Athena

My reading goals for 2014: I didn't really have much set goals for 2013. A couple of books I wanted to read, some authors I wanted to read more of, and I estimated I could read 50-75 books (based on the fact that in 2012 I read that amount of books). I've read a lot more than that in 2013. I also read more shorter books. This year I hope to: (subject to change as 2013 ends and 2014 begins) - Read 75-100+ books - Read TBR books - Re-read some books - Read both physical books and Kindle ebooks - Read some of my boyfriend's books (manga) - Read from a variety of genres - Read both fiction and non-fiction (but not in equal amounts) - Read more books by authors I love - Read some books by authors new to me - Read both 'easier' and more difficult books - Read both short and longer books - Finish off some series - Start some new series - Read both series books and standalones Goals to do with my book collection: - Redo book database in Book Collector (highly recommended) - Manually write out book information - Reorganise book cases, shelves + new - Go through book collection and donate some books that I'm no longer interested in + doubles etc.

It's time to make a new reading log! This one will hopefully contain more information than my previous one. It's the second time of doing this, after I joined the forum and got to know all you lovely people. Links: Link to my previous log: Athena's Reading List 2013 Links to important posts within this thread: My reading goals for 2014 Books read in 2014 Books owned Books wishlist Favourite books Challenges Future reads Photos of my book collection Statistics of my book collection Ratings: My rating system is between 1 and 10. It's partially based on the Dutch school system, where 6 or higher is a pass. I also post ratings between one and five stars (* *****), because this is how GoodReads rates the books. If the rating is an odd number (ie. 7), I will be rounding it up (so a 7 would become 4 stars ****). 1 I abandoned this book, it was too horrible to finish 2-4 I didn't enjoy the book much, there were too many things I struggled with 5 - Eh.. it was allright but there were quite a few problems with the book 6 - it was enjoyable but nothing special 7 - the book was enjoyable but not without its flaws 8 - pretty good 9 - I really enjoyed the books 10 - an absolutely awesome book I really enjoyed Previous Statistics: Books read Jun - Dec 2012: 43 Books read in 2013: 143

Nice to meet you, Paul / Charles. I have to admit I didn't know who you were until someone posted about it , then again I only joined in 2013 so.. Happy Reading !

Hey James, I hope you have a good reading year in 2014. Here are some comments on your TBR books: On my TBR too: Little Dorrit Charles Dickens The Mill On The Floss Madame Bovary Tess of The d'urbervilles The Diary Of A Nobody The Last Man North And South The Strange Case Of Dr Jekyll And Mr Hyde Sense and Sensibility - Jane Austen The Horse Whisperer Nicholas Evans Of Mice and Men John Steinbeck The Picture Of Dorian Grey by Oscar Wilde Nicholas Nickleby Charles Dickens Little Women Louisa May Alcott Something Rotten, The Eyre Affair Jasper Fforde Emphyrio - Jack Vance Life Of Pi - Yann Martel The Terror Bleak House The Moonstone The Woman In White Les Miserables Wuthering Heights The Voyage Out Virginia Woolf Life The Universe and Everything Foundation by Isaac Asimov On my wishlist: Lord Of The Flies William Golding Rebecca Daphne Du Maurier The Hundred Year Old Man Who Climbed Out Of The Window And Disappeared - Jonas Jonasson I haven't actually read any of your TBR books I'm afraid . I hope you enjoy them, though! x x Ouch! I know mine would keep me busy for quite some time too, I'm ashamed to even calculate how long . x x It's the same here!

Happy Reading in 2014, Julie! I love the approach on your thread, it made me giggle.

Here are some comments on your TBR books: Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte I loved this book, it's one of my favourite classics. The Time Travellers Wife by Audrey Niffenegger I loved this book, highly recommended! The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky I quite liked this book, although it didn't live up to the huge hype it had for me when I read it. On my TBR: Life of Pi by Yann Martel Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown Persuasion by Jane Austen Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen Emma by Jane Austen Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy by Helen Fielding On my wishlist: The Storyteller by Jodi Picoult Happy Reading in 2014, Vixen !

Here are some comments on some books on your TBR: The Reality Dysfunction - Peter F. Hamilton This series is one of my favourite science-fiction series, so far. I love it so much. I hope you like it too! The Lost Daughter - Diane Chamberlain Kiss River - Diane Chamberlain These are on my TBR too. So far I've loved all Diane Chamberlain books, I look forward to hear what you think of this one. Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason - Helen Fielding I loved this one. The Beach - Alex Garland I think I had a copy that I've read at secondary school but I haven't been able to find it yet. The Complete Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams I love this series! Galapagos - Kurt Vonnegut It might be on my TBR. I bought some Kurt Vonnegut books for on the Kindle but on top off my head I'm not sure if I bought this one or not, I might have. The Secret Life of Bees - Sue Monk Kidd This is on my wishlist. QI: The Book of General Ignorance - The Noticeably Stouter Edition - John Lloyd and John Mitchinson QI: The Second Book of General Ignorance - John Lloyd and John Mitchinson I have one QI book on my TBR, I think it's the top one. Around the World in 80 Days Junior Edition - Jules Verne The 'normal' edition is on my TBR. Dune - Frank Herbert I quite liked this book! It's quite unique. Sophie's World - Jostein Gaarder I loved this book! It's such a great story and educational too. A Prayer for Owen Meany - John Irving This is on my wishlist. Evolution - Stephen Baxter It's either on my TBR or on my wishlist. On my TBR too: White Fang - Jack London Uncle Tom's Cabin - Harriet Beecher Stowe On Books and the Housing of Them - W E Gladstone The Shining - Stephen King Misery - Stephen King Pet Semetary - Stephen King The Complete Soldier Son Trilogy - Robin Hobb The Moonstone - Wilkie Collins A Discovery of Witches - Deborah Harkness Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency - Douglas Adams Les Miserables - Victor Hugo The Secret Garden - Frances Hodgson Burnett The Grass Is Singing - Doris Lessing Picture Perfect - Jodi Picoult Reamde - Neal Stephenson The Millenium Trilogy - Stieg Larsson Dracula: A Mystery Story - Bram Stoker Kidnapped - Robert Louis Stevenson Gulliver's Travels - Jonathan Swift The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle Heart of Darkness - Joseph Conrad David Copperfield - Charles Dickens A Tale of Two Cities - Charles Dickens Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte The Last Man - Mary Wollstonecraft Shelly The Lord of the Rings - JRR Tolkien The Count of Monte Cristo - Alexandre Dumas Diary of a Nobody - George Grossmith The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn - Mark Twain London - Edward Rutherfurd Childhood's End - Arthur C. Clarke Human, All Too Human - Nietzsche Happy Reading in 2014, BB !

I'm glad to hear you had a great day, Devi !

Great review, I'm glad you liked Paper Towns . The book is on my TBR. I'm glad to hear so many positive things about it.

x Merry Christmas !

Great review ! It's a shame you didn't enjoy it as much as you'd hoped, though I'm glad it was still enjoyable. I hope your next read will be (even) more enjoyable.

I love The Works! If I'm nearby one I'll want to go inside . Unfortunately I don't come in the UK much anymore these days, but I always loved the shop when I was in one.

George R. R. Martin - A Song of Ice and Fire 3: A Storm of Swords 1: Steel and Snow Genre: Fantasy Format: Paperback Pages: 661 (including a fairly long appendix with names) Synopsis (): (no synopsis because it's part of a series) My thoughts: This is the first book of the third 'book' of the ASoIaF series. Since I finished watching season two, I thought it was a good time to continue reading the books. I wanted to know how the story continued. I really enjoyed reading this book. You do feel that it's only part one of two, the tension isn't ramping up a lot more towards the end, like the first two books had. I expect that might happen in the second part (Blood and Gold). It didn't bother me though. It does feel odd to stop reading when the story isn't finished, but then again it won't be finished for a while and that's usual with series. I enjoyed reading about the characters, some characters perhaps more than others. There were a few cringy bits, things related to sex or violence, that made me cringe. I didn't like reading these bits. While some were unnecessary and could easily have been left out (and I would've preferred that), others I can see are more integral to the plot and not so easily replaced with a softer scene. The chronology of it all confused me a bit at first, a lot of things are happening at the same time. I must have been tired reading book two, since it seemed to me some events, that did happen in the TV series, were not discussed in either book two or this book. But I think that's just my memory being faulty, I looked it up on Wikipedia and it all did happen this way, so I'm not sure what happened with my memory. It could be that there's something wrong with my copy of the book but I didn't notice anything odd while reading it so I doubt it's that, it's probably my memory. I love reading the more detailed descriptions of things or how certain characters interact. I enjoyed the second half of the book more than the first half, by then I was really into the story again. Rating: ***** (10/10)

x The covers look different from the English ones on Amazon and Goodreads. In general the covers are often different or slightly different, but sometimes they are the same. I'm not sure what makes the publishers choose for a different cover. Titles are sometimes directly translated and other times something completely different. Sometimes I find the Dutch title works well, other times less so. I was planning on taking a picture of the Stephen King books to show you but then I got carried away and put them on a shelf before taking a picture (behind other books). I can still get them off again though if you want! (I do love handling my books ) x x Thanks ! It's 140 now, I've already written the review a few days ago and will be posting it shortly. I never thought I'd be reading that many books this year (though admittedly I have read some shorter ones). I plan to be writing an end-of-year post with thoughts on the year as a reading year and also post some statistics of the books I've read this year. x x You're welcome, I'm glad it helps . x x I'm glad to hear you liked the earlier ones . I'm quite looking forward to Christine for some reason, somehow the story intrigues me. I might have read it before when I was a child, I'm not sure.

x Whoopsie! But I'm familiar with the problem.. .

Great review, the book sounds interesting!

x I quite like Hugh Grant, I think he plays his roles very well. I haven't seen Four Weddings and a Funeral but love the other films you mentioned. x x I love that film!

x That's awesome! I already have those two but for anyone else.. I haven't read them yet, though, but so far have loved all Diane Chamberlain's books. x x Oopsie! I can imagine that might make it more difficult to read.

Welcome here ! I just finished reading the first part of the third book in the A Song of Ice and Fire series. So far I'm really enjoying the series, it's quite good. The only thing I don't like is the what I call cringy bits, the violent and sex bits. Have you read all the books so far? I love IT! I recently re-read it for I think the 4th time and still love it. I have some other books by Stephen King on my shelves, but I haven't read them yet. I read IT for the first time when I was a young teenager (maybe 11 or 12) and have loved it ever since. I'm not really too much into horror anymore these days, but I love IT. I look forward to discussing books and other things with you , see you around the forum!

Welcome here !

x I haven't yet seen it but (read the book though): Yesterday we watched the first half of The Hogfather, based on the book by Terry Pratchett. I think this is the third time watching it, and I love it (I love the Discworld books).

There have been various collections of his stories, I presume the quote is from one story. I have to say I haven't read any of his books yet , I have a few on my TBR. I have a book of some Sherlock Holmes stories and a book of The Lost World and Other Stories. I'm going to guess it's one of those two? Or are we not allowed to guess more than one book at a time ? I kinda don't want to do another quote, though , it's difficult picking a good one .

x that doesn't sound good. I hope things will get sorted! x x Congrats ! What kind of carpet is it, what colour(s) etc.? x x Those look very beautiful! We have one that looks just like one of them but we call it 'kerstster' I think. Today we'll be decorating our Christmas tree. Hopefully it'll look nice once it's all done.

x I agree! x x It's really interesting to hear what it was like for you . x x That does sound wrong. x x I'm sorry for your loss, that must have been difficult. x x (sorry for making your quote smaller, there were too many emoticons ) It's great to hear how things work for you, Kay. x x Very interesting to hear what it's like for you. @ anti bacterial I agree that we shouldn't go overboard, but I don't agree with sharing saliva. If one person's ill, you're spreading that illness. I'd only share it with people close to me and whom I know not to be ill. Otherwise I find the thought a bit disgusting tbh .