Little Pixie Posted December 18, 2014 Share Posted December 18, 2014 (edited) I have now read 250 books so far this year :exc:. *Faints* Well done ! Just catching up with your posts, love the Xmas reads. Congrats on joining your Library. Edited December 18, 2014 by Little Pixie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Athena Posted December 18, 2014 Author Share Posted December 18, 2014 *Faints* Well done ! Just catching up with your posts, love the Xmas reads. Congrats on joining your Library. Thanks Sarah !! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Athena Posted December 19, 2014 Author Share Posted December 19, 2014 The books I was given by the lovely Kate (Pontalba) have arrived! They are: Diana Gabaldon - Outlander 1: Outlander Diana Gabaldon - Outlander 2: Dragonfly In Amber Diana Gabaldon - Outlander 3: Voyager Diana Gabaldon - Outlander 4: Drums Of Autumn Diana Gabaldon - Outlander 5: The Fiery Cross Diana Gabaldon - Outlander 6: A Breath Of Snow And Ashes Diana Gabaldon - Outlander 7: An Echo In The Bone I look forward to start reading this series next year. Thank you so much again, Kate :friends0:! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pontalba Posted December 19, 2014 Share Posted December 19, 2014 You are very welcome, Gaia! I hope you enjoy them! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Athena Posted December 19, 2014 Author Share Posted December 19, 2014 :friends0: You are very welcome, Gaia! I hope you enjoy them! Thank you, Kate . I'll definitely let you know what I think of them . (up coming next, a review). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Athena Posted December 19, 2014 Author Share Posted December 19, 2014 Stephanie Perkins, Holly Black, David Leviathan, Laini Taylor, Kiersten White, Myra McEntire, Kelly Link, Jenny Han, Rainbow Rowell, Ally Carter, Matt de la Pena and Gayle Foreman - My True Love Gave to Me Genre: Chick-lit Age-range: Young-Adukt Format: Kindle Pages: 334 Date read: 16-12-2014 <-> 19-12-2014 Synopsis (GoodReads):A collection of joyful festive stories that will keep you warm during the cold winter months On the first day of Christmas, my true love gave to me . . . This beautiful collection features twelve gorgeously romantic stories set during the festive period, by some of the most talented and exciting YA authors writing today. The stories are filled with the magic of first love and the magic of the holidays. My thoughts: I had heard great things about this book or about the authors featured in this book, so I thought I'd give it a try. I'll give a bit more detailed thoughts on each story below, but first some general things. The stories seemed to be a really mixed bag. I really liked some of them, they were excellent. However there were also a couple I didn't get along with at all. The whole book seems to have quite a bit of American slang in it, which I found difficult to understand. I liked that the book featured some characters of various races, so not just caucasian people, as well as various holiday themed traditions. Rainbow Rowell - Midnights This is a cute New Year's story. A few of the plot twists were a bit predictable but I really enjoyed reading this story. I liked the characters and the writing style, though I would say I didn't enjoy this story as much as I did the two full-length books I read by the author (Fangirl and Attachments) Rating: (****) (8/10) Kelly Link - The Lady and the Fox The writing style of this story really confused me and I felt the author could've written it down much more condensed and understandable. I didn't mind the paranormal elements of this story, they were fine. The characters were okay but not particularly interesting. I feel not a lot happened in these pages, the story could've been much more condensed and edited. I also didn't like the instalove in this story, as I don't like that sort of thing. Rating: (*) (2/10) Matt de la Peña - Angels in de Snow I had to get used to the writing style a little bit but I really liked this story. The characters were interesting and there were good plot twists. It's about a boy who catsits and meets a girl. Rating: (*****) (9/10) Jenny Han - Polaris is Where You'll Find Me This was quite a nice story. I liked how the 'race issues' were talked about in this story, I thought that was nicely done. I wish this story had been longer, I really liked it, it was so interesting I wanted more . Rating: (*****) (9/10) Stephanie Perkins - It's a Yuletide Miracle, Charlie Brown This story features talk of YouTube animation! I really enjoyed reading this story, it had very interesting characters and good plot developments. I liked the writing style too, I really enjoyed this story. Rating: (*****) (10/10) David Leviathan - Your Temporary Santa This story features a gay couple (two boys, one is the main character). I really liked these two characters and how they were portrayed. The side characters were all good too. There are some good plot twists and I really enjoyed reading this story. Rating: (*****) (9/10) Holly Black - Kampuslauf I didn't like the writing style of this at all and found the story confusing. First there's this devil parade thing. Then it's about a party a group of friends is planning. I didn't like the characters at all. Lying seemed to be something they did often. I don't like the kind of parties where the purpose is just to dance and get drunk and do drugs and such (and have never understood why some people do like that), so I didn't get on with this story. I skimmed through the last part of it, I just couldn't get into it. Rating: (*) (1/10) Gayle Forman - What the Hell Have You Done, Sophie Roth? This is about a Jewish holiday. (Coindentally, the last name of the main character, Roth, was also used as the first name of a side character in the previous story in the book, Kampuslauf). I really liked the writing style of this story. The characters were very interesting and I enjoyed reading about this Jewish holiday (I can't remember now what it's called ). There were nice plot twists and 'race' was a theme which I thought was very nicely done. I really enjoyed reading this story. Rating: (*****) (10/10) Myra McEntire - Beer Buckets and Baby Jesus This story is about a miscievous character. I didn't like him at all. He seemed to cause lots of trouble, including burning down a church which is what the story starts with. I didn't understand his motivation at all. I also didn't understand a lot of the American references in this story. I abandoned it at some point, because I didn't understand at all what was going on. Maybe someone who lives in the US would understand it, I did not. Rating: (*) (1/10) Kiersten White - Welcome to Christmas, CA This story had a good writing style and was quite interesting. I enjoyed all the talk of food. The characters were really interesting and so were the plot twists. I really enjoyed this one. Rating: (*****) (10/10) Ally Carter - Star of Bethlehem This story had interesting characters. I would've liked to know a bit more about them. I thought the story was a bit unbelievable but it was enjoyable to read. Particularly the ending was, while sweet and what I had hoped for, a bit unbelievable and things moved too quick to be realistic I thought. Otherwise I liked this story, it was enjoyable to read. Rating: (****) (8/10) Laini Taylor - The Girl Who Woke the Dreamer I didn't finish this story because I was too confused. It seemed to take place in a different 'world' but I didn't understand what was going on. I didn't really get it. Rating: (*) (1/10) Overall then there were some real gems in this collection, most notably Stephanie Perkins - It's a Yuletide Miracle, Charlie Brown, Gayle Forman - What the Hell Have You Done, Sophie Roth? and Kiersten White - Welcome to Christmas, CA (I think I'd rate them in that order). There were also some real let downs, I didn't get at all on with Holly Black - Kampuslauf, Myra McEntire - Beer Buckets and Baby Jesus, Laini Taylor - The Girl Who Woke the Dreamer and Kelly Link - The Lady and the Fox. I had several problems with these stories and only fully read the last one I mentioned. I didn't get on with them at all and they are making me close to losing my reading mojo. Ugh! Just ugh. Not enjoyable at all. The total rating comes to 6.5, so rounded up that becomes a 7. The stories were really a mixed bag, and it's a shame because I was hoping I would enjoy all the stories. I didn't like that there were so many US references in it that I didn't understood and I didn't like some of the more 'standard teenagery' aspects (instalove, going on and on about the handsome or beautifulness of a character the protagonist didn't even really know). There were some really good stories in here though and I'm glad I read those. I really enjoyed those stories. I also enjoyed how 'race' was portrayed in some of these stories and how there were several stories that featured a holiday that isn't Christmas. Overall Rating: (****) (7/10) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Athena Posted December 20, 2014 Author Share Posted December 20, 2014 Hugh Howey - Glitch Genre: Science-fiction Age-range: Adult Format: Kindle Pages: 15 Date read: 19-12-2014 <-> 20-12-2014 Synopsis (GoodReads):When a robot defies his programming, is he broken? Or is he something else? A short story of 5,000 words. My thoughts: Anna (from BCF) recommended this story to me. She gifted it to me on Kindle as a Christmas gift. As soon as I had finished my previous book, I read this story. This story was very interesting. I liked the writing style of the author, it flowed well. The world is interesting and I also really liked the characters. There were some good plot twists. The story is only 15 pages (or 5000 words) but I felt a lot of content was in it (which is a good thing!). The story felt longer than 15 pages and I really enjoyed every page of it. It's a short read, it won't take one long to read it but it's very good (I read a little bit of it yesterday, which is why it seems it took me two days to read it). Overall then I quite liked this story and I definitely want to read more by the author. Rating: (*****) (10/10) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anna Begins Posted December 20, 2014 Share Posted December 20, 2014 I think Howey is my CRH for 2015! I hope to convert you Glad you enjoyed it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frankie Posted December 21, 2014 Share Posted December 21, 2014 Hi Athena, I've been reading through your reading log now, trying to catch up on things. Thanks for the Maze Runner -series reviews, I've of course heard about the books and I know that a bunch of you guys read them together on here as a group read, and so I've been curious about the books. I didn't know what they were about, at all, and now I know more I might give the first book a go some day... I'm glad you enjoyed the series! It was also fun reading about your library adventures! I'm sure you'll save a lot of money when you can borrow the books you're interested in instead of having to buy them. You're going to have such great fun in the future! You mentioned the subscription fee, and I was wondering if you mean that you cannot become a library customer for free? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marie H Posted December 21, 2014 Share Posted December 21, 2014 Hugh Howley's Glitch was the first of his books I read recently, and I really enjoyed that one (especially at the ending.) I bought Glitch after reading Anna Begins's reviews of some of his short stories, so now I have The Shell Collector to read soon . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Athena Posted December 22, 2014 Author Share Posted December 22, 2014 Emoticons removed! I think Howey is my CRH for 2015! I hope to convert you Glad you enjoyed it! You just might ! Hi Athena, I've been reading through your reading log now, trying to catch up on things. Thanks for the Maze Runner -series reviews, I've of course heard about the books and I know that a bunch of you guys read them together on here as a group read, and so I've been curious about the books. I didn't know what they were about, at all, and now I know more I might give the first book a go some day... I'm glad you enjoyed the series! It was also fun reading about your library adventures! I'm sure you'll save a lot of money when you can borrow the books you're interested in instead of having to buy them. You're going to have such great fun in the future! You mentioned the subscription fee, and I was wondering if you mean that you cannot become a library customer for free? Thanks Frankie ! Children (under 18) can become a library member for free with my library (they can have a special card which gives them more privileges, which does cost money), but adults have to pay a subscription fee. It was 32 € for a basic card (35 € next year, all the prices go up), 25 € for a mini card (a lot more restrictive than the basic one but not that much cheaper), and € 65 for a special card that gives a lot of privileges. Hugh Howley's Glitch was the first of his books I read recently, and I really enjoyed that one (especially at the ending.) I bought Glitch after reading Anna Begins's reviews of some of his short stories, so now I have The Shell Collector to read soon . I hope you enjoy The Shell Collector , it's on my wishlist so if both you and Anna like it, I might have to get it too .. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frankie Posted December 22, 2014 Share Posted December 22, 2014 Thanks Frankie ! Children (under 18) can become a library member for free with my library (they can have a special card which gives them more privileges, which does cost money), but adults have to pay a subscription fee. It was 32 € for a basic card (35 € next year, all the prices go up), 25 € for a mini card (a lot more restrictive than the basic one but not that much cheaper), and € 65 for a special card that gives a lot of privileges. Oh I had no idea. Over here joining the library is free. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Athena Posted December 22, 2014 Author Share Posted December 22, 2014 Oh I had no idea. Over here joining the library is free. That's excellent ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Athena Posted December 25, 2014 Author Share Posted December 25, 2014 Tais Teng - Cepheïde Genre: Science-fiction, Fantasy Age-range: Adult Format: Hardback Pages: 299 Date read: 20-12-2014 <-> 24-12-2014 Synopsis (library):A collection of short science-fiction and fantasy stories. My thoughts: I saw this book, and several other books by the author in the library (of which I had just become a member). Because the other books seemed part of a series, I picked this one. It's a collection of short stories which I thought might be nice to dip into and see what the author's writing is like. I've read children's books by him before, when I was a child, which I liked. I'm going to give mini-reviews of each short story, and some thoughts in general on for example the writing style. All of these stories were, as far as I know, written in the early career of the author, in the '80s. Nowadays he's written over 100 books. Most stories are of the science-fiction genre, though some are more fantasy. Overall I liked the writing style of the book. Because it's originally written in Dutch, there were no odd translations or anything like that, which I take issue with sometimes. There were plenty of good plot twists in most stories. The author has a lot of good ideas and interesting concepts. Unfortunately in a few cases, the execution fell a bit flat. Kus de Nova's, Heliumdanser! This was a really good short science-fiction story. There were great plot twists and a lot of interesting ideas and concepts. There were a few bits I was confused about what happened, towards the end. Things happened a bit too quick for me. Otherwise I really enjoyed this story. It involves a man in a hospital, but I don't want to spoil it so I won't tell you more. I just really liked this one. Rating: (*****) (9/10) De Legenden van Catraihviné These were various short stories, mainly fantasy. They varied in quality, some I quite liked, some less so. The first few confused me a bit but the rest of them were nice little stories. Rating: (****) (7/10) All Lanterns Dark Yes, the title of this story is in English! The story has to do with the Rolling Stones, that's all I'll say. One twist I saw coming but it was a nice entertaining story about old music in newer times. Rating: (****) (7/10) Bezoekers The first part of this story takes place in 2016 (it was written in the '80s I believe). This was a very interesting story, about alien visitors. The only thing that let it down, was the sudden ending. I want to know what happens after the ending! Otherwise though it was very good and enjoyable to read. Rating: (*****) (9/10) De Giften van Zemlya These were several short stories (science-fiction). They are about an alien race and about humans, from the point of view of the aliens. It takes place in the far future. I thought the stories were enjoyable to read. Rating: (****) (8/10) En Mijn Tred Verdampt Purperen Oceanen This is a nice story about a man who falls in love with a mysterious / special woman. There are some nice plot twists. Rating: (****) (7/10) De Vroege Industrialisatie van het Krijt This is a story taking place in the Cretaceous that involves time travelling. It was short and entertaining and there were nice plot twists. Rating: (****) (8/10) Dakloze Tuinen This story was about people, a ship and a second Earth-like planet. There were interesting concepts in this story but I didn't like nor understood the ending, I'm confused what happened. Rating: (***) (6/10) Leviathan! This is a story about warriors and the humans vs. an alien race. It was a good story with good plot twists and interesting concepts. Rating: (****) (8/10) 19 oktober, 0 uur 17, Amsterdam This is a short story to do with time travelling and the melting of minds and thoughts. It was an itneresting story, very enjoyable to read. Rating: (*****) (9/10) Je Bent Mooi, Deli This is a story about a starship which has the personality of a 12-year-old girl. It was an interesting short story. Rating: (****) (8/10) De Morele Problemen Betreffende Revitalisatie van Ongedetermineerde Entiteiten This is a story about a jachtelf 'hunting elf' and a Homo Superior. I was a bit confused about the ending. The story has nice ideas but I would've liked more details. Rating: (***) (6/10) Waar de Trotse Bultrug Zwemt I didn't quite get this story. It was about whales, humans and other species, and space travel but I was confused what was going on or whose point of view I was seeing things from. I didn't really understand what was going on. Rating: (*) (2/10) Memoires uit het Matriarchaat This was a pretty long story, divided up into chapters and sub chapters. I was pretty tired when I read the last part of the story, so while I quite liked and understood the beginning, towards the end I got confused. I read the story over the course of several days (I didn't do much reading for some days) and I think it would've been better to read it in one day or at least a closer time span. I was very tired when I read the last bit so I had trouble remembering who was who or connecting it to what came before. I think I would've rated this higher had I read it in a shorter time span with a more awake brain. Rating: (***) (5/10) Het Zinkviooltje is Uitgestorven I was so tired by this time I didn't understand this story at all. I was so sleepy and tired that I couldn't connect one sentence to the next. The story was only 4 pages, I'm sure I would've understood and enjoyed it had I not been so sleepy. Rating: (*) (1/10) Overall I really liked a lot of the stories. Unfortunately there were also a couple I didn't get on with at all. I think the ones I really liked, would definitely appeal to those of you who like science-fiction. I'm glad I read this collection, as there were some really good stories in it. I'd like to try and find some of the author's other books in the library. Overall Rating: (****) (7/10) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Athena Posted December 26, 2014 Author Share Posted December 26, 2014 The lovely Devi gave me some books for Christmas : Chrissy Manby - Proper Family 1: A Proper Family Holiday Gayle Forman - If I Stay 2: Where She Went Margaret Atwood - The Handmaid's Tale There's one more book on the way, it's Matt Haig - The Humans, but it's not here yet. I bought my boyfriend this book for his birthday, but I want to read it too so it'll also go on my TBR list: Nagaru Tanigawa and Noizi Ito - The Disappearance Of Nagato Yuki-Chan 6: Volume 6 My pre-order of Holly Smale - Geek Girl 3: Picture Perfect has been shipped, so hopefully that'll get here in a week or such. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marie H Posted December 26, 2014 Share Posted December 26, 2014 I hope you like Matt Haig's The Humans - the best book I've read this year . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Athena Posted December 27, 2014 Author Share Posted December 27, 2014 I hope you like Matt Haig's The Humans - the best book I've read this year . Thanks! It arrived today ! I also went to the library and bought some books in their sale. I was able to stick to the budget but still got some (hopefully) great books. I will post a list tomorrow . I haven't yet sorted them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Athena Posted December 28, 2014 Author Share Posted December 28, 2014 Here's a list and photo of the books I bought at the library sale. I got quite a couple that were on my wishlist (even if they were Dutch translations) and a few childhood favourites that I've read and loved but didn't own, as well as some authors and / or books that were recommended to me, authors I've liked other books of, and new books that sounded good. I also managed to stick to the budget (I went over by 2 euro's) . Emily Rodda - Deltora 1: Het Zwijgbos (Deltora Quest 1: The Forests of Silence) Emily Rodda - Deltora 4: De Zandval (Deltora Quest 4: The Shifting Sands) Emily Rodda - Deltora 5: De Drakenberg (Deltora Quest 5: Dread Mountain) Emily Rodda - Deltora 6: De Doolhof (Deltora Quest 6: The Maze of the Beast) Emily Rodda - Deltora 7: Het Glazen Paleis (Deltora Quest 7: The Valley of the Lost) Emily Rodda - Deltora 8: Terug naar Del (Deltora Quest 8: Return to Del) Raymond E. Feist - De Oorlog Van De Grote Scheuring: De Houtjongen (The Wood Boy) Paul Stewart and Chris Riddell - De Modderland Trilogie 1: Engelbert De Enorme (Muddle Earth: Engelbert the Enormous) Paul Stewart and Chris Riddell - De Modderland Trilogie 2: Pas op, Draken! (Muddle Earth: Here Be Dragons) Dianne Wynne Jones - De Daalmark Boeken 2: De Weg Van De Wind - (The Dalemark Quartet 2: Drowned Ammet) Jenny Nimmo - Kinderen van de Rode Koning 1: Charlie Gruzelbeen: In Het Holst Van De Nacht (The Children of the Red King 1: Midnight for Charlie Bone) Jenny Nimmo - Kinderen van de Rode Koning 2: Charlie Gruzelbeen En De Tijdverdrijver (The Children of the Red King 2: Charlie Bone and the Time Twister) Clive Barker - Abarat 1: Abarat (Dutch translation) Clive Barker - Abarat 2: Dagen vol Magie, Nachten vol Strijd (Abarat 2: Days of Magic, Nights of War) Megan Lindholm - De Windzangers 1: De Vlucht (The Windsingers 1: Harpy's Flight) Megan Lindholm - De Windzangers 2: Windzangers (The Windsingers 2: The Windsingers) Megan Lindholm - De Windzangers 3: Het Domein Van De Limbreth (The Windsingers 3: The Limbreth Gate) Megan Lindholm - De Windzangers 4: Gelukszoekers (The Windsingers 4: Luck of the Wheels) Arthur C. Clarke - Space Odyssee 1-2: Odyssee Omnibus 1: 2001: Een Ruimte-Odyssee, 2010: Odyssee 2 (2001: A Space Odyssey, 2010: Odessey Two) Arthur C. Clarke - Space Odyssee 3-4: Odyssee Omnibus 2: 2061: Odyssee 3, 3001: De Finale (2061:Odyssey Three, 3001: The Final Odyssey) R. L. Stine - Kippenvel: Grafgeesten (Goosebumps 2000 11: Attack of the Graveyard Ghouls) A. C. Baantjer - Baantjer 35: De Cock En Danse Macabre A. C. Baantjer - Baantjer 63: De Cock En De Broeders Van De Haat Thomas Sledge - Kaplan: Moord In Het Centraal Station Thomas Sledge - Kaplan: Het Lijk In De ArenA Loes den Hollander - Zwanenzang Virginia Andrews - Ruby 4: Verborgen Juweel (Landry 4: Hidden Jewel) Jacques Vriens - Die Rotschool Met Die Fijne Klas Courtney Rubin - Dagboek Van Een Doorzetter: Een Eerlijk En Herkenbaar Boek Over Calorieën, Vreetbuien, Nieuwe Diëten En Het Allesoverheersende Hongergevoel (The Weight-Loss Diaries) Carien Karsten and Gerard Smit - Antistress In 366 Dagen Thom Hartmann - ADHD: De Complete Gids voor Kinderen en Volwassenen (Complete Guide to ADHD. Help for your Family at Home, School and Work) Here's a photo: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian. Posted December 28, 2014 Share Posted December 28, 2014 I love the stickers on the spines of the books. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Athena Posted December 28, 2014 Author Share Posted December 28, 2014 I love the stickers on the spines of the books. Me too ! The libraries in the Netherlands have had these kinds of stickers as long as I can remember, so it's nostalgic for me to see them (as a child I visited two libraries every week). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Athena Posted December 29, 2014 Author Share Posted December 29, 2014 Rachel Cohn and David Levithan - Dash & Lily's Book of Dares Genre: Contemporary Fiction Age-range: Young-Adult Format: Paperback Pages: 261 Date read: 25-12-2014 <-> 28-12-2014 Synopsis (GoodReads):I've left some clues for you. If you want them, turn the page. If you dont, put the book back on the shelf, please. Lily has left a red notebook full of challenges on a favorite bookstore shelf, waiting for just the right guy to come along and accept its dares. But is Dash that right guy? Or are Dash and Lily only destined to trade dares, dreams, and desires in the notebook they pass back and forth at locations across New York? Could their in-person selves possibly connect as well as their notebook versions? Or will they be a comic mismatch of disastrous proportions? Rachel Cohn and David Levithan have written a love story that will have readers perusing bookstore shelves, looking and longing for a love (and a red notebook) of their own. My thoughts: With this book taking place around Christmas time, I thought it'd be good to read it while it's Christmas time (as opposed to, in the summer, or such). I really enjoyed the first half of this book. I read it pretty quickly, but then I didn't read much for a few days. With the holidays I had a lot of other things to do, and I wasn't really feeling much like reading. The days before I started this book, I didn't read that much either. I guess you could say I've been having a bit low mojo lately. Anyway, I liked the second half of the book less. Some things happen, characters make certain decisions that I didn't like (ie. lying), that I thought you knew beforehand were not going to end well. I did quite like the characters in this book. The two main characters are interesting, and also the side characters are good. I also really liked the parts with the notebook and how the two main characters wrote to each other. Sometimes the book has some pacing issues, there were times where I felt the story was moving a bit too slow. I really liked the parts about books, book shops and about words and ethymology. There is some nice wisdom in the story. I wasn't too keen on the writing style. On occasion it didn't flow completely (it seemed to use a lot of words to say not much of content) and sometimes there were references I didn't get. There were also parts though where the writing flowed better. The story is a bit wintery and Christmassy but not as much as some other winter - or Christmas themed books I've read. Overall then I enjoyed this book, more so the first half than the second. I had some problems with the pacing and the writing style, and certain things the characters did. I suppose they are 'teenagery' things perhaps, but I didn't like it. I did enjoy this book however, it was a good story with some interesting characters. Rating: (****) (8/10) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Little Pixie Posted December 30, 2014 Share Posted December 30, 2014 Congrats on your new books ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Athena Posted December 31, 2014 Author Share Posted December 31, 2014 Congrats on your new books ! Thanks ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Athena Posted December 31, 2014 Author Share Posted December 31, 2014 (edited) Summary and Reflection of my Reading in 2014 I can't believe 2014 is over! Below follows a reflection and summary of my reading in 2014, including statistics. A Reflection on my Goals These were my goals I posted at the beginning of the year, with commentary. - Read 75-100+ books // I read 254 books, so I surpassed this goal by a whole margin! - Read TBR books // I read more than 200(+) books off my TBR, so I certainly did this. - Re-read some books // I re-read ~48 books, so I completed this goal by a margin. - Read both physical books and Kindle ebooks // I read ~31 ebooks (30 on my Kindle) and ~223 physical books. - Read some of my boyfriend's books (manga) // I read ~29 manga books my boyfriend owned (and ~6 that were my own). - Read from a variety of genres // I did this too, though it's not an even balance (but then again, I never wanted it to be). - Read both fiction and non-fiction (but not in equal amounts) // This year I read about ~17% non-fiction, which is about half of the amount of non-fiction I read in 2013. So overall I would say I didn't entirely complete this goal. - Read more books by authors I love // I read ~149 books by authors known to me. That's not quite the same as books by authors I love though, that number would be lower. I feel I completed this goal only partly. - Read some books by authors new to me // I read ~100 books by authors that were new to me. (5 books were a combination of known and unknown authors) - Read both 'easier' and more difficult books // As I was pretty tired for most of the year, I feel I mainly read more easy reads. I did read a few more difficult reads too, but they sometimes tended to put me off reading, so I switched back to more 'easy' reads. I feel I only partly completed this goal. - Read both short and longer books // Towards the end of the year I started to read more and more shorter books, so while I read a lot of longer books in the first few months of the year, I tended to read more shorter and medium-length books later in the year. I feel I only partly completed this goal. - Finish off some series // I read and finished ~15 series, so I'd say I completed this goal. - Start some new series // I started ~30 series or books in series (excluding those I was already reading before 2014). - Read both series books and standalones // I read ~121 standalone books and ~133 series books. I completed this goal. - Redo book database in Book Collector // I only did parts of this, so I didn't quite complete this goal. I worked on it though and I made progress. - Manually write out book information // I stopped with this, so I didn't finish it. I did do my reading time-line and my wishlist, but not a list of my books. I decided to abandon that and instead just keep an electronic list using Book Collector. - Reorganise book cases, shelves + new // I reorganised my book shelves several times throughout the year, so I'd say I completed this goal. - Go through book collection and donate some books that I'm no longer interested in + doubles etc. // I went through my books and took out some books, so I'd say I completed this goal for a large part. Statistics of 2014 (for more details see post #3 in this thread) Days: 365 (01-01 <-> 31-12) Total books read this year: 254 Amount of pages read (averaged): 62932 Average amount of pages per book: 248 One book per x days: 1.4 days Pages per day: 174 Amount of books bought: 924 physical, 134 ebooks Amount of books received as gifts or trades: 48 Amount of books borrowed from library: 16 (6 + currently 10 due in 2015) Amount of books free: 44 + an unknown amount from sites like Project Gutenberg & others. Reads TBR / R: 206 (~81%) vs. 48 (~19%) Male / Female authors: 108 (~43%) vs. 136 (~54%) (excluding (12) (~5%) unknowns or multiple) Nationalities (from most to least): US (107), UK (54), Netherlands (36), Japan (36), Australia (9), Belgium (2), Canada (2), France (1), Germany (1), Ireland (1), Italy (1), Norway (1) New authors vs. known authors: 100 (~40%) vs. 149 (~59%) (5 (~2%) a combination) Standalones vs. series books: 121 (~48%) vs. 133 (~52%) Genres (most to least) (note: some books have multiple genres): Contemporary Fiction (70) (~26%), Chick-lit (50) (~19%), Fantasy (34) (~13%), Information (33) (~12%), Science-fiction (22) (~8%), Biography (17) (~6%), Detective (11) (~4%), Literature (10) (~4%), Thriller (9) (~3%), Historical Fiction (5) (~2%), Horror (5) (~2%), Unknown (2) (~1%) (Donald Duck) Type: Textbooks (~194)(~76%), Illustrated (~15)(~6%), Manga (35)(~14%), Comics (8)(~3%), Graphic Novels (2)(~1%) Format: Paperbooks (~222)(~87%) (~199 paperback, 20 hardback, 3 hardcover), Kindle (~31)(~12%), Ebook on website (1)(< 1%) Ageranges (sometimes multiple): Adult (138)(~52%), Young-Adult (92)(~35%), Children's (35)(~13%) Fiction vs. Nonfiction: 211 (~83%) vs. 43 (~17%) Languages: English (183) (~72%), Dutch (70)(~28%), Flemish (1) (< 1%) Publication Years: 1980-1989 (1) (< 1%), 1990-1999 (16) (~6%), 2000-2009 (93) (~37%), 2010-2014 (141) (~56%), Unknown (3) Ratings: 1 (0) (0%), 2 (0) (0%), 3 (3) (~1%), 4 (1) (< 1%), 5 (3) (~1%), 6 (8) (~3%), 7 (16) (~6%), 8 (50) (~20%), 9 (77) (~30%), 10 (96) (~38%) Average rating: 8.8 Note: I didn't log my reading until June 2012, so this is a comparision between Jun - Dec 2012, 2013 and reading in 2014. Totals of Reading In the second half of 2012 I read ~40 books, in 2013 I read 143 books, and this year I read 254 books, which I never thought I would. My reading speed seemed to increase throughout the year, with reading less books (but more pages on average) in the first quarter of the year, and lots in the second half of the year. I think it's accurate when I say I read more shorter books in the second half of the year whereas I read more longer books in the first quarter of the year. In the second quarter I didn't read that many pages nor that many books, compared with the other quarters of the year. I read ~62932 pages, or roughly 248 pages per book. I've not before calculated the amount of pages I've read, so I don't really know if it's a lot or not. As a rough comparison, GoodReads (not always accurate) thinks I've read ~37000 pages in 2013 and ~18000 in 7 months of 2012. I'd definitely say I've read more books and more pages this year, than in a long time, perhaps ever. When I was a child I'd sometimes read a book per day, but most children's books have less pages than adult or young-adult books. Buying and Free Books Unfortunately I didn't succeed in buying less books this year. I did download a lot of free ebooks, as well. In December I became a member of the library to hopefully help me spend less money, because finances got a lot tighter this year. Read-a-thons This year I participated in I think all of the monthly read-a-thons (3 days long). Most of the time they were very successful for me, a few times less so. Overall I quite enjoyed participating in the read-a-thons and think I will continue to do so. Group Reads This year, like in 2013, I participated in a few group reads. Overall this has been an enjoyable experience, sometimes giving me the extra push of reading a book I otherwise probably wouldn't have read at that point in time. I enjoyed discussing the book with others on the forum, though sometimes there was more of a nice discussion than other times. New Favourites This year I read some really great books and discovered new authors that have become favourites. Examples are Scott Meyer, Catherine Ryan Hyde, Trudi Canavan, A. S. King, Rainbow Rowell, Veronica Roth. I also read a lot of great books, such as: Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson - Wheel Of Time 14: A Memory Of Light Scott Meyer - Magic 2.0 1: Off to Be the Wizard Scott Meyer - Magic 2.0 2: Spell Or High Water Ernest Cline - Ready Player One Catherine Ryan Hyde - Don't Let Me Go Catherine Ryan Hyde - Where We Belong Jodi Picoult - The Pact Garth Stein - The Art of Racing in the Rain George R. R. Martin - A Song of Ice and Fire 3-2: A Storm Of Swords 2: Blood And Gold Graeme Simsion - The Rosie Project Though narrowing that down was a bit of a task! Genres I read a large variety of books in 2014, though some genres I've read a lot more of, than others. The top 5 genres (just over three quarters of the books I read) I read the most of were contemporary fiction, chick-lit, fantasy, information and science-fiction. It's true that these four fiction genres, are my favourite genres so this makes sense. I managed to also read some books from other genres, almost a quarter of the books I read, were from genres which I like but not as much as my favourite genres. See the picture below: Compared with 2013 and 2012 I read more of certain genres and less of others. I hardly read any information books in 2012, for example, and I read a lot of them in 2013. This year I read less of them, %-wise (in absolute numbers it's very similar). I read more contemporary fiction and chick-lit this year, compared with 2013 and 2012. I also read more fantasy and science-fiction. Fiction and Non-fiction I read ~83% fiction vs. ~17% non-fiction, in 2013 this was about ~70% vs. ~30%. I significantly read less non-fiction this year compared with the amount of books I've read. In absolute numbers I read a similar number of non-fiction books. It doesn't particularly bother me that I've read more fiction this year compared with non-fiction. I have to be in certain moods for non-fiction (information or biographies), it tends to be more serious sometimes, and I guess I must've felt more like reading some fictional books. I don't see this as something I want to work on in particular. Book Format I mainly read paperbooks this year (~87%), most of those were paperbacks (~78% out of all paperbooks I read). I did try and read some hardcover and hardback books too (resp. ~1% and ~9% of all paperbooks read). I read some books on the Kindle (~13%), mainly short stories or short story collections, and some information books. Age-ranges I read more Young-Adult (~35%) and children's (~13%) books this year (vs. (~52%) adult), compared with the previous two years. I mainly read the children's books for the read-a-thons. While I've been lately feeling I might want to read more adult books, I can't deny that I've read a lot of good children's and Young-Adult books this year and that I've really enjoyed reading them. So I don't see this as a huge concern. I like to read a variety of all three (though not equally divided). I guess I'm pretty happy with this ratio, it seems quite reflectant of how my mood has been. With Young-Adult and children's books, I find I cannot read too many in a row, because then it gets a bit tedious (particularly when there are common themes such as child vs. parents or first experiences and such). With adult books I don't have this as such, but I do like to read a book intended for younger ages, now and then, whether it's an old favourite or something new. Books with Pictures vs. Text This year I read quite a lot of manga (14%) and illustrated books (6%) (as well as some comics (3%) and graphic novels (1%)) compared with the previous two years. About three quarters of my reading (76%) were "text" books (I may have missed some illustrated books and not marked them as such). While books with some kind of illustrations aren't my main focus of reading as I prefer "text"books, it's been really enjoyable to read some of these "books with pictures" too. Re-reading About one fifth of my reading were re-reads, and four fifth were new-to-me books. Most of my re-reads were children's and / or Young-Adult books (for the read-a-thon), that I read in my childhood or when I was a teenager. I'm quite pleased with this ratio, it seems like a good ratio really. Familiar and New Authors This year I read about 60% familiar authors vs. 40% new authors. This is quite a turnaround from 2013, where only one third of the books I read were by familiar authors. I think this is quite nice, as I've been meaning to read some more books by authors I love or really like. I plan to continue this into 2015. It's still nice of course to discover a new author so I definitely plan to try some new authors too. Standalone and Series Books I read almost an even amount of standalone books vs. books part of a series (48% vs. 52%). This is a pretty good ratio I would say. In 2013 about a third of the books I read were books in series, so this year I definitely read more series books than in 2013. I think this almost 50-50 ratio is pretty good to be honest, I'm happy with that. I like both standalones as well as books in series. I hoped to read more series books this year, and I did, so that's good. Male and Female Authors This year I read a bit more of female authors and less of male, though overall the balance was still almost 50-50. I think this is because I read more contemporary fiction and chick-lit, both of which I have more books by by female authors. I think this is pretty good, the ratio being close to 50-50 with just a slight preference for female authors. Nationalities of the Authors Nationalities-wise there aren't many surprises. My top 4 didn't change from the previous years I believe. I read the most books from the United States, then the United Kingdom, and a shared third place for the Netherlands and Japan. This doesn't surprise me at all, as most books written in English easily available come from first the US, then the UK. The Netherlands is obvious seeing as I live there. All the Japanese books were manga, 21 of which were the Kare Kano series. In fifth place is Australia, in large part due to the books I read this year by Trudi Canavan (7). Languages Languages wise I read mainly English (~72%) and some Dutch (~28%). One book was Flemish (though possibly there were more, but I can't always tell from just the text.) Compared with 2013 I read more books in Dutch (in 2013 11% of my reads were in Dutch). I'm not displeased with this, 70-30 seems a good ratio. My preferred reading language is certainly English, for books originally written in English. I read some translations this year (some were good and some weren't) and I also read quite a few originally Dutch books. Publication Years Publication years wise, just over half my reads were released in the past five years (2010-2014). I also read a lot of books from 2000-2009. A minor part of the books I read, was published before 2000. With these statistics, it's the publication of the copy I read that I take into account, not when the book was originally first published (those numbers aren't in my database, yet, unfortunately). If you take the original publication dates into account, I expect I will have read more 'older' books. My Ratings My average rating, 8.8, is exactly the same value as it was in 2013. I find this quite interesting. The majority of the books were either 8's, 9's or 10's (just like in 2013). I did also read some books I didn't enjoy much at all (~4-5%). Overall I think this is pretty good, it means most of the books I read are quite good. I've not included abandoned books in this rating summary. Books I didn't finish don't get a rating. This year I abandoned 6 books (3 counted as read and 3 not), which was a lot more than in 2013 (I believe I only abandoned 1 book in 2013). Final Comments Overall I would say 2014 was a great reading year for me. I don't think I've ever read this many books (254), at least not in a long time! 2014 wasn't a great year for me, personally, but it's being worked on. I'm very pleased with my reading this year. Though there were some books I wish I'd got around to but didn't, I read a lot of great books and I'm happy with that. I don't think 2015 will be as a great reading year as 2014, but time will tell. Thank you so much for reading and posting in my thread this year, it's been a pleasure . Edited December 31, 2014 by Athena Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pontalba Posted December 31, 2014 Share Posted December 31, 2014 It certainly was a great reading year for you!! You've fulfilled most of your challenges, surpassed in many of them and managed a respectable part of the ones not completed. Definitely successful! Congratulations, many times over! Your stats are amazing! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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