Athena's Reading List 2013

[Athena]

I purchased some Kindle books (most of these are Monthly Deals):

 

Marjorie Celona - Y

Catherine Cookson - The Dwelling Place

John Irving - In One Person

Kurt Vonnegut - The Sirens of Titan

Temple Grandin - The Way I See It

Ian Ford - A Field Guide to Earthlings

Ann M. Martin - The Babysitter's Super Specials 3: The Babysitters' Winter Vacation

Ann M. Martin - The Babysitter's Super Specials 4: The Babysitters' Island Adventure

 

If I like some of these books a lot I may still buy them in paperback, but I'm a sucker for deals so . Plus, I like to have some more choice on the Kindle. In bed in the evening or morning it's easiest to read from the Kindle (with its light) rather than a normal book since it's too dark for that (I don't have a lot of light near my bed atm). I do plan, before I go on holidays, to have a look around Amazon, see if there are any free or purchasable books I might want to read on my holidays. Just so I have a bit to pick from etc. Does it make sense? I might download some free classics or something.

[julie]

Athena

Yep ,I know what you mean . It is nice to have a wide variety on your Kindle ,in case you are in the mood for something different ,you have a nice selection to choose from . It is hard to pass up the good priced books ,isn't it ?

 

The only 2 authors that were familiar to me in your above list are Catherine Cookson. I think I read some of hers many years ago ,maybe 20 ? A long time ,but I enjoyed them .

 

John Irving is the other one . I've read a couple of his. Owen Meany is in my Top Ten Favorites . LOVE that book . It's got a real story and moral behind it and very memorable characters .

[Athena]

Yes, it is really hard to pass up good priced books!

 

Glad to hear you enjoyed the Catherine Cookson books and John Irving's books . I might get Owen Meany sometime (I've put it on the wishlist now, thought it was there already), I'm glad to hear you love it!

[Little Pixie]

I purchased some Kindle books (most of these are Monthly Deals):

 

Marjorie Celona - Y

Catherine Cookson - The Dwelling Place

John Irving - In One Person

Kurt Vonnegut - The Sirens of Titan

Temple Grandin - The Way I See It

Ian Ford - A Field Guide to Earthlings

Ann M. Martin - The Babysitter's Super Specials 3: The Babysitters' Winter Vacation

Ann M. Martin - The Babysitter's Super Specials 4: The Babysitters' Island Adventure

 

If I like some of these books a lot I may still buy them in paperback, but I'm a sucker for deals so .

 

Well, that`s told us.

 

Is the Temple Grandin book an auto-biog about her autism ?  For some reason, I`m thinking ` Claire Danes crying face`.

[Athena]

I think it is yes . I hope so at least XD.

 

I came across a book shop yesterday (while I was in another city to go to the cinema) which was having a 70% off sale (I think because they're closing down. A while ago they had this sale too so not sure what's going on with them, they don't normally have a lot of English books so I don't go in there a lot since I started reading a lot of English. Also they aren't in my town). I bought a few books! Most of these I don't know much about, but they were quite cheap so .

 

Steve Alten - The Domain Trilogy 2: The Mayan Resurrection

S. Andrew Swann - Apotheosis 3: Messiah

Fiona McIntosh - The Quickening 3: Bridge of Souls

Michael Collins - Midnight in a Perfect Life

Alexander McCall Smith - The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency 8: The Good Husband of Zebra Drive

William Trevor - Bodily Secrets

Jessica Fox - The Hen Night Prophecies 3: Hard To Get

Delphine de Vigan - No and Me

Joanna Kavenna - The Birth of Love

Frank O'Connor - The Cornet-Player Who Betrayed Ireland

Emma Maree Urquhart - Dragon Tamers 1: Dragon Tamers

 

I know, I didn't really need to add more to my TBR . But I had a lot of fun though, I hope that counts for something.

[Kidsmum]

 

I know, I didn't really need to add more to my TBR . But I had a lot of fun though, I hope that counts for something.

 

Oh fun is everything Athena 

 

From your list i've read No & Me which i enjoyed very much, hope you do too 

[Athena]

I'm glad to hear that! I saw on GoodReads it has some good reviews, so that's promising!

[Little Pixie]

Love those Alexander McCall Smith books ; they`re the only books where I`ve been tempted to read ahead in the book, to make sure that a character is going to be okay.

[Athena]

I'm glad to hear it! I've heard so many good things about them, I've been collecting them over the past year / two years. I don't have all of them yet, I was quite pleased to find it in the shop!

 

Today I bought one Kindle Daily Deal:

Arthur C. Clarke - The Songs of Distant Earth

 

I might still get it in paperback if I like it, I have a few other books by him in paperback, and another few on the Kindle.

 

And there is a new Humble Ebook Bundle (II) (HumbleIndie . com), they provide DRM-free books and I wanted to support them, so I bought the books (it's pay what you want, pay above average you get extra books, some of the money goes to charity). More books will be added to it next week. Since I have already paid for it, I will get them for free, I'll post again when I know what they are. I bought books from the first HumbleIndie bundle too, I believe supporting them (and charity) is a good idea (also I like DRM-free).

 

Peter S. Beagle - The Last Unicorn: The Deluxe Edition

Wil Wheaton - Just a Geek

Cory Doctorow - Little Brother 1: Little Brother

Cherie Priest - The Clockwork Century 1: Boneshaker

Robert Charles Wilson - Spin Saga 1: Spin

Lois McMaster Bujold - Vorkosigan Saga 1: Shards Of Honor

 

I don't really know much about these books, though I've seen Wil Wheaton in Star Trek and The Big Bang Theory. Therefore, his autobiography is the one I'm looking forward to the most, at this point in time.

 

I didn't really plan on buying more books!

 

On the plus side, the past year barely any games were added to my games TBR (I did play some), so overall not too bad I'd say. In the past year I did buy some DVDs/Blu-rays.

 

One thing at a time..

 

Only a few days left, then I have to give my presentation, after that.. I'll be done with uni! I look forward to relax a bit. I'm planning to do some more reading too, I should have more time now that I don't need to be spending it on uni stuff, though we'll have to see what I'll do in that time. I do plan on doing some puzzles / braintraining type things now and then, to keep my mind and memory a bit fresh. I spend one year at home when my energy was very low and I could hardly do anything (it was pretty bad), and during that time my mind and memory deteriorated a bit (not by choice, though, I simply didn't have any energy to do anything, I couldn't handle much input). So this time I plan to do some puzzles, mathematical, logical, with words, several things. Anyway.. sorry for rambling.

 

I'm still reading Mark Haddon - The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time which is really good so far. I'm further than half way through and think I'll give it 5 out of 5 stars. On the Kindle I'm reading a For Dummies book, which is good too so far.

[Athena]

Mark Haddon - The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time

Genre: Contemporary Fiction (I suppose it might also be 'mystery', however I don't have a seperate shelf (on GoodReads) for mystery so that's why I classed it as contemporary fiction)

Format: Paperback

Pages: 272

Synopsis (GoodReads): The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time is a murder mystery novel like no other. The detective, and narrator, is Christopher Boone. Christopher is fifteen and has Asperger's Syndrome. He knows a very great deal about maths and very little about human beings. He loves lists, patterns and the truth. He hates the colours yellow and brown and being touched. He has never gone further than the end of the road on his own, but when he finds a neighbour's dog murdered he sets out on a terrifying journey which will turn his whole world upside down.

 

My thoughts: I bought this book based upon a recommendation from this forum. I'm pleased I did! It's such an awesome book. I really did enjoy reading it. The whole book is well written, though I liked certain paragraphs particularly (I would've highlighted them if I was reading it on the Kindle; I prefer paperbacks however and the cover is very pretty). I love the illustrations of situations and puzzles etc. in the book. It breaks up the text nicely and they illustrate the point the author is making, well. There are some plot twists in this book, I wasn't expecting at all. I don't want to spoil it, but wow! I took my time reading this book, because it was so good I didn't want it to end! (also I was busy with other things etc). I highly recommend this book and it's gone onto my favourites shelf on GoodReads. This book blew me away.. it was really good .

 

Rating: ***** (5/5, 10/10)

Edited July 5, 2013 by Athena

[Athena]

On a sidenote: before the first of July I've read 58 books in half a year (1rst of January until end of June), now 59 books. That means I might be able to read 100+ books in one year, perhaps more depending on how much / how often I read.

[Athena]

Maureen Lee - Amy's Diary

Genre: Historical Fiction

Format: Paperback

Pages: 105

Synopsis (GoodReads): On 3rd September 1939, Amy Browning starts to write a diary. It is Amy's 18th birthday and Great Britain goes to war with Germany. Amy's fears grow for her brother, fighting in France, and her boyfriend Ian, in the RAF.

 

My thoughts: This is part of the QuickReads series. I bought this book because I liked Maureen Lee's other QuickReads book, A Dream Come True. I decided to read it because of the read-a-thon that's going on at the moment, even though I'm not 100% participating, I thought I should get a bit of reading done.

 

This book takes place in World War II. I quite enjoyed reading about the experiences of the people. There were some plot twists I didn't expect. Sometimes I felt the time passed in the book a bit quickly, I presume to quicken the plot, however I would've liked more details of the time in between two chapters. It was a short and sweet read.

 

Rating: **** (4/5, 7/10)

Edited July 5, 2013 by Athena

[Devi]

I hope you don't mind me asking, and I apologise if I missed it, but could you explain how your rating system works?  

[Athena]

I don't mind at all! I haven't explained it anywhere . First I was doing a 5 star rating system, like on GoodReads. I never rated books before I made my database and joined GoodReads, I never thought of doing so. A while later I found and purchased a program that does ratings out of 10 (like we do in our schools in the Netherlands). So now I usually rate it as a 5 star system (because of GoodReads), and most of the time that's sufficient. However now and then there's a rating that's ie. 3.5 / 5, so 7/10. In that case I rate it 4 stars on GoodReads, because you can't do halves, but in my program I do rate it 7/10. Would it be easier if I just wrote the out of 10 rating down rather than both? I don't mind doing that instead . I'm sorry for confusing you!

 

Generally a 5/5 or 9/10-10/10 book I really enjoyed, they're awesome books in my opinion and I'd recommend them to all who like the genre.

Books that are rated 4/5 or 7/10-8/10 were quite enjoyable and I'd recommend these to people who like the genre.

Ratings of 3/5 or 5/10-6/10 mean I didn't think the book was so enjoyable, but it was still allright to read it. I enjoyed it somewhat but there were several things in the book I didn't like.

Ratings of 2/5 or lower means I didn't enjoy the book, I may or may not have finished reading it. There aren't many books which get this rating as I tend to know pretty well what I like and what I don't like, but it happens now and then.

 

Generally most of my books are rated 7/10 or higher, maybe I'm not so strict or maybe I know well what I like. I feel if I enjoyed a book then it should get at least a 6/10 rating. Even if the book isn't brilliant, my enjoyment is what matters most, to me. I tend to enjoy most books I read.

 

Did this help you in any way?

[Athena]

Truman Capote - Breakfast at Tiffany's
Genre: Literature
Format: Paperback
Pages: 158
Synopsis (GoodReads): Meet Holly Golightly - a free spirited, lop-sided romantic girl about town. With her tousled blond hair and upturned nose, dark glasses and chic black dresses, Holly is a style sensation wherever she goes. Her apartment rocks to Martini-soaked parties and she plays hostess to millionaires and gangsters alike. Yet Holly never loses sight of her ultimate dream - to find a real life place like Tiffany's that makes her feel at home.

Full of sharp wit and exuberant, larger-than-life characters which vividly capture the restless, madcap era of 1940s New York, Breakfast at Tiffany's will make you fall in love, perhaps for the first time, with a book.

My thoughts: My version of the book also contained three short stories, named House of Flowers, A Diamond Guitar and A Christmas Memory. I bought this book because I'd heard good things about it. I've read In Cold Blood, another book by this author, for school, and from what I remember I liked it.

Breakfast at Tiffany's
I liked the overall plot, but there were so many references and metaphors in the writing that I didn't understand. It was a bit difficult following the plot because of all the things that I didn't understand. I presume many references have to do with the US back in the 1940s but I don't know much about that, what brands there used to be, what phrases people used, etc. Also the main character was referred to several times with different names but none of them his own. To me it's confusing when on one page a person is called X and on the next page they refer to him as Y. I'm not talking first and last name, but nicknames. This confused me sometimes, I was confused as to who they were talking about. All in all I liked the story but the writing made it really hard to follow, I had to concentrate hard and skip over many things that I didn't understand. The accents bothered me a bit too sometimes, I presume that's how they talk in certain parts of the US, or such, but I find it difficult when officially the grammar is incorrect etc, or when it's hard to understand. I liked the descriptions in the writing, when they weren't references or metaphors I didn't understand. The descriptions I could understand, they were nice to read, they were well written (this applies to all four stories). There are also quite a few words in all stories, that I don't know (I think words that aren't used much these days). I don't really get why the story gets such high praise, to me it didn't seem more special than other things out there. But maybe I'm missing something.

House of Flowers
This was a nice short story and I found it easier to understand than Breakfast at Tiffany's. There seemed to be a bit less references in it that I didn't understand. What I did find confusing was the location, it seemed to be French names but then it turned out it was in the US. It doesn't matter a lot for the story or anything but this confused me a bit. Also I'm not sure what year the story took place as this wasn't mentioned anywhere. This was quite a good story.

A Diamond Guitar
The comment I made about accents applies here too. The time it happens isn't known but it doesn't seem that that's very important. I enjoyed this story.

A Christmas Memory
This was interesting, though I don't totally get who lives in the house and who gives each other presents. Also how can you be cousins when one person is quite old (relatively speaking) and the other quite young?

General wonderments: Why do they write Halloween as Hallowe'en?

Anyway.. overall I liked the other three short stories better than the main story.

Rating: ** (4/10)

[Athena]

Roald Dahl - The Twits

Genre: Children's

Format: Paperback

Pages: 87

Synopsis (GoodReads): How do you outwit a Twit? Mr. and Mrs. Twit are the smelliest, ugliest people in the world. They hate everything -- except playing mean jokes on each other, catching innocent birds to put in their Bird Pies, and making their caged monkeys, the Muggle-Wumps, stand on their heads all day. But the Muggle-Wumps have had enough. They don't just want out, they want revenge.

 

My thoughts: I decided to read something easier after the last book I read, so I picked one of the shorter Roald Dahl books.

 

Another great Roald Dahl book. I particularly liked the second part of the book and the ending. I love Roald Dahl's writing style and this was no different.

 

Rating: **** (8/10)

Edited July 8, 2013 by Athena

[Devi]

I don't mind at all! I haven't explained it anywhere . First I was doing a 5 star rating system, like on GoodReads. I never rated books before I made my database and joined GoodReads, I never thought of doing so. A while later I found and purchased a program that does ratings out of 10 (like we do in our schools in the Netherlands). So now I usually rate it as a 5 star system (because of GoodReads), and most of the time that's sufficient. However now and then there's a rating that's ie. 3.5 / 5, so 7/10. In that case I rate it 4 stars on GoodReads, because you can't do halves, but in my program I do rate it 7/10. Would it be easier if I just wrote the out of 10 rating down rather than both? I don't mind doing that instead . I'm sorry for confusing you!

 

Generally a 5/5 or 9/10-10/10 book I really enjoyed, they're awesome books in my opinion and I'd recommend them to all who like the genre.

Books that are rated 4/5 or 7/10-8/10 were quite enjoyable and I'd recommend these to people who like the genre.

Ratings of 3/5 or 5/10-6/10 mean I didn't think the book was so enjoyable, but it was still allright to read it. I enjoyed it somewhat but there were several things in the book I didn't like.

Ratings of 2/5 or lower means I didn't enjoy the book, I may or may not have finished reading it. There aren't many books which get this rating as I tend to know pretty well what I like and what I don't like, but it happens now and then.

 

Generally most of my books are rated 7/10 or higher, maybe I'm not so strict or maybe I know well what I like. I feel if I enjoyed a book then it should get at least a 6/10 rating. Even if the book isn't brilliant, my enjoyment is what matters most, to me. I tend to enjoy most books I read.

 

Did this help you in any way?

Yes it did thank you!

[Athena]

I'm glad to hear it !

[Athena]

Philip K. Dick - Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?

Genre: Science-Fiction

Format: Paperback

Pages: 210

Synopsis (back of the book, ISBN 9781857988130): War had left the Earth devastated. Through its ruins, bountry hunger Rick Deckard stalked, in search of the renegade replicants who were his prey. When he wasn't 'retiring' them, he dreamed of owning the ultimate status symbol - a live animal. Then Rick got his big assignment: to kill six Nexus-6 targets, for a huge reward. But things were never that simple, and Rick's life quickly turned into a nightmare kaleidoscope of subterfuge and deceit.

 

My thoughts: I read this book because my boyfriend recently bought the film Blade Runner on Blu-ray (which is based on this book) and I usually prefer to read the book first. It's not a very long book so a good choice for the read-a-thon (yesterday).

 

I really liked the world and how it was described, the science-fiction elements which make it different from our world. I think the story is well written. I liked the characters though I didn't agree with a few decisions. There were several plot twists which I didn't see coming. One thing I am confused about, is something that happens in the last part of the book, near the ending. However I don't want to spoil it, so I won't. It seemed kind of 'too far out there' I guess, if that makes sense. Overall though I quite liked the book and am glad I've finally read a book by Philip K. Dick, who's a very famous science-fiction author. Now I'll have to buy some of his other books! XD

 

Rating: **** (8/10)

[vodkafan]

I found Do Androids Dream Of Electric Sheep interesting  and messy but the film Blade Runner has completely overlaid it in my mind now, having seen it many times.

I really liked A Scanner Darkly that book is awesome, and there is no confusion as to what it is about at the end.

[Athena]

That's nice to hear . I've put A Scanner Darkly on my wishlist, it sounds pretty good!

[Athena]

I downloaded a free Kindle book: Mark Woods and Trapper Woods - Attack Your Day! Before it Attacks You. I've never read a Time Management book before and have no idea if it'll be of any use to me. However it was free so I thought it'd be a good place to start to see if it'll perhaps be helpful or not. If I don't like it I can easily delete it off my Kindle again, I don't know how long it will be free so that's why I decided to go for it. I try to check Kindle Buffet for new free books, not every day but now and then.

 

I'm currently reading Nick Hornby - The Complete Polysyllabic Spree, it's quite good so far (although I haven't read most of the books mentioned so far).

Edited July 8, 2013 by Athena

[Devi]

I'm currently reading Nick Hornby - The Complete Polysyllabic Spree, it's quite good so far (although I haven't read most of the books mentioned so far).

That can only be a good thing right?!

[Athena]

That could be true, yes!

[Athena]

I was browsing Kindle Buffet today and found out Susan Hatler - Truth or Date was free for Kindle! All the books that I've read by this author (which is most of them) I quite liked, so I'm quite excited that this one is free for the moment .