Athena's Reading List 2014

[Anna Begins]

He uses mainly consoles, he plays a lot on the PlayStation 3. He also plays a bit on the WiiU. I think he'll get out some of his older systems when he moves in. He owns many, many consoles , he really has a whole nice collection. He does play a few games on the computer too. He owns various Nintendo consoles (as well as from other companies), the WiiU, the Wii, the GameCube, the N64, the SNES, the NES. He does like Mario games! He really likes them. He also likes Zelda a lot and many other games (he has a lot of games, too). Which Nintendo system are you thinking of buying, and which game(s)?

 

(I'll be posting a review soon).

I'm thinking in indulging in the Nintendo DS XL.

http://www.amazon.com/Nintendo-3DS-XL-Black/dp/B00E1A1SP6/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1406012949&sr=1-1&keywords=nintendo+3ds+xl

 

I also like this one:

http://www.amazon.com/Nintendo-3DS-XL-Yoshi-Edition/dp/B00IIFTY7E/ref=pd_rhf_cr_s_t_3

Not sure when  I can afford it though and I know my daughter will want to play it too!.  I know you can get the old Mario's on wii.  They are cheap for the 3DS XL.  I remember playing Zelda as a kid too!

Edited July 22, 2014 by Anna Begins

[Athena]

I love that Yoshi edition! I have a 3DS XL Animal Crossing edition, my boyfriend has a 3DS XL Pikachu edition. There are lots of good games for the DS and 3DS. I hope you enjoy it if you get it.

EDIT: This is my edition and this is my boyfriend's edition.

Edited July 22, 2014 by Athena

[Anna Begins]

I love that Yoshi edition! I have a 3DS XL Animal Crossing edition, my boyfriend has a 3DS XL Pikachu edition. There are lots of good games for the DS and 3DS. I hope you enjoy it if you get it.

EDIT: This is my edition and this is my boyfriend's edition.

Those are so cute!  Do you ever link them and play?  Are you happy with them (sounds like it!)?

[Athena]

Thanks . We have linked them but so far mainly for the Pokémon games, to trade the beasties with each other. We both find those games fun to play. We are quite happy with the devices. I don't play that often on it because of my tiredness (still have lots of unplayed games), but the games I have played on it have been fun. And I do like having the analogue stick, it feels much nicer than with the DS (I have a DS Lite as well). I have to say though, I'm not keen on the 3D effect as I find it's very straining to look at it for a longer time, so I have that turned off. I haven't played any games that required it, if that's the case you should have it on of course. But I like its 2D'edness .

[Anna Begins]

Thanks . We have linked them but so far mainly for the Pokémon games, to trade the beasties with each other. We both find those games fun to play. We are quite happy with the devices. I don't play that often on it because of my tiredness (still have lots of unplayed games), but the games I have played on it have been fun. And I do like having the analogue stick, it feels much nicer than with the DS (I have a DS Lite as well). I have to say though, I'm not keen on the 3D effect as I find it's very straining to look at it for a longer time, so I have that turned off. I haven't played any games that required it, if that's the case you should have it on of course. But I like its 2D'edness .

Ya the majority of games I'd play would be in 2D.  I can see what you mean, about the 3d-ness being a bit much- I had a demo  practice of Yoshi's New Island and it was waaaay on the 3d side.  I like the idea of having the slider for the effects.  Thanks for the input on the DS Lite, too, because I considered that one as well.  I just played that 3DS XL demo and fell in love

I was hoping this would make me less tired  Lately reading, music and TV have been a struggle.

Ho, hum... see what I mean?

[Athena]

Ya the majority of games I'd play would be in 2D.  I can see what you mean, about the 3d-ness being a bit much- I had a demo  practice of Yoshi's New Island and it was waaaay on the 3d side.  I like the idea of having the slider for the effects.  Thanks for the input on the DS Lite, too, because I considered that one as well.  I just played that 3DS XL demo and fell in love

I was hoping this would make me less tired  Lately reading, music and TV have been a struggle.

Ho, hum... see what I mean?

Well if you do get it I hope you have fun with it (feel free to tell me about it what you think if you buy it, I'd love to hear it). I hope you feel less tired soon, being tired is not nice at all.

[Athena]

Vanessa Curtis - Zelah Green 2: One More Little Problem

 

 

Genre: Contemporary Fiction

Age-range: Young-Adult

Format: Paperback

Pages: 229

Synopsis (GoodReads):My name is Zelah Green – and I’m still here.

 

Summer’s supposed to be good, right? But I’m stuck at home with a lousy laptop, stacks of homework to start and dad being more useless than ever. And then Caro turns up out of the blue, all heavy metal and piercings and attitude and my boring summer’s turned upside down. It’s like she knows just what to say to wind me up, sending my OCD right out of control...

 

My thoughts: I wanted to read something short and easy. My eyes fell upon this book, that I bought for cheap at the book fair and don't know anything about other than what it says on the back, and I decided to start reading it.

 

I went into this book with low expectations. After all, I didn't know anything about it other than the back (which sounded intruiging). I was very pleasantly surprised at how good this book was. Immediately it sucked me in. It is part two in a series but things are explained and I could easily understand the story. I'm quite eager to buy and read book one too at some point.

 

The main character in this book is called Zelah and she has OCD (Obsessive Compulsive Disorder). She doesn't like dirt and germs at all, and has lots of cleaning rituals. I thought this was described very well, I could really imagine how it worked for her. I have some OCD-like things I do too so I understood how she felt. I really liked the other characters too, they were all very interesting.

 

I also really liked the writing style. The book was easy to read (it has big letters too). It contained quite a bit of depth so whereas I thought it was chick-lit I've now put it as contemporary fiction as I feel that's more appropriate. The book is about love, friendship, family, and of course Zelah's OCD plays a big role. I really enjoyed this book, it blew me away. Sometimes it's nice to go into a book not knowing much about it and not having built up much hype. I'm really glad I bought this book at the book fair, it was really good. I really enjoyed reading it.

 

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

[BSchultz19]

I always get John Green's Looking For Alaska and Lauren Oliver's Delirium as recommended for me, so if you get to them before me, let us know how they both are.  I also see 1984 on there- you haven't read that already?  And you simply MUST get to The 100 Year Old Man... It was my favorite book of the year before I read Don't Let Me Go by Catherine Ryan Hyde.

That is a lot of books!  Are those the ones for your old bedroom?  How on Earth did you get all those home?

I've read Looking for Alaska and I really enjoyed it. The characters in the book go to a boarding school and so do I, so maybe that's why I could relate and found it enjoyable. I would definitely recommend it; however, one of my friends read it and said she thought it got slow during some parts. 

I haven't read Delirium, so maybe I'll check that out. Hopefully one of you two reads it first and I can see what you say 

[Alexi]

I really like the sound of Looking For Alaska - thinking I should give John Green another go after not getting on with the Fault in our Stars....

 

V impressive haul Gaia

[Athena]

Thanks .

 

I went to the charity shop today and bought:

 

John Grisham - Jake Brigance 1: A Time To Kill

Alice Seabold - The Lovely Bones

Nicci French - Beneath the Skin

 

I'll post a review of The Ocean at the End of the Lane next.

[Athena]

Neil Gaiman - The Ocean at the End of the Lane

 

 

Genre: Fantasy

Age-range: Young-Adult

Format: Paperback

Pages: 255 (235 if you count only the story)

Synopsis (GoodReads):THE OCEAN AT THE END OF THE LANE is a fable that reshapes modern fantasy: moving, terrifying and elegiac - as pure as a dream, as delicate as a butterfly's wing, as dangerous as a knife in the dark - from storytelling genius Neil Gaiman.

 

It began for our narrator forty years ago when the family lodger stole their car and committed suicide in it, stirring up ancient powers best left undisturbed. Dark creatures from beyond this world are on the loose, and it will take everything our narrator has just to stay alive: there is primal horror here, and menace unleashed - within his family and from the forces that have gathered to destroy it.

 

His only defence is three women, on a farm at the end of the lane. The youngest of them claims that her duckpond is an ocean. The oldest can remember the Big Bang.

 

My thoughts: I wanted to read something short before my trip. I've been meaning to read this book ever since I bought it, and now I have.

 

This book was quite unique. It's a story unlike any I've read before, and I mean that in a good way! The story is about a man who travels to his childhood town. As he is going to the places he remembers, more memories come seeping in and we relive with him the tale of what happened in his childhood.

 

The writing style was pretty good. The book reads easily (other than a few words I didn't know). The characters were all very interesting too. I didn't know much about this book before reading it, and I think that's good. The plot twists in the book were surprising.

 

I wish I could do a better job writing this review but it's been a few long days since I finished the book (I finished it the early morning before my trip). I really enjoyed reading the book though and would recommend it. I have two other books by Neil Gaiman on my TBR and several on my wishlist. The book was very enjoyable, unique and different.

 

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

[Athena]

The post with the pictures from my trip can be found here in my Member's Thread.

[pontalba]

Good review, Gaia.  I will definitely put the Gaiman near the top of the TBR!  Thanks.

[Devi]

Think I might have to add the book to my wish list, haven't read a Gaiman book before.

[Athena]

Thanks! I hope you both enjoy the book .

[Athena]

My boyfriend bought me Pentabu - My Girlfriend's A Geek Volume 1 (the novel) for my birthday last year, but unfortunately he had left it in the UK. Now I finally have it!

 

His mother was also getting rid of some books so Michael picked these for me:

 

Michael Crichton - Jurassic Park 1: Jurassic Park

Nina Bawden - Carrie's War

Stephen King - The Dark Tower 4: Wizard and Glass

Jeremy Clarkson - The World According To Clarkson 3: For Crying Out Loud

David Parlett - The Penguin Book Of Card Games

 

Woohoo! I haven't heard of the second title but the first and third were on my wishlist. The fourth I've been interested in for a while as well (because I do like Top Gear). The fifth should be nice to flick through when we want to play a card game (we do that sometimes). So yay for free books!

[Signor Finzione]

Great review of the Gaiman, Gaia. This book intrigues me - I also quite fancy reading The Graveyard Book, have you heard of it? Oh, and Coraline. 

 

I hope you enjoy The Lovely Bones! It's a pretty good book, and the film is great too.

[Anna Begins]

Great review of the Gaiman, Gaia. This book intrigues me - I also quite fancy reading The Graveyard Book, have you heard of it? Oh, and Coraline. 

 

I hope you enjoy The Lovely Bones! It's a pretty good book, and the film is great too.

I had NO idea he write Coraline.  I have wanted to read this book for- ever.  It is still in my Kindle Sample list.  I wanted to see the movie too.

[BSchultz19]

I really like the sound of Looking For Alaska - thinking I should give John Green another go after not getting on with the Fault in our Stars....

 

V impressive haul Gaia

For what it's worth, I thought Looking for Alaska was better than the Fault in our Stars. And I liked his other two books, Paper Towns and An Abundance of Katherines even more. For some reason I just don't get the obsession with TFIOS, but I love John Green. Don't give up on him! 

[BSchultz19]

That book sounds interesting Athena. Good review! 

[Athena]

Great review of the Gaiman, Gaia. This book intrigues me - I also quite fancy reading The Graveyard Book, have you heard of it? Oh, and Coraline. 

 

I hope you enjoy The Lovely Bones! It's a pretty good book, and the film is great too.

Thanks . I have The Graveyard Book on my TBR, it's been there for quite a few years. I bought The Ocean at the End of the Lane earlier this year so I guess it's weird but I decided to read that one first. I really should read The Graveyard Book some time.

 

Thanks . 

 

I had NO idea he write Coraline.  I have wanted to read this book for- ever.  It is still in my Kindle Sample list.  I wanted to see the movie too.

Coraline is on my wishlist. I loved the film, I recommend it . 

 

 

That book sounds interesting Athena. Good review! 

Thanks .

 

@ John Green

I look forward to see how I get on with his other books. I loved TFiOS, I hope to really like the other books by him on my TBR too.

[Athena]

I downloaded a free Kindle book:

 

Jennifer L. Armentrout - Lux 1: Obsidian

 

I've heard good things about this book, though I don't know if it's for me. But, it's free today so .

[Alexi]

For what it's worth, I thought Looking for Alaska was better than the Fault in our Stars. And I liked his other two books, Paper Towns and An Abundance of Katherines even more. For some reason I just don't get the obsession with TFIOS, but I love John Green. Don't give up on him!

 

This is really encouraging. I won't give up quite yet

[Athena]

This is really encouraging. I won't give up quite yet

Good . Do post what you think once you've read more, if you want .

[Timstar]

The Graveyard Book is good fun, very typical Gaiman style. I enjoyed Ocean but it was barely long enough to be called a novel. Neverwhere and Stardust remain my favourite works of his but I really want to try American Gods.