Athena's Reading List 2015

[Athena]

Do van Ranst - Dina 5: Verre Vrienden en een Vlek

 

(note: this image is for the omnibus edition, which I am reading. It's called Dina is Terug! and contains books 5-8 of the series.)

 

Genre: Contemporary Fiction

Age-range: Young-Adult

Format: Hardback (Library Loan)

Pages: 194 (total in the omnibus: 585)

Date read: 31-03-2015

ISBN: 9789059084780 (for the omnibus edition)

Synopsis: (no synopsis because the book is part of a series).

 

My thoughts:

 

I saw this book at the library and I liked the look of the cover so I opened it (it's the omnibus edition of books 5-8). The book uses purple font, instead of the usual black, and it was this, as well as the synopses on the back (of all four books), that made me want to borrow it.

 

It wasn't until I was home that I realised there were four previous books in the series (yes, the word 'Terug' in the title should've been a clue , it means 'Dina is back',).

 

I haven't read books 1-4 in this series, but the story so far is easily followable. The book is written in Flemish, which is slightly different than Dutch, and that makes for interesting reading for me. The writing style is nice and different than what I mostly read (it could be the Flemish, though). So far I'm finding the story pretty interesting.

 

The story is told through chapters in third person. Every now and then, there is a chapter where you read a page or a few pages of Dina writing in her diary. The pages look like paper, underlined and with holes at the side. The font here looks like it's written. The font is purple in the whole book.

 

I wasn't sure beforehand if the story would be more light, romancy and 'chick-litty' or whether it would be more serious 'contemporary fiction' / 'literary'. The story actually had more depth in it than I was expecting, and I'd definitely say it's not light at all. The story has several twists I didn't see coming, and it's definitely a bit more serious than I was expecting. That is not a bad thing. I really enjoyed reading this story. I liked the characters, they were interesting. One weird thing though was the name of the sister of Dina, she is named 'Zus' in the book, which means sister. I guess it might be her real name as Dina's mother calls her oldest daughter 'Zus' too, but it seemed a bit weird as I've never seen anyone with a name like that. Anyway.. the story was emotional and interesting. I really felt for Dina and the other characters. I can't say exactly what the premise of the story is as that might spoil the first four books in the series. I wouldn't know, I'm not sure what happens in them or what they are about. I don't know if they are all seperate standalone stories or whether there'll be one overarching story in it. I expect the latter so I won't spoil it.

 

Overall then I quite enjoyed reading this book. The characters were very interesting, there were good plot twists, there was quite a bit of depth to the story I wasn't expecting and I really liked the writing style. I don't often read Flemish books and it was nice to read one for a change. Flemish and Dutch are quite similar, but there are some different expressions and words used. I don't understand all of them but I can work out the meaning of most of them through context or because it's similar to another language (ie. English).

 

There are three other books in the series in this omnibus edition and I will be starting the next one soon. I look forward to read all four of them. I presume the library might also have the first four books in the series, either in an omnibus or as seperate books, and I would like to read those too some time. Interestingly enough, this fifth book in the series, has more pages than the sixth, seventh and eighth book, in particular those last two are shorter than the fifth and sixth book. Either way I look forward to read more of this series.

 

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

[Athena]

Summary and Reflection of my Reading in January-March 2015 (Q1)

 

We're a quarter through 2015 already! It has gone fast, in some ways. Anyway, I thought I'd make a quick summary and update of my reading so far in 2015 (so the first three months of the year, January, February and March). I'll be looking at how I'm doing with my reading and book-related goals, and I'll be looking at my reading statistics.

 

A Reflection on my Goals

 

I wrote down some specific goals for this year, in terms of which books or authors I wanted to read. Here's what goals I wrote down, and my commentary of how far I got with them (in colour), so far in the year.

 

- I plan to read at least the books I preordered that will be released in 2015 (new paperback releases), except those that are part of a series where I haven't yet read the book(s) before it (because I'll want to read those first). There should be about 5-10 of them. // So far I have received 8 pre-orders (currently 5 more to be received) and I have read 4 of them (3 pre-orders are part of series which I need to start first, one of those two I can't start yet because my sister has borrowed the first three books of the author).

- I plan to read more Jodi Picoult books, at least one // I read 1 book by Jodi Picoult, so that's going well!

- I plan to read more Diane Chamberlain books, at least one // I read 1 book by Diane Chamberlain, so that's going well!

- I plan to read more Catherine Ryan Hyde books, at least one // I haven't read any books by Catherine Ryan Hyde yet this year.

- I plan to read at least one Terry Pratchett book // I haven't read any books by Terry Pratchett yet this year.

- I plan to read The Age of the Five trilogy by Trudi Canavan // I haven't read this trilogy yet.

- I plan to start and hopefully finish the Robert Jordan's The Wheel of Time graphic novel series by Robert Jordan, Chuck Dixon and Chase Conley // I haven't yet started on this.

- I plan to read at least one Brandon Sanderson book // I have read 6 books by Brandon Sanderson so far. This is going really well!

- I plan to read at least two Sophie Kinsella / Madeleine Wickham books // I have read 1 book by her so far, so this is going well.

- I plan to read at least one Sinéad Moriarty book // I haven't yet read any this year.

- I plan to read at least one Penny Vincenzi book // I haven't yet read any this year.

- I plan to read the Void trilogy by Peter F. Hamilton // I haven't yet read this yet.

- I plan to start reading the Outlander series by Diana Gabaldon // I haven't yet read this yet.

- I plan to read at least one book by Karen Miller / Karen E. Mills // I haven't yet read any this year.

- I plan to read at least one book by Maria V. Snyder // I haven't yet read any this year.

- I plan to read at least one book by John Green // I haven't yet read any this year.

- I plan to read Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell // I haven't yet read this yet.

- I plan to read at least one book by A. S. King // I haven't yet read any this year.

- I plan to read The Infernal Devices trilogy by Cassandra Clare // I haven't yet, my sister has borrowed these so I am waiting for her to finish them and return them to me.

- I plan to read The Mortal Instruments series by Cassandra Clare // I'm going to read these once I finish The Infernal Devices, see above.

- I plan to read at least one book by Anne McCaffrey // I haven't yet read any this year.

- I plan to read at least one book by Ken Follett // I haven't yet read any this year.

- I want to re-read David B. Coe's Chronicles of Lontobyn trilogy // I haven't yet re-read this this year.

- I want to re-read James Clemens' The Banned and the Banished series // I haven't yet re-read this this year.

- I want to re-read at least one book by Thea Beckman // I haven't yet read any this year.

- I want to read at least one horror book, perhaps in October // I haven't yet read any this year, though I did read some children's books with horror aspects. I don't know if that counts or not. Either way, it's not October yet.

- I want to read at least one wintery and / or Christmassy themed book in November or December // It's not Q4 yet. I haven't read any Christmas themed books, but I did read some books that had winter elements in them or that had a small Christmas element in them.

- I want to start The No 1. Ladies' Detective Agency series by Alexander McCall Smith // I haven't started this yet.

- I plan to read at least one book by Haruki Murakami // I have read one book by Haruki Murakami, a free short story.

- I want to read at least 12 books by Ann M. Martin // I have read 3 books so far, and we're 3 months into the year, so this is on schedule!

- I want to read at least 12 books by A. C. Baantjer and / or Simon de Waal // I have read 3 so far, so this is on schedule!

- I want to keep reading short books for the read-a-thon from multiple genres and for multiple age ranges (ie. the BSC books and the books by Baantjer) // This is definitely going well! I participated in 4 read-a-thons in these three months.

- I want to read more books by Geronimo Stilton, Thea Stilton and other books written by the same team of authors // I've read 26 books so far, so this is going very well! I hope to read plenty more.

- I want to read more books by Francine Oomen, specifically the Hoe Overleef Ik... series // I've read 8 books by the author so far (and currently have 2 borrowed from the library), so this is going really well!

- I want to read more books on ADD and / or autism or related things // I've read 4 books so far, so this goal is going well.

- I want to start and finish some series of which I own all the books // I have read 64 books that are part of series (and 64 standalone books, 1 a combination), though some of those were library loans. I started some series and finished a few series (in so far as that the books have been released), on a few occasions I finished a series but didn't read for example book 1 or such. I think all the series that I started were mainly library books, mainly children's and young-adult books. See further down this post for more on this subject.

- I want to try some new authors (some of which I've mentioned above) // I have tried some new authors, but I've mainly been concentrating on books by authors I've read something of before (74 books by familiar authors vs. 23 books by unfamiliar authors, 2 books were a combination of that.)

- I want to read some of my Kindle Singles // I haven't read any yet.

 

I also had some other goals that are related to books, I will look at those now.

 

- I want to spend less money (on books and other things)

I need to spend less money on books (and other things). I plan to buy less books and order less of them online. A few ex-library books now and then aren't too costly, but online it can cost a little bit more. I also plan to buy less at book fairs. I haven't yet decided to which ones I'll go, I might want to go to at least one (but, like last time, only buy those books that are quite cheap or that I really want or that are hard to find elsewhere for a good price).

I have spent a lot less money on books and other entertainment things, compared with last year (comparing of course two similar time frames). I haven't gone to any book fairs yet. I have bought books from Terre des Hommes (charity shop) and from the library. I ordered 1 book for myself online). While I have acquired a lot of new books (~126) (and 8 pre-orders that I paid for in 2014 but received in 2015), it isn't nearly as much as in 2014 and 2013 (per three months). Quite a few of the ones acquired in 2015 were free (on Kindle or physical gifts). The average price for all these new books (including the free ones) was ~€0,70 (I'm not counting the pre-orders that I paid for in 2014 in this calculation.). In total I spent ~€87,50 if everything is correct. That would be almost €30 per month. It's still more than I think I should spend based on my income and other expenses, but it is a HUGE improvement over last year (I spent a whole lot more in 2013 and 2014 (except in Dec 2014 when I changed things for the better), and I'm too embarrassed to calculate the exact amount. Just know that there were some months where I spent sometimes ~€250 on books).

 

- I want to visit the library often

This is tied in with my goal on spending less money on books. I'm hoping that by going to the library often and borrowing some books, I'll be less tempted to buy books (particularly more expensive ones).

I visited the library quite often in the first quarter of this year. I read 32 books that I owned, 63 library books (+ 5 returned without reading them) and 4 books I read from an author's website (free short stories). So I would say I'm getting great use out of my library card. Going to the library and borrowing books has also helped me to buy less books and to spend less money on books. I planned a break from the library a little while ago, because I wanted to read some of my own books too. Every once in a while I do feel a bit pressured in that the loans will have to be read on time, so I'm still figuring out how much to loan so that I can read it in time (or extend it if possible) and all that.

 

- Book Collector

I want to scan all my ISBNs of my books and make sure what's in the database matches my edition (in the beginning I took the information from GoodReads which isn't always the edition I had). I want to add all the User Defined values that I want in there (maybe add some more, too). Ideally I also want to complete information as much as possible about where and when I purchased the book and for how much, however this is only possible for the more recent books as I don't remember things from earlier on and unless it was online, I can't look it up (but the online ones I can look up).

I've finished ISBN scanning all my books (excluding the ones in the attic), so this is great progress. Unfortunately after that I wasn't quite sure how to best proceed, so I haven't done a whole lot else other than working on some specific entries.

 

- Wishlist

I want to type out my wishlist in an organised fashion, and also go through it and remove some books I might not be interested in anymore. I might also want to divide it up into books I really must have and books I'd like to read but perhaps not necessarily own.

I have made a bit of progress with this, in the sense that I now have an alphabetical list of books off my old wishlist. I haven't yet though started to divide it up into Wishlist-Want-To-Own, Wishlist-TBR-Library (as in, I want to read this book but don't neccessarily need to own it) and Discard. I did remove some books I already had, and I've added a few bits to Wishlist-TBR-Library.

 

Statistics of January-March 2015 (for more details see post #3 in this thread)

 

Days: 90 (01-01 <-> 31-03)

Total books read this year: 99

Amount of pages read (averaged): 25118

Average amount of pages per book: 254

One book per x days: 0.91 days / book

Pages per day: 279

 

Amount of books bought: 89 physical, 1 ebook(s)

Amount of books received as gifts or trades: 13

Amount of ebooks free: 18 + 4 from author's website

Amount of books pre-ordered and paid for in 2014 but received in 2015: 8

Amount of books borrowed from library: 62 read, 5 returned unread

 

Reads TBR / R (new books vs. re-reads): (87) (~88%) vs. (12) (~12%)

Male / Female authors: (27) (~27%) vs. (36) (~36%) (excluding (37) (~37%) unknowns or both genres if multiple authors)

Nationalities (from most to least): US (31), Italy (26), UK (19), Netherlands (17), Japan (2), Germany (2), Australia (1), Belgium (1)

Books from new authors vs. familiar authors: 23 (~23%) new vs. 74 (~74%) (2 (~2%) a combination)

Standalones vs. series books: 34 (~34%) vs. 64 (~64%), combination 2 (~2%)

Genres (most to least) (note: some books have multiple genres): Contemporary Fiction (45) (~39%), Fantasy (13) (~11%), Detective (11) (~10%), Literature (10) (~9%), Science-fiction (9) (~8%), Chick-lit (8) (~7%), Information (5) (~4%), Biography (5) (~4%), Thriller (4) (~3%), 'Disney' (3) (~2%), Paranormal (2) (~2%), Historical Fiction (1) (~1%), Horror (0) (0%)

Type: Textbooks (including books with a few small illustrations, ie. at chapter headings) (~46)(~46%), Illustrated (49)(~49%), Manga (1)(~1%), Comics (3)(~3%), Graphic Novels (0)(0%)

Format: Paperback (26)(~26%), hardback (no flappy bits) (69) (~69%), hardcover (0) (0%)), Kindle (0)(0%), ebooks on website (4)(4%)

Ageranges: Adult (27)(~27%), Young-Adult (24)(~24%), Children's (48)(~48%)

Fiction vs. Nonfiction: Fiction (89) (~89%) vs. Non-fiction (7) (~7%), Combination (3) (~3%)

Languages: English (45) (~45%), Dutch (53)(~53%), Flemish (1) (1%)

Original language vs. translated book: Original (63) (~63%) vs. Translated (36) (~36%)

Publication Years: 1980-1989 (2) (~2%), 1990-1999 (9) (~9%), 2000-2009 (18) (~18%), 2010-2015 68) (~69%), Unknown (2) (~2%)

Original publication years: 1930-1939 (1) (~1%), 1940-1949 (2) (~2%), 1950-1959 (1) (~1%), 1960-1969 (0) (~0%), 1970-1979 (0) (~0%), 1980-1989 (8) (~8%), 1990-1999 (3) (~3%), 2000-2009 (36) (~36%), 2010-2015 (46) (~46%), Unknown (2) (~2%)

Ratings: 1 (0) (~0%), 2 (0) (~0%), 3 (2) (~2%), 4 (1) (~1%), 5 (3) (~3%), 6 (2) (~2%), 7 (6) (~6%), 8 (17) (~17%), 9 (35) (~35%), 10 (33) (~33%)

Average rating: 8.7

Male protagonist(s) vs. female protagonist(s): Male (40) (~40%), Female (44) (~44%), Both (10) (~10%), N/A (no main characters) (5) (~5%)

Page numbers x per book: x < 300 pages (66) (~66%), 300 < x 500 pages (27) (~27%), x > 500 pages (7) (~7%)

Reading per month: January (30) (~30%), February (27) (~27%), March (32) (~32%)

 

Overview

 

So far I have read 99 books in Jan-March of this year (I think the fact that I read the highest number of books in February despite it being the shortest month, can be attributed to me having / doing two read-a-thons). This is much more than I thought I would read (previous statistics: Jun-Dec 2012: 43 books, 2013: 143 books, 2014: 254 books). I read ~25118 pages in January-March 2015 (in comparison, I read ~18000 in Jun-Dec 2012, ~37000 pages in 2013 and ~62932 pages in 2014). The average page count per book was 254. It took me 0.91 days to read a book on average, and I read on average 279 pages per day. I did go for mainly shorter and medium length books, I only read 6 books that had over 500 pages, but 66 with less than 300 pages (27 medium length books, that had between 300 and 500 pages).

 

There are definitely some bigger books that I own, that I want to read too. The problem with bigger books, is that they tend to be more epic, so I need more time to process them (hence I can't read them as quickly as several shorter books with the same amount of pages). A lot of bigger books I own, are series too, so that means several bigger books to read (because I prefer to read series books not too far from each other). Starting a new series is sometimes difficult, because I don't want to be busy in too many series in one go, because that gets too confusing. I do plan on reading some bigger books too, but so far I have been enjoying reading more shorter and medium length books. My read-a-thon reads are generally mostly short reads, though sometimes one has medium length or longer (the longer ones are mainly Donald Duck comics I think). And during a read-a-thon I tend to read a lot more books in a shorter amount of time, compared with the rest of the month. So I might read a long book the rest of the month, but I'd read let's say 10 shorter reads during the read-a-thon.

 

Genres

 

I read from a variety of genres, though I read a lot more of some genres than of others. I particularly read a lot of contemporary fiction (though that is in part due to children's books of which I'm not 100% sure what their genre is, such as some of the Stilton books.). I also read some fantasy and science-fiction books. I read quite a few detective books too, also partially because of the Stilton books. I read quite a few literature books, compared with previous months in previous years, though that's in part due to the Stilton retellings (I can see a theme here.. well since about a quarter of the books I read were Stilton books it's hard to avoid that ). I read some chick-lit books as well. Genres I read less of are historical fiction, thrillers, paranormal, Disney, biography and information, though I still read some books of these genres so that's not too bad. I didn't read any horror books yet, though I do tend to read those more in autumn than any other time, I think. I read a lot more fiction than non-fiction, most of my reads were fiction. That is okay with me I think, since I do enjoy fiction a lot. I did read some fiction books that were educational, so in that sense there was a non-fiction part of the book.

 

New reads and re-reads

 

Most of my reads were books new to me. I did re-read some books, particularly some childhood favourites, which were enjoyable too. But the majority of my reading is new books, and that's okay with me. I generally prefer to wait quite a while before re-reading a book, and while there are definitely a lot of books I own that I want to re-read, there are also a lot of books I haven't read before, that I want to read. So I'm okay with re-reading being a smaller part of my reading, than reading new books.

 

Gender of authors

 

I read almost an even amount of male and female authors. I also read a lot of books where I don't know the gender of the author, or where the book is written by at least one male and at least one female author (ie. by a male and a female author or by a team of authors) (the Stilton books are an example of this).

 

Gender of main characters

 

In comparison, I also read about a roughly even amount of male and female main characters. There were a few books with multiple main characters, where there was (at least one of each) an important male and female main character, and there were some books that didn't have a main character (such as information books). It is interesting to note that out of the books I read, the male authors often have a male main character and the female authors a female main character. Sometimes the female author has a male main character, but it happens less often the other time around (it does happen on rare occasion). Some of the female main character books were written by a team of authors (Stilton) of both genders.

 

Nationalities of authors

 

I've read books from authors from several countries, though I've read a lot more of the top 4 countries than of the ones below it. I read a lot of books from the United States, Italy (the Stilton books), the United Kingdom and the Netherlands (well, I live in the Netherlands, so that makes sense). I read a few books from other countries.

 

Familiar or new authors

 

I read mostly books written by familiar-to-me authors (authors of whom I've read at least one book before). I did read some books by new-to-me authors too (of whom I've never read a book before). It's been one of my aims this year to try and read a bit more by familiar authors and less by new authors, because I felt I read a lot by new authors in the past few years, and I wanted to read some books by some of my favourite authors. In that sense, I think I'm progressing nicely.

 

Series and Standalones

 

I've read more series books than standalones, and I find this surprising because in the past the proportion was more equal if I'm not mistaken. I think this is in part because of for example the Stilton books (yes, them again). They are usually part of series but they are standalone stories (with the same characters, though events are sometimes referred to). I counted them as series because they are part of a series, but it's not so necessary to read them in order and they can often be read as a standalone story. Aside from the Stilton books, I did read some other series.

 

Type of books

 

I read a lot of illustrated books (mainly children's books from the library). I also read quite a few 'text'books (in which I include books with a few small illustrations, such as at the beginning of each chapter or a map in the front of the book). I read a couple of comics and manga, and no graphic novels.

 

Format

 

I read mainly paperbooks and only a couple of ebooks (Kindle and on author's websites). Most of my books were hardback copies from the library (with hardback I mean the book has a hard front, back and spine, but there are no flappy bits.), some books were paperbacks (mainly my own copies). I read no hardcover books (with flappy bits), no Kindle ebooks and I did read a couple of free things through author's websites.

 

Age-ranges

 

Almost half of the books I read, were children's books (mostly from the library, and some of my own. Again the Stilton books are a significant part of this). The other half is almost evenly split between young-adult books and adult books. This is a change from the past few years. I haven't read that many adult books these three months, compared with a few years ago. I am however enjoying the children's reads a lot, particularly for read-a-thons but also outside of them. I would like to read more adult books, but I see nothing wrong with an adult enjoying children's and young adult books if that is what I'm currently enjoying a lot of (and it is).

 

Languages

 

Roughly I read about an even amount of books in Dutch and in English. I've read more Dutch, than in the past few years, mainly because of the library (they have more Dutch books than English ones, obviously). This isn't necessarily a problem, as long as I can avoid bad translations because I find those difficult to read. Most of the books I read were read in their original language, but about a third of my reading were translated books (the Stilton books are a large part of it, since they are originally Italian). I've not before counted translated vs. original books, so it should be interesting to see how it developes. For now I'm enjoying reading both Dutch and English books. Particularly for children's books I mind it less that it's a translation, as somehow there aren't as many "bad translations" out there, or maybe I just notice it less in a children's book, or more of an effort is made, I don't know.

 

Publication Years

 

Most of the books I read were recently published, this is in part because it's harder to find an older copy of the book, so I often read a re-released version. However, even when I look at the original publication years, the majority of the books I read has been published during my lifetime (so 1985 or later). I do much prefer to read books written in a for me contemporary language rather than the language of centuries ago, so this makes sense to me.

 

Ratings

 

Most of the books I read I enjoyed quite a lot, so most of the books I read are rated good to very high. I haven't abandoned any books yet in 2015, I did read a few that I gave low ratings. (side note: I started on Stories on the Go: 101 Very Short Stories by 101 Authors but found the short stories were more suited to be read while waiting for some minutes than reading them like a novel as this tires me too much. I'm not calling it an abandoned book but so far most of the stories I read weren't that impressive. I read about 10% of the book. I expect though I will be reading one now and then perhaps, so I don't want to call it abandoned as of yet, but I wasn't highly impressed.) Mostly though I've been enjoying the books I've read, and I think that's a good thing .

 

Conclusive Comments

 

Overall then I would say that my reading has been going pretty well these past three months. I made progress on some goals (obviously not yet all of them) and I haven't spent nearly as much money on books as I've often done in past years, so I'm really happy with that. Going to the library really helps, and I enjoy finding new-to-me and interesting books to read at the library. I am reading more children's books than I did in the past few years and more shorter books and less longer books. I plan to continue to go to the library and also take little library breaks now and then, to also read some of my owned books that I really want to read. I am enjoying my reading for almost all of it and that is a good thing. There are still plenty of books I want to read (and re-read) and I look forward to read more the rest of the year.

[Athena]

Wow.. that post became longer than I thought it would. Kudos for anyone who reads even half of it ..

[Little Pixie]

Well done on spending less on books ! Glad that you`re enjoying your library visits. 

 

Erm, I skimmed the post. 

[Anna Begins]

Interesting you've done 6 books over 500 pages, because it's taken you less than the .91 days (lol) There is no way any book has taken you 5 days to finish so far!

 

And we will remedy the CRH goal next week with Jumpstart the World... and The Year of My Miraculous Reappearance later.

 

Sorry for my tapping, computer still down, on my Fire.

[BSchultz19]

Wow what a great idea to post a summary of your reading quarter! I am amazed, but not entirely shocked that you read a book in less than a day. And those books average about 250 pages. That's crazy!!

 

I only skimmed the post, but it looks like 2015 has been great for you so far

[Athena]

Emoticons removed (I wonder if we can somehow change this emoticon limit.. I shall ask.).

 

Well done on spending less on books ! Glad that you`re enjoying your library visits.

 

Erm, I skimmed the post.

Thanks ! And thanks for being honest about that . 

 

Interesting you've done 6 books over 500 pages, because it's taken you less than the .91 days (lol) There is no way any book has taken you 5 days to finish so far!

 

And we will remedy the CRH goal next week with Jumpstart the World... and The Year of My Miraculous Reappearance later.

 

Sorry for my tapping, computer still down, on my Fire.

 

The longest I took was I think 7 days to read a book, which was Een Vreemde Wereld which I read from 16-02-2015 to 22-02-2015 (446 pages) but I did read The Lovely Bones at the same time, from 16-02-2015 to 19-02-2015 (372 pages).

 

Yes ! I look forward to it!

 

Don't worry, I understand. I do hope you'll be able to use the new computer soon . It would drive me insane if I could only use my phone to type posts, I type much slower using my phone than on a proper computer keyboard.

 

Wow what a great idea to post a summary of your reading quarter! I am amazed, but not entirely shocked that you read a book in less than a day. And those books average about 250 pages. That's crazy!!

 

I only skimmed the post, but it looks like 2015 has been great for you so far

Thanks ! Yes (though a lot of books I read were illustrated and so had many pages with just pictures in them .).

 

Thanks , it has been so far !

 

P.S. I'll be posting some reviews now and make a post with a few new books that have arrived.

[Athena]

Do van Ranst - Dina 6: Boze Buren en Bikini's

 

(note: this image is for the omnibus edition, which I am reading. It's called Dina is Terug! and contains books 5-8 of the series.)

 

Genre: Contemporary Fiction

Age-range: Young-Adult

Format: Hardback (Library Loan)

Pages: 163 (total in the omnibus: 585)

Date read: 01-04-2015

ISBN: 9789059084780 (for the omnibus edition)

Synopsis: (no synopsis because the book is part of a series).

 

My thoughts:

 

After finishing book 5 in this series (book 1 in the omnibus), I went on to read book 6 in this series (the second book in the omnibus). The story starts with a couple of pages of summary of book 5. The story takes place about one year later, than book 5.

 

Similar things as I said about the previous book, apply here. I liked the characters. There are a lot of characters in the story that were also in book 5, but there are also some new characters that were interesting. I liked the story and the plot twists though I enjoyed it less than book 5. It was suspenseful though and I read it in one afternoon. There were a few things I just got on with less, but I can't say what they are exactly without spoiling the story (basically though it has to do with lying and making choices that you can tell are probably not the wisest). I really liked the writing style, just like in the previous book.

 

There were again a few diary pages but not as many as last time. The book is also not as long as the previous one. The next two books are even shorter.

 

Overall then I enjoyed this book, but not as much as the previous one. It was still enjoyable though, I really liked the characters and the writing style and the story was suspenseful (I kept on reading and finished it in one afternoon). I will continue with the remaining two books in the omnibus, books 7 and 8 in the series.

 

Rating: (****) (8/10)

[Athena]

Do van Ranst - Dina 7: Tranen van Stroop en Theater

 

(note: this image is for the omnibus edition, which I am reading. It's called Dina is Terug! and contains books 5-8 of the series.)

 

Genre: Contemporary Fiction

Age-range: Young-Adult

Format: Hardback (Library Loan)

Pages: 106 (total in the omnibus: 585)

Date read: 01-04-2015

ISBN: 9789059084780 (for the omnibus edition)

Synopsis: (no synopsis because the book is part of a series).

 

My thoughts:

 

After finishing book 6 in this series (book 2 in the omnibus), I went on to read book 7. This book is the shortest one, out of the four books that are included in the omnibus. The book again has a few diary pages in it.

 

The story takes place just after book 6, when school starts again. Whereas the previous book was about the summer (and so was book 5), this book starts just before school starts again in September (some things do happen between books 6 and 7). The story takes place over the course of about half a year.

 

This was an interesting story. Like the previous books, I liked the characters and the plot twists. It was nice to hear something about the school, which hadn't been talked about much in the previous two books. I liked the new characters that are in this book, as well as the old ones. There are several plot twists in the story and again it discusses a few more serious issues.

 

I quite enjoyed reading this book, more than book 6 (and about the same as book 5). The characters are all interesting and I quite like the writing style.

 

Overall then I quite enjoyed this book, more than I enjoyed book 6. I'm sorry these reviews are starting to become a bit alike, but there isn't a whole lot more I can think of to say (at least not without spoilers). I'm enjoying these books and will read the last book in the omnibus, book 8. I also hope the library has the omnibus of the first four (or perhaps the four books seperately, but the omnibus would be easier), so I can read them some time, I would like that.

 

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

[Athena]

I received two books from the lovely Brian:

 

Ray Bradbury - The Martian Chronicles

Haruki Murakami - The Elephant Vanishes

 

Thank you so much, Brian !

 

I also received this one, from my brother, in exchange for me giving him a lot of Dutch books:

 

Terry Goodkind - Sword of Truth 11: Confessor

 

This one is on its way (also from my brother):

 

Terry Goodkind - Sword of Truth 7: Pillars of Creation

[Nollaig]

Oooh ooh I'll be interested to hear what you think of The Martian Chronicles, as I've heard mixed reviews and am not sure if it would be my thing

[Athena]

Oooh ooh I'll be interested to hear what you think of The Martian Chronicles, as I've heard mixed reviews and am not sure if it would be my thing

I'll be sure to let you know !

[Athena]

My brother and his girlfriend have recently moved in together. It turned out they had two copies of one book, so they gave me one!

 

David Baldacci - Camel Club 4: De Rechtvaardigen (Divine Justice)

 

It's always nice to get a free book !

 

I will be posting a LOT of reviews now. I don't expect anyone to read them all through, but feel free to read the one(s) you find interesting, if you want to.

[Athena]

Do van Ranst - Dina 8: Gedoe, Gedonder en een Wonder

 

(note: this image is for the omnibus edition, which I am reading. It's called Dina is Terug! and contains books 5-8 of the series.)

 

Genre: Contemporary Fiction

Age-range: Young-Adult

Format: Hardback (Library Loan)

Pages: 121 (total in the omnibus: 585)

Date read: 02-04-2015

ISBN: 9789059084780 (for the omnibus edition)

Synopsis: (no synopsis because the book is part of a series).

 

My thoughts:

 

After finishing books 5, 6 and 7 in this omnibus (that contains books 5-8), I read book 8.

 

This book takes place a little while after book 7. Book 7 ended in February and this book takes place after the summer, when the school starts again. This book contained a few diary pages again and also had the purple font. Some things happened between books 7 and 8, and it's briefly explained. It's an interesting way to start the story and get some tension going.

 

This was an enjoyable story. Like in the other books, theatre and acting are an important theme in the story. I liked the characters, both the old and also the few new ones.

 

I was a bit confused about one of the minor characters in the book. You see, his name is the same as the name of a more important character in the other books. Now I know two people with the same name, that happens in 'real life' all the time, but nowhere was it clear if they were the same person or not, and I was wondering this for a while. It is a somewhat unusual name too, it would've made more sense if it was a common name or if there had been last names or anything like that. Even better of course was if the minor character had had a different name altogether, seeing as this character in this book, one of Dina's classmates, only had a few lines in the whole book that weren't that important in the whole of the story. I don't really understand why the unimportant classmate couldn't have had a different name. It would've cleared up some confusion for me.

 

I liked the writing style of the book and also the plot twists. The story did seem a little bit more predictable and it had a few similar elements to previous books in the series. I still enjoyed it a lot but overall I liked books 5 and 7 more than books 6 and 8. The characters are interesting.

 

Overall then I enjoyed reading this book. I didn't like it as much as books 5 and 7, but I still enjoyed reading it. I hope to read books 1-4 some time, I presume the library would have them, or preferably the omnibus of books 1-4, since the library had books 5-8 in an omnibus (it would make sense if they also have the first four books in the series).

 

Rating: (****) (8/10)

[Athena]

Ann M. Martin - De BabySitters Club 30: Inge en Betty Worden Zussen (re-read)

 

 

Genre: Chick-lit

Age-range: Children, Young-Adult

Format: Paperback

Pages: 123

Date read: 02-04-2015

ISBN: 9789024346240

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

 

My thoughts:

 

It was the read-a-thon, so I wanted to read another English BSC book. Because the next English BSC book to read that I own is book 31, and because books 30 and 31 are part of the same storyline (it even says 'to be continued' in book 30, at the end), I felt it would be wrong to read book 31 but not book 30. I don't own book 30 in English so I decided to re-read the Dutch one. The names could be a bit confusing to me since most of them are different in the two language versions of the book, but I wanted to try it.

 

It has been a long time since I've re-read any of the Dutch BSC books. The writing in this Dutch translation was very familiar to me. I read the book quicker too, than I've been reading the English ones. I think this is because I've read these Dutch translations so often when I was younger.

 

It was very enjoyable to re-read one of the Dutch books in this series, it was really nostalgic for me. I really liked the characters and the story. One thing though is that the synopsis of my book, and the title, kind of spoils already things that happen in the book. But okay, I knew what was going to happen anyway, because I've read the book many times.

 

Overall it was very enjoyable to read this story, however since it's kind of a duology, the story isn't finished yet. It'll be great to read the next book and read the 'conclusion' to the storyline. I will read the English one for the first time (note from self: I wrote part of this review after just finishing the Dutch book, however as I'm typing this on the computer from my handwritten notes, I have already read the English one too).

 

It has made me wonder if I should make a list of the English and Dutch names, for reference. I tried some Googling but the information doesn't seem easy to find. I find it easy to remember the names of the main characters of the series, but it's harder with those that aren't in each book but that are side characters that are only in some of the books. I might make this list at some point, but it would require taking those where I have both the English and the Dutch copy, and going through them to figure out the names.

 

I really enjoyed re-reading this Dutch book and it's made me wonder if I should also some time re-read all my Dutch ones. The words were really familiar to me, and I think I enjoyed it more than re-reading them in English actually. Of course, I'm quite excited to read the ones I have in English (one paperback and the rest on my Kindle), where the Dutch one was never published and hence I don't own it. Those'll be new stories for me and I look forward to see how I will get on with them.

 

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

[Athena]

Ann M. Martin - The Babysitter's Club 31: Dawn's Wicked Stepsister (re-read)

 

 

Genre: Chick-lit

Age-range: Children, Young-Adult

Format: Paperback

Pages: 131

Date read: 02-04-2015

ISBN: 9780590550451

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

 

My thoughts:

 

After reading the Dutch book 30, I went on to read the English book 31 (I re-read the Dutch one because the next English one to read was 31, adn they form one story together).

 

This book is written from Dawn's point of view (the previous one was from Mary Anne's point of view). It was great to re-read this story, though I do have to say I think I enjoyed re-reading the Dutch book slightly more. Not because of that part of the story, but because the Dutch books are the ones I've read many times when I was younger, so there is a lot of nostalgia involved.

 

Overall I enjoyed reading the conclusion of this story. In fact I enjoyed it so much, that I made my next read the first Super Special (even though I didn't plan to read this during the read-a-thon), as I got really in the mood to read more of the BSC.

 

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

[Athena]

Ann M. Martin - The Babysitter's Club Super Special 1: Baby-Sitters on Board! (re-read)

 

 

Genre: Chick-lit

Age-range: Children, Young-Adult

Format: Kindle

Pages: 246

Date read: 03-04-2015

ISBN: N/A (Kindle Book)

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

 

My thoughts:

 

After reading books 30 and 31 in the 'regular' / 'normal' series, I really felt like reading another BSC book. The Super Specials take place throughout the normal series, so I could read this one because it takes place way before books 30 and 31. The book is written from multiple points of view, each new chapter denoting a different viewpoint. The viewpoints were from the at the time five members of the BabySitter's Club, and from Mallory's POV, but there were also two viewpoints from two of the children they sat for.

 

In this book all the BSC members go on a trip together to Florida, the Bahamas and Disney World. I have to say I don't remember as much from these Super Specials, mainly because I didn't own this one in Dutch until a lot later on (I own books 1-2 in an omnibus and book 5. I was never able to find any of the other ones, I'm not sure up to where they were even published.).

 

There were some illustrations in the book, of photos the characters had taken during their trip. I don't remember if these photos were in my Dutch edition too. I would think so, but I don't really remember it so I'll have to check it at some point. The Super Specials are meant to be read if you have read the normal / regular series, as the characters aren't introduced the way they are in each book of the normal series.

 

It was great to read what all the different characters were up to during this trip. I was a little bit amazed that the older children and young teenagers were allowed to go off on their own while on the cruise ship. I don't know if that would still be allowed nowadays, by parents, it just seems less safe nowadays, the world? Maybe that's silly though.

 

I really enjoyed re-reading this book. I quite liked the characters and the writing style. It was nostalgic to read this book, though the multiple points of view were sometimes a bit confusing, if I got distracted and then forgot whose viewpoint I was reading before I got distracted (I read the Kindle edition so it's not as easy to flick back and forth).

 

Overall I quite enjoyed re-reading this book. The story was fun and I wanted to keep on reading it. It wasn't the most suspenseful of stories but I enjoyed the more light fun story.

 

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

[Athena]

Catherine Ryan Hyde - Jumpstart the World

 

 

Genre: Contemporary Fiction

Age-range: Young-Adult

Format: Paperback

Pages: 186

Date read: 03-04-2015

ISBN: 9780375866265

Synopsis (GoodReads): Elle is a loner. She doesn't need people. Which is a good thing, because now she has to move out of her apartment so her mother's boyfriend won't have to deal with her.

 

Then she meets Frank, the guy who lives next door to her new place. Being with him is impossible: he's a grown-up and has a girlfriend. Still, Elle can't stop thinking about him. Frank isn't like anyone Elle has ever met. He listens to her. He's gentle. And Elle is falling for him, hard.

 

Then Elle discovers that Frank is different in a way that Elle was never prepared for: he's transgender. Elle's head and her heart explode; her world is turned upside down. But when an accident nearly takes Frank's life, Elle must search inside herself to find not only the true meaning of friendship but her own role in jumpstarting the world.

 

Tender, honest, and compassionate, Jumpstart the World is a stunning story to make you laugh, cry, and honor the power of love.

 

My thoughts:

 

I started to read this book because my friend Anna wasn't sure what to read next, and we are both fans of this author so I suggested to her we could read a shorter book by this author together, for the read-a-thon. She agreed so we both read this book in the past few days.

 

This was a really enjoyable story. I really liked the characters, they were very interesting. The story is told from Elle's point of view. Each chapter has a number and also a title. The story is told in first person.

 

There was a lot of depth in the story and it had several themes, such as transgender (you don't see that that often in a book). There were several good plot twists in the story and I really enjoyed reading it. I really liked the writing style. It seems a little bit easier written with shorter sentences, compared with the author's books for adults that I've read.

 

Overall then I really enjoyed reading this book. It had a lot of depth, talked about certain things in a very respectful way. It had great characters and good plot twists and a good writing style. I have a few more books by the authro on my TBR. It's one of my aims this year to read some books by this author (that I haven't read yet) so I plan to read hopefully at least one or a few more this year. I really enjoyed this book.

 

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

[Athena]

A. C. Baantjer and Simon de Waal - De Waal & Baantjer 11: Een Kuil Voor Een Ander

 

 

Genre: Detective

Age-range: Adult

Format: Paperback

Pages: 175

Date read: 04-04-2015

ISBN: 9789048822423

Synopsis (me): A house is being taken down, but then a dead body is found.

 

My thoughts:

 

It was another read-a-thon, so I decided to read the next (and currently last) De Waal & Baantjer book.

 

This was a pretty suspenseful story. It's well written and I liked the characters. I really liked most of the books in this series a lot, and this one was really good too. It was definitely one of the better ones. There were plenty of plot twists in the story and it was nice to read about Amsterdam and Brabant.

 

Overall then I really enjoyed reading this book. I hope the author (Simon de Waal) will write more books in this series, as I'll definitely want to read them.

 

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

[Athena]

Disney - Donald Duck Dubbel Pocket 4 (re-read)

 

 

Genre: Comic

Age-range: Children

Format: Paperback

Pages: 210

Date read: 04-04-2015

ISBN: 9054283980

Synopsis (me): Stories of Donald Duck and other characters.

 

My thoughts:

 

It was another read-a-thon, so I re-read the next Donald Duck Dubbel Pocket. Below are some quick thoughts on each story.

 

De Identiteitscrisis van Superdonald

This story is about Superdonald and someone who wants to know his identity and reveal it to the world. It was a suspenseful and enjoyable story.

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

 

Mickey Mouse en het Gouden Klooster

This story is about Mickey and Goofy and the "Golden Monastery". It was suspenseful and enjoyable.

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

 

Donald Duck en de Speciale Effecten

This is a very enjoyable story about Donald Duck and his nightmares and panicking and what he tries to do to feel better.

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

 

Zwarte Magica Pleegt een Wanhoopsdaad

This was a very enjoyable story about Zwarte Magica and another witch, who is also trying to steal Oom Dagobert's "geluksdubbeltje" (his lucky coin).

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

 

Diederik op Vakantie

This was a story of one page long. It was okay and enjoyable but not particularly brilliant.

Rating: (***) (5/10)

 

Mickey Mouse: De Maffende Mummie uit het Heelal!

This is an enjoyable story about Mickey Mouse, Goofy, aliens and a mummy. It was suspenseful and enjoyable.

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

 

Donald Duck en het Moerasmonster

This was an enjoyable story about Donald Duck, Guus Geluk and het 'moerasmonster' (the monster in the swamp)

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

 

Goofy en het Realistische Schilderij

This was an enjoyable story about Goofy and paintings. The artstyle was different than in the other comics in this book, mainly because of different colouring and shading techniques that were used here. I think it's done to make this story look more like a painting. It was nicely done, I liked it.

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

 

Donald Duck en de Wraak van de Piraat

This is a nice story about Donald Duck and a pirate. I liked it but I was a little bit disappointed with the ending.

Rating: (****) (8/10)

 

Karel Paardepoort en het Dieet van Clarabella

This was an enjoyable story about Karel and Clarabella and him helping her being on a diet.

Rating: (****) (8/10)

 

Donald Duck: Ik Ben Er Klaar Voor!

This was a very enjoyable story about Donald Duck getting a job working on a film. I really liked it.

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

 

Puk en Mak en de Spreekwolkjes

This was an enjoyable story about Puk and Mak who try to find their uncle, Mickey Mouse, who has gone missing.

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

 

Oom Dagobert en de Zeer Efficiënte Miss

This was a nice story about Oom Dagobert (and Donald Duck and the 'neefjes', 'nephews' / 'cousins') and a new alarm system.

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

 

De Superdonald-Stichting

This was a suspenseful story about Superdonald who saves a famous royalty (I'm not sure how to translate the man's title). It was very enjoyable.

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

 

Mickey Mouse en de Koala-Missie

This is a suspenseful story about Mickey and koala's and rockets. It was very enjoyable.

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

 

Een Raadselachtige Kruisvaarder

This is a nice story that takes place in the Middle Ages. It involves Donald Duck and his family and crusaders / knights. It was very suspenseful and enjoyable.

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

 

Overall I quite enjoyed re-reading this book.

 

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

[Athena]

Stephen Huneck - My Dog's Brain

 

 

Genre: Art

Age-range: Adult

Format: Hardback

Pages: 104

Date read: 04-04-2015

ISBN: 9780810982871

Synopsis (GoodReads): Stephen Huneck’s beloved black Labrador, Sally, has spawned a whole series of successful children’s books, as well as woodcut prints, mugs, T-shirts, stationery, sculpture, tote bags, and even rugs, but the genesis of this world was his now-classic first book, My Dog’s Brain. In it, Huneck illustrates the predicaments, pleasures, and appetites that make up a dog’s life, whether it’s sleeping on the couch, stealing a lick from an ice cream cone, or barking for no good reason.

 

The new smaller trim, a paper-overboard binding, and eight pages of never-before-published artwork make this a perfect gift for Huneck fans and dog lovers who are curious as to just how their best

friends really tick.

 

My thoughts:

 

I was in my old room / library last week and I thought this book would make for good read-a-thon material.

 

The author / artist of this book developed Adult Respiratory Distress Syndrome (ARDS) and was not expected to live. His wife cared for him, she was there for him a lot. The doctors thought he was brain dead. The book contains first a few pages of introduction where the author / artist talks about his ARDS and his experiences and how the book came to be. When the author became better, he made these wood block prints. I was not expecting this at all, this introduction, as I didn't know anything about the author, and was filled with emotion for what he and his family went through.

 

The book consists of illustrations of the wood block prints and they are about dogs. Most of the prints contain a one or a few accompanying words to the picture. The prints are beautiful and their message is meaningful. I think it would of course particularly appeal to dog lovers.

 

Overall I really enjoyed reading the book, looking at the prints and their overall message.

 

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

[Athena]

Simon Tofield - Simon's Cat 4: Simon's Cat VS The World 4

 

 

Genre: Art

Age-range: Adult

Format: Hardback

Pages: 100

Date read: 04-04-2015

ISBN: 9780857860804

Synopsis (GoodReads): Simon's Cat proved his authority in the house. He returned victorious from his adventures beyond the garden fence. He prevailed after the chaotic arrival of a new kitten. Now he takes on the world! Illustrated in glorious full color, this volume explodes from the page with mesmerizing levels of detail. Simon's Cat films have over 280 million YouTube views!

 

Simon Tofield is an award-winning illustrator, animator, and director at Tandem Films in London. At the age of nine, Simon received his first kitten, a stray rescued from a farmer's barn. He has had cats ever since. When not attending to his cats' needs, Simon likes painting, reading history books, and spending time in the great British countryside. His Simon's Cat short films have garnered hundreds of millions of views, and the book versions have been international bestsellers.

 

My thoughts:

 

It was another read-a-thon, and when I was in my old room / library a few days ago, I noticed this book and thought it would make good read-a-thon material. The book was a birthday gift from my grandparents a few years ago.

 

This book contains a lot of nice illustrations about Simon's cat doing things. The illustrations were beautiful and sometimes funny too. I'll have to look it up on YouTube as on the back of the book it says the videos have had over 250 million hits.

 

Overall then I found the book enjoyable to read / look at the illustrations. I think especially cat lovers would like this book.

 

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

[Athena]

Carry Slee - Het Bliksemeiland (re-read)

 

 

Genre: Contemporary Fiction

Age-range: Children

Format: Paperback

Pages: 64

Date read: 04-04-2015

ISBN: 9789026907098

Synopsis (me): Joeri doesn't like the arrogant new guy in school, Dennis. His friends disagree, they seem to do everything Dennis says. Then their hut on the 'lightning isle' is destroyed and the blame falls on Joeri. Only Masja believes him. What is going on?

 

My thoughts:

 

It was another read-a-thon and I felt like re-reading this book. It was one of my (many) childhood favourites and I hadn't read it in quite a few years.

 

It was great to re-read this story. The book has illustrations in it by Dagmar Stam, who has illustrated more books by Carry Slee. I quite liked the illustrations. I really liked the writing style of the book, and while I didn't remember a whole lot about the story before I started to re-read it, things came back to me as I read the book. The words and illustrations were familiar to me. It was very nostalgic to re-read this book. I really liked the characters and the plot twists.

 

The book contains a chapter at the end about the author, written from her dog's point of view. This was very interesting to read and nicely written.

 

Overall I really enjoyed re-reading this book, it was very nostalgic to read it again. I have some more books by Carry Slee, I hope to read more of them some time (I did re-read Bikkels after this one, but see the next review for that).

 

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

[Athena]

Carry Slee - Bikkels (re-read)

 

 

Genre: Contemporary Fiction

Age-range: Children

Format: Paperback

Pages: 96

Date read: 04-04-2015

ISBN: 9789074336499

Synopsis (me): The new owner of the candyshop discriminates against 'foreign' looking children. Dorus, Murat, Katja and the other children at the school are furious and they think of something to do. Murat is also being discriminated against in his new acting group.

 

My thoughts:

 

I recently felt like re-reading this book and thought it would make for good read-a-thon material. Since it was the read-a-thon, I decided to re-read this book (after enjoying the re-read of Het Bliksemeiland).

 

This book discussed some serious issues, such as discrimination and racism. I really liked the characters and the writing style. The book was suspenseful and had some good plot twists.

 

Overall I qutie enjoyed re-reading this book, more than I thought I would. Het Bliksemeiland has always been one of my favourite books by Carry Slee, out of those I've read. But I enjoyed this book more than I did in the past. I look forward to read and re-read some other books by the author. The library has a lot of them too, I own some but not all of her books, she's written a lot.

 

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

[Athena]

Paul van Loon - LYC-DROP (re-read)

 

 

Genre: Horror

Age-range: Children

Format: Paperback

Pages: 90

Date read: 04-04-2015

ISBN: 9789074336352

Synopsis (GoodReads): There are strange things going on, both Raoul and Lindsey find their parents are acting weird. It seems to have something to do with the television and this new kind of 'drop' (a type of Dutch candy).

 

My thoughts:

 

I recently felt like re-reading this book, so I did so during this April 2015 read-a-thon.

 

I don't often read horror books any more, but I used to read quite a few of them when I was a child and young teenager (children and young adult horror books, mostly).

 

I quite enjoyed re-reading this book. I liked the characters and the story was scary though gladly in an enjoyable way for me (I don't like too scary, I guess it helped it wasn't my first time reading the book, too).

 

There were quite a few plot twists in the story though not all of them were unexpected to me (but I've read the book before so that makes sense). I didn't remember most of this book but some things came back to me as I read the book. I really liked the writing style.

 

Overall I quite enjoyed re-reading this book. I look forward to re-read, and read, some other books by the author.

 

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