Athena's Reading List 2014

[Athena]

Great review Athena, the only chick~lit I have read are the Shopaholic books, will check the above out.

Thanks ! I hope you enjoy it if you decide to read it.

[Athena]

Pentabu - My Girlfriend's A Geek 1: V1.0 & My Girlfriend's A Geek 2: V2.0

 

 

Genre: Biography

Age-range: Young-Adult

Format: Paperback

Pages: 202 + 202

Synopsis (GoodReads) of volume 1:This blog is a record of battle as dictated by a man with a fujoshi girlfriend.

Okay, that was a lie. I'm not fighting at all.

The war is purely one-sided. Each day I am dragged further and further into the world of otaku.

I cannot be held responsible for any damages incurred by reading this blog

and falling into the same predicament.

There is much otaku talk contained within, so please follow your directions carefully, and do not exceed your recommended dosage.

 

My thoughts: My boyfriend saw this book and thought I might like it, so he bought it for me as a birthday present.

 

Below some thoughts written after reading book 1:

 

This book was a bit different than I imagined it would be. It's based on a blog (it's basically a collection of blog posts). The author has a girlfriend who is a fujoshi and he talks about their experiences together, particularly related to this.

 

My first big problem I had from the off was that there were a lot of words I didn't know the meaning of. It's translated from Japanese and some of these Japanese terms (such as fujoshi, more on that later) were unfamiliar to me. After 40 pages in I was just about to give up to the book, when I thought, let's see if there's an explanation or glossary in the back. And there was! I read the explanation of the terms I'd come across, and suddenly things made a whole lot more sense! Note to the publisher, it'd be better if you put the fact that there's a glossary, in with the rest of the table of contents (it contains all the chapter headings but not the fact that there's a glossary). Manga books (translated into English) sometimes have a glossary in the back but I feel it'd be better if it had been in the table of contents, seeing as it's not a manga but a novel.

 

Another big problem I had with the book, was that I didn't like Y-ko (a nickname for his girlfriend). I don't mind that she's a fujoshi, a woman who likes boy-boy relationships (reading about them or watching tv shows about them), there's nothing wrong with that. What I didn't like about her, was that she didn't seem to listen all that well to her boyfriend. For example, she keeps calling him a certain name (which is a certain type of character or such), while he keeps telling her he doesn't like it but she keeps doing it. I struggled to understand what he sees in her, when she's not treating him right. This is just one example. She is mean to him and would often ignore his replies to what she says. When he visits her parents and her for Christmas, the first time he's meeting them, she was going to pick him up from the station but then doesn't because she wants to watch a recording of an anime show. She also keeps leaving her stuff (ie. boy-boy books and erotic games) at his place, because of how it would look when it's at her place, but he doesn't like it at his place because what would his friends think. But she doesn't understand this at all. At times I wished he spoke up more, but even when he did, she just doesn't listen and ignores him. I didn't like her and I don't understand what he sees in her. I would've preferred if there had been more 'posts' / chapters on her good sides or where they have a good time together. Near the end of the book there's a chapter on how they met and fell in love, though it's brief, and this was very sweet and nice to read. But most of the time, I didn't like her.

 

I liked him, though. He seemed like an interesting, reasonable character (minus the girlfriend).

 

I recognised some of the references mentioned in the book, but others were completely lost on me. Gladly sometimes they are explained.

 

I particularly liked this one scene where they go shopping, I recognised some of that. I think this would be my favourite chapters in the book (the chapters are all blog posts and the shopping part is several chapters / posts long). There were some funny parts in the book. At other times, I felt bad for the main character, that he had to endure this (but again I wondered why he stayed with her).

 

Overall I did like reading this book, but I had some problems with it.

 

Book 2 continued in the same vein as book 1. Y-ko grew on me more and particularly the second half of the book was sweet. Overall I liked reading the books but I had some issues with them.

 

Rating: *** (6/10)

[Anna Begins]

^^ that sounds interesting and different!  Good reviews, even if you didn't enjoy the My Girlfriend's a Geek as much.  I might have to put Anna on my list, I'm glad it wasn't too heavy on the romance part.  I like when books reference current events, movies or books!

[Athena]

^^ that sounds interesting and different!  Good reviews, even if you didn't enjoy the My Girlfriend's a Geek as much.  I might have to put Anna on my list, I'm glad it wasn't too heavy on the romance part.  I like when books reference current events, movies or books!

Thanks ! There was more to the book than romance but the romance was a big part of it, so if you absotelutely hate to read about romance I'd recommend a different book. I also like it when a book references another book or a movie. Most of the movies were not so new, I think, that were referenced in the book.

[Athena]

I went to the book fair yesterday . They didn't have as much fiction as usually and there wasn't as much interesting things that I liked (and didn't already have). I did get some fiction though. There was a lot of interesting non-fiction (though mainly Dutch). So I have some biographies, some information books and some fiction books of a variety of genres. There wasn't much English fantasy (I did see a few Dutch ones) and there wasn't any science-fiction that I've seen, so most of the fiction books are contemporary or chick-lit I think.

 

I will post a list and a photo (or -s) at a later time, after the read-a-thon is over and I've sorted the books out.

[Signor Finzione]

Book fair!! It must get harder and harder to find books you don't already have - your house is like a book fair.

[Athena]

Thanks ! And yep . Though it has to be said, when I see a book on the book fair I already own, it's usually because I bought it there (I estimate that 25% of my collection came from the book fair).

[Anna Begins]

Do you read fantasy in Dutch?

[pontalba]

Very glad you made it to the Book Fair!  That was an excellent thing, going by yourself, Gaia.   

[Athena]

Do you read fantasy in Dutch?

No, if the original is English I MUCH prefer to read the English. Fantasy terms just don't sound good in Dutch, in my opinion. If the book is originally Dutch then I'd read the Dutch, however I only have a couple of books written by Dutch fantasy authors.

 

The ones they had at the book fair were a few Dutch ones by Terry Brooks. I already have them in English.

 

Very glad you made it to the Book Fair!  That was an excellent thing, going by yourself, Gaia.   

Thanks Kate !

[Athena]

Susan Hatler - Better Date than Never 6: Licence to Date

 

 

Genre: Chick-lit

Age-range: Adult

Format: Kindle

Pages: 100ish?

Synopsis: (no synopsis because it's part of a series)

 

My thoughts: I bought this one and book seven in the series recently and saved them up to read them during the read-a-thon. They are novellas. Amazon's pagecount seems off for some of the books in this series, the last few books are all of similar length I think even if Amazon's numbers vary. The books all have a different main character (all women), but all of the main characters know each other. The series progresses chronologically, so the story of all the characters continues throughout the series.

 

I quite liked the first few books in this series. Apparently though, book 5, which I started to read, is actually the same as The Boyfriend Bylaws book, which I have already read (not only that, but apparently I paid twice for the same book with a different title..). Anyway, after I realised I had already read book 5, I started to read book 6.

 

The story was pretty good in this one. It's about Kaitlin and she goes into a deal with two of her friends, that she goes on five dates and then they'll help her paint her house. In the story there's also bits on the other characters in this series. It was nice to read how they were doing. I liked the story, it's a little bit predictable in places but it's good for what it is. It was enjoyable to read. Romance is a big part of these stories. In the beginning I had a little bit of trouble remembering who all the characters were from previous books, because it's been a while since I read a book in this series. The book can also be read as standalone though, it's not necessary to know anything of the previous books. But little bits of the stories of the previous main characters continued in this one.

 

Overall I enjoyed reading this book and recommend it if you like a romancy read.

 

Rating: **** (8/10)

[Athena]

Susan Hatler - Better Date than Never 7: Driven to Date

 

 

Genre: Chick-lit

Age-range: Adult

Format: Kindle

Pages: 100ish?

Synopsis: (no synopsis because it's part of a series)

 

My thoughts: After finishing book 6 I immediately started to read book 7 in this series (they're short reads and it was the read-a-thon).

 

This book is the story of Jill, a lawyer. I liked that in this book, it wasn't just about the romance. There were also bits about her job, which I liked. I liked the main character (she plans a lot too!) and I also liked reading about the other characters. I didn't like the arguing in the book so much, I know it's part of the story and I could understand the main character's point of view, it was just a little bit annoying sometimes. I also didn't like that she pretends certain things to try and get a certain job. But the book is good for a fun read. I liked the writing style. Like the previous books, once you've read several they do become a little bit predictable in the sense that you can guess who the main character will end up with, but the journey there is a fun ride with plot twists so I don't mind that at all. Overall I enjoyed reading this book.

 

Rating: **** (8/10)

[Athena]

Susan Hatler - Better Date than Never 8: Up to Date

 

 

Genre: Chick-lit

Age-range: Adult

Format: Kindle

Pages: 100ish?

Synopsis: (no synopsis because it's part of a series)

 

My thoughts: After finishing book 7, there was an excerpt of book 8. I didn't know there was going to be a book 8 or when, so you can imagine I was pleased when I found out it was released! So I went ahead and bought it and then read it.

 

This was another nice book in this series. I quite liked the bits about decoration and art (the passion of the main character), and the book wasn't just about the romance (though the romance is a big part of it). There was also the relationships between the main character and her family for example. It was a sweet story and quite entertaining. There was certainly some character development in the main character. I enjoyed reading this book and just this morning found out there'll be books 9 and 10 in the series too in a while. So I look forward to that. At some point I'd like to read them all closer together so I get the most out of the stories, but they can all be read as standalones too (the first book of the series that I read was book 3). Of course then you do know who some of the other characters ended up with, if you start with the last book, but this is a little bit obvious anyway. Overall then I enjoyed reading this book and look forward to the release of the next books in the series. The author has also written some young-adult novels so I think I will look into those too.

 

Rating: **** (8/10)

[Athena]

Ann M. Martin - The BabySitter's Club 16: Jessi's Secret Language (re-read)

 

 

Genre: Chick-lit

Age-range: Children's, Young-Adult

Format: Paperback

Pages: 134

Synopsis: (no synopsis because it's part of a series)

 

My thoughts: It was another read-a-thon, so I read another BSC book. Number 16 was next on the list (after reading number 15 last time).

 

This is the first story written from Jessi's perspective. Jessi is a dancer (ballet) and she has black skin. The book touches on how hard it is for her to fit into the town she newly moved to as some of the people don't react too kindly. I liked the dancing parts too. Anyway, this is a BabySitter's Club book so a lot of the book is also about babysitting. Jessi has to babysit for a deaf boy and she learns sign language. This was pretty interesting. I love how she handles this and communicates with him.

 

Rereading this book was nostalgia for me, it was quite nice. Reading it in English didn't make it very different, though the names are different and also the accent of the French ballet teacher is written differently than in Dutch (of course). But overall I enjoyed re-reading this book.

 

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

[Athena]

I'll sort out my new books from the book fair soon and post about them .

[Athena]

Here's a list and a photo of the books I recently bought.

 

First, some Kindle books:

 

Kindle freebies

Juli K. Dixon and Jessica Dixon - A Stroke of Luck: A Girl's Second Chance at Life

Louisa May Alcott - Little Women (Illustrated)

 

Kindle bought

Susan Hatler - Better Date than Never 8: Up to Date

Beautifully Unnatural: A Young Adult Paranormal Boxed Set - Amy Miles - Forbidden, Susan Hatler - Mind Reader 1: Shaken, Veronica Blade - My Wolf's Bane, Ciara Knight - Rise from Darkness

 

Below the list of what I bought at Het Boekenfestijn and a photo of the books. There wasn't as much fiction as I had hoped (there was less and also less that I didn't have yet and that interested me) but I got a lot of nice biographies and information books. I got some nice fiction books too.

 

Het Boekenfestijn:

 

Dee Shulman - Mijn Supergeheime Dagboek: Reality-Tv: Een Nachtmerrie (Polly Price's Totally Secret Diary: Reality TV Nightmare)

Linda van Rijn - Last Minute & Vakantievrienden

Victoria Farkas - Dik in mijn Hoofd

Herman Koch - Het Diner

Henning Mankell - De Daisy Sisters

Faust Editors - Faust 1

Norma Fox Mazer - Missing Pieces

Norma Fox Mazer - Baby Face

Kristin Hannah - Night Road

Claire Cook - Seven Year Switch

Kate Figes - What About Me? 2: What About Me, Too?

Nicholas Evans - The Brave

Christine Seifert - The Predicteds

R. L. Stine - Temptation (Goodnight Kiss, Goodnight Kiss 2, "The Vampire Club")

 

Tom Reynolds - Blood, Sweat & Tea 1-2: Sirens

Terry Helwig - Moonlight on Linoleum

Bibian Harmsen - Paniekspinnen: Een Jaar Zonder Einde

Thomas Zijlma - 37 Nietjes

Renate Dorrestein - De Blokkade

Alice Jamieson - Vandaag Ben Ik Alice (Today I'm Alice)

Arthur & Carly Fleischmann - Haar Stille Stem (Carly's Voice)

Gotham Chopra and Deepak Chopra - Wijsheid Op Vier Poten: Drie Generaties, Twee Honden & Alledaags Geluk (Walking Wisdom)

Robin Corbee - Het Leven is Fanspastisch

Kasey Edwards - Grote Verwachtingen (Dertig en nu...) (30-Something and Over It) (free book)

Laurence Shorter - De Optimist: Een Humoristische Zoektocht naar de Positiefste Mensen ter Wereld (The Optimist: One Man's Search for the Brighter Side of Life)

Nicky Westerhof - Dansen Op Een Zijden Draad: Over een Meisje dat op 22-jarige Leeftijd een Ingrijpende Beslissing Moet Nemen om te Overleven

John Kralik - Elke Dag een Glimlach (365 Thank Yous)

Bram van Montfoort - Een Jaar Offline

 

Dan Auty, Justin Cawthorne, Chris Barrett and Peter Dodd - 100 Best Selling Albums Of The 90s

Steven Jay Schneider - 101 Action Movies You Must See Before You Die

Daan Prudon - Light Coach

Rando Kim - Jong Duurt Langer Dan Je Denkt (Youth, it's Painful)

Barbara Natterson-Horowitz and Kathryn Bowers - Dierenbrein En Mensenlijf: Baanbrekende Ontdekkingen en Overeenkomsten tussen Mens en Dier (Zoobiquity)

Sonja Lyubomirsky - De Mythes Van Geluk: Wetenschapplijke Inzichten in wat ons écht Gelukkig Maakt (The Myths of Happiness)

Susan Krauss Whitbourne - Nieuwe Route Kiezen?: Luister naar je Innerlijke GPS, Veranderen kan in Elke Levensfase (The Search for Fulfillment)

Marja Baseler - Schrijf!: Alles Over het Schrijven van Gedichten en Verhalen

John Armstrong - The School of Life: Minder Piekeren Over Geld: Hoe Doe Je Dat (How to Worry Less About Money)

Peter Sioen - Superjij: Het Succes Zit al in Je, Haal Het Eruit

Larissa Verhoeff - Dikke Pret: Een Vrolijke Reis naar een Slanker, Gezonder en Gelukkiger Leven, Inclusief 10-Stappen Plan

Mieke Kosters - Het Geheim Van Slanke Mensen: Elke Dag Chocolade, 12 Kilo Eraf

Mieke Kosters - Ik Ken Mezelf en Ik Ben Slank: Overwin je Valkuilen en Val Af Mét Chocola en Wijn (Met 200 Mix&Match-Menusuggesties)

 

[Signor Finzione]

Awesome books as always. I've read some of that Tom Reynolds one - it's a very funny and interesting insight into his life as an ambulance driver.

[Anna Begins]

Wow- I had no idea you got so many! 

[Athena]

Awesome books as always. I've read some of that Tom Reynolds one - it's a very funny and interesting insight into his life as an ambulance driver.

 

Thanks , I'm glad to hear you liked bits of the Tom Reynolds book.

 

Wow- I had no idea you got so many! 

Thanks .

[bobblybear]

I've read the first Tom Reynolds book and really enjoyed it. Hope you like them when you read them.

[Athena]

I've read the first Tom Reynolds book and really enjoyed it. Hope you like them when you read them.

Thanks BB !

[Athena]

Richard Wiseman - 59 Seconden: Verbeter je Leven in Minder dan een Minuut (59 Seconds)

 

 

Genre: Information

Age-range: Adult

Format: Paperback

Pages: 293 (312 including index)

Synopsis (GoodReads):In "59 Seconds," psychologist Professor Richard Wiseman presents a fresh approach to change that helps people achieve their aims and ambitions in minutes, not months. From mood to memory, persuasion to procrastination, and resilience to relationships, Wiseman outlines the research supporting this new science of rapid change, and describes how these quick and quirky techniques can be incorporated into everyday life. Think a little, change a lot.

 

My thoughts: I was in the mood to read something Dutch. I liked Quirkologie (Quirkology in English) by the same author, so I decided to read this book. I bought both books at the book fair.

 

This book was quite interesting. It's divided into chapters, each encompassing a different subject. Usually first is explained how many people think it works, but then the research disproves it. Then, researches are discussed that show how it does work. The subjects are pretty diverse, for example happiness, motivation, creativity, stress, relationships, parenthood, personality and a few more. Near the end of each chapter, there's a little summary and what you can do in 59 seconds to improve your life in the particular subject of the chapter. To me, not all of the things suggested seemed things that you can implement in a minute. Some of them would take maybe five or ten minutes. But okay, the core ideas were all pretty interesting.

 

I quite liked the writing style of this book (it reads easily) and how the researches were discussed. Some of the results were known to me (because I'd read Quirkologie or because I'd read about it elsewhere), but most of it was surprising. At the end of a book there is a summary of 10 of the most interesting things you can do to improve your life. Examples are, to write down what you're grateful for, put a photo of a baby in your wallet, buy a plant for in your office, hang a mirror in your kitchen, and more.

 

Some chapters appealed to me more than others but overall I found them interesting to read. I think it's pretty interesting all these things have been researched. Personally participating in some of these studies doesn't sound like a nice thing to me (this has nothing to do with the book but some people like to do these kinds of things a lot).

 

Overall then I enjoyed reading this book. I have one more book by the author on my TBR, Rip it Up (this time an English copy, also from the book fair). I think it's a bit similar to this book, but then about different subjects (at least based on a quick flicking through the book and reading the chapter titles). So I think I will enjoy that one too.

 

Rating: **** (8/10)

[Devi]

I would love to go book shopping with you Athena! I imagine we would need a couple of traileds though.

[Athena]

I would love to go book shopping with you Athena! I imagine we would need a couple of traileds though.

I would love that too, Devi! And yes probably . It would be an awesome experience .

[Signor Finzione]

I would love to go book shopping with you Athena! I imagine we would need a couple of traileds though.

 

I would love that too, Devi! And yes probably . It would be an awesome experience .

 

You would need a forklift truck each, or at the very least a wheelbarrow.