Athena's Reading List 2013

[Signor Finzione]

Nice to see another Harry Potter book on here - I really want to re-read the whole series at some point and watch the films alongside. I always enjoy the Chamber of Secrets every time I read it, especially the parts with Lockhart.

 

Your review of Roald Dahl's Danny reminded me of when I read it in school: the part where he goes to the doctors to have his adenoids removed nearly made me throw up.

[Athena]

Lockhart's great, he's really funny!

 

Yeah I can understand that, it doesn't sound pleasant at all!

[Timstar]

Danny was always my favourite Roald Dahl, really loved the Father/Son relationship.

[cuppycakes]

 Great reviews, Athena!

 

I used to love the Babysitter Club books! My favorite character was always Claudia.

 

I read one Harry Potter book but didn't care for it.

Edited November 8, 2013 by cuppycakes

[vodkafan]

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)

 

Sorry to lower the tone I just think De Cock is a marvellous name for a police detective !

[Athena]

Danny was always my favourite Roald Dahl, really loved the Father/Son relationship.

x

I agree, that relationship was really well done. 

x 

Great reviews, Athena!

 

I used to love the Babysitter Club books! My favorite character was always Claudia.

 

I read one Harry Potter book but didn't care for it.

x

Thanks . I love the BSC books too, I think my favourite character would be Mary Anne, probably because I was shy too when I was younger. I like all the characters though. I'm sorry to hear you didn't like the Harry Potter book you read, well we can't all like the exact same things. As long as there are books out there that you enjoy .

x 

Sorry to lower the tone I just think De Cock is a marvellous name for a police detective !

x

I agree ! It doesn't mean anything in Dutch but it does make one wonder how the author chose the name. It's said in the books, when he introduces himself, he always says "De Cock, met ceeooceeka", where cee ( C ) oo (O) cee ( C ) ka (K) is how you'd spell the name, in Dutch.

[Athena]

Dr. Phil McGraw - The Ultimate Weight Solution: The 7 Keys to Weight Loss Freedom

 

 

Genre: Information

Format: Kindle

Pages: 464

Synopsis (GoodReads):Dr. Phil McGraw's #1 bestselling phenomen is changing millions of lives--free yourself from diets that don't work and discover the ultimate weight loss solution.

 

You have made the decision to take control of your weight. Dr. Phil McGraw's powerful bestseller gives you the tools for life-changing weight loss. If you're ready to get real about your weight, if you want to end the frustration of the diet cycle, you have found the ultimate solution — The Ultimate Weight Solution.

 

This groundbreaking, scientifically sound plan is a step-by-step, personalized approach that transforms you from the inside out, as you gain control over your:

 

* food habits and emotional eating traps

* portion control

* exercise and lifestyle choices

* restaurant and social dining

* strategies for right thinking

* daily food plan with sample menus

...and more!

 

It's your health, it's your life, it's your decision.

 

My thoughts: I started to read this book (as my Kindle read) as I've been busy with losing weight and eating healthier.

 

This was an interesting book. I enjoyed Dr. Phil's writing style. I've read one other book by him, Self Matters, a few others are on my Kindle that I've yet to read. Life Code is on my wishlist but I can't buy it off Amazon.com (unavailable in my region), somehow it's not released outside the US or something.

 

Sometimes, especially in the beginning of the book, Dr. Phil made certain assumptions about the reader, which in my case weren't true some of the time. Now I realise that they'll probably be true for a lot of people, it just bugged me a bit (but this is probably just me, though. I used to be upset when an author used first person in a story.)

 

I thought that one of the good things about this book, is that it's not just about weight loss or food, but also about for example the reasons behind overeating and what you can do about it.

 

The book is pretty motivating, it has strengthened my resolve to keep on doing how I've been doing and eat healthy and lose weight.

 

The seven keys were pretty interesting to read about. They all made sense and are important in weight loss.

 

The book doesn't tell you specifically to eat certain foods, but it mentions two groups of food, healthy food and unhealthy food. It also shows you a meal plan, dividing up the plate each meal and putting down certain things of certain food groups. While it made a lot of sense to me, I've alwals had a bigger dinner and a smaller lunch and breakfast, with dinner having proteine, carbohydrates and vegetables and the other two meals not necessarily so. This is how I've grown up, though, and the culture in the Netherlands. It does mean though, what I've been doing food-wise, is pretty good .

 

The book contains several tests about certain aspects of weight loss, eating, exercising and more, this was pretty fun and informative. One thing that stuck out was that on one of the tests, the question was how often do you eat at a fast food restaurant. The A answer was rarely, and the B, C and D answers were 1-2 times a week, 3-4 times a week and 5+ times a week. I don't know anyone here in the Netherlands who eats at a fast-food restaurant more than once a week! I guess in other countries, such as perhaps the US, it might be different. Generally here it's not the culture at all to go to a fast-food restaurant. It's certainly not cheaper or anything (according to my brother, who went to the US, it's quite cheap there to buy fast food, compared with here).

 

There's also a chapter on weight loss resistance (in part three of the book), if there's anything biologically why you might not be losing weight. This was interesting, since part of my weight loss is caused by my medication.

 

Exercising (the sixth key if I remember correctly) is difficult for me though, because physically moving my body requires mental energy. I realise this is hard for some people to understand (my psychiatrist only recently seemed to understand it). Going to a gym is simply not an option for me, there would be so much input to process. But my boyfriend and I are thinking about buying some home equipment, so we can exercise more from home (other than walking, but my boyfriend doesn't do well with walking a lot, the tendons on his feet are too short so he always walks on his toes and it hurts him.). This would be much easier for me and with the equipment bought I'd be more motivated to actually go and use it. It'll always cost energy but I can try and minimise the input while still doing good things.

 

Overall I quite enjoyed reading this book and think it's useful for people who want to lose weight (like me).

 

Rating: **** (8/10)

[Athena]

I've now read 124 books this year, I should be reading at least a couple more books before the end of the year, which means I'll surpass my stretch goal of 125! This is quite exciting .

[Marie H]

I've now read 124 books this year, I should be reading at least a couple more books before the end of the year, which means I'll surpass my stretch goal of 125! This is quite exciting .

Wow Athena, 124 books so far this year!  That is a very good rate books per week  . Congratulations at reaching your goal. 

 

Good review of the Dr. Phil McGraw - The Ultimate Weight Solution: The 7 Keys to Weight Loss Freedom book   . It's crucial to change bad food habits and eat healthily. But it is difficult to keep your diet healthy, all the time   . I am trying to eat healthier, as many of my extended family have type 2 diabetes and heart disease, and all my aunts/uncles on my mum's family have died of heart attacks, when they were quite young (in their 50's to early 70's). My blood pressure has been significantly reduced since I lost weight, so I should keep it healthy. But it is hard to keep my willpower not to eat fatty and high sugar food all the time. They taste so good!   

 

Where I live in the UK, there is a huge choice of 'take away' food shops, eg. Indian,  Chinese and Pizza/Burger/Fish and Chips etc.,rather than actually eating out in fast food restaurants. The food is not that expensive, but not that cheap either, but it is very convenient, so people don't have to prepare and cook their own meals. 

[Athena]

Thanks . Wow, I'm sorry to hear about your family, that must be very difficult. Good luck at keeping and staying healthy . I agree, some fatty and high sugar food tastes very good! Though I find I don't miss it as much as I used to, since I started to eat more healthy.

 

Ah I see, here the choices are a bit more limited, in take away restaurants. We don't have an indian take away restaurant, though the chinese take away does do some indonesian type dishes. We don't get take away very often tbh, we usually just cook (half of the take away restaurants don't delivery at home so you have to go and pick it up which also costs time.). But I can see it's convenient, that's very true. And I do like it, we don't do it often though and most aren't cheap (the only thing that's cheap really is chips with a burger etc. The rest costs quite a bit, if I remember correctly). Thanks for your thoughts on the matter .

[Marie H]

I love to cook, so mostly don't use takeaway food that often. My weakness are desserts.... and chocolate... and biscuits  .

[Timstar]

124!? Very impressive

[Athena]

I love to cook, so mostly don't use takeaway food that often. My weakness are desserts.... and chocolate... and biscuits  .

x

Ah, I can imagine that. Those things can be very tasty! Good luck .

x

124!? Very impressive

x

Thanks !

[Athena]

The Mind Gym - The Mind Gym 2: Tijd Maken (translated from: Mind Gym 2: Give Me Time)

 

 

Genre: Information

Format: Paperback

Pages: 256

Synopsis (GoodReads):The problem of not having enough time is as old as time itself, and so are most of the proposed cures. The trouble is, they don't seem to work. The Mind Gym: Give me time proposes a radically different approach to time and how we use it. Combining extensive psychological research with five years of testing amongst The Mind Gym's 100,000 members, this book offers practical solutions that will make you feel great about how your time is spent. The book is packed with techniques including

*how to achieve more by slowing down

* tiny time investments that deliver massive returns

* how to say 'no' and be loved for it

* simple ways to get other people to want to do your work for you

* how to get time with people who haven't got time for you

And there's no need to read this book from cover to cover. The questionnaire at the start guides you directly to the chapters that will help you most

 

My thoughts: This is the second book written by the Mind Gym team (mainly written by the two creators of Mind Gym).

 

This book is about time and time management. It contains chapters on the different aspects of time and how we feel about time.

 

The book is written in the same style and has a similar layout to the first Mind Gym book. Since I quite liked these elements then, I did now too (for more information see my review of the first book here).

 

I enjoyed some chapters more than others, because some are more useful to me than others. There were a few bits about for example having meetings which were of less use to me since I don't have much meetings and when I do have them, they're very tiring for me.

 

A few times, ie. when automatic pilot was discussed, I felt my thinking works differently and thus those bits weren't of much use to me. But I'm sure they might be of use for other people whose thinking is 'neuro-typical'. The piece was about how people do a lot on automatic pilot and how it'd be better for the results if people thought with what they did. I already think with everything so for me it's a moot point.

 

There is a chapter on how to read faster, which I quite enjoyed. There are pieces of text that you can read and time yourself. They say the average amount of words per minute is 200. I timed myself, at the first piece of text, at 415 words per minute. I have to say I found the text a bit complicated and think I can read faster if it's a different text, or perhaps if it was in English instead of Dutch (since I don't read much Dutch anymore). But I don't know, maybe I can read both languages the same, really. The tips they had to read faster don't really affect me, ie. they talked about subvocalisation, which is when people say the words in their head. I don't do this anyway so I can't really be getting faster by not doing it. I pretty much already do what they suggest .

 

There were other chapters that were of more use (although I did enjoy reading the ones that were of less use, I definitely did!). For example, there was a chapter on concentration graphs, and how some people have more energy in the morning and others in the afternoon and evening. I'm definitely a morning person. They suggested to do more heavy tasts when you have more concentration. I kind of already do this, I had already deduced this for myself.

 

Hmm, it might sound like this book didn't contain that many useful tips, but that's not true. There are some tips for example, on saying no and on guarding your time, how to not lose so much time doing unimportant things, how to not lose much time to certain 'time-sucking' people (my words, not theirs. I can't remember which Dutch word they used). They talked about generators and parasites, things/people that give you energy or time or things/people that take it away. All these chapters were quite useful for me.

 

Again I wished I'd have kept more notes, but I could re-read the book if I wanted to.

 

I enjoyed the quizzes and tests in the book, to for example find out your time style. There are people who think about time in different ways. They compared the time style with two types of birds (but I don't know what the English word is for one of them). The concentration graphs were also compared with birds (but again I don't know the word in English for one of the birds).

 

Overall I quite enjoyed reading this book.

 

Rating: ***** (9/10)

[Brian.]

Great review of The Mind Gym. I have been reading a few books to do with productivity and organisation recently and I always make sure I take notes because its easier to skim read your own notes than re-reading the whole book. I have also found that implementing just a few of the things detailed in these books has made me far more organised than I used to be.

[Athena]

Thanks ! I'm glad these kinds of books are useful to you too.

[Little Pixie]

I've now read 124 books this year, I should be reading at least a couple more books before the end of the year, which means I'll surpass my stretch goal of 125! This is quite exciting .

 

Congrats !

[Athena]

Congrats !

x

Thanks !

[Brian.]

125 is a huge goal

 

You are a one person reading machine.

[pontalba]

I've now read 124 books this year, I should be reading at least a couple more books before the end of the year, which means I'll surpass my stretch goal of 125! This is quite exciting .

 

Yippee!  That is wonderful to have accomplished.

 

 

The Mind Gym - The Mind Gym 2: Tijd Maken (translated from: Mind Gym 2: Give Me Time)

 

 

Genre: Information

Format: Paperback

Pages: 256

Synopsis (GoodReads):The problem of not having enough time is as old as time itself, and so are most of the proposed cures. The trouble is, they don't seem to work. 

 

 

 

Oh, Gaia!  When I first saw this title, and the beginning of the synopsis I thought........Oh my goodness!  It's a time travel book.  Must be the protagonists found a way to s-t-r-e-t-c-h time, this'll be fascinating!

And, it is interesting, just not in the way I imagined at first glance.   

 

Good reviews, all.

Edited November 12, 2013 by pontalba

[Athena]

Yippee!  That is wonderful to have accomplished.

x

Thanks !

x 

Oh, Gaia!  When I first saw this title, and the beginning of the synopsis I thought........Oh my goodness!  It's a time travel book.  Must be the protagonists found a way to s-t-r-e-t-c-h time, this'll be fascinating!

And, it is interesting, just not in the way I imagined at first glance.   

 

Good reviews, all.

x

I hadn't even thought of that ! Thanks .

[poppyshake]

Well done for reaching your reading goal Gaia  (and that is an awesome number of books )

 

Hmmm .. I'm not sure what my reading speed is though it seems to average at about a page a minute (though I've never counted the words on an average page.) I don't want to read any faster though .. I think I'm probably going at the right speed for me to take it all in. I do waste time in lots of other ways though and I could definitely do with a lesson on 'guarding my time' and saying no  Though I'd hate to think of anyone as a parasite .. even if they were sucking up my time. I'd just like to be able to say no without offending and all that sort of thing  

[Athena]

Well done for reaching your reading goal Gaia  (and that is an awesome number of books )

 

Hmmm .. I'm not sure what my reading speed is though it seems to average at about a page a minute (though I've never counted the words on an average page.) I don't want to read any faster though .. I think I'm probably going at the right speed for me to take it all in. I do waste time in lots of other ways though and I could definitely do with a lesson on 'guarding my time' and saying no  Though I'd hate to think of anyone as a parasite .. even if they were sucking up my time. I'd just like to be able to say no without offending and all that sort of thing  

x

Thanks . A page a minute sounds pretty good. I agree, I think my reading speed is a fast enough as well. Saying no can be difficult, in my opinion, the chapter on it might be of some use to you. I could tell you what's in it but it'd take some time for me to translate it and type it all out, and also I'm not sure if it's legal to do so. I also find it difficult to say no without offending people, sometimes it goes better than other times.

x  

I'll never read that many. You seem to read a lot of manga and short fiction, Do you consider short story collections to be 1book or seperate stories when reading.

x

If the short stories are bundled in one book that I read, for example Arthur C. Clarke - The Other Side of the Sky consists of ~15 short stories, I consider it one book read. If the short stories are seperate books or on the Kindle, seperate items, then I consider them as multiple books. I'm not sure yet what I'd do with my omnibus editions, I have big omnibusses of for example Jane Austen's books (1400+ pages), I think in that case I'd consider the books individually instead of one big omnibus (especially since I probably won't be reading them all after the other and the review would get massive if I were to try to review six books into one). With the manga omnibus I read I did consider it to be one book (Wild @ Heart 1-3 Omnibus) and not three seperate volumes (I suppose also because they're part of the same story).

 

According to GoodReads the average amount of pages of books read in 2013 is 234 pages (in total I read 29000+ pages). One book seems to be missing, as it says I've read 124 books and not 125. The average amount of pages of books read in Jun-Dec 2013 is 372. I am reading more, shorter books, that's true. For the read-a-thon I try and pick shorter reads, because most of the time I feel more like reading longer books. The average amount of pages of all the books I own is 370. The total amount of pages of books that I own is 970000+ (minus some Kindle books of which I don't know how many pages they are). I need to buy some more books, then it'll be a million (actually I ordered a few books but they aren't here yet).

 

Would you consider short story collections and/or omnibusses one book or multiple?

[julie]

Great job on your reading list this year, Athena ( and the year isn't even finished ! ) .        I won't make my goal this year ,but it's ok . Better luck next time .

[Athena]

Thanks ! Awww, I'm sorry to hear you didn't make your goal. I hope the next year will be better for you.