Kidsmum Posted October 28, 2013 Share Posted October 28, 2013 Lovely book pic Athena I haven't read any of them myself so look forward to hearing what you think of them Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Athena Posted October 29, 2013 Author Share Posted October 29, 2013 Nice book haul, Gaia! Glad you had a productive birthday. x Thanks, Laura ! x Nice birthday haul! I have Haruki Murakami - 1Q84 on my shelf, look forward to hearing what you think. x Thanks, Devi ! I hope you enjoy it too! x Looks like a nice stack of books there ,and many days/weeks or months of reading time !x Thanks, Julie ! x Knowing Athena it's probably more a matter of minutes/hours. x Yes, you are probably right there. I was going by my reading time ,but she can read MUCH faster than I do !x Thanks to you both ! I've always been able to read fast, it's just the processing of input that costs a lot of energy. But I've always loved my reading speed, it's one of the things I feel I'm "good at", so when I feel down about myself and am thinking about the many things I'm not good at, I think about it sometimes and feel a bit better (sorry if that was too depressing, I don't intend for it to be that!). x Lovely book pic Athena I haven't read any of them myself so look forward to hearing what you think of them x Thanks Kidsmum ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Signor Finzione Posted October 29, 2013 Share Posted October 29, 2013 x Thanks to you both ! I've always been able to read fast, it's just the processing of input that costs a lot of energy. But I've always loved my reading speed, it's one of the things I feel I'm "good at", so when I feel down about myself and am thinking about the many things I'm not good at, I think about it sometimes and feel a bit better (sorry if that was too depressing, I don't intend for it to be that!). x x Not at all - it's good that it can cheer you up, and it's a nice thing to be proud of! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frankie Posted October 29, 2013 Share Posted October 29, 2013 x There should be more soon because I'll be getting some books for my birthday and I'll be going to the Dutch book fair. So much fun for you, the Birthday and now the book fair! When's the fair? Thanks ! I can, but I've been buying more than I read, the past two years. I just enjoy book buying a lot, it's very de-stressing. I am going to address this issue, by at the very least ordering less expensive books, the easiest place to save money is to not buy as many of the ones that cost more (unless I really, really want them). No worries, I know book buying is great therapy for one... You've earned it, I'd say, what with completing your studies Then there's the space issue, too. Sometime next year I plan to go through my books and give some to charity, or the English ones to maybe someone here if anyone wants my double copies. There's also the plan of, once my boyfriend and I move into the bakery, to then buy more bookcases in my room so I'll have more space for my books, too. I also plan on reading a lot! It'll be so exciting for the two of you to move in together, and sort out what goes where, and getting new bookcases and shelving all the books... I bet the shelving will be therapeutic, too. Finding the right place for each and every single book. I love organizing books, I dare to guess you are the same Thanks . I'm not sure how many I added to the wishlist, though I can try to look it up if you want, I can either try to find my notepad where I wrote most of them on, or I can try to look at my GoodReads wishlist and see section I remember being from the book, I should be able to remember that roughly, I think (I think about 30? That's just a guess though. Maybe it's more ). You don't have to look up the particular number of books if you don't know exactly where you keep it, no worries! 30 books sounds about right Unfortunately I liked the Nick Hornby book better, and added only one book from Landing to my own wishlist.. A bit disappointing, but hey, at least wishlist is happier and lighter Lord! .. keep up Poppyshake so sorry frankie Yes, pay attention at the back Great Birthday book haul, Athena! I'm particularly happy that your BF found a copy of the Bridget Jones book at the airport, so great! Now you have them all! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alexi Posted October 30, 2013 Share Posted October 30, 2013 Hi Athena. I also have 1Q84 on my TBR (well, books 1 and 2 in the same volume anyway, I will have to get 3 out of the library when I am ready to read the volume I own! ) so I really look forward to seeing what you think of that one Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Athena Posted October 30, 2013 Author Share Posted October 30, 2013 Not at all - it's good that it can cheer you up, and it's a nice thing to be proud of! x Thanks ! x So much fun for you, the Birthday and now the book fair! When's the fair?x Thanks . All book fairs from Het Boekenfestijn are on Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday (open from 10:00 - 21:00 except on Sunday, they close at 18:00 on Sunday). We're planning on going on Thursday, then have Friday, Saturday and Sunday for the read-a-thon. Then on Monday or such I'll sort out the newly bought books. x No worries, I know book buying is great therapy for one... You've earned it, I'd say, what with completing your studies x Awww thanks . I agree, it's a great therapy. x It'll be so exciting for the two of you to move in together, and sort out what goes where, and getting new bookcases and shelving all the books... I bet the shelving will be therapeutic, too. Finding the right place for each and every single book. I love organizing books, I dare to guess you are the same x I love organising my books too! I'm looking forward to doing that. When we move into the bakery, I plan to turn my current room/rooms into a library (there probably isn't enough space in the bakery for all my books, there isn't much wallspace for big book shelves), I'll buy some more bookcases and reorganise my books. x You don't have to look up the particular number of books if you don't know exactly where you keep it, no worries! 30 books sounds about right Unfortunately I liked the Nick Hornby book better, and added only one book from Landing to my own wishlist.. A bit disappointing, but hey, at least wishlist is happier and lighter x Awww I'm sorry to hear that, I'm glad you enjoyed Nick Hornby's book though and yes I suppose it's better for the wishlist that way. x Great Birthday book haul, Athena! I'm particularly happy that your BF found a copy of the Bridget Jones book at the airport, so great! Now you have them all!x Thanks ! Yes, I'm very excited about them and plan to read them soon . x Hi Athena. I also have 1Q84 on my TBR (well, books 1 and 2 in the same volume anyway, I will have to get 3 out of the library when I am ready to read the volume I own! ) so I really look forward to seeing what you think of that one x Nice , I hope you enjoy it too! I'm looking forward to reading it. I asked for the omnibus edition because I thought it'd be handier and cheaper (also it was what came up first). I finished reading IT by Stephen King so I'll write a review for it soon once I'm done reading other threads on the forum. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Athena Posted October 30, 2013 Author Share Posted October 30, 2013 Stephen King - IT Genre: Horror Format: Paperback Pages: 1376 Synopsis (back of the book): It is the children who see - an dfeel - what makes the small town of Derry so horribly different. In the storm drains, in the sewers, IT lurks, taking on the shape of every nightmare, each one's deepest dread. Sometimes IT reaches up, seizing, tearing, killin... Time passes and the children gorw up, move away and forget. Until they are called back, once more to confront IT as it stirs and coils in the sullen depths of their memories, reaching up again to make their past nightmares a terrible present reality. My thoughts: I've read this book probably three times before. First, in the library it was the first adult book I read, when I was about 12 I think. Somehow the cover (the one that the library had) appealed to me as did the title. I then bought my Dutch paperback version and read that several times when I was a teenager. I bought the English paperback a couple of months ago and thought it'd be nice to re-read it, but then in English. Since October is kind of an Halloweeny month, I thought it was a good time to be reading it. My progress was a bit slower than usual, I was busy with other things and the book itself is heavy so I couldn't read it for longer amounts of time. It's also a scary book, so I didn't want to read it in the evening just before bed or when it's dark. I don't like being scared much and I get scared easily. The fact that I had the TV film in my head didn't help either (I own it on DVD so will be rewatching it at some point). So if you like scary books, this might be your thing! Not all of it is scary, but there are many situations and scenes in it that are (even though I knew what was going to happen). It was great nostalgia, reading this. I hadn't read it since I was a teenager (I'm 28 now), so it's been quite some time. It's nice because I knew what was overall going to happen and recognised the characters and their back stories etc., most of it I didn't remember until I read about it, which is a sweet spot of remembrance to me (could've re-read it earlier, though). That way the story isn't so fresh that it'd get boring but it's enjoyable to read it and remember the story and experience it again. One thing that bothered me were some of the accents. Gladly they aren't a big part of the story, but for me it's difficult when things are written down phonetically. In English, I'm sometimes not sure what's meant or how it's supposed to sound like, so for me this only makes things harder. As I said, gladly it's not a big deal for most of the book. On a few occasions I felt the book dragged a bit, for example on minor details of minor characters or of Derry (the hometown). I wanted to find out what'd happen to the main characters rather than reading some pages of minor details in between the overall story. At the beginning of the book I had a bit of trouble figuring out who was who. I think this also was because I kept stopping and starting to read it, while I read other books in between (ie. there was a read-a-thon inbetween). After a little while though I got more into the story and was able to memorise and remember who was who. Near the end of the book I was a bit confused which parts were written for the present and which ones for the past (1985 vs. 1958). The characters were great, there's a lot of backstory to them and it was great to read about them. I preferred some over others but overall I found something nice in each of the main characters. Since the story was written back in the 1980s and it takes place in the 1950s and 1980s it was nice to read about a time that was a bit close to my childhood (1990s), without mobile phones for example. The book is really well written and with a lot of detail. I enjoyed hearing about most of these details and it brought the story alive for me (so to speak). I have great memories of reading this book and reading it in English (the original language) it didn't disappoint. It's a great epic story. One thing I found a bit weird was that: (don't read if you haven't read the book) the boys all make love to Beverly. I didn't quite understand why this had to be so, or maybe I don't want to understand, I don't know. I've always found this a bit weird. Overall I really enjoyed re-reading this book and it's my favourite horror book. I plan on reading more Stephen King books at some point, though I doubt I'll like any as much as I do this one, purely also because of my memories of it. It's such an epic, big story and I love the way the book talks about the past and present, two different time frames. It's great to see the main characters grow up and see if/how they've changed. It's a great book! Rating: ***** (10/10) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Little Pixie Posted October 30, 2013 Share Posted October 30, 2013 Ooh, lovely new books. Hope you enjoy them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
julie Posted October 30, 2013 Share Posted October 30, 2013 Athena GREAT review of IT . I'm not a major Stephen King fan, although I have read a few and liked them all . I just don't read a lot of horror type stories . I still have The Stand on my Kindle ... one of these days I'll get to it . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Timstar Posted October 30, 2013 Share Posted October 30, 2013 Great review! IT is one my favourites Wish I had the time to re-read it more often! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobblybear Posted October 31, 2013 Share Posted October 31, 2013 Great review of IT. It's my second favourite King book (after The Stand). I agree with your spoilers - it is a bit wierd. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Athena Posted October 31, 2013 Author Share Posted October 31, 2013 Ooh, lovely new books. Hope you enjoy them. x Thanks ! x Athena GREAT review of IT . I'm not a major Stephen King fan, although I have read a few and liked them all . I just don't read a lot of horror type stories . I still have The Stand on my Kindle ... one of these days I'll get to it . x I'm glad to hear you liked some of his other books. I have The Stand also on my shelf, though I think I might read Carrie as my next Stephen King read since it's short. x Great review! IT is one my favourites Wish I had the time to re-read it more often!x Thanks ! I'm glad to hear it. It's definitely one of my favourite books. x Great review of IT. It's my second favourite King book (after The Stand). I agree with your spoilers - it is a bit wierd.x Thanks, glad to hear you agree! I look forward to reading The Stand. Not for a little while though since that's so big too, I need to read some shorter books now first . I went to the book fair today and bought some books! Below is a picture of the books my boyfriend and I bought. I also bought one book for my dad (the Dutch version of George R. R. Martin - A Song of Ice and Fire 2: A Clash of Kings) but it's not on this photo. I bought 40 books, two of which were free. My boyfriend got three books, one of which I would've bought if he hadn't seen it just before I did. Since we're together we share our stuff, so everything is kind of "ours" anyway instead of "mine" and "yours". I didn't buy as much as some other times, because there were quite a few books there that I've bought at previous book fairs so I had them already (probably would've bought them if I didn't, though). I saw a few other nice ones that I liked, but they were a bit pricey (in my opinion) so I didn't get them (I don't know anything about them and felt the price was too high to randomly take a shot on them, if that makes sense). I'll post a list once I've sorted out the books and added them to Book Collector, but first there's a read-a-thon so I'll be busy with that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Signor Finzione Posted October 31, 2013 Share Posted October 31, 2013 Wow, nice haul! I have the Warcraft book (I thought it was okay), and have always been intrigued by the Morganville ones. Looking forward to seeing what you think of them! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Timstar Posted November 2, 2013 Share Posted November 2, 2013 You should definitely read The Stand, my favourite book ever. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pontalba Posted November 5, 2013 Share Posted November 5, 2013 The Stand is one of my favorite, period. I just finished Under the Dome, and enjoyed it a lot as well, so can recommend it. Athena, your review and some remarks I've read on here have convinced me to try IT again. I understand some of the characters are the same as Under the Dome. I love carry over stuff like that. Great review! Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Timstar Posted November 5, 2013 Share Posted November 5, 2013 Athena, your review and some remarks I've read on here have convinced me to try IT again. I understand some of the characters are the same as Under the Dome. I love carry over stuff like that. Great review! Thanks! Didn't notice any IT characters in Under the Dome!, there are definitely a couple in 11/22/63 which is also brilliant. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobblybear Posted November 5, 2013 Share Posted November 5, 2013 I didn't notice any IT characters in Under The Dome either, but there usually are connections between his books. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pontalba Posted November 5, 2013 Share Posted November 5, 2013 Didn't notice any IT characters in Under the Dome!, there are definitely a couple in 11/22/63 which is also brilliant. I didn't notice any IT characters in Under The Dome either, but there usually are connections between his books. I believe the theory was that the aliens referred to as "leather heads" were the same as the ones in IT. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Athena Posted November 7, 2013 Author Share Posted November 7, 2013 Wow, nice haul! I have the Warcraft book (I thought it was okay), and have always been intrigued by the Morganville ones. Looking forward to seeing what you think of them! x Thanks ! x You should definitely read The Stand, my favourite book ever.x I will ! x Athena, your review and some remarks I've read on here have convinced me to try IT again. I understand some of the characters are the same as Under the Dome. I love carry over stuff like that. Great review! Thanks! x Didn't notice any IT characters in Under the Dome!, there are definitely a couple in 11/22/63 which is also brilliant.xI didn't notice any IT characters in Under The Dome either, but there usually are connections between his books.x That all sounds very exciting! I like it when there are connections between books. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Athena Posted November 7, 2013 Author Share Posted November 7, 2013 Here are the books I bought recently: At Het Boekenfestijn: Humour Loesje - Wees Jezelf en Geef de Wereld een Slinger: Jaaroverzicht 2009 (free book) Puzzles Conceptis Puzzles - Secret Picture Mazes Igloo Books - Incredible Logic Puzzles Graphic Novels Jules Verne - Graphic Classics: 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea Alexandre Dumas - Graphic Classics: The Three Musketeers John Malam, Penko Gelev and Jonathan Swift - Graphic Classics: Gulliver's Travels Comics Matt Groening - The Simpsons: Holiday Humdinger Science-fiction Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson - Dune Chronicles 2: The Winds of Dune Science-fiction (YA) Beth Revis - Across the Universe 1: Across the Universe Paranormal (YA) Rachel Caine - The Morganville Vampires 1: Glass Houses Rachel Caine - The Morganville Vampires 6: Carpe Corpus Thriller Jo Nesbo - Harry Hole 5: The Devil's Star Rudy Soetewey - Getuigen (free book) Detectives Mary Ellen Hughes - A Craft Corner Mystery 3: Paper-Thin Alibi Natalie M. Roberts - Jenny T. Partridge Dance Mysteries 2: Tapped Out De Waal and Baantjer - Een Schot in de Roos Literature Ann Herendeen - Pride / Prejudice Historical Fiction Catherine Cookson - The Solace of Sin Sally Worboyes - Valentine Moon Contemporary Fiction Sue Miller - The Senator's Wife Chick-lit Cecilia Ahern - There's No Place Like Here Beth Harbison - Shoe Addict 2: Secrets of a Shoe Addict Astrid Harrewijn - Ja Kun Je Krijgen Gillian King - 60 Dagen: Zestig Dagen Om te Bewijzen Dat Hij Bij Haar Hoort Carlie van Tongeren - Pasta & Passie Chick-lit (YA) Meg Cabot - Princess Diaries 5: Give me Five Fantasy Christie Holden - World of Warcraft 8: The Shattering: Prelude to Cataclysm Christoph Hardebusch - De Trollen 2: De Slag van de Trollen Fantasy (YA, children's) Nancy Holder and Debbie Viguié - Wicked 5: Resurrection Michael Buckley - The Sisters Grimm 4: Once Upon a Crime Michael Buckley - The Sisters Grimm 5: Magic and Other Misdemeanors Michael Buckley - The Sisters Grimm 6: Tales from the Hood Michael Buckley - The Sisters Grimm 7: The Everafter War Stephen R. Lawhead - The Dragon King 3: The Sword and the Flame Information John Scalzi - The Rough Guide to Sci-fi Movies Jørgen Gaare and Øystein Sjaastad - Harry Potter En De School Der Wijzen: Wat Harry Potter Ons Over Filosofie Leert Joe Vitale - Handleiding Voor Het Leven: De Gebruiksaanwijzing Die Je Bij Je Geboorte Had Willen Krijgen Mark Vernon - The Good Life: 30 Steps to Perfecting The Art of Living Richard Wiseman - 59 Seconden: Verbeter Je Leven in Minder Dan Een Minuut Richard Wiseman - Rip It Up: The Radically New Approach To Changing Your Life Terre des Hommes / charity shop: Agatha Christie - Hercule Poirot 23: Evil Under The Sun Roald Dahl - Tales of the Unexpected William Styron - Sophie's Choice Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Athena Posted November 7, 2013 Author Share Posted November 7, 2013 Kathy Lette - Love is Blind: But Marriage is a Real Eye Opener (QuickReads) Genre: Chick-lit Format: Paperback Pages: 121 Synopsis (back of the book):When Jane decides to move to the Australian outback in search of a husband, her sister Anthea thinks she's mad. But then again, the sisters have never seen eye-to-eye. Anthea is slim, beautiful and has a perfect life and fiancé. Jane has always felt like the ugly duckling in comparison. But when Anthea follows her sister Down Under to try and save Jane from this latest crazy plan, she ends up taking a walk on the wild side herself. My thoughts: As per usual for the read-a-thon I read a QuickReads, this was on top of the pile (the most recent buy I believe) and I felt like reading something 'chick-littish' after having read the epic story that is IT. I liked this book and in particular I liked the characters. They had interesting viewpoints and were interesting to read about. I could understand and feel for both the main character's viewpoints. There were good elements in both their personalities that I could identify with. I enjoyed the writing style of the author, the book was easy to read. What I liked less about this book are two things. One, there's a lot of arguing. I'm not a big fan of reading arguments, especially not when they're so prominent as here. There were times where some of the characters had trouble having a civilised conversation but instead kept arguing and shouting. I found this a bit stupid. The other thing I liked less was that some plot events (that I won't spoil) were a bit over the top. I felt some things that happened were a bit over the top and overdone. I found this book an entertaining read but it's not something I'll pick up anytime soon to re-read. It was nice and I enjoyed it but it wasn't brilliant. Rating: **** (7/10) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Athena Posted November 7, 2013 Author Share Posted November 7, 2013 Roald Dahl - Danny the Champion of the World Genre: Children's Format: Paperback Pages: 214 Synopsis (back of the book):Danny thinks the world of his father, but imagine his surprise when he finds out he's been breaking the law! Even grown-ups bend the rules sometimes, but Danny knows his father is still good, kind and clever and full of exciting ideas. Join them in this thrilling adventure as they hope to pull off the most daring and dangerous plan ever. My thoughts: Another read-a-thon, another Roald Dahl book. I picked this one because it has quite a few pages compared with some of the other ones. I don't think I've read this book before, presumably because my library didn't have it. I liked the BFG reference, this I thought was quite well done. I looked it up and this book was written before The BFG. This story was interesting and fun to read. I loved the friendship between Danny and his father. I would've liked to hear more about Danny's school and his school friends, this part of his life was a bit absent in the story (it probably wasn't so important for the story, though). I liked the car bits, Danny's father owns a petrol station and garage workshop and I enjoyed reading about the tinkering to the cars. The illustrations were beautiful as usual (by Quentin Blake). I thought the plan they cooked up was ingeneous but my main problem with it was that (don't read unless you've read the book): all the phaesants were going to get eaten by the people, which I didn't like so much. While it's true that otherwise they'd be eaten by the rich and snobby people, I didn't really like this aspect. My surprise was great when the ending happened the way it did, I loved that! Overall a pretty good Roald Dahl book, if not one of my favourites. Rating: **** (8/10) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Athena Posted November 7, 2013 Author Share Posted November 7, 2013 Ann M. Martin - The BabySitter's Club 4: Mary Anne Saves the Day (re-read) Genre: Chick-lit, Children's/YA Format: Paperback Pages: 156 Synopsis (GoodReads):The Babysitters Club is in big trouble. All four girls are having a huge fight, and Mary Anne feels caught in the middle. She isnt usually the leader of their group, but when the club leaves her to run things, Mary Anne decides it's time to take charge. Can she save the BSC before it falls apart? My thoughts: This was the next one in my English BabySitter's Club collection. It was great reading this book in English and experiencing all the memories that come with it. This was the first BSC book I ever read and it's the one that made me love the series. I loved the many parts of this book, it's fantastic. I love the character of Mary Anne (she's known in Dutch as 'Inge') in particular. I had a little bit of trouble reading the 'written' parts of the story (the introductions to what the club writes in their log book (not sure what it's called in English atm)). In Dutch I didn't have a problem so I don't know, maybe different fonts or something. I enjoyed reading about all the characters, though for some minor characters I found it difficult to think of them with their English names rather than their Dutch names. The story is really well written and quite interesting. I loved reading about what happens with the girls and their friendship, and how Mary Anne handles all the situations in this book. Rating: ***** (10/10) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Athena Posted November 7, 2013 Author Share Posted November 7, 2013 A. C. Baantjer - De Cock 7: De Cock en de Treurende Kater Genre: Detective Format: Paperback Pages: 160 Synopsis (Me):De Cock and his partner Vledder want to solve a murder, but their boss instructs them to solve a robbery of a money transport. My thoughts: By accident I didn't take the second book in the series off my shelf, but the seventh. The books themselves don't have any numbers on them, you really have to look it up to find out (a bit annoying). Anyway, that didn't diminish my enjoyment of the story and generally it doesn't matter a whole lot to read them in order (as far as I know..). This was a great story. There were a lot of characters, it's not a book to read when I'm a bit tired since then it could confuse me. There were a lot of plot twists that I didn't see coming. It was well written and great to read. The book read easily, though there were a few words in there that weren't familiar to me. This book was written in the 1970s and uses some Dutch police jargon of that time. I thought it added some authenticity to the story, though, so it didn't bother me. The technology used is also I think from that time, which is nice. They use a 'telex', which seems to be an old-fashioned way of getting messages to one another. This is where they come across the message of the murder, and if you replace it by the modern day internet then the story would work just as well. I enjoyed this old-fashioned element. By the way, it's only used once in the beginning, the rest of the story it doesn't play any role. Overall I really enjoyed reading this book. There is a TV series based on the books, of which I've seen some episodes (made in the 1990s mainly I think?). My sister owns many of them (or maybe all?) on DVD. There are some differences though between the characters of the TV series and the characters at the beginning of the book series. I think the TV series is based on the characters later on in the series. So reading about them in this book stroked a little with my memories of them from the TV series, but it wasn't a big problem. Things might be different later on in the book series. I quite liked the characters as they were in this book, to be honest. I really enjoyed this book. Rating: ***** (9/10) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Athena Posted November 7, 2013 Author Share Posted November 7, 2013 J. K. Rowling - Harry Potter 2: Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (re-read) Genre: Fantasy, Children's/YA Format: Paperback Pages: 251 Synopsis (GoodReads):Harry Potter is a wizard. He is in his second year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Little does he know that this year will be just as eventful as the last ...even getting there is an adventure in itself! The three firm friends, Harry, Ron and Hermione, are soon immersed in the daily round of Potions, Herbology, Charms, Defence Against the Dark Arts, and Quidditch. But then horrible and mysterious things start happening. Harry keeps hearing strange voices, sinister and dark messages appear, and then Ron's sister Ginny disappears ... My thoughts: For the last read-a-thon I reread the first Harry Potter book, so it seemed fitting I'd read the second one for the next read-a-thon (though the later books are much bigger so I might not be continuing this trend). I read this book in Dutch when I was a teenager, and hadn't yet read it in English before (I did read the first one in English when I was a teenager). This book, upon reading it now, was more enjoyable than I remembered it was. I really liked reading about the characters and their adventures. One thing I like about books that feature a school is getting to know the courses and the learning process, I find this quite interesting. The feature that bothered me was the rule breaking of the characters, otherwise I don't really have any negative things to say about this book, that I can think of. I didn't like a few characters, but they're meant to be negative and mean so that makes sense. I liked some of the new characters that are introduced in this book, ie. some of the professors and school mates (ie. some of the new first years) and I liked that Ginny played a bit of a bigger role. Overall I really enjoyed this book, it's a great fantasy series with lots of imagination. I also watched the first and second films recently (my boyfriend bought a box set with all of them) and it was really enjoyable seeing the film and reading the book so close together (of course first I finished the book, before we watched the film). It was nice seeing the differences and how the films acted out certain scenes or changed them. I prefer the books, but the films were enjoyable too. Rating: ***** (9/10) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.