Athena Posted October 1, 2014 Author Share Posted October 1, 2014 Ah- mine is purses! I think I just have books . Although I do have a lot of T-shirts.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobblybear Posted October 1, 2014 Share Posted October 1, 2014 I think I just have books, as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alexi Posted October 1, 2014 Share Posted October 1, 2014 I do enjoy the occasional glass of wine, perish the thought. But my vices are books and clothes. It used to be handbags and then I got one expensive one I use all the time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Athena Posted October 2, 2014 Author Share Posted October 2, 2014 I think I just have books, as well. Nothing wrong with that, in my opinion . I do enjoy the occasional glass of wine, perish the thought. But my vices are books and clothes. It used to be handbags and then I got one expensive one I use all the time. That's interesting , what colour / material is it? I think I'm one of the few women who doesn't own a handbag. I always use backpacks as well as pockets in my trousers. I don't like bags that you have to wear 'sideways' as opposed to on your back . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Athena Posted October 2, 2014 Author Share Posted October 2, 2014 Trudi Canavan - The Black Magician Trilogy 0: The Magician's Apprentice Genre: Fantasy Age-range: Adult Format: Paperback Pages: 702 (excluding excerpts) Synopsis (GoodReads):In the remote village of Mandryn, Tessia serves as assistant to her father, the village Healer. Her mother would rather she found a husband. But her life is about to take a very unexpected turn. When the advances of a visiting Sachakan mage get violent, Tessia unconsciously taps unknown reserves of magic to defend herself. Lord Dakon, the local magician, takes Tessia under his wing as an apprentice. The hours are long and the work arduous, but soon an exciting new world opens up to her. There are fine clothes and servants and - to Tessia's delight - regular trips to the great city of Imardin. However, Tessia is about to discover that her magical gifts bring with them a great deal of responsibility. For a storm is approaching that threatens to tear her world apart. My thoughts: Having recently finished The Black Magician Trilogy 1-3, I was eager to read the prequel and learn more about the world and what happened before the events in that trilogy. I really enjoyed reading this book. It was very interesting to read how different the world was in the time of the prequel, and how certain events happen that lead to the state of things in the trilogy. There were plenty of plot twists that I didn't see coming. The book is written from the point of view of Tessia as well as a few other characters. I liked all of the characters, I thought they were well written. It's great to read fantasy with strong female characters, as sometimes in some (fantasy) books it can be all about the male characters (which can be nice too, but sometimes it becomes a bit grating). I liked the writing style and I like the way the magic works in the book. Because it is a prequel, the book could be read as standalone without any prior knowledge. However, I would personally say to read The Black Magician Trilogy first if you already have them, because otherwise a few things in this book will spoil some things in the trilogy. If you don't mind that, though, then they can easily be read in chronological order. Generally for me, I tend to first read books in their publication order and upon re-read, I read them in chronological order (because then nothing can be spoiled). However, you could also read them in chronological order first if this makes more sense to you. Just keep in mind it will take away a bit of some plot twists. Overall then I quite enjoyed reading this prequel and look forward to read the second trilogy in a while, The Traitor Spy Trilogy, which takes place after The Black Magician Trilogy. Rating: ***** (10/10) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pontalba Posted October 2, 2014 Share Posted October 2, 2014 Good review, as always, Gaia. I like the way you don't catalogue details of the plot, but give a good outline of what the story means. I do enjoy the occasional glass of wine, perish the thought.But my vices are books and clothes. It used to be handbags and then I got one expensive one I use all the time. Amaretto here, or chocolate vodka. Hah, well, of course purses! heh Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Athena Posted October 2, 2014 Author Share Posted October 2, 2014 Good review, as always, Gaia. I like the way you don't catalogue details of the plot, but give a good outline of what the story means. Thanks Kate . It's lovely to read your comments . Amaretto here, or chocolate vodka. I had no idea there was such a thing as chocolate vodka ! I don't drink much alcohol, just on occasion a little bit of Baileys (preferably chocolate or chocolate orange flavour) or a sip of what my boyfriend's having. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pontalba Posted October 2, 2014 Share Posted October 2, 2014 Yes, its is pretty amazing. Vodka comes in lots of flavors, extremely varied. But I don't bother with them, mostly. I have tried a Citron flavor and it's pretty good. But who can pass up Chocolate?! We like the brand '360 Double Chocolate'. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Signor Finzione Posted October 2, 2014 Share Posted October 2, 2014 I had no idea there was such a thing as chocolate vodka ! I don't drink much alcohol, just on occasion a little bit of Baileys (preferably chocolate or chocolate orange flavour) or a sip of what my boyfriend's having. Mmm Baileys. I've never had the chocolate flavoured one! I usually have original or coffee. Yes, its is pretty amazing. Vodka comes in lots of flavors, extremely varied. But I don't bother with them, mostly. I have tried a Citron flavor and it's pretty good. But who can pass up Chocolate?! We like the brand '360 Double Chocolate'. Ever had chocolate wine? It's delish. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pontalba Posted October 2, 2014 Share Posted October 2, 2014 Ever had chocolate wine? It's delish. I bet it is! Unfortunately red wine, more often than not, gives me an awful headache about an hour after drinking it. I have seen chocolate only with red wine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Athena Posted October 3, 2014 Author Share Posted October 3, 2014 Yes, its is pretty amazing. Vodka comes in lots of flavors, extremely varied. But I don't bother with them, mostly. I have tried a Citron flavor and it's pretty good. But who can pass up Chocolate?! We like the brand '360 Double Chocolate'. I like the sound of that . Mmm Baileys. I've never had the chocolate flavoured one! I usually have original or coffee. Ever had chocolate wine? It's delish. The chocolate flavoured one is really nice, in my opinion . I've never seen chocolate wine here, it sounds nice though! I bet it is! Unfortunately red wine, more often than not, gives me an awful headache about an hour after drinking it. I have seen chocolate only with red wine. Awww . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Signor Finzione Posted October 5, 2014 Share Posted October 5, 2014 I bet it is! Unfortunately red wine, more often than not, gives me an awful headache about an hour after drinking it. I have seen chocolate only with red wine. I've never seen chocolate wine here, it sounds nice though! It's lovely, but I have the same problem with red wine. I love it, but can only drink it in very small amounts. I've only seen the chocolate wine in red too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Athena Posted October 5, 2014 Author Share Posted October 5, 2014 It's lovely, but I have the same problem with red wine. I love it, but can only drink it in very small amounts. I've only seen the chocolate wine in red too. I think we can safely conclude the world needs more chocolate. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Athena Posted October 5, 2014 Author Share Posted October 5, 2014 Veronica Roth - Divergent: Four: Free Four: Tobias Tells the Divergent Knife-Throwing Scene Genre: Science-fiction Age-range: Young-Adult Format: Kindle Pages: 16 Synopsis: (no synopsis because it's part of a series) My thoughts: Anna (Begins) and I had agreed we'd read the Four stories for this read-a-thon. Since the paperback isn't out yet, I bought the Kindle versions (I'll still want the paperback though when it's out). I thought it was nice to read this scene from Four's viewpoint but I wish the piece had been longer. 21% of the actual book was the story, the rest was excerpts from Divergent and Insurgent. The other Four stories cost twice the price of this one, but they had a lot more content for their money. Still, I enjoyed reading this scene from Four's point of view, though I don't consider it essential reading to understand the Divergent series. But it made me understand the scene and Four a bit more. Rating: **** (8/10) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Athena Posted October 5, 2014 Author Share Posted October 5, 2014 Veronica Roth - Divergent: Four 1: The Transfer Genre: Science-fiction Age-range: Young-Adult Format: Kindle Pages: 30 Synopsis: (no synopsis because it's part of a series) My thoughts: Anna (Begins) and I decided to read the Four stories for the October 2014 read-a-thon. This was a good story about Four's past, the choosing ceremony and his first steps into Dauntless. I quite enjoyed reading the story and seeing from his point of view. A few things were a bit samey to Divergent, which is good of course but also meant the plot twists weren't as unexpected. It wasn't hard to get sucked back into this world of the Divergent series. Overall I enjoyed reading it. Rating: ***** (9/10) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Athena Posted October 5, 2014 Author Share Posted October 5, 2014 Veronica Roth - Divergent: Four 2: The Initiate Genre: Science-fiction Age-range: Young-Adult Format: Kindle Pages: 39 Synopsis: (no synopsis because it's part of a series) My thoughts: For the October 2014 read-a-thon I read the Four stories, this one was next. This story is about Four's time as an initiate in Dauntless. It was very interesting to read about his training and how he experienced things. I thought the story was very enjoyable. I liked the characters and there were more unexpected plot twists than in The Transfer. Overall then I quite enjoyed reading this short story. Rating: ***** (10/10) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Athena Posted October 5, 2014 Author Share Posted October 5, 2014 Veronica Roth - Divergent: Four 3: The Son Genre: Science-fiction Age-range: Young-Adult Format: Kindle Pages: 40 Synopsis: (no synopsis because it's part of a series) My thoughts: I'm reading the Four stories for the October read-a-thon. This story continues from The Initiate and The Transfer. It was more tense and suspenseful than those two, and it was really interesting to read. It was well written and it was great to learn more about Four and Dauntless and the world of the Divergent series. Overall I really enjoyed reading this story. Rating: ***** (10/10) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Athena Posted October 5, 2014 Author Share Posted October 5, 2014 Veronica Roth - Divergent: Four 4: The Traitor Genre: Science-fiction Age-range: Young-Adult Format: Kindle Pages: 51 Synopsis: (no synopsis because it's part of a series) My thoughts: This is the last Four story, that I'm reading for the read-a-thon. A year has passed since The Son, two years since The Initiate. This was tense and very interesting. It was great to hear Four's point of view of what happened in Divergent (the first book). It was also great to read about Tris from his point of view. Overall then I quite enjoyed reading this story, it's a great complement to the Divergent series. Rating: ***** (10/10) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Athena Posted October 5, 2014 Author Share Posted October 5, 2014 Ema Toyama - I Am Here! 1: Volume 1 Genre: Contemporary Fiction Age-range: Young-Adult Format: Paperback Pages: 405 Synopsis (GoodReads):Invisible to her classmates, Hikage Sumino is an eighth grader with no self-esteem. Her only friends are the visitors to her Internet blog. One day, the most popular boy in the grade suddenly talks to her. Encouraged by this twist of fate, Hikage determines to transform her life. My thoughts: I wanted to read a manga for the read-a-thon. My boyfriend read this manga earlier in the day and liked it, so I thought I'd read it too so we could talk about it and I could tell him what I thought. This was a very sweet story. I really liked the characters. I could understand the main character quite well. Despite it being volume one of two (in English), it does end in a way and I think that's good. I'm still eager to read volume two, though. It's a really nice enjoyable story with nice drawings. Rating: ***** (9/10) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Athena Posted October 5, 2014 Author Share Posted October 5, 2014 Ann M. Martin - The BabySitter's Club 17: Mary Anne's Bad-Luck Mystery (re-read) Genre: Chick-lit Age-range: Children's, Young-Adult Format: Paperback Pages: 129 Synopsis: (no synopsis because it's part of a series) My thoughts: It was another read-a-thon, so I read another BSC book. This one was next. This story takes place around Halloween and it's a little bit spooky so October was a great time of the year to be reading it. I knew a bit about what's going to happen, more came back to me as I read the story. Despite knowing some of these plot twists, I still really enjoyed re-reading this story. It's never been one of my favourite ones but it's enjoyable and Mary Anne is one of my favourite characters (though I like them all in different ways, really.) Overall then I enjoyed re-reading this book. Rating: ***** (10/10) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Athena Posted October 5, 2014 Author Share Posted October 5, 2014 Harriet Evans - Rules for Dating a Romantic Hero (QuickReads) Genre: Chick-lit Age-range: Adult Format: Paperback Pages: 108 Synopsis: (no synopsis because it's a sequel) My thoughts: I read another Quickreads book for the read-a-thon. First off, I didn't realise this book was a sequel of sorts (according to the author). It doesn't say so in the synopsis on the back, it says so in the acknowledgements or such at the end of the story (which for some reason I read first). I can imagine the story might make a bit more sense if you're read the book before it. I found the references sometimes confusing, sometimes they were probably events in a previous book, other times I presume they were things from perhaps British culture or such, that were unfamiliar to me. The chapter headings were the rules that the title refers to, and these rules are connected to what happens in the chapter. I thought this was nicely done. The book contains an enjoyable story but there were some words that were unfamiliar to me. I would've also liked more explanation about certain characters and events. The book kind of assumes you know a bit already about these characters, or so it seemed to me, yet nowhere on the outside of the book is it said it's kind of a sequel, oh well. It was enjoyable to read though but I found the story a bit predictable. Rating: **** (7/10) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Athena Posted October 5, 2014 Author Share Posted October 5, 2014 R. L. Stine - Kippevel: Monsterbloed (Monsterblood) (re-read) Genre: Horror Age-range: Children's Format: Paperback Pages: 126 Synopsis (GoodReads) (for the English version:While staying with his weird great-aunt Kathryn, Evan visits a funky old toy store and buys a dusty can of monster blood, It's fun to play with at first. And Evan's dog, Trigger, likes it so much, he eats some! But then Evan notices something weird about the green slimy stuff it seems to be growing. And growing. And growing. And all that growing has given the monster blood a monstrous appetite... (**** in the Dutch version, the main character is called Steffie and she's a girl. The aunt is called Katrien and the boy in the story is called Matthijs ****) My thoughts: For nostalgia's sake and because it's October, I decided to re-read this book. I only own three books from the Kippevel series (or Goosebumps in English), the rest I borrowed from the library, my sister also owns a few. It was quite nice to read it again and nostalgic as well. Sometimes it was a little bit too easy to overcome obstacles for the main character but it's a children's book so that makes sense. The story is well written and I enjoyed reading it. One thing I wonder now that I'm writing this review, is it true the main character is a male in the English version?! I wonder how much of it is different. In the Dutch book Steffie goes to stay with her great-aunt Katrien and meets a boy named Matthijs and together they face the Monsterbloed. Rating: **** (8/10) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Athena Posted October 5, 2014 Author Share Posted October 5, 2014 A. C. Baantjer and Simon de Waal - De Waal & Baantjer 7: Een Licht in de Duisternis Genre: Detective Age-range: Adult Format: Paperback Pages: 175 Synopsis (me):Peter van Opperdoes comes across a head made of clay, which leads to a murder mystery. My thoughts: I decided to read another detective book for the read-a-thon. This one was next in this series. This was suspenseful and had lots of plot twists. I really enjoyed reading it, the writing style is great and I really liked the characters. One tiny fun tidbit, there's a dog called Boris in it! Only for about two pages, but still, it made me smile . It's an enjoyable detective story, I really enjoyed reading it. Rating: ***** (9/10) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Athena Posted October 5, 2014 Author Share Posted October 5, 2014 Robin Corbee - Het Leven is Fanspastisch Genre: Biography Age-range: Adult Format: Paperback Pages: 176 Synopsis (me):A biography of a teenage girl who is spastic. My thoughts: I bought this book at the last book fair and with its short pieces it seemed like a good book to read for the read-a-thon. This book is I think based on columns that Robin wrote. Each one is one or two pages long (generally) and has a title. It was very interesting to read about Robin's life. It really makes you think. I'm glad I'm not physically disabled, though of course being mentally disabled, this isn't fun either. I admire Robin for the courage she has. I liked that she likes to read and write, there were several pieces about this which I really enjoyed. I really liked the writing style. I also really like the title of the book, 'fantastisch' means amazing / wonderful in Dutch, 'spastisch' means spastic. Overall then I really enjoyed reading this book, it gives a nice insight into what Robin's life is like and it makes you think. Rating: ***** (9/10) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Athena Posted October 5, 2014 Author Share Posted October 5, 2014 George Orwell - Animal Farm Genre: Literature Age-range: Adult Format: Paperback Pages: 111 Synopsis (back of the book):'It is the history of a revolution that went wrong - and of the excellent excuses that were forthcoming at every step for the perversion of the original doctorine,' wrote Orwell in the original blurb for the first edition of Animal Farm in 1945. His simple and tragic fable, telling what happens when the animals drive out Mr Jones and attempt to run their farm themselves, has since become a world-famous classic of English prose. My thoughts: I've been meaning to read this book for a while and because it's short I thought it might make for good read-a-thon material. This story, as I think most of you will know, is a metaphor for a revolution (such as the Russian revolution). I thought this was really well done. In the beginning I got a little bit confused because of the many names of the animal characters, but this got better after a while. I really liked this story. It's really well written. There were a few words I didn't know. The story is really interesting and it makes you think. I really enjoyed reading this book. After the story there were a few pages about the author which I enjoyed reading as well. I have 1984 by him on my TBR, which I hope will be good too. Rating: ***** (10/10) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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