Athena

I loved writing and receiving letters when I was younger! Nowadays most of the communication happens via the internet and typing is much faster than writing, but it's nice to reminisce though .

I loved The Painted Man so I'm glad you're enjoying it. I look forward to read your thoughts on it when you've finished the book. It's not a short book so it makes sense it takes a while to read.

Thanks, I'm glad you liked it too !

Yesterday we watched Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home again, I love this one! It's quite funny.

Is the author from a country where English is not the first language? (Dantes sounds not like an English name)

I hope it gets better soon Noll, it sounds really scary!

Sometimes I think he can't very well see where he's going as he tends to run in to us or ie. a door, when he gets excited and runs around too fast.

I hope things clear up there soon, Noll . Our weather has been nice, sometimes a bit cold, sometimes some sunshine, sometimes rain. Not too bad, really .

I wish you both a good read-a-thon ! I loved A Game of Thrones and love Nicholas Sparks' books, The Scarlet Letter is on my TBR. I plan to read a Dutch short literary work, a QuickReads book, a Roald Dahl book, a BabySitter's Club book, a detective, a graphic novel, a children's/YA book from my childhood and Harry Potter 5 (Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix). I don't know if I'll get through all of these (HP5 is pretty big), we'll have to see.

x I'm glad to hear you're enjoying it .

x That's a great image, it's very much me too (introvert). I'm sorry to hear S put you on the spot Frankie, though I'm glad something good came out of it . I've also always needed lots time on my own. I don't have many friends in the Netherlands that I see often (it would be too tiring). My boyfriend's an introvert too so we both spend some time doing our own things. It was a bit of a hassle sometimes at first, one of us sometimes wanting to spend time with the other when the other needed his/her rest. We seem to have settled into a balance these days that we are both comfortable with . That all said, I do enjoy reading this forum and writing with all of you (although often it can be tiring too). I consider you my friends. Devi, welcome to the club !

Thanks for all your answers ! It's very interesting to read how it works for you all on a daily basis.

Great review ! The book is on my TBR, I should try and read it soon. Your review has made me al the more eager to read it .

I usually quite like it when things are explained, though sometimes it's also magical when it isn't.

I love your statistics! Congrats on finishing off the last reviews .

x Thanks for the explanations !

x Thanks, yes it's called Out Stealing Horses in English (or "Paarden [horses] Stelen [to steal[/b]" in Dutch). Thanks . I hope you enjoy The Art of Racing in the Rain as much as I did . x x Thanks, I'm glad to hear you love the book too ! x x I hope you enjoy it just as much as I did !

For who isn't on Facebook etc., a recent photo of Boris and Pamuk:

x Congrats on handing in your notice and signing the new contract ! x x Awwww so beautiful . I'm taking it easy for a few days since there's the read-a-thon and the book fair coming up. I'm also going out for lunch with some family and friends. I'm looking forward to it all but it will be tiring too.

I abandoned Josh Feingold - The Secret Guide to Happiness, a free Kindle ebook I downloaded a while ago (it might not be free any more). It seemed too complicated to me and too much out there, I couldn't grasp what the author meant so I've put it aside for now. I might pick it up at a later time when I feel more up for it. I've started to read Mark Vernon - The Good Life: 30 Steps to Perfecting the Art of Living which is good so far. I didn't want to start a new big book since it's the read-a-thon soon and I want to read specific reads for then. I'm trying not to read too much as I don't want to get mojo problems during the read-a-thon.

Yes, indeed ! I hope you'll enjoy your crime books .

This question is for any author who's willing to answer it. I'm always interested in the writing process of authors. Do you have a schedule of writing during the day or how does it work for you? Do you make a storyboard or do you use any other tools or computer programs?

Personally I prefer not too many gory details, I don't do too well with that. I'm most interested in the crime solving process and the characters but would like to know details of the crime as long as it's not too gory or bloody or anything.

David Niven - De 100 Regels voor een Gelukkig Leven (The 100 Simple Secrets of Happy People: What Scientists Have Learned and How You Can Use It) Genre: Information Format: Paperback Pages: 176 Synopsis (GoodReads):Experts have spent their careers investigating what makes people happy. While their methods are sound and their conclusions valuable, the results often remain hidden in obscure scholarly journals. At last, social scientist and psychologist David Niven, Ph. D., has cut through the scientific gobbledygook. After examining over a thousand of the most recent and important scholarly studies into the psychological traits of happy people and uncovering their most promising discoveries into th causes of happiness. Dr. Niven presents 100 easy-to-digest nuggets of advice: 'Enjoy what you have.' 'Believe in Yourself.' Grounded in science, his approach is fresh, useful, and inspiring. My thoughts: I wanted to read something different so I chose to read some non-fiction instead of fiction, an information book about tips for a happy life. I recently bought this book and hoped it would give me some tips on how to be happier. This book was quite interesting. The book discusses a tip, gives an example and a statement from research. It's simplistically written, which means it reads quite easily but I found it lacked depth. I would've liked to hear more about certain tips and how to apply them. The writing style was good though. I definitely found some useful tips in this book. About setting realistic goals for instance, or friendship or interests. Tip 94 is reading books, which I loved . Some tips were not so appropriate for me, since being with people costs me a lot of energy because of my autism, so those kinds of tips weren't always as applicable. It was nice to read an information book again after what's been a while, and it was also nice to read some Dutch. I find with information books it matters less if it's translated. With fantasy books for example, I find that certain words just sound a bit silly in Dutch, but with information books this matters less. It was great to read some Dutch again (though I do still prefer English for most things). Overall I quite enjoyed reading this book. I wish it had more depth and had been longer but it has quite a few useful tips for me. Rating: **** (8/10)

x I haven't read any of her books, my sister has a book by her which she liked (I'm not sure which one), I saw these two books in the charity shop and thought I'd give them a try. It makes sense that your copies are in English . x x Thanks ! I know, it's terrible . After the book fair I hope to not be buying too many books / spend too much money the rest of February. Hopefully the books from the book fair should keep my resolve going for a while, but we'll have to wait and see.