

Some thoughts on recent reads.

 

Peter F. Hamilton - Chronicle of the Fallers 1: The Abyss Beyond Dreams

I started reading this book sometime in May, and finished it partway through June. I mostly really enjoyed this book. It was a new-to-me read, and I look forward to read book 2 to finish off the duology, later this year. Now I love Hamilton's book and he is one of my favourite science-fiction authors. I really enjoyed the plot twists in this book, and those times when something just clicked and I was like.. oooh now things make sense!

One thing that I noticed though, is something that I noticed with Hamilton's earlier books as well. This one was published in 2014. With his earlier works, say from the 1980s and 1990s, I found it more excusable, but I would hope the author would start to do better soon. The thing is that the author uses the white-is-default trope. A character's skin colour is usually only mentioned in his books, if it is non-white. With a lot of the characters the skin colour is not mentioned, and then on occasion it is and it turns out it's white. We need this 'othering' of people of colour to stop.

Also most of his main characters in his books (that I've read) are usually white, not all of them (for example, Ozzie is Black, Paula has some Asian features, etc). But if you go out of your way to describe the skin colour or features of (side) characters who are darker-skinned, then you should, in my opinion, also mention the skin colour of the main characters who are white.

I don't know if the author is aware of it (if not, I hope he becomes aware of it soon, but maybe he already has since I haven't read anything newer than his 2014 book..), but I hope the author would change this aspect of his stories soon.. because I couldn't help but find it a bit grating/painful every time it happened in this book (and it stood out to me more so, because of the current times in the world, with the Black Lives Matter movement being much more spoken about and on social media and in the news. I'm educating myself and trying to understand things more and more).

 

23 hours ago, Athena said:

 


 

 

 

 

I agree, there should be more diversity in, general, with characters in books!

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On 17/06/2020 at 8:17 PM, karen.d said:

After reading 'The Arrival' by Shaun Tan, I'm definitely interested in getting into graphic novels.

Shaun Tan's The Red Tree is a gorgeous book. :)

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3 hours ago, karen.d said:

I agree, there should be more diversity in, general, with characters in books!

 

Agreed!

 

2 hours ago, Marie H said:

Shaun Tan's The Red Tree is a gorgeous book. :)

 

Good to know, thanks Marie :)! I'll add it to my wishlist as well.

 

Robert Thorogood - Death in Paradise 4: Murder in the Caribbean

The fourth mystery novel based on the Death in Paradise TV series. I loved the first three, I loved this one as well. I read it in one afternoon/evening, which is pretty unusual for me. I just wanted to know whodunnit! I don't know if this novel will be quite as enjoyable, if you are not familiar with the TV series. I really liked it though, I love the TV series as well as this book series.

 

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  • 1 month later...

Whoops for not posting in my reading log for.. over a month :doh:. So.. here are really short bookish thoughts.


Natalie C. Anderson - Let's Go Swimming on Doomsday

This was an excellent YA thriller / contemporary fiction about a teenage boy named Abdi whose family is kidnapped. He is forced to become a child soldier for the jihadi group Al Shabaab and in order to save the lives of his family he has to figure out their plans and send information on them to the Americans. Abdi's brother is a soldier for Al Shabaab, he was taken from his family a few years prior to the story. I really liked this book.


Mirjam Mous - Boy 7

This is a Dutch YA thriller, which takes place in the US. It's about a boy who wakes up in a field but can't remember much, including his name and how he got there. It was a really suspenseful read.


Laura Kate Dale - Uncomfortable Labels: My Life as a Gay Autistic Trans Woman

This is a memoir about, as the title says, Laura who is a gay autistic trans woman. I liked it.


Isabel Greenberg - Early Earth 2: The One Hundred Nights of Hero

A graphic novel that takes place in the same world as the author's graphic novel The Encyclopia of Early Earth. I liked it.


Tillie Walden - The End of Summer

The author's debut work. I've previously read her graphic memoir Spinning, which I really liked (which is about her growing up and her passion for figure skating and figuring out her sexuality). The End of Summer is a graphic novel about a boy who is ill and lives in this big house/castle. I found the story confusing tbh.


Tillie Walden - I Love This Part

This is a YA graphic novel about two teenage girls and it's about love. It was a nice read, quite short though.


Tillie Walden - A City Inside

Another short graphic novel, I liked it at the time but struggle to remember things of it several weeks later.


Tillie Walden - On A Sunbeam

This is my favourite work by this author. This is a science-fiction graphic novel about a restoration crew and two girls at a boarding school and it was excellent. If anyone is interested, it can be read for free at the On a Sunbeam Website: https://www.onasunbeam.com/

I read the paperback version but you can read it online as well, the author originally published this story as a webcomic first (Link to Tillie Walden's website: https://www.tilliewalden.com/).


Tillie Walden - Are You Listening?

This is the author's newest graphic novel. It's about Bea who runs away and meets Lou, then the two of them go on a sort of road trip together. I liked it a lot.

 

E. J. Copperman - Haunted Guesthouse Mystery 5: The Thrill of the Haunt

The next installment in the Haunted Guesthouse Mystery series. I really liked it. It's a cozy mystery series with ghosts.


Peter F. Hamilton - Chronicle of the Fallers 2: Night Without Stars
This is adult science-fiction, book 2 in the Chronicle of the Fallers duology. I enjoyed this conclusion to the duology.

 

Melinda Grace - Meet Me in Outer Space
YA contemporary fiction about a teenage girl who's at college. She has a learning disability and loves fashion. She lives in the United States and wants to spend some time in Paris, so she has to take an extra French course at college. But the professor of the course isn't really willing to help her out regarding her learning disability. I really liked this book.

 

Heide Boonen - Duivelshanden
This is a Dutch contemporary fiction book about a younger teenage girl who in school suddenly gets angry and attacks a classmate. She locks herself in her room. Her father gives her a blank notepad/notebook and she starts writing down what has happened. I liked this book for the most part. It is just over 100 pages and was published in 2001.

 

Shaylynn Hayes - Full of Sound and Fury
A memoir written by someone who suffers with misophonia. She also interviews other people who have the same condition. I liked this memoir.

 

Amy Reed - The Nowhere Girls
YA contemporary about rape culture and feminism. It centres 3 teenage girls. A while earlier, a teenage girl at their school, was raped by several boys from the school, but was forced to leave because no one believed her. The 3 teenage girls decide to do something. I loved this book.

 

Eoin Colfer - Artemis Fowl 4: Het bedrog van Opal (The Opal Deception)
The 4th book in the Artemis Fowl series, it was really enjoyable.

 

Disney, Jasmine Jones - Lizzie McGuire 5: Op de foto (Picture This)
Disney, Terri Minsky - Lizzie McGuire Cine-Manga 4: Volume 4: I Do, I Don't & Come Fly With Me
Disney, Terri Minsky - Lizzie McGuire Cine-Manga 13: Volume 13: Obsession & Gordo's Video

These were nostalgic reads for me. Would not suggest them if you're not familiar with the TV show they are based on.

 

Juno Dawson - This Book Is Gay
A YA information book about being LGBT. It was a nice read and I liked the illustration. I would've preferred more content on asexuality and the ace spectrum.

 

Juno Dawson - The Gender Games
The author's memoir about how she realised she's a (trans) woman rather than a gay man. I really liked it.

 

Esther Verhoef - De Debutante
A short story that came with a free magazine I got. I didn't like most of the magazine that much, but I liked finding this short story in it! It was nice :).

 

Francien Regelink - Druks
A Dutch AD(H)D memoir that recently came out. I loved it and recognised quite a few things.

 

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Quick book thoughts.

 

Bianca Toeps - Maar je ziet er helemaal niet autistisch uit (re-read)

I re-read this after finishing Druks (see previous post). Dutch autism memoir published by the same publisher as Druks.


Elise Cordaro - Anders gaat ook (re-read)

I wanted to re-read this memoir as well (autism and ADHD memoir)


Tomohito Oda - Komi Can't Communicate 3: Volume 3
Tomohito Oda - Komi Can't Communicate 4: Volume 4

I enjoyed reading books 3 and 4 in this manga series.


Christophe Chabouté - Alone (Tout Seul)

This was a nice graphic novel about a person alone in a lighthouse.


Pam Smy - Thornhill

This book is part textbook (prose) and part illustrations / graphic novel. I liked it.


Brandon Mull - Fablehaven 1: Fablehaven

Middle-grade fantasy, I read this together with a friend. It was quite good.


Jeff Lemire - Roughneck

Graphic novel about a former ice-hockey player and his sister. She is on the run from her abusive ex. This was a nice read.


Craig Thompson - Blankets

This is part graphic novel and part graphic memoir, I'm not sure how much of it is fiction. It's about Craig growing up, with his Christian family, the relationship with his brother and Craig as a teenager falling in love with a teenage girl. I liked the book for the most part.

 

E. K. Weaver - The Less Than Epic Adventures of T. J. and Amal (1-3)

This is an omnibus of the whole story. Two men (Amal and T. J.) meet and decide to go on a road trip together, and fall in love. I really liked it.

 

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  • 5 weeks later...

Some really short bookish thoughts, because I am feeling quite sleepy and tired.

 

E. J. Copperman - Haunted Guesthouse Mystery 3.5: A Wild Ghost Chase

A novella that's part of the Haunted Guesthouse Mystery series, I liked it but not as much as the main novels (I've read 5 of them so far I think).


Eoin Colfer - Artemis Fowl 5: Artemis Fowl and the Lost Colony

Another enjoyable read in this series.


E. J. Copperman - Haunted Guesthouse Mystery 4.5: An Open Spook

Same as the previous novella, I enjoyed it but not as much as the main novels.


George Mahood - Free Country

UK travel memoir of George and his friend Ben who have the plan to cycle from End-to-End in 3 weeks, not being allowed to spend any more and starting off wearing just boxershorts. I liked this memoir.


Alice Oseman - Loveless

YA contemporary fiction novel about a girl named Georgia who is going to the first year of university and discovers she is ace-aro (asexual and aromantic). I liked it a lot.


Leah Johnson - You Should See Me in a Crown

YA contemporary fiction novel about a poor queer Black teenage girl who wants to win prom queen so she can use the money as a scholarship to go to the university she wants to go to. I really liked this book a lot.

 

Loes den Hollander - Pijngrens

Dutch literary thriller involving 2 airplane accidents and several characters. I liked it a lot.

 

Luc Descamps - Gewoon kwetsbaar
Luc Descamps - Gewoon anders (re-read)
Luc Descamps - Gewoon leven
Luc Descamps - Gewoon gevoelig

4 (Belgian) YA contemporary books, each with a different plot, all around 150-210 pages. I liked all 4 of them.


Michael McCreary - Funny, You Don't Look Autistic

Autism memoir by a Candian comedian. I liked it quite a bit. I didn't like how the (white) author used the word 'tribe' a lot.

 

Ok, that's all of August's reads caught up.

 

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On 17/09/2020 at 3:30 AM, muggle not said:

You never cease to amaze me on how many books you read. Better yet, you are enjoying most of them.

 

Thank you, Muggle Not!!

 

I think I've been reading a lot lately to help me cope with my stress :):dunno:.

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  • 4 weeks later...

I've added all the books I've read in September on the first page  .. but not sure if anyone wants to read my thoughts on all of them..


EDIT: P.S. I couldn't add the link using the icon in the bar, it errored for me. So I added it manually using code. Just in case anyone's confused, that's how I did that.

Edited by Athena
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  • 1 month later...

Hmm.. it seems I didn't post about my read books in September, October or November.. The least I can do though is post the author/title and my rating.

 

Ratings are out of 10. So when comparing to 5 stars:

 

1 = 1 ⭐ (can't rate lower than 1 ⭐)

2 = 1 ⭐

3 = 1 or 2 ⭐ (or 1.5)

4 = 2 ⭐

5 = 2 or 3 ⭐ (or 2.5)

6 = 3 ⭐

7 = 3 ⭐ or 4 ⭐ (or 3.5)

8 = 4 ⭐

9 = 4 ⭐ or 5 ⭐ (or 4.5)

10 = 5 ⭐

 

For the halves .5, I round it up or down on GoodReads to which one I feel it deserves more.

 

September

179. Elizabeth Acevedo - Clap When You Land (10 or 5 ⭐)
180. Seanan McGuire - Middlegame 1: Middlegame (10 or 5 ⭐)
181. Mirjam Mous - Vals Spel (6 or 3⭐)
182. Tomohito Oda - Komi Can't Communicate 5: Volume 5 (9 or 4 ⭐)
183. Tomohito Oda - Komi Can't Communicate 6: Volume 6 (9 or 4 ⭐)
184. Tomohito Oda - Komi Can't Communicate 7: Volume 7 (9 or 4 ⭐)
185. Dav Pilkey - Captain Underpants 1: The Adventures of Captain Underpants (9 or 4 ⭐)
186. Dav Pilkey - Captain Underpants 2: Captain Underpants and the Attack of the Talking Toilets (re-read) (8 or 4 ⭐)
187. Sue Hendra and Paul Linnet - Supertato: Books are Rubbish (7 or 3 ⭐)
188. Jennifer L. Holm and Matthew Holm (col. Lark Pien) - Sunny 3: Sunny rolls the Dice (8 or 4 ⭐)
189. Lucy Knisley - Peapod Farm 1: Stepping Stones (8 or 3 ⭐)
190. Lucy Knisley - French Milk (3 or 2 ⭐)
191. Catana Chetwynd - Snug (8 or 4 ⭐)
192. Debbie Tung - Happily Ever After & Everything in Between (9 or 4 ⭐)
193. George Takei, Justin Eisinger, Steven Scott and Harmony Becker - They Called Us Enemy (10 or 5 ⭐)
194. Thi Bui - The Best We Could Do (10 or 5 ⭐)
195. Liz Pichon - Tom Gates 2: Excellent Excuses (and Other Good Stuff) (re-read) (10 or 5 ⭐)
196. Eoin Colfer, Andrew Donkin, Giovanni Rigano and Chris Dickey - Illegal (10 or 5 ⭐)
197. Gengoroh Tagame - My Brother's Husband 1: Volume 1 (10 or 5 ⭐)
198. Gengoroh Tagame - My Brother's Husband 2: Volume 2 (10 or 5 ⭐)
199. Mariko Tamaki and Rosemary Valero-O'Connell - Laura Dean Keeps Breaking Up With Me (9 or 4 ⭐)
200. Kat Leyh - Snapdragon (9 or 4 ⭐)
201. Bethany Rutter - Melt My Heart (10 or 5 ⭐)
202. Jen Wilde - Going Off Script (9 or 4 ⭐)
203. Puyo, Nagaru Tanigawa and Noizi Ito - The Disappearance of Nagato Yuki-chan 1: Volume 1 (re-read) (9 or 4 ⭐)
204. Puyo, Nagaru Tanigawa and Noizi Ito - The Disappearance of Nagato Yuki-chan 2: Volume 2 (re-read) (9 or 4 ⭐)
205. Puyo, Nagaru Tanigawa and Noizi Ito - The Disappearance of Nagato Yuki-chan 3: Volume 3 (re-read) (9 or 4 ⭐)
206. Puyo, Nagaru Tanigawa and Noizi Ito - The Disappearance of Nagato Yuki-chan 4: Volume 4 (re-read) (9 or 5 ⭐)
207. Puyo, Nagaru Tanigawa and Noizi Ito - The Disappearance of Nagato Yuki-chan 5: Volume 5 (re-read) (9 or 5 ⭐)
208. Puyo, Nagaru Tanigawa and Noizi Ito - The Disappearance of Nagato Yuki-chan 6: Volume 6 (re-read) (9 or 4 ⭐)
209. Puyo, Nagaru Tanigawa and Noizi Ito - The Disappearance of Nagato Yuki-chan 7: Volume 7 (9 or 4 ⭐)
210. Puyo, Nagaru Tanigawa and Noizi Ito - The Disappearance of Nagato Yuki-chan 8: Volume 8 (9 or 4 ⭐)
211. Puyo, Nagaru Tanigawa and Noizi Ito - The Disappearance of Nagato Yuki-chan 9: Volume 9 (9 or 4 ⭐)
212. Puyo, Nagaru Tanigawa and Noizi Ito - The Disappearance of Nagato Yuki-chan 10: Volume 10 (9 or 4 ⭐)
213. Brandon Mull - Fablehaven 2: Rise of the Evening Star (8 or 4 ⭐)
214. Dean Atta - The Black Flamingo (10 or 5 ⭐)
215. Kristin Hannah - The Nightingale (10 or 5 ⭐)
216. Jes Baker - Things No One Will Tell Fat Girls (10 or 5 ⭐)
217. Eoin Colfer - Artemis Fowl 6: Artemis Fowl en de Tijdparadox (Artemis Fowl and the Time Paradox) (10 or 5 ⭐)
218. Jes Baker - Landwhale (9 or 4 ⭐)
219. Nino Cipri - FINNA (8 or 4 ⭐)
220. Grady Hendrix - Horrorstör (8 or 4 ⭐)
221. Morgan Matson - Save the Date (8 or 4 ⭐)

 

October

222. Kou Fumizuki - Ai Yori Aoshi 1: Volume 1 (8 or 4 ⭐)
223. Kou Fumizuki - Ai Yori Aoshi 2: Volume 2 (8 or 4 ⭐)
224. Kou Fumizuki - Ai Yori Aoshi 3: Volume 3 (8 or 4 ⭐)
225. Kou Fumizuki - Ai Yori Aoshi 4: Volume 4 (8 or 4 ⭐)
226. Mirjam Oldenhave (ill. Rick de Haas) - Mees Kees 1: Een pittig klasje (9 or 4 ⭐)
227. Geronimo Stilton - Geronimo Stilton 2: Een noodkreet uit Transmuzanië (Una Granita di Moshe per il Conte) (8 or 4 ⭐)
228. Tom Watson - Stick Dog 2: Stick Dog Wants a Hot Dog (9 or 4 ⭐)
229. Jim Smith - Barry Loser 2: I Am Still Not a Loser (9 or 4 ⭐)
230. Lincoln Peirce - Big Nate 2: Big Nate Strikes Again (re-read) (8 or 4 ⭐)
231. Georgia Pritchett (ill. Jamie Littler) - Wilf The Mighty Worrier 1: Wilf The Mighty Worrier Saves The World (re-read) (10 or 5 ⭐)
232. Andy Griffiths and Terry Denton - Treehouse 2: The 26-Storey Treehouse (re-read) (10 or 5 ⭐)
233. E. J. Copperman - Haunted Guesthouse Mystery 6: Inspector Specter (10 or 5 ⭐)
234. Judith Visser - Jasmijn Vink 1: Zondagskind (re-read) (10 or 5 ⭐)
235. Gloria Chao - Our Wayward Fate (10 or 5 ⭐)
236. Judith Visser - Jasmijn Vink 2: Zondagsleven (10 or 5 ⭐)
237. Marie Lotte Hagen and Nydia van Voorthuizen - Yes, Baby (9 or 4 ⭐)
238. Eoin Colfer - Artemis Fowl 7: Artemis Fowl en het Atlantiscomplex (Artemis Fowl and the Atlantis Complex) (9 or 4 ⭐)
239. Loes den Hollander - Zwijgrecht (10 or 5 ⭐)
240. Brandon Mull - Fablehaven 3: Grip of the Shadow Plague (9 or 4 ⭐)
241. Laura Tims - The Art of Feeling (10 or 5 ⭐)
242. Matt Haig - Reasons to Stay Alive (9 or 4 ⭐)
243. Future Horizons, Temple Grandin, Carol Stock Kranowitz, Tony Attwood, Carol Gray - Autism in Lockdown (3 or 1⭐)


November

244. Matt Haig - The Midnight Library (10 or 5 ⭐)
245. Matt Haig - Notes on a Nervous Planet (9 or 4 ⭐)
246. Tomohito Oda - Komi Can't Communicate 8: Volume 8 (8 or 4 ⭐)
247. Sankakuhead - Himouto! Umaru-chan 1: Volume 1 (10 or 5 ⭐)
248. Sankakuhead - Himouto! Umaru-chan 2: Volume 2 (10 or 5 ⭐)
249. Sankakuhead - Himouto! Umaru-chan 3: Volume 3 (10 or 5 ⭐)
250. Sankakuhead - Himouto! Umaru-chan 4: Volume 4 (10 or 5 ⭐)
251. Sankakuhead - Himouto! Umaru-chan 5: Volume 5 (10 or 5 ⭐)
252. Dylan Haegens, Marit Brugman and Rick Vermeulen & Others - Dylan Haegens Stripboek 2 (9 or 4 ⭐)
253. Lucy Knisley - Go To Sleep (I Miss You) (9 or 4 ⭐)
254. Teresa Wong - Dear Scarlet (9 or 4 ⭐)
255. E. J. Copperman - Haunted Guesthouse Mystery 7: Ghost in the Wind (9 or 5 ⭐)
256. Steven Butler and James Patterson (ill. Richard Watson) - Dog Diaries 1: Dog Diaries (9 or 5 ⭐)
257. James Patterson and Chris Tebbetts (ill. Laura Park) - Middle School 1: The Worst Years of my Life (re-read) (10 or 5 ⭐)
258. Linda van Rijn - Piste Alarm (10 or 5 ⭐)
259. Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff - The Illuminae Files 0.5: Memento (10 or 5 ⭐)
260. Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff - The Illuminae Files 1: Illuminae (re-read) (10 or 5 ⭐)
261. Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff - The Illuminae Files 2: Gemina (re-read) (10 or 5 ⭐)
262. Eoin Colfer - Artemis Fowl 8: De laatste bewaker (Artemis Fowl and the Last Guardian) (9 or 4 ⭐)
263. Kereen Getten - When Life Gives You Mangoes (9 or 4 ⭐)
264. Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff - The Illuminae Files 3: Obsidio (re-read) (10 or 5 ⭐)
265. Geoff Rodkey - The Tapper Twins 1: The Tapper Wins Go To War (With Each Other) (re-read) (9 or 5 ⭐)
266. Geoff Rodkey - The Tapper Twins 2: The Tapper Twins Tear Up New York (re-read) (9 or 5 ⭐)
267. Geoff Rodkey - The Tapper Twins 3: The Tapper Twins Run for President (9 or 5 ⭐)
268. Geoff Rodkey - The Tapper Twins 4: The Tapper Twins Go Viral (9 or 5 ⭐)
269. Sylvain Neuvel - The Themis Files 1: Sleeping Giants (10 or 5 ⭐)
270. Brandon Mull - Fablehaven 4: Secrets of the Dragon Sanctuary (9 or 5 ⭐)
271. Sylvain Neuvel - The Themis Files 2: Waking Gods (10 or 5 ⭐)

 

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