Athena

Welcome here !

We've been continuing on with the Big Bang Theory, watched two episodes from season four yesterday. It's good but season four is not my favourite season, both of us don't really like Priya. I look forward to the release of season six on Blu-ray, it'll be one of my birthday presents (hopefully). We've only seen the first half, because they only broadcast the first half here for some reason (so far, at least).

Nice !! Great photos, sounds like you had a great time .

That's funny !

x I'm glad to hear you're enjoying it! In my enthousiasm I actually have two exact same copies of this book. I should get around to reading it sometime! x x Below spoiler for anyone who read Karsa's one:

Ian Ford - A Field Guide to Earthlings: An Autistic/Asperger View of Neurotypical Behavior Genre: Information Format: Kindle Pages: The paperback version has 218 pages. Synopsis (GoodReads): Autistic people often live in a state of anxiety and confusion about the social world, running into misunderstandings and other barriers. This book unlocks the inner workings of neurotypical behavior, which can be mysterious to autistics. Proceeding from root concepts of language and culture through 62 behavior patterns used by neurotypical people, the book reveals how they structure a mental map of the world in symbolic webs of beliefs, how those symbols are used to filter perception, how they build and display their identity, how they complete for power, and how they socialize and develop relationships. My thoughts: I read this book on my holidays on my Kindle. I bought it because Amazon recommended it to me and after reading a few pages in the chapter preview, it sounded quite interesting so I bought it. I felt like reading something different after reading Summer so I chose this book. This book was very interesting. It explained a lot of things to me, about how some people without autism communicate with each other. I recognise some things in some people, but not other things in others. For example, my boyfriend is kind of his own thing, he doesn't seem to follow at all what the book says (and I'm really glad for that!!). I recognise some things in my parents and sister, and some more in my brother especially. I also recognise things in people I've seen in the past, such as some of my fellow students at the university. This book made certain things clearer to me. I'm still trying to wrap my head around some concepts, not all of them were easy to understand for me. I loved how this book was written by someone with autism for people with autism. Not only does it add authenticity, the author knows what he's talking about and how to bring it across so that I can understand it (or most of it, at least). Definitely one I'll have to re-read sometime just to understand even more of it and to refresh my mind on certain concepts. Throughout the book a play is described. Each chapter (divived into subchapters, called Patterns) discusses a subject (several patterns). Previous to each chapter, there is one scene of the play (that in the whole plays out a story). I have to admit, I had some real trouble following the play at first. Once I read through the patterns and they were explained (also in relation to the play), I could follow it better. The play seemed a bit chaotically written at first, I was a bit confused. Which is probably exactly how I would've felt, if I'd been there . I had some trouble wrapping my head around which character was who, but later on it became clearer as I got to know them. I'd heartily recommend this book to someone with autism, or to someone who doesn't think the way most people without autism do (ie. like my boyfriend) and who's interested in how most people communicate. If you have no interest in this subject or you think you know most of it already (because you communicate like that), then it may not be of interest. Though it could be refreshing to see just how you're behaving! To me, some of it seemed pretty weird and illogical! XD Rating: ***** (9/10)

Edith Wharton - Summer Genre: Literature Format: Kindle Pages: 216? Unsure, my free Kindle edition doesn't seem to be on GoodReads Synopsis (GoodReads): A new Englander of humble origins, Charity Royall is swept into a torrid love affair with an artistically inclined young man from New York City, but her dreams of a future with him are thwarted. A bold, provocative work, SUMMER was an immediate sensation when first published in 1917 and still stands as one of Wharton's greatest achievements. My thoughts: I read this book on my holidays on my Kindle. It's the August read of the Reading Circle so I thought I might as well try and read it (it was free on Kindle). I was pleasantly surprised by how readable the book was. I did have to look up quite a few words, mainly of things that were used back in those days, that we don't have much anymore now. Some structures were also unknown to me, such as "I want you should go to ..", I got what was meant but the sentence structure was unknown to me. Other than those things I found it very readable (and in a way I enjoyed learning more about life back then by looking up the words I didn't know, which is easy on the Kindle). I have to admit, I skimmed the few religious parts in the book. Reading those kinds of things doesn't appeal to me at all (no offense to whoever does believe in that specific religion), and I get nothing out of it, I get the gist by skimming it. This is also one of the reasons why I prefer not to read any books that talk about religion too much, ie. if religion is prominently featured I tend to steer clear of a book (if I know it beforehand). Anyway, there were only a few parts like that in the book. I suppose it adds to the authenticity but I just didn't like reading those parts. I liked the fact that the book featured a library and talked about the library. I liked reading about the general life of the people there. However I didn't really like the characters a lot. They were all annoying in their own way. Charity (the main character) seemed immature at times, for example. I didn't really like the ending of the book. Anyway, for more thoughts please visit the August Reading Circle thread (warning: spoilers!). I liked this book but didn't love it. It was nice to read, though and I'm glad I did. Whether I'll be buying a paperback version at some point though, I don't know (maybe if I see it cheap.. XD). Rating: *** (6/10)

Nice review ! I'm also not a horsey person (they make me sneeze too!), but despite that I really liked the book. Great to read your thoughts on it.

Brandon Sanderson - The Emperor's Soul Genre: Fantasy Format: Kindle Pages: 167 Synopsis (GoodReads): When Shai is caught replacing the Moon Scepter with her nearly flawless forgery, she must bargain for her life. An assassin has left the Emperor Ashravan without consciousness, a circumstance concealed only by the death of his wife. If the emperor does not emerge after his hundred-day mourning period, the rule of the Heritage Faction will be forfeit and the empire will fall into chaos. Shai is given an impossible task: to create—to Forge—a new soul for the emperor in less than one hundred days. But her soul-Forgery is considered an abomination by her captors. She is confined to a tiny, dirty chamber, guarded by a man who hates her, spied upon by politicians, and trapped behind a door sealed in her own blood. Shai's only possible ally is the emperor's most loyal councillor, Gaotona, who struggles to understand her true talent. Time is running out for Shai. Forging, while deducing the motivations of her captors, she needs a perfect plan to escape… My thoughts: I read this book on my holidays on my Kindle. I felt like reading something different after reading two chick-lit books and so browsed the Fantasy section on my Kindle. I almost forgot I bought this book! XD It's easier seeing them on your shelves, I find it harder to see them on the Kindle, unless I browse the specific catagory and flick through the pages (if there are several I mean). Because I can't read synopses on my Kindle if I don't have an internet connection, and I didn't remember what this book was about, I didn't know much going into the book. The book was easily readable and well written. I really love the magic system in it. The character of Shai appealed to me, it's always nice to see a strong female character in a book (especially in a genre where often the main characters are males). I really liked this book and look forward to read some more of his work. I'd already read some of the Wheel of Time books he wrote and loved them, I have a couple of his other books on my shelf but not yet read (Mistborn series, Warbreaker and The Way of Kings parts one and two). This novella was really good. Rating: ***** (9/10)

Susan Hatler - Better Date Than Never 2: Save the Date Genre: Chick-lit Format: Kindle Pages: 165 Synopsis (GoodReads): Kristen knows men hide things. Case in point, her last boyfriend turned out to be married. Just like anyone else, Kristen is devastated. However, since Kristen evaluates people for a living, her ex’s duplicity has her searching for a new career as well as swearing off men. Touring history museums with her sexy friend Ethan doesn’t count, because he has a girlfriend, and has only shown friendly interest in Kristen. He even helps with her career counseling tasks. Although Kristen has a secret crush on Ethan, spending time with him is safe. Until she discovers he’s actually single. Gasp. And now he’s flirting with her, too. Suddenly, Ethan is way too dangerous. Not to mention tempting. Sure, he seems like sixty shades of perfect, but how’s a girl with bad judgment supposed to detect what skeletons he has in his closet? My thoughts: I read this book on my holidays on my Kindle. I really liked the character of Kirsten in this book. I liked learning more about her, she seemed a bit odd in the previous book I read (book two, see post above), but I really liked her in this book. The book is well written, mainly I give this book a higher rating because of the plot (better than some of the other books, though similar) and the main character. Rating: ***** (9/10)

Susan Hatler - Better Date Than Never 2: Truth or Date Genre: Chick-lit Format: Kindle Pages: 188 Synopsis (GoodReads): Gina Hall is done with men who won’t commit. Ten years waiting for her ex to propose wasted her time. Never again. When her friend Kristen starts a game of Truth or Dare, she dares Gina to go on a date with Ethan, who’s amazing and total marriage material. As Gina plans the going away party for office playboy Chris Bradley, she spontaneously initiates a game of Truth or Dare with him. When his turn comes around, he dares Gina to pose as his girlfriend to help get a flirty colleague off his back. Gina finds playing couple with Chris way too much fun. Even though Gina and Chris are pretending, their relationship begins to feel painfully real. Fearing she might be falling for another fly-by man, Gina must focus on Ethan so she doesn’t make the same dating mistakes all over again. My thoughts: I read this book on my holidays on my Kindle. It's a short read (relatively speaking) and I've liked all Susan Hatler books I've read so far. I liked this book, though not as much as some of her other books. It's nice how the books in the series all feature the same characters, though who is the main character changes with each book. I didn't like the main character as much as some of the other main characters in the series. Yes I read book three, five and one first (review of book four to follow below). At the time of reading some of them, I didn't know they were part of a series. Anyway, this book isn't very different from most of Susan Hatler's other books. That said, it's very entertaining and easy to read. It's very nice to read about all the different characters in this series (one day I'll have to read them all in order). Rating: **** (7/10)

I think the library of the Unseen University features in Colour of Magic, I really love all three of the miniseries.

I'm glad to hear it !

x Congratulations!! x x I'm really glad you liked this one! I should read another Picoult book sometime soon.. x Cute pig pictures!! x x This is awesome news, I'm so happy for you!! x x Congratulations to you too! x x That's really nice, I recognise a few of them .

Northanger Abbey is on my TBR, I'm glad to hear you liked it! I also liked reading your other reviews .

Nice haul Devi ! I hope you enjoyed your holidays.

Great reviews, Steve ! I also really liked To Kill a Mockingbird.

Excellent ! I love that too .

Nice list! Rick Riordan - Percy Jackson & the Lighnting thief Rick Riordan - Percy Jackson & the sea of monsters These are on my wishlist, are they any good? I'm mainly wondering since they're written for a younger audience, if it won't be too simplistic. Kami Garcia - Beautiful Creatures I've heard good things about this but not sure if it'd be my thing, did you like it? Jenny Colgan - The loveliest chocolate shop in Paris This is on my TBR, did you like it? Cassandra Clare - The mortal instruments 1- city of bones Also on my TBR. Jenny Colgan - Meet me at the cupcake cafe On the TBR. Jo Nesbo Phantom The Redbreast Also on the TBR. Michael Ende Momo I really loved this book when I read it as a child. George RR Martin A dance with dragons I assume you've read the other books in the series? I've read the first two books so far and liked it a lot.

Good luck with your book buying ban! It sounds very difficult, to me.. So I hope you'll do really well !

x Oh how time flies.. My TBR pile has grown rather quickly, too. x x This is on my wishlist, nice review ! x x This is on my TBR, nice review!

x Great review, I'm glad to hear you liked this book! It's on my TBR, I was planning on reading the Farseer trilogy first (the Assassin's one).

On average the amount of pages the books I own have, is about 400. I'm not sure if it's the same for which ones I read. It might take a while to get through, but generally I find it nice when a book has lots of pages, it means there is a lot of story or information in it. I read quite fast myself, not sure how fast the average reader reads, depending on how much time you have each day, it could take a month or longer to get through.

It's been a joy catching up to this thread ! x x This is on my wishlist, great review ! x x The first one is on my TBR, the second one is on my wishlist. Great reviews! x x This is going on the wishlist. Really cute pictures of the cat, btw. x x It looks really, really nice ! x x I'm like that too a lot of the time.

x I'm glad to hear you're liking both of these books. The first one I've read and the second is on my wishlist. It's really nice to read about (all) your book buying habits . I'm glad to hear I'm not the only 'bad' one here! I buy more books than I read, too. Good to hear from you again, Kylie .