Athena's Reading List 2014

[Weave]

Happy reading

[pontalba]

Ahh, Gaia.  You've convinced me to read all three of the books.   I've only read a bit of the beginning of the first, and I liked it.  Wasn't sure if I wanted to continue though.  Thanks!

[Anna Begins]

Was curious to read what you thought of Allegiant!  Glad you liked it.

[Athena]

I'm planning on adding the purchase price to my Book Collectorz software where possible as well. And yes, it's handy to be able to look up the purchase prices at the online bookshops we've bought from. Luckily I've also bought a lot of my books at secondhand shops and book fairs, where they write the price inside the book (in pencil), and I don't usually remove sticker prices from books until I read them, so I should be able to find many prices easily. I like that there are a few fields for prices (purchase price, current value etc) so I can add the recommended retail price for insurance purposes in case (knock on wood) something happens and I need to replace my books one day.

x

Good luck with it ! I like it too that there are various fields. It's a great program.

x 

Happy reading

x

Thanks Weave ! 

x 

Ahh, Gaia.  You've convinced me to read all three of the books.   I've only read a bit of the beginning of the first, and I liked it.  Wasn't sure if I wanted to continue though.  Thanks!

x

I hope you like them ! 

x 

Was curious to read what you thought of Allegiant!  Glad you liked it.

x

Thanks .

[Athena]

I bought a lot of second hand books at the local book shop in the next town over. They're having difficulties and I hope they'll keep existing. I'll post a list later when I've sorted out the books (the lady at the counter gave me two of the books I picked for free). We also bought some used old DVDs from the same shop.

 

The books are almost all fantasy, there wasn't much interesting stuff in the general fiction section (what was interesting I already owned etc.) but there were a lot of fantasy books I wanted (a lot of which are hard to find new). There were a few science-fiction books too but not from authors I know. Their spines didn't look as interesting and I had already picked a lot of books, we couldn't really have carried much more (plus, it wouldn't be too good for the budget and the TBR either).

 

So after this I'll not buy much books the next while, hopefully I'll be able to manage to concentrate on reading more rather than buying more. I've kind of almost ran out of nice space too. Once I move into the bakery there will be more space so I'll be buying some book cases and rearrange everything so it will hopefully look neater (I'm looking forward to it ).

Edited February 27, 2014 by Athena

[Kylie]

Are you going to post a list of your new books soon? I wanna see!

[Athena]

Are you going to post a list of your new books soon? I wanna see!

x

I will, including a picture . I'm glad to hear you're interested .

Edited February 27, 2014 by Athena

[Devi]

I can't wait to see your list and pictures!

[Athena]

That's great to hear, Devi !

 

Here is the list:

 

Hans Bemmann - The Stone and the Flute

Peter Morwood - The Book of Years 1-2: The Horse Lord and The Demon Lord

Peter Morwood - The Book of Years 3-4: The Dragon Lord and The War Lord

Jane Welch - The Runespell Trilogy 1: The Runes Of War

Jane Welch - The Book of Önd 1: The Lament Of Abalone

Jane Welch - The Book of Önd 2: The Bard Of The Castaguard

Jane Welch - The Book of Önd 3: The Lord Of Necrond

Michael Moorcock - The Tale of the Eternal Champion 2: The Eternal Champion - The Eternal Champion, Phoenix in Obsedian and The Dragon in the Sword

Michael Moorcock - The Tale Of The Eternal Champion 11: Legends From The End Of Time - Pale Roses, White Stars, Ancient Shadows, Constant Fire and Elric at the End of Time

Glenda Larke - Watergivers 2: Stormlord Rising

D. J. MacHale - Pendragon 3: The Never War

Juliet Marillier - Bridei Chronicles 2: Blade Of Fortriu

Melanie Rawn - Dragon Prince 1: Dragon Prince

David Gemmell - The Drenai Saga 1: Legend

David Gemmell - John Shannow 1: Wolf In Shadow

David Gemmell - The Hawk Queen 2: The Hawk Eternal

Katharine Kerr - Deverry 2: Darkspell

Katharine Kerr - Deverry 3: Bristling Wood

Katharine Kerr - Dragon Mage 3: Fire Dragon

Katharine Kerr - Deverry 7: Days Of Blood And Fire

Katharine Kerr - Deverry 8: Days Of Air And Darkness

Mary Gentle - The Book of Ash 1: A Secret History

Mary Gentle - The Book Of Ash 2: Carthage Ascendant

J. V. Jones - The Book of Words 2: A Man Betrayed

L.E. Modesitt, Jr. - Saga of Recluce 5: The Death Of Chaos

L.E. Modesitt, Jr. - Saga of Recluce 15: Mage-Guard Of Hamor

Terry Goodkind - Sword of Truth 3: Blood Of The Fold (I have this in Dutch, enjoyed it when I read it)

Terry Goodkind - Sword of Truth 4: Temple Of The Winds (I have this in Dutch)

Terry Goodkind - Sword of Truth 5: Soul Of The Fire (I have this in Dutch)

Terry Goodkind - Sword of Truth 8: Naked Empire (I have this in Dutch)

Sara Douglass - The Crucible 2: The Wounded Hawk

Sara Douglass - The Crucible 3: The Crippled Angel

Tad Williams - Memory, Sorrow and Thorn 3.1: To Green Angel Tower Part 1

Tad Williams - Memory, Sorrow and Thorn 3.2: To Green Angel Tower Part 2

Tad Williams - Shadowmarch 4: Shadowheart

Kevin J. Anderson - Saga of Seven Suns 2: A Forest Of Stars

Kevin J. Anderson - Saga of Seven Suns 3: Horizon Storms

Kevin J. Anderson - Saga of Seven Suns 4: Scattered Suns

Diana Gabaldon - Outlander 1: Cross Stitch

Richard Russo - Bridge of Sighs

 

And here are two pictures:

 

 

[pontalba]

I see you have the Diana Gabaldon, Cross-Stitch.  Good!  It's a great series!  Even if I am annoyed with her on this last outing.

[Timstar]

They'll keep you going, some great authors there

[Kylie]

Wow, lots of books! I noticed that they're nearly all series books—are these series that you already have books for, or are they mostly new (to you) series?

[Athena]

I see you have the Diana Gabaldon, Cross-Stitch.  Good!  It's a great series!  Even if I am annoyed with her on this last outing.

x

Yep! I look forward to reading it . I hope she will finish the series not too long from now so you can read how it continues and ends.

x 

They'll keep you going, some great authors there

x

Thanks, Tim. . 

x

Wow, lots of books! I noticed that they're nearly all series books—are these series that you already have books for, or are they mostly new (to you) series?

x

Some of them are series of which I already have other books, others I have books by the same author but not from that series. In yet other cases the author is new to me. If you look at my list, up to Glenda Larke are new to me authors (though I had some on the wishlist) (other than the last book of Richard Russo, I don't know him). After that it's authors I have at least one book by (so from D. J. MacHale up to Diana Gabaldon).

[Kylie]

Ah, cool. And I thought I had a lot of series waiting to be read!

[Athena]

Yes I have quite a few waiting to be read . Nice to hear you have a lot of them too! I read both series' books and standalones, I try to vary and read both. I don't want to be reading too many series in one go, I prefer to have the series completed instead of having to wait for the next one to be published. I normally read a series in one go with one or multiple standalone books between each book of the series (if that makes sense). How do you do it?

 

I reorganised my fantasy book shelves this morning to add the new books I bought. Here are some photos:

 

 

 

Yes, I've definitely run out of space..

[Timstar]

Awesome shelves!

[Athena]

Thanks, Tim !

[Signor Finzione]

Amazing books and awesome stats Gaia! I look forward to seeing your new bakery/library pictures when you move in.

[Athena]

Thanks, Laura ! I'll be sure to post some photos once I move in. We're still doing the DIY, it's not ready yet to move in. We're hoping to have the work completed around summer time.

[Devi]

Lovely shelves Athena.

[pontalba]

Great looking bookshelves, Gaia.  

Yup, they're full! 

[shelley.s]

Wow you've read so many, that's amazing! Well done you 

[Athena]

Thanks, Devi, Kate and Shelley !

[Athena]

Jodi Picoult - The Storyteller



Genre: Contemporary fiction, historical fiction
Age-range: Adult
Format: Paperback
Pages: 540
Synopsis (back of the book):For seventy years, Josef Weber has been hiding in plain sight.
He is a pillar of his local community.
He is also a murderer.
When Josef decides to confess, it is to Sage Singer, a young woman who trusts him as her friend. What she hears shatters everything she thought she knew and believed.
As Sage uncovers the truth from the darkest horrors of war, she must follow a twisting trail between terror and mercy, betrayal and forgiveness, love - and revenge.

My thoughts: After reading the Divergent series (science-fiction) I felt like reading something more contemporary. This is Jodi Picoult's newest book (paperback), and since I love her writing I thought I'd read it now.

This was a great book. It immediately draws you in, I wanted to keep on reading to see what would happen. There's a lot of story packed into the 540ish pages (the last few pages are book club questions and questions to the author). The story is written from several viewpoints (as her books normally are). I really liked the characters, the main character in particular, but also the other characters that feature in the book.

It was gruesome to read about the events that happened in the second World War. I cried. It was a very gripping tale. I think the author has managed to write about it in a respectful way.

The main character is a baker, I loved this aspect of the book. I loved to hear how she does the baking and how much she loves it. It was very interesting to read about this aspect, to hear about the ovens etc.

There are quite a few plot twists in the book. Jodi Picoult is quite good at delivering a tale with good plot twists, in my opinion. Admittedly there was a twist at the end where I saw coming that there'd be a twist, but then things worked out differently than I thought they would! Jodi Picoult usually manages to surprise me, and that's the same here.

I felt her writing style has matured and become perhaps a little more complex (in a good way) than I remember it being from other books I've read by her. But maybe it's me who's done the maturing the past years, I don't know.

Overall I really enjoyed reading this book. While I'm not a big fan of war stories per se, this part of the story was quite gripping and harrowing, I wanted to keep on reading to see what would happen and I cried too.

It makes me so very glad that I'm living relatively safe. What happened in the second World War should be something that never happens again. I can only hope for the best, that somehow all people find a way to live with each other rather than killing each other.

I loved the book, it was well written, had a good plot and good characters. And because it's based on real events, it keeps lingering in my mind just a bit longer. I too have lost family due to the second World War. I don't know the exact details. The Netherlands was occupied by the Germans. Anyway, I loved the book, it really makes me think about things.

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

[Kylie]

I'm curious, Athena...with all the books coming into your house, do you ever get rid of any after you've read them? Or does the pile just keep getting bigger and bigger?