Athena's Reading List 2014

[Little Pixie]

Hope you enjoy your new books ! 

[Athena]

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

 

Haha, yep!

 

Hope you enjoy your new books ! 

Thanks !

[Athena]

Herman Koch - Het Diner

 

 

Genre: Literature

Age-range: Adult

Format: Paperback

Pages: 301

Synopsis (back of the book) (translated by me):Two couples go out for dinner one evening. They talk about the usual things, but meanwhile they avoid the subject they should really talk about: their children. Together they have done something that could destroy their future.

 

My thoughts: I bought this book at the most recent book fair, about a week ago. Several people on BCF have already read this book and the reviews were mixed. I decided to try and read a page to see if it would grab me, and it did.

 

The writing style of this book immediately pulled me in. I don't know how it is translated into English, if it has the same feel to it, but I liked the Dutch writing style at least. The first few pages pulled me in and I had to keep on reading after this. It only took me two days to read this book, I read the majority of it today. I didn't want to put it down. I wanted to keep on reading to find out what would happen and what had happened.

 

The book is split up into several parts, each standing for a different part of the dinner (ie. 'voorgerecht', meaning 'starter'). In each of the parts, the story is split up into numbered chapters (46 in total). Gradually we get to know the characters. There's Paul and Claire, and their son Michel, and Serge and Babette with their three children. I quite liked all the characters, though I did like some more than others. I guess you could say, I wouldn't like a character like Serge in real life, but I liked to read about him and how Paul acted towards him.

 

The book has a lot of psychological meanings behind it and is definitely a literary work. It gives food for thought, so to speak. At first I was afraid it would be too complicated for me, lately I haven't read much complicated books because I've felt tired. But I could follow the book allright and actually quite enjoyed these aspects of the book.

 

I also liked how certain messages were 'sent' and 'received' through body language. I was glad it was explained in the book, I could never pick up on these things in real life! But the way it was done in the book, I was able to follow it even if I wouldn't be able to do such things in real life.

 

The dinner is interspersed with flashbacks of the past. The book is told from Paul's point of view (in first person). I liked how the past gradually unfolded and we learned more about the characters and their past. I also liked how Paul didn't mention certain details in the story, such as the name of the restaurant. While I certainly wouldn't want this in all my books (that would get tiring), I thought it made for a nice change. The story was really being told to you by him.

 

I enjoyed how the restaurant was described. The descriptions of the people and the food, and the service, it was all very nice to read about.

 

There are several plot twists in the story, and I didn't see these coming most of the time. The book surprised me. At first I wasn't sure if I was going to like it, some people on BCF didn't like it at all, and some did. My mum said she read it too and liked it (I don't know if my dad has read it, I haven't asked him). So I didn't go in with high expectations, I was expecting something that I would either really like or really don't like. And I really liked it! So overall then I'm glad I read this book. Herman Koch is a famous Dutch author and I'm glad I've read a book by him now.

 

I don't read that many Dutch fiction books at all anymore and I thoroughly enjoyed reading this one. One of the reasons is that Dutch books usually cost a lot more than English ones, and there are a lot more books written in English originally, that I'm interested in, than in Dutch (because we're a smaller country than ie. the UK or the US (or both combined)). For example, there isn't much original Dutch fantasy being written, and hardly any science-fiction too. But Dutch literary works is what I'd be most interested in (I do have some on my TBR though most aren't that recent).

 

Anyway, I really enjoyed reading this book and am glad I bought it and read it. Plus, I quite like the cover (there's lots of blue on it, my favourite colour). The book might not be for everyone, but I don't think there are many books that everyone likes. Overall I enjoyed reading this book.

 

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

[Anna Begins]

Great review- especially about the translations and all that- I didn't know there were so few fantasy or science fiction Dutch writers.  I'm glad you liked it- it sounds a bit complicated! 

[Athena]

Great review- especially about the translations and all that- I didn't know there were so few fantasy or science fiction Dutch writers.  I'm glad you liked it- it sounds a bit complicated!

Thanks !

 

Yeah, in the regular book shops you hardly see any science-fiction. A lot of English science-fiction hasn't been translated either. You need a bigger book shop that will then have some English science-fiction, in Dutch there isn't a lot to be found, in my experience. I don't know many Dutch science-fiction writers, I can't think of any on top off my head. Fantasy is a bit more popular, there is more fantasy to be found in book shops (translated) and there are a few Dutch fantasy writers that I know about. But thrillers, contemporary fiction, literature and chick-lit seem more popular in the Netherlands. At least, I see that a lot more in the book shops, out of the things written by Dutch authors. And there is a variety of biographies and information books.

[Devi]

Just letting you know Gaia, seven of your bookmarks are done so far!

[pontalba]

Really love your review of The Dinner.  You've hit several nails right on the head!  Glad you enjoyed it.

 

It did pull the reader right in, as you mention.  I wonder how the English translation stacks up to the Dutch.  From what you've said though, I think it sounds on target.

Thanks.

[willoyd]

I think The Dinner is one that we will have to agree to differ on?  Found your review very interesting - even if I disagree with virtually everything you said!!    That's half the fun of books after all!

[Athena]

Just letting you know Gaia, seven of your bookmarks are done so far!

 

Thanks Devi, that's great !

 

Really love your review of The Dinner.  You've hit several nails right on the head!  Glad you enjoyed it.

 

It did pull the reader right in, as you mention.  I wonder how the English translation stacks up to the Dutch.  From what you've said though, I think it sounds on target.

Thanks.

Thanks Kate !

 

I think The Dinner is one that we will have to agree to differ on?  Found your review very interesting - even if I disagree with virtually everything you said!!    That's half the fun of books after all!

Thanks Willoyd ! That's very true.

 

Next up I'll be posting a review of Trudi Canavan - The Black Magician Trilogy 1: The Magician's Guild and later on I'll post a list of my new books (I went to the charity shop and got some good deals).

[Athena]

Trudi Canavan - The Black Magician Trilogy 1: The Magician's Guild

 

 

Genre: Fantasy

Age-range: Adult

Format: Paperback

Pages: 469

Synopsis (GoodReads):This year, like every other, the magicians of Imardin gather to purge the city of undesirables. Cloaked in the protection of their sorcery, they move with no fear of the vagrants and miscreants who despise them and their work-—until one enraged girl, barely more than a child, hurls a stone at the hated invaders...and effortlessly penetrates their magical shield.

 

What the Magicians' Guild has long dreaded has finally come to pass. There is someone outside their ranks who possesses a raw power beyond imagining, an untrained mage who must be found and schooled before she destroys herself and her city with a force she cannot yet control.

 

My thoughts: I hadn't read any fantasy books in quite some time. For some reason I was in the mood to read a lot of contemporary books. I felt I should try and read some fantasy again. Even though I'm reluctant to start a new series, recently this author was mentioned when, on BCF, we talked about female fantasy authors. My sister read this series some time ago so I decided to read them now.

 

This is book one in a series. It's split up into two parts, and then in seperate chapters each with a number and a title. Throughout the book the story felt as if it would become more epic later on, I knew it wouldn't be finished by the time I'd finished the book. This is obvious of course as it's part one of a trilogy. In the beginning I felt the pacing was a little bit slow. What's mentioned in the synopsis, the girl who throws the stone, that scene happens pretty quickly. It got tense quite soon and I wanted to keep on reading. But then after that I felt sometimes the plot twists took a bit of time to happen. However, I didn't mind this as I found the story and the characters quite interesting to read about. The pages flew by. I particularly liked the main character as well as some of the other characters.

 

It was very interesting to learn more about the world, its inhabitants and the magic system. I look forward to learning more about those things in the next two books, too, because I feel there is still quite a bit more to learn. I really enjoyed reading a fantasy book after what's been a while. These kinds of fantasy books are how I like them the best, with good characters and magic in them. I love reading about magic and learning about a new world such as the one in this book.

 

After this book, there are two other books in the series to read, books two and three. I also have the prequel. Trudi Canavan has written two other trilogies, one of which takes place in the same world as this one. I don't know how that one is related to this series, but I'll find out once I've finished this series (as I don't want to spoil anything for myself). Same with the prequel, I'm also not sure how it relates.

 

Anyway, overall I quite enjoyed reading this book. It reads pretty quickly and I finished it in a couple of days. I'm eager to read how the story continues, so I won't wait long before starting the second book. The book ends at a good point in the story, but the story isn't finished. I look forward to see how it continues. If you like fantasy and you like reading a book that involves a new world and magic and a Magician's Guild (see title of the book), then I recommend this book. I wouldn't call it the best fantasy book out there, but it's very enjoyable and has some unique things I haven't yet seen in other fantasy books. For example, the relation between the higher classes, the magicians and the lower classes is strained, it's something I haven't seen that much of in other fantasy books. Overall then I liked this book and I hope to like the other two books in the series, too. It does feel as a part one of a bigger story, so I look forward to see how things will unfold.

 

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

[Athena]

I went to the charity shop Terre des Hommes and found some books! They had a box of Star Trek books, 3 for 1 euro. I bought 30 books in total and got them for 9,50 euros (and I bought 1 DVD for 1 euro, so 10,50 total), so I think they gave me one for free! My boyfriend is also interested in the Star Trek books, we both wanted them.

 

Robin Cook - Jack Stapleton & Laurie Montgomery 4: Chromosome 6

Anita Shreve - All He Ever Wanted

K. W. Jeter - Star Trek: Deep Space Nine 3: Bloodletter

Sandy Schofield - Star Trek: Deep Space Nine 4: The Big Game

Dafydd ab Hugh - Star Trek: Deep Space Nine 5: Fallen Heroes

Lois Tilton - Star Trek: Deep Space Nine 6: Betrayal

Esther Friesner - Star Trek: Deep Space Nine 7: Warchild

John Vornholt - Star Trek: Deep Space Nine 8: Antimatter

Melissa Scott - Star Trek: Deep Space Nine 9: Proud Helios

Nathan Archer - Star Trek: Deep Space Nine 10: Valhalla

Greg Cox and John Gregory Betancourt - Star Trek: Deep Space Nine 11: Devil in the Sky

Robert Sheckley - Star Trek: Deep Space Nine 12: The Laertian Gamble

Diane Carey - Star Trek: Deep Space Nine 13: Station Rage

Dean Wesley Smith and Kristine Kathryn Rusch - Star Trek: Deep Space Nine 14: The Long Night

John Peel - Star Trek: Deep Space Nine 15: Objective: Bajor

Diane Carey - Star Trek: Deep Space Nine 79: Invasion 1: First Strike

L. A. Graf - Star Trek: Deep Space Nine 16: Invasion 3: Time's Enemy

John Gregory Betancourt - Star Trek: Deep Space Nine 17: The Heart of the Warrior

Michael Jan Friedman - Star Trek: Deep Space Nine 18: Saratoga

Susan Wright - Star Trek: Deep Space Nine 19: The Tempest

Peter David, Michael Jan Friedman and Robert Greenberger - Star Trek: Deep Space Nine 20: Wrath of the Prophets

Mark Garland - Star Trek: Deep Space Nine 21: Trial by Error

Dafydd ab Hugh - Star Trek: Deep Space Nine 22: Vengeance

Diane Carey - Star Trek: Deep Space Nine: The Search

Peter David - Star Trek: Deep Space Nine 2: The Siege

K. W. Jeter - Star Trek: Deep Space Nine: Warped

L. A. Graf - Star Trek: Deep Space Nine: Day of Honor 2: Armageddon Sky

Michael Jan Friedman - Star Trek: The Next Generation: Crossover

William Shatner - Star Trek: Odyssey 1: The Ashes of Eden

William Shatner - TekWar 6: Tek Power

 

[Devi]

My boyfriend is a huge star trek fan, I showed him your collection you got, he said he is jealous!

[Athena]

That's nice to hear . We couldn't believe our luck when we saw all these books being sold so cheap, I've never had such a good deal before .

[Signor Finzione]

Wow, what a bargain!!

 

I liked your review of The Magician's Guild.  It makes me look forward to reading the series myself. I also have the prequel, The Magician's Apprentice, which I may read first.

[Athena]

Wow, what a bargain!!

 

I liked your review of The Magician's Guild.  It makes me look forward to reading the series myself. I also have the prequel, The Magician's Apprentice, which I may read first.

Thanks ! I tend to read the 'normal' series first and then eventual prequels, when I read a series for the first time (because of spoilers). When I re-read it though I read them in chronological order. I have the prequel too and will read it after I finish the trilogy.

[Athena]

Trudi Canavan - The Black Magician Trilogy 2: The Novice

 

 

Genre: Fantasy

Age-range: Adult

Format: Paperback

Pages: 581

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

 

My thoughts: I loved book one in this series and wanted to read book two immediately, so I did.

 

This book continues the story that began in part one. The story, as in book one, is told from a few perspectives (in third person). In this book, one perspective is added. I really like the main character, but to be honest the side characters are interesting too (though the main character remains my favourite). In this book we learn more about them all.

 

There are some interesting plot developments, a lot of which I wasn't expecting. The story is well written, just like the previous book. I also enjoyed reading the story of the side characters, which is also important for the main story (I can't say what exactly though or it would be spoiling). The story doesn't end, of course being the middle book of a trilogy this is not unexpected. The book is split in two parts, like the previous book. The ending does announce that a new part of the story will start in book three, if that makes sense, but it's a bit of a cliffhanger (but then if you read books one and two in a trilogy you usually read book three too if you liked the first two..).

 

The story is somewhat epic but it's also a personal story. What I mean is, it's not epic in the sense that there are tons of characters and the world is in grave danger and there are lots of battles etc. I think the world being in danger, that will happen in the third book more (in the first and second book the city the story takes place in, is in danger, but in book three it's the world I think). Anyway, it's nice to read a book that's somewhat epic but doesn't have tons of characters and place names to memorize.

 

Overall I enjoyed reading this second book in the trilogy. It continues the story that began in book one in a good way and I really enjoyed reading it.

 

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

[Athena]

Reading on Trudi Canavan's website, she drew the maps of this trilogy herself! She's also an illustrator. That's pretty cool .

[Signor Finzione]

Nice review of Novice - you must be enjoying the series to have read this one so soon.

 

Reading on Trudi Canavan's website, she drew the maps of this trilogy herself! She's also an illustrator. That's pretty cool .

 

That's awesome.

[Athena]

Thanks Laura! I am enjoying the series. I'm currently reading book three.

[Athena]

Trudi Canavan - The Black Magician Trilogy 3: The High Lord

 

 

Genre: Fantasy

Age-range: Adult

Format: Paperback

Pages: 647

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

 

My thoughts: I was eager to read the conclusion to this series, after reading books one and two.

 

In this book, the stakes are raised and it's the most epic of the three (in my opinion). This book continued the story that began in books one and two. A year has passed, between books two and three. As with the previous two books, book three is split up into two parts.

 

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book. I didn't want to put it down, I wanted to keep on reading to find out what would happen. The same things apply that I said about the other two books, I really liked the characters, the world and the writing style. This book is pretty epic and I really enjoyed reading it. There were quite a few unexpected plot twists that I didn't see coming.

 

Overall then this is a great conclusion to the trilogy. Out of the three books, I enjoyed this one the most (hence the 10 / 10 rating, the other two were 9 / 10). I'd certainly recommend this trilogy to people who like high fantasy books (I believe it's called "high fantasy"?).

 

I have the prequel and I also have The Traitor Spy Trilogy on my TBR, both take place in the same world. The prequel takes place before this trilogy (obviously), The Traitor Spy Trilogy takes place after this trilogy. I will be reading both not too long from now. As a sidenote, I also have Trudi Canavan's other trilogy on my TBR, Age of the Five, but that takes place in a different world (so I'll be reading that last).

 

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

[Signor Finzione]

Great review! Can't wait to get started on this series now.

 

I also look forward to hearing what you think about The Traitor Spy trilogy. I have book 2, Rogue, but not the others (I must have picked it up cheap somewhere random!), but would like to read the Black Magician series before I buy any more of her stuff.

[Athena]

Thanks . That makes sense, I think starting with The Black Magician Trilogy is a good idea. I hope you enjoy it when you read it .

[bobblybear]

I'm glad you enjoyed the trilogy, Athena. I read the first 2 books years ago (I think it may have been just as they were released?), and really enjoyed them. I couldn't get hold of the third one, and eventually I just sort of forgot about the series.   I may give them another read, as I can only remember the vaguest details.

[Athena]

Thanks BB ! I hope that if you give them another read, you enjoy them .

[Anna Begins]

Wow- that was fast  Great review- I'm glad you enjoyed the Trilogy so much!  And to have the last one be such a good one- so lucky with that!