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Athena's Reading List 2018


Athena

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I should've explained it in my review :doh:. Sorry for not doing so.

 

EDS is Ehler-Danlos Syndrome, it's a group of genetic tissue disorders. Laura says in the book quite a few people with autism have it, but I don't have it myself. There are a variety of syndromes, and each comes with some health problems. Some of these people can stretch their skin wide.

 

POTS comes from postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome. It's not mentioned so much in the book. It's a condition in which going from lying to standing up, the heart rate increases rapidly.

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I read Judith Visser - Zondagskind (for a picture of the cover see this earlier post). This is a story of a girl with autism who is growing up. It is largely based on the author's own experiences with growing up as an autistic girl (#OwnVoices). I've read in an interview with the author, that she plans to translate the book in English herself, it will be called 'Sunday Special' (and I think it will be published by HarperCollins, since the Dutch book is published by HarperCollins in NL, but of course I don't know that for sure).

 

I loved this book. I have autism too, and I recognised so many things. I was really nice to read this book. I could really identify with the main character Jasmijn ('Jasmine'). The book also taught me a few things I didn't know, ie. about certain types of schools in the Netherlands and how long you have to stay in school. I really enjoyed reading how Jasmijn experienced everything and I love that a lot of it is based on the author's own life. I really liked the writing style. The book made me laugh and it made me cry. I wanted to comfort Jasmijn, telling her I knew what she was talking about and going through.

 

Overall I loved this book and it's going onto my 'favourite books' list.

 

Edited by Athena
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March 2018 Summary

Books read: 21
Pages read: 5441

Genres:
Fantasy: 1
Science-fiction: 2
Contemporary Fiction: 8
Rom-com: 0
Historical Fiction: 0
Literature: 1
Detective / Mystery: 0
Thriller: 1
Horror: 0
Paranormal: 0
Biography: 5
Information: 5
'Disney': 0

Age Ranges:
Infants: 0 book(s)
Children: 3 book(s)
Young-Adult: 7 book(s)
Adult: 11 book(s)

TBR vs. R:
Re-reads: 1 book(s)
New Reads: 20 book(s)
Combination: 0 book(s)

Types of books: Novels: 10
Short Stories / Short Story Collections: 0
Novellas: 1
Information: 3
Biographies: 5
Combination: 2

Most impressive / Favourite(s) of the month:
Judith Visser - Zondagskind
Bronja Prazdny - Vrouwen met autisme
Katie Green - Lighter Than My Shadow
Jacques Weijters - Zoeklicht Thriller: Doe wat de clown zegt (re-read)
Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff - The Illuminae Files 3: Obsidio
Laura James - Odd Girl Out
Konami Kanata - The Complete Chi's Sweet Home 1 (1-3): Part 1
Alice Oseman - Radio Silence
Tillie Walden - Spinning
Akiko Higashimura - Princess Jellyfish 1 (1-2): Volume 1 (Kuragehima Volumes 1 & 2)
Jomny Sun - Everyone's a Aliebn When Ur a Aliebn Too
Kathy Hoopmann - Wat jij ziet en wat ik voel (Inside Asperger's: Looking Out)
Claire Kann - Let's Talk About Love

Pretty enjoyable:

Kathy Hoopmann - Alle Honden Hebben ADHD (All Dogs Have ADHD)
Kathy Hoopmann - Alle Katten Hebben Asperger (All Cats Have Asperger)
Christine Kliphuis (ill. Helen van Vliet) - De Ziekenboeg Extra 5: De ADHD van André
Griet Op De Beeck - Gezien de feiten

Somewhat enjoyable:
Sophie Kinsella (ill. Marta Kissi) - Mummy Fairy and Me 1: Mummy Fairy and Me
Ichigo Takano - Orange 6: Orange: Future
Vera Bachrach and Bart Eysink Smeets - De Tostifabriek

Disappointments / Least favourites of the month:
None!

Abandoned book:
None!

Shortest book(s) read this month:
Jacques Weijters - Zoeklicht Thriller: Doe wat de clown zegt (re-read) (36 pages)
Christine Kliphuis (ill. Helen van Vliet) - De Ziekenboeg Extra 5: De ADHD van André[/b] (64 pages)

Longest book(s) read this month:
Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff - The Illuminae Files 3: Obsidio (618 pages)
Katie Green - Lighter Than My Shadow (510 pages)
Konami Kanata - The Complete Chi's Sweet Home 1 (1-3): Part 1 (479 pages)

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I read Francesca Zappia - Eliza and her Monsters. This is a YA contemporary fiction book which is about a girl who is shy and friendless in the real world, but online she is the anonymous creator of a very popular webcomic. A new student transfers to her school and it turns out he writes fanfiction for her webcomic. The book has themes of anxiety. Here is the cover:

 

ElizaAndHerMonsters_05.jpg

 

(The lighting in my picture is not great, it's a bit lighter in real life).

 

I quite enjoyed reading this book. Now and then the book also features illustrations of the webcomic, which I thought was pretty nice as it gives a bit more of a feel for it.

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I read Tomi Adeyemi - Legacy of Orïsha 1: Children of Blood and Bone. This is a fantasy debut novel, based on I believe African mythology and ideas (written by a Nigerian-American author). I found it an interesting read. I liked the characters and the worldbuilding and the magic. I was a bit confused by the ending, I'm not 100% sure I got what happened at the very end, but I guess I'll need to read the sequel to be sure. There is violence in the book, and the author states in the author's note the book was inspired by news of unarmed black people being shot by the police.

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To go back to a discussion I had with some of you about autism representation in books a while ago, Paperfury (a blog I've been following for over a year now) has written a nice article about autism rep (representation) in (YA) books (she has autism too). I found she worded her list of do's and don'ts quite well, better than perhaps I could've said it. In case anyone's interested in reading it, I've linked the article above.

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1 hour ago, Athena said:

To go back to a discussion I had with some of you about autism representation in books a while ago, Paperfury (a blog I've been following for over a year now) has written a nice article about autism rep (representation) in (YA) books (she has autism too). I found she worded her list of do's and don'ts quite well, better than perhaps I could've said it. In case anyone's interested in reading it, I've linked the article above.

 

Ooh, I love her writing style, and all those colours !  :)

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I read a couple of books for the April read-a-thon during the past few days.

 

A. S. King - Monica Never Shuts Up: A Collection of Short Stories
I love A. S. King's novels. I've read them all except her most recent release (I'm unsure if it's out yet or not, I'm waiting for the paperback which isn't even listed yet). Short stories and I don't get along that well, there are some I've read that I've really liked, but there are also a lot I don't really like (out of the ones I've read!). Anyway, I found this short story collection to be disappointing. There are 12 stories in total, and my copy was 105 pages so each story is not that long. There were a couple of stories I thought were nice or allright, the rest I didn't like at all. This was then a disappointment.

 

Akiko Higashimura - Princess Jellyfish 2 (3-4): Volume 2 (Kuragehima Volumes 3 & 4)
It was nice to read the next two volumes, I liked it (the English bindup features two of the original Japanese volumes). The story deviates from the final parts of the TV series here, it'll be interesting to see where it goes next. It ended on a little bit of a cliffhanger though. I plan to read the next one for the next read-a-thon, in May.

 

Konami Kanata - The Complete Chi's Sweet Home 2 (4-6): Part 2
This was cute, I enjoyed reading it. It continues the story. I plan to read the next one for the next read-a-thon.

 

Matilda Tristam - Probably Nothing: A diary of not-your-average nine months
This is a graphic memoir of a woman who was pregnant when she got diagnosed with cancer. I really liked this graphic memoir.

 

Stephen Collins - The Gigantic Beard That Was Evil
This is a graphic novel, it takes place on an island called Here. Everything is neat and tidy, and citizins are clean-shaven (including Dave). One day Dave suddenly has a giant beard, which keeps growing. I liked this graphic novel. The art was pretty nice too.

 

Scott McCloud - The Sculptor
This is a graphic novel about an artist who makes a deal with death, he can sculpt anything he wants with his hands, but only gets 200 days to live. I thought it was an interesting graphic novel. A couple of times I was a bit confused between scenes. It was an intense and heartfelt story.

 

 

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On ‎05‎/‎04‎/‎2018 at 3:39 PM, Athena said:

To go back to a discussion I had with some of you about autism representation in books a while ago, Paperfury (a blog I've been following for over a year now) has written a nice article about autism rep (representation) in (YA) books (she has autism too). I found she worded her list of do's and don'ts quite well, better than perhaps I could've said it. In case anyone's interested in reading it, I've linked the article above.

 

What a great blog! I think that article sums up the things it would be lovely to find in books representing autistic characters perfectly. It was interesting to see the authors view on Autism Speaks too, I have heard of them but had no idea about their questionable "therapies!" And as @Little Pixie said, the colours on the blog are so pretty! I love all the pictures!

 

It's a shame you didn't like the A.S. King short stories, but at least you enjoyed all the other books you read recently :) 

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18 hours ago, Hayley said:

What a great blog! I think that article sums up the things it would be lovely to find in books representing autistic characters perfectly. It was interesting to see the authors view on Autism Speaks too, I have heard of them but had no idea about their questionable "therapies!" And as @Little Pixie said, the colours on the blog are so pretty! I love all the pictures!

 

I'm glad you liked it :).

 

18 hours ago, Hayley said:

It's a shame you didn't like the A.S. King short stories, but at least you enjoyed all the other books you read recently :) 

 

That's true! Thanks, that makes me feel better :).

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  • 2 weeks later...

I borrowed some books from the library a while ago, and here are my thoughts on those I read. First, pictures:

 

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I didn't get around to reading John Flanagan - Broederband 6: De Spookgezichten (Brotherband 6: Ghostfaces) but that's okay, because it turns out I own the English version.

Anyway, onto the books I did read.

 

Barbara de Leeuw - Overprikkeling voorkomen: Vaardigheden en technieken voor (jong)volwassenen met autisme (ASS) en/of ADHD (165 pages)
The copy I borrowed from the library is a newer print and includes extra chapters on 'underload of input' (most of the book is about 'overload of input'). I liked having these extra chapters. I liked the book and think it can be useful for some people. For myself it was less useful, because a lot of the things the book recommended or said to look into, I already do or know. So it wasn't so useful for me personally, but it did make me think about my life and myself.

 

Roderick Leeuwenhart - Pindakaas en Sushi 3 (abandoned on page 132 out of 254 pages, ~52%)
I read about half of this book. It's the third book in a trilogy. I read book 2 first, then a while later I read book 1. I of course couldn't quite remember by now what happened in those books exactly. But I was disappointed by book 3. I abandoned it half way through, I couldn't take any more. The main character was being so stupid, making stupid decisions regarding other people. Also she was complaining a lot about not getting the school/uni/study work done but then she never seemed to make a good effort to do any? Sometimes she couldn't concentrate (I can relate to that), but she was often interrupted by other people and then just went with it (rather than setting aside proper time for studying and not letting herself be interrupted). It's okay if that's your choice to always listen to other people interrupting you, demanding attention, but then don't keep complaining if you're not willing to make an effort. Another thing I didn't like was that she was treating one person not very nice and she wasn't honest to him, she seemed to just use him for a fling while he seemed to really like her and I didn't understand what her thinking was there. The whole thing with the statue was just weird. Okay, end rant. I was very disappointed I couldn't even finish the book. I was expecting to like it, I've rated the other books I think 9/10. I expected to like it the same amount, but instead it was a disappointment and I couldn't even bring myself to spend any more time on it than reading further than halfway.

 

Geronimo Stilton - Rode Reeks 2: Bollywood op Stelten (Il Mistero del Rubino d'Oriente) (128 pages)
This was a nice story. The detective/mystery element wasn't as important as I thought, so I changed its genre from  'detective/mystery' to 'contemporary fiction'. The mystery was also rather easy to solve. But I enjoyed reading the story. I also liked learning more about Indian culture, which the book tells you about.

 

Geronimo Stilton - Sherlock Holmes: Meesterspeurder (Le Avventure di Sherlock Holmes) (224 pages)
This is a retelling of three Sherlock Holmes stories. I enjoyed reading the stories. One seemed a bit complicated, with lots of characters. Another was a bit easier to guess.

 

David Walliams (ill. Tony Ross) - The World's Worst Children 2 (288 pages)
This was a collection of short stories about bad children (just like book 1 was, they are new stories of course). The book has colour illustrations by Tony Ross. I enjoyed reading these stories.

 

Aaron Reynolds and Phil McAndrew - Caveboy Dave 1: More Scrawny Than Brawny (241 pages)
This is a graphic novel that takes place in the pre-history. I liked the story and the illustrations. I didn't see the end coming. And it was nice there were humourous parts in the novel. I quite liked reading this novel.

 

Craig Thompson (col. Dave Stewart) - Ruimtekruimels (Space Dumplins) (316 pages)
This is a graphic novel taking place in a far future in space. I liked the story and illustrations but writing this review about a week after reading the book I have to say I don't remember it as clearly as some of the other books I read. It was enjoyable at the time but from time to time I was also confused with what was going on. A few times the Dutch terms threw me off, though I don't know whether the original English was any clearer in its meaning. I did like the characters, particularly Violet, and Elliot and Zacchaeus (I had to look up their names, I couldn't remember what they were, though I did remember what they looked like, since they are both part of different species).

 

Paul van Loon (ill. Hugo van Look) - Foeksia de Miniheks: Foeksia en de Toverschaatsen (51 pages)
Paul van Loon (ill. Saskia Halfmouw) - Foeksia de Miniheks: Foeksia en de Spiegelheks (39 pages)
Paul van Loon (ill. Saskia Halfmouw) - Foeksia de Miniheks: Foeksia klaar voor de start! (55 pages)
Paul van Loon (ill. Saskia Halfmouw) - Foeksia de Miniheks: Foeksia en het Heksenfeest (87 pages)
Paul van Loon (ill. Saskia Halfmouw) - Foeksia de Miniheks: Foeksia en de mislukte toverspreuk (29 pages)
Paul van Loon (ill. Saskia Halfmouw) - Foeksia de Miniheks: Foeksia en het Beestenfeest (31 pages)
I read these 6 Foeksia books. The last one is actually a reprint of some chapters of the first one, with added parts and illustrations (most of the books had coloured illustrations). I read both though, so I'm counting both. I thought these were fun reads. I still prefer the Dolfje Weerwolfje books, they are generally longer and I find them more fun, but these Foeksia books were also fun to read (the illustrations were nice too).

Paul van Loon (ill. Hugo van Look) - Bang voor Vampiers (39 pages)
This was a nice story. It's a reprint of an older story (from 1992) but then with new coloured illustrations. I thought it was a nice story.

 

Dave Lowe (ill. Mark Chambers) - Stinkie en Brinks 1: Mijn hamster is een meesterbrein (Stinky & Jinks 1: (My Hamster is a Genius) (101 pages)
Dave Lowe (ill. Mark Chambers) - Stinkie en Brinks 2: Mijn hamster is een astronaut (Stinky & Jinks 2: (My Hamster is an Astronaut) (148 pages)
Dave Lowe (ill. Mark Chambers) - Stinkie en Brinks 3: Mijn hamster is een Spion (Stinky & Jinks 3: My Hamster is a Spy) (98 pages)
Dave Lowe (ill. Mark Chambers) - Stinkie en Brinks 4: Mijn hamster is een Superster (Stinky & Jinks 4: My Hamster's Got Talent) (102 pages)
Dave Lowe (ill. Mark Chambers) - Stinkie en Brinks 5: Mijn hamster is een Piraat (Stinky & Jinks 5: My Hamster is a Pirate) (102 pages)
Dave Lowe (ill. Mark Chambers) - Stinkie en Brinks 6: Mijn hamster is een Detective (Stinky & Jinks 6: My Hamster is a Detective) (126 pages)
I enjoyed reading this series about Benjamin and his talking hamster. The illustrations were nice too.

 

Dave Lowe (ill. Cate James) - SuperEekhoorn 1: SuperEekhoorn en de Verschrikkelijke Snotman (Squirrel Boy 1: Squirrel Boy vs. The Bogeyman) (160 pages)
This was a sort of superhero story. It was nice (and a bit gross lol).

 

Phil Earle (ill. Sara Ogilvie) - Storey Street 3: The War Next Door (221 pages)
Phil Earle (ill. Sara Ogilvie) - Storey Street 4: Scaredy Cat, Scaredy Cat (206 pages)
I read books 1 and 2 a while ago. I liked these stories, they were nice.

 

Luc Descamps (ill. Rik Willemen) - De Poortwereld 3: Het Offer (178 pages)
Luc Descamps (ill. Rik Willemen) - De Poortwereld 4: De Witte Heks (203 pages)
I liked books 1 and 2 in this series. I was disappointed by book 3, it was mostly just the characters travelling from one place to another and one of the things they encountered was similar to an element I read about in a different children's book. Book 4 though was really good, I quite liked that one.

 

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I read Virginia Andrews - M'n lieve Audrina (My Sweet Audrina). I read a lot of V. C. Andrews' books when I was in high school, and I hadn't read one in years. I enjoyed reading this book. About halfway through, I suddenly felt like I'd read the book before. I've had this copy of the book just a couple of years, so I think I borrowed it from the library back when I was in high school. It was fun and nostalgic to re-read this book. Some crazy stuff happens. A couple of things in the book I liked less. Overall I enjoyed reading this book, it was an interesting story.

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I read Becky Albertalli - Simonverse 3: Creekwood 2: Leah on the Offbeat. This is the third novel by Becky Albertalli and it features a couple of the same characters as in Simon vs the Homo Sapiens Agenda. Leah was a side character in that book (and is the main character of Leah on the Offbeat). This book takes place after that one.

 

I really enjoyed reading Leah on the Offbeat. Leah was an interesting character.  I liked the writing style. It was nice to see some of the characters from Simon vs., and even the characters from The Upside of Unrequited were briefly mentioned. It was really nice to spend time with these nice characters again. I also liked the Harry Potter references, and the general geeky references. Overall I quite enjoyed reading this book.

 

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April 2018 Summary

Books read: 34
Pages read: 6668

Genres:
Fantasy: 12
Science-fiction: 1
Contemporary Fiction: 15
Rom-com: 1
Historical Fiction: 1
Literature: 1
Detective / Mystery: 1
Thriller: 0
Horror: 1
Paranormal: 0
Biography: 1
Information: 1
'Disney': 0

Age Ranges:
Infants: 0 book(s)
Children: 22 book(s)
Young-Adult: 6 book(s)
Adult: 6 book(s)

TBR vs. R:
Re-reads: 1 book(s)
New Reads: 33 book(s)
Combination: 0 book(s)

Types of books: Novels: 25
Short Stories / Short Story Collections: 2
Novellas: 0
Omnibusses: 4
Information: 1
Biographies: 0
Combination: 0

Most impressive / Favourite(s) of the month:
Francesca Zappia - Eliza and her Monsters
Tomi Adeyemi - Legacy of Orïsha 1: Children of Blood and Bone
Matilda Tristam - Probably Nothing: A diary of not-your-average nine months
Becky Albertalli - Simonverse 3: Creekwood 2: Leah on the Offbeat
Akiko Higashimura - Princess Jellyfish 2 (3-4): Volume 2 (Kuragehima Volumes 3 & 4)
Konami Kanata - The Complete Chi's Sweet Home 2 (4-6): Part 2
Stephen Collins - The Gigantic Beard That Was Evil
Scott McCloud - The Sculptor
Aaron Reynolds and Phil McAndrew - Caveboy Dave 1: More Scrawny Than Brawny
Luc Descamps (ill. Rik Willemen) - De Poortwereld 4: De Witte Heks
David Walliams (ill. Tony Ross) - The World's Worst Children 2

Pretty enjoyable:
Barbara de Leeuw - Overprikkeling voorkomen
Virginia Andrews - M'n lieve Audrina (My Sweet Audrina)
Dave Lowe (ill. Mark Chambers) - Stinkie en Brinks 1: Mijn hamster is een meesterbrein (Stinky & Jinks 1: My Hamster is a Genius)
Dave Lowe (ill. Mark Chambers) - Stinkie en Brinks 2: Mijn hamster is een astronaut (Stinky & Jinks 2: My Hamster is an Astronaut)
Dave Lowe (ill. Mark Chambers) - Stinkie en Brinks 3: Mijn hamster is een Spion (Stinky & Jinks 3: My Hamster is a Spy)
Dave Lowe (ill. Mark Chambers) - Stinkie en Brinks 4: Mijn hamster is een Superster (Stinky & Jinks 4: My Hamster's Got Talent)
Dave Lowe (ill. Mark Chambers) - Stinkie en Brinks 5: Mijn hamster is een Piraat (Stinky & Jinks 5: My Hamster is a Pirate)
Dave Lowe (ill. Mark Chambers) - Stinkie en Brinks 6: Mijn hamster is een Detective (Stinky & Jinks 6: My Hamster is a Detective)
Paul van Loon (ill. Hugo van Look) - Bang voor Vampiers (Bang voor Vampiers?)
Paul van Loon (ill. Saskia Halfmouw) - Foeksia de Miniheks: Foeksia en het Heksenfeest
Paul van Loon (ill. Hugo van Look) - Foeksia de Miniheks: Foeksia en de Toverschaatsen
Paul van Loon (ill. Saskia Halfmouw) - Foeksia de Miniheks: Foeksia en de Spiegelheks
Paul van Loon (ill. Saskia Halfmouw) - Foeksia de Miniheks: Foeksia en de mislukte toverspreuk
Paul van Loon (ill. Saskia Halfmouw) - Foeksia de Miniheks: Foeksia klaar voor de start!
Paul van Loon (ill. Saskia Halfmouw) - Foeksia de Miniheks: Foeksia en het Beestenfeest
Phil Earle (ill. Sara Ogilvie) - Storey Street 3: The War Next Door
Phil Earle (ill. Sara Ogilvie) - Storey Street 4: Scaredy Cat, Scaredy Cat
Geronimo Stilton - Rode Reeks 2: Bollywood op Stelten (Il Mistero del Rubino d'Oriente)
Geronimo Stilton - Sherlock Holmes: Meesterspeurder (Le Avventure di Sherlock Holmes)
Dave Lowe (ill. Cate James) - SuperEekhoorn 1: SuperEekhoorn en de Verschrikkelijke Snotman (Squirrel Boy 1: Squirrel Boy vs. The Bogeyman)

Somewhat enjoyable:
Craig Thompson (col. Dave Stewart) - Ruimtekruimels (Space Dumplins)

Disappointments / Least favourites of the month:
Roderick Leeuwenhart - Pindakaas en Sushi 3 (abandoned on page 132 out of 254 pages, ~52%)
A. S. King - Monica Never Shuts Up: A Collection of Short Stories
Luc Descamps (ill. Rik Willemen) - De Poortwereld 3: Het Offer

Abandoned book:
Roderick Leeuwenhart - Pindakaas en Sushi 3 (abandoned on page 132 out of 254 pages, ~52%)

Shortest book(s) read this month:
Paul van Loon (ill. Saskia Halfmouw) - Foeksia de Miniheks: Foeksia en de mislukte toverspreuk (29 pages)
Paul van Loon (ill. Saskia Halfmouw) Foeksia de Miniheks: Foeksia en het Beestenfeest (31 pages)

Longest book(s) read this month:
Tomi Adeyemi - Legacy of Orïsha 1: Children of Blood and Bone (533 pages)
Scott McCloud - The Sculptor (496 pages)
Konami Kanata - The Complete Chi's Sweet Home 2 (4-6): Part 2 (463 pages)

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I read Sam Killerman - A Guide to Gender. This was an interesting read. I taught me quite a lot, not just about gender but also about the way society looks at genders (because that's not the way I look at it). It has made me understand other people more. The illustrations were nice and helpful and funny, and I liked the humour in the text too. I also liked the references to food, movies, animals. Overall I found it an interesting read and one I'll probably think on for a while.

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During the May read-a-thon I read the following books (sorry that the 'thoughts' on them are pretty short, I'm tired).

 

Konami Kanata - The Complete Chi's Sweet Home 3 (7-9): Part 3
It was nice to read this, Chi is cute.

 

Akiko Higashimura - Princess Jellyfish 3 (5-6): Volume 3 (Kuragehime 5 & 6)
I quite liked reading the next installment(s) of this series. It does end on a bit of a cliffhanger though, but it does make sense to break up the story there.

 

Keiko Tobe - With the Light 3: Volume 3 (re-read)
It was nice to re-read this. I re-read books 1 and 2 one after the other, and I then didn't find myself in the mood to continue. I decided, since I was reading Part 3 and Volume 3 of The Complete Chi's Sweet Home and Princess Jellyfish, I'd try (re-)reading Volume 3 of With the Light and then continue reading one book per read-a-thon. It worked out quite well, I enjoyed re-reading this.

 

Christel Land (ill. Shanaka Thisara) - The Superhero Brain
This was a nice book that shows autism in a positive light.

 

Sarah Andersen - Sarah's Scribbles 1: Adulthood is a Myth
Sarah Andersen - Sarah's Scribbles 2: Big Mushy Happy Lump
Sarah Andersen - Sarah's Scribbles 3: Herding Cats
These are collections of comics. I found a lot of them relatable, a few less so. I quite liked reading these.

 

Tom Gauld - Mooncop
This was a touching story about a police officer on the moon. The art style is nice and interesting.

 

Brian Selznick and David Serlin - Baby Monkey, Private Eye
I was a bit disappointed by this, though it's probably my own fault thinking it was going to be more like Brian Selznick's YA books, when it is in fact more suited for younger children. I did enjoy it though, and I liked the illustrations.

 

Emily Carroll - Through the Woods
These are a couple of horror-y short stories. I found them quite creepy! Sometimes I wished a story would have gone on beyond the ending, as I wasn't sure what would have happened after the ending.

 

 

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I read Alice Oseman - I Was Born For This.

 

The synopsis (copied from the back of the book, aside from characters' the last names):
--
For Angel Rahimi, life is only about one thing: The Ark – a pop-rock trio of teenage boys taking the world by storm. Being part of The Ark’s fandom has given her everything – her friendships, her dreams, her place in the world.

Jimmy Kaga-Ricci owes everything to The Ark. He’s their frontman – and playing in a band with his mates is all he ever dreamed of doing.

But dreams don't always turn out the way you think, and when Jimmy and Angel are unexpectedly thrust together they find out how strange and surprising facing up to reality can be.

--

 

I've read Radio Silence by Alice Oseman but I haven't read Solitaire yet. I Was Born For This is her third book, and it didn't disappoint me. I really liked it. I liked the characters, the diversity, the friendships, the fandom (good and bad sides of it), the themes, how anxiety was portrayed. I wish the book would have gone on a little bit beyond the ending. Overall I really enjoyed reading this book.

 

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