Timstar Posted July 28, 2015 Share Posted July 28, 2015 I thought The Evolutionary Void was the weakest of the trilogy as well, but still a great read. I am waiting til the sequel comes out before reading The Abyss Beyond Dreams, same as you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Athena Posted July 28, 2015 Author Share Posted July 28, 2015 It's nice to know we agree . I hope the new duology will be good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Little Pixie Posted July 28, 2015 Share Posted July 28, 2015 Thanks so much for the help, Gaia ; I`ve uploaded a new pic of Xiao-Xiao, sitting on the SKY box. I`d never clicked on that ` more reply options` button. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Signor Finzione Posted July 28, 2015 Share Posted July 28, 2015 Thanks so much for the help, Gaia ; I`ve uploaded a new pic of Xiao-Xiao, sitting on the SKY box. I`d never clicked on that ` more reply options` button. Me neither! I always just copy and paste my pictures directly into the post, which is probably why they're all HUGE. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Athena Posted July 30, 2015 Author Share Posted July 30, 2015 Thanks so much for the help, Gaia ; I`ve uploaded a new pic of Xiao-Xiao, sitting on the SKY box. I`d never clicked on that ` more reply options` button. Me neither! I always just copy and paste my pictures directly into the post, which is probably why they're all HUGE. I'm glad I could help the both of you ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Athena Posted July 30, 2015 Author Share Posted July 30, 2015 Jaclyn Moriarty - Ashbury / Brookfield 1: Vlinders & Vriendinnen (Feeling Sorry for Celia) Genre: Contemporary Fiction Age-range: Young-Adult Format: Hardback (Library Loan) Pages: 251 Date read: 28-07-2015 ISBN: 9789026127854 Synopsis (GoodReads): Life is pretty complicated for Elizabeth Clarry. Her best friend Celia keeps disappearing, her absent father suddenly reappears, and her communication with her mother consists entirely of wacky notes left on the fridge. On top of everything else, because her English teacher wants to rekindle the "Joy of the Envelope," a Complete and Utter Stranger knows more about Elizabeth than anyone else. But Elizabeth is on the verge of some major changes. She may lose her best friend, find a wonderful new friend, kiss the sexiest guy alive, and run in a marathon. So much can happen in the time it takes to write a letter... My thoughts: I saw this book, along with two other books by the author (books 2 and 3 in the series), in the library. Book 3 attracted my interest and at first I thought of borrowing just that one. It doesn't say on the Dutch covers they are part of a series and their synopses are about different characters. I think it's more that the books all feature the same two schools, so each book can be read as a standalone story. Nevertheless I'm glad I borrowed all three of them. Interestingly enough, book 2 was the first one to be translated into Dutch. So if you go solely by what it says on the Dutch covers, I would've read book 2 first. It was only that GoodReads told me otherwise, and when I checked the original publication dates in the books, it turned out book 1 was written the first, so I started with this one. The story is told through letters and notes between the characters (one format of letters has to do with Elizabeth's thoughts). It's an interesting way of telling the story. The book consists of 12 parts (or chapters if you will. But they're called parts in the book). The book contained more depth than I was expecting. I was expecting the book to be more of a romantic comedy, but it wasn't as light a read as I was expecting. I liked the writing style of the story, it was certainly different to read a book where the story is told solely through letters. I liked the characters, in particular I liked Elizabeth and Christina. They were quite interesting characters. I liked Celia less so, though I think this might have been intended. The book contains quite a few plot twists I wasn't expecting, they were generally quite good. The first part of the book I wasn't quite sure how the story would develop but I was surprised at the depth of the story and its twists. Ovrerall I quite enjoyed reading this book, in particular the last two thirds of it. I read it in one day, which says something. I've got two more books in the series to read (borrowed from the library), now I will continue on with book 2. Rating: (****) (8/10) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Little Pixie Posted July 30, 2015 Share Posted July 30, 2015 Ooh, that books sounds really good ; I`ve put it in my ` buy it some time` list on Amazon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Athena Posted July 31, 2015 Author Share Posted July 31, 2015 Ooh, that books sounds really good ; I`ve put it in my ` buy it some time` list on Amazon. I hope you enjoy it ! I will post the review of the second book in the series now, and I'm currently reading the third. I hope to have it finished later today, so a review might be posted tomorrow. There are more books in the series but I can't remember how many. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Athena Posted July 31, 2015 Author Share Posted July 31, 2015 Jaclyn Moriarty - Ashbury / Brookfield 2: 3 Meiden & de Liefde (Finding Cassie Crazy) Genre: Contemporary Fiction Age-range: Young-Adult Format: Hardback (Library Loan) Pages: 371 Date read: 29-07-2015 <-> 30-07-2015 ISBN: 9789026127861 Synopsis (GoodReads): Cassie, Em and Lydia are best friends in Year 10 at Ashbury High. Ashbury students claim that all the kids at downtown Brookfield High are drug-dealers and psychopaths. Their English teacher, encouraging the Adventure of the Scary and the New and the Joy of the Envelope, starts a Pen-Pal Project. The hilarious letters between the girls and three unknown Brookfield boys lead to an escalation of the war between the schools, to secret romance, and to Cassie learning to face the dark fears that she hides from her friends. My thoughts: I found this book, and books 1 and 3 at the library. Strangely enough this book, book 2, was the first one to be translated into Dutch. Afte reading and liking book 1, I went on to read book 2. The books all involve the same two schools, but their main characters are different. There is a slight spoiler for book 1 in this book. The book consists of 39 parts (or chapters? The book calls them parts though). The story is told through letters, notes, diary pages and the notification board of the school, similar to the first book (but more creative here). It's an interesting way of telling the story. The same pen-pal project is in this book as in book 1, but this book takes place after book 1. There is mention of the main character (Elizabeth Clarry) of book 1 (hence the spoiler I talked about earlier), and of a few other characters of that book (Celia and Christina). The main character of book 3 (Scarlett) is also mentioned. There are chapters (or parts?) from the point of view of the three main characters (one point of view per chapter). Lydia writes in the writing notebook, answering its questions (sometimes deliberately not answering them). Carrie writes in her diary and Emily's chapter consists of notes her father writes her. There are also chapters that are longer and that describe a longer period of time, through letters between one of the main characters and her penpal. You hear about certain events from multiple angels and find out more about certain events gradually. There are also chapters with the notification board of the school (Ashbury) the girls are on. Sometimes there are chapters called 'Letters of Brookfield' and 'Letters of Ashbury', which contain three letters, either from all three penpals to the girls or from all three girls to their penpals. I liked this book better than the first book Vlinders & Vriendinnen (Feeling Sorry for Celia). I liked the charaters and there were plenty of nice plot twists (on occasion I guessed them, I usually didn't). The writing style and design of the book is similar to book 1. This story involved more characters and more themes, it had a bit more depth than book 1 I thought. It was also about 80 pages longer. I thought the different 'formats' the book uses to tell the story, were more creative and varied in this book. Overall I quite enjoyed raeding this book. The unique format of the book made for an interesting writing style and I liked the characters and the plot twists. I will continue with book 3. There exist further books in the series in English. I shall have to see if they're been translated and if so, if the library has them. Rating: (*****) (9/10) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Athena Posted July 31, 2015 Author Share Posted July 31, 2015 Jaclyn Moriarty - Ashbury / Brookfield 3: Het Ongelofelijke Schooljaar van Scarlett M. (Becoming Bindy Mackenzie) Genre: Contemporary Fiction Age-range: Young-Adult Format: Hardback (Library Loan) Pages: 478 Date read: 30-07-2015 <-> 31-07-2015 ISBN: 9789026123191 Synopsis (GoodReads): Bindy Mackenzie is the smartest girl at Ashbury High. She memorizes class outlines to help her teachers. She records transcripts of everything said around her. She offers helpful critiques for her fellow students. And she wears crazy nail polish to show she's a free spirit. But then Bindy's life begins to fall apart. She can't stop feeling sleepy and she fails an exam for the first time ever. And--worst of all--she just doesn't care. What could be the cause of all these strange events? Is it conspiracy? Is it madness? Is it . . . murder? My thoughts: After reading books 1 and 2 in this series, I went on with book 3. The books can all be read as stadnalone stories, but they include the same two schools (Ashbury and Brookfield) (though in this book Brookfield hardly plays a role). The main character of this book, Scarlett (or Bindy in the original), was mentioned a few times in book 2 and played a minor role in that book. The main character of book 1, Elizabeth and one of the main characters of book 2, Emily, play a role in this book. There is mention of certain events in these books, so in that sense the book is a little bit a spoiler for those two books (but you definitely don't need to have read them to understand this story). The book has a similar format as the previous two books, it is also telling the story solely through letters, notes and other writings (and 'typings'). I like how each of the three books uses this design slightly differently. This book contains 10 parts, containing in total 53 chapters. The book takes place a while after book 2, in the new school year (just like book 2 took place a little while after book 1). This book was enjoyable. The last third of it in particular was pretty suspenseful. I liked the characters. Scarlett (Bindy) and I have a few things in common, so sometimes I could really identify with her (I'm not sure how exactly to word this, I can only come up with things that sound wrong in English..). I also liked the other characters, and it was nice that Elizabeth and Emily play a role in this story. The format was again pretty creative and I quite enjoyed readin the story in this form. I liked the writing style. I also liked the plot twists of the book. Overall I quite enjoyed reading this book. I read it pretty quickly, these books read easily (in Dutch at least). There is a fourth book in the series according to the author's website, but it doesn't look like it's been translated into Dutch unforatunately. It also seems that the Dutch books are out of print. I'm glad the library has their copies. I really enjoyed reading the first three books in this series. I have a book by this author on my TBR (owned, unread books): The Spellbook of Listen Taylor. I'm not sure if that one is at all similar to these books, but it makes it seem promising anyway. Note: The original titles I gave in my reviews are what the book tells me its original title was. But it turns out there are different titles for Australia, the UK and the US. Just to keep that in mind. More information can be found on the author's website. Rating: (*****) (9/10) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Signor Finzione Posted July 31, 2015 Share Posted July 31, 2015 Great reviews Gaia. Hmm, I have an odd craving for lemons, strawberries and cakes now . . . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Athena Posted August 1, 2015 Author Share Posted August 1, 2015 Great reviews Gaia. Hmm, I have an odd craving for lemons, strawberries and cakes now . . . Thanks, Laura ! Haha, I'm honestly not entirely sure what they had to do with the stories to be honest, but I totally understand your craving as I felt the same while I was reading the books . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alexi Posted August 1, 2015 Share Posted August 1, 2015 I read the first in that series when it first came out as a teenager. Christ, 15 years ago. I remember really enjoying it although I couldn't tell yiu much about it now. I didn't realise it was a series - I'd have instantly bought the others! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Athena Posted August 1, 2015 Author Share Posted August 1, 2015 I read the first in that series when it first came out as a teenager. Christ, 15 years ago. I remember really enjoying it although I couldn't tell yiu much about it now. I didn't realise it was a series - I'd have instantly bought the others! That's nice to know, I'm glad you liked them . Sorry that you never found out it was a series . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Athena Posted August 3, 2015 Author Share Posted August 3, 2015 Jaclyn Moriarty - The Spell Book of Listen Taylor Genre: Contemporary Fiction Age-range: Adult Format: Paperback Pages: Date read: 31-07-2015 <-> 02-08-2015 ISBN: 9780330446365 Synopsis (GoodReads): Since Listen Taylor's dad started dating a Zing, her life has gone from unusual to downright weird. The delightfully mad Zing family live in a world of unexplained projects, coded conversations and state-of-the-art surveillance equipment - all to protect the Zing family secret, one so huge it draws them all, including Listen's dad, to the garden shed for meetings every Friday night. And Listen isn't invited. But Listen also has things she'd rather keep hidden - a secret too heartbreaking to share and an unconventional spell book (with a spell to make a vacuum cleaner break and another to make someone eat cake?!) that might be the answer to her problems. My thoughts: After reading the first three books in the Ashbury / Brookfield series (all library loans), and looking at the author's website, I realised I own a book by this author, that I hadn't read yet. So I thought I'd read it now. The book has 27 parts containing in total 57 chapters. The book is based on another book by the author, I Have a Bed Made of Buttermilk Pancakes, which she rewrote and turned into this book. The author says on her website the book is intended for young-adults, though personally (and according to her website I'm not alone in this), I would say it's a book for adults because of its themes and some of the things mentioned. This book was a bit confusing at first. We follow several characters and I wasn't sure how or if some of the storylines would tie in together. The story goes backwards and forwards in time a lot, and this confused me for a while until I began to see the patterns and until things started to make a bit more sense. I liked the characters allright enough but I had trouble telling who was who at first. I had a few issues with certain things some of the characters did. I enjoyed the second half of the book more than the first half. Once things made a bit more sense I was less confused, fo rexample, it was confusing at first that the Spell Book only seemed to play a small role, at first. I didn't enjoy this bookas much as the other three books I read by the author. The writing style of this book was less nice than in those three books and the story didn't flow as well. The first while of the book I was pretty confused about what was going on. The book could have done with more editing. Overall then I liked the book but I didn't enjoy it as much as the other three books I read by the author. The first while it was sometimes hard to get through the book. The remainder of the book was better, and I feel with maybe a re-read things might be more understandable. I was less confused in the second half of the book, and more interested. I did think about giving up on the book, but because I really liked the other three books I read by the author, I wanted to give the book a chance. The second half was more understandable as things became clear so I am glad I persisted with it. I became more interested in finding out what would happen next. The story is a bit too much all over the place and it is too confusing at first. Some of the plot twists did surprsie me though others I could see coming. It's a shame the book is, in my opinion, less good than the other three I read, I enjoyed the book less than I liked those three. Rating: (***) (6/10) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anna Begins Posted August 3, 2015 Share Posted August 3, 2015 Ouch! A 6/10. Sorry it wasn't so great, but at least it pulled itself together in the end! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Signor Finzione Posted August 3, 2015 Share Posted August 3, 2015 This sounds extremely bizarre Gaia! Shame you didn't enjoy it as much as the others (though at least there's no unnecessary food on the cover of this one ). Ouch! A 6/10. I was about to say the same thing! A 6/10 is a real damning score from Gaia - the author should hang her head in shame. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Athena Posted August 4, 2015 Author Share Posted August 4, 2015 Ouch! A 6/10. Sorry it wasn't so great, but at least it pulled itself together in the end! Thanks, I was glad for that too! This sounds extremely bizarre Gaia! Shame you didn't enjoy it as much as the others (though at least there's no unnecessary food on the cover of this one ). I was about to say the same thing! A 6/10 is a real damning score from Gaia - the author should hang her head in shame. It was bizarre! Quite different from the other three books I read. Haha, that's true, no food items . Haha, true, I don't often give low ratings . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Little Pixie Posted August 4, 2015 Share Posted August 4, 2015 Which of those first 3 books would you recommend ? Looking at your reviews, I`m wondering if the strawberry one would be the best one for me to read ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Athena Posted August 6, 2015 Author Share Posted August 6, 2015 Which of those first 3 books would you recommend ? Looking at your reviews, I`m wondering if the strawberry one would be the best one for me to read ? Yes, I would recommend the second one, with the strawberry . It's called Finding Cassie Crazy but in the US it's called The Year of Secret Assignments . The author's website lists the different titles (in case you get a copy from another country etc.). I wanted to briefly tell whoever reads this blog, something I've recently realised about my ratings. My 1-10 scale (Book Collector uses a 1-10 scale) is not equal, a 4 / 10 book is not twice as good as a 2 / 10 book. I've kind of based this system upon our school markings, you get a grade of 1 to 10. I've realised I've started rating my books, by comparing the way they made me feel and how much I enjoyed them, vs. how I felt when I got a particular grade. I mainly got 6-10's and not many low grades. Anything lower than a pass (a 5.5) made me feel terrible, so I think that's why I only rate books lower than a 6 if I'm really not enjoying them. Most of my ratings fall between 7-10, and most of my grades in secondary school were between 7-10. I realise this might not make much sense to anyone else, because it makes my scale to be kind of more like 1-5 being several degrees of terribleness, 6 being meh, 7 being not too bad, and 8-10 being three degrees of enjoyableness. Which kind of makes my ratings perhaps a bit more meaningless for other people. The five star system doesn't give me enough nuances and a system out of 100 would make rating quite difficult as I'd be comparing one book to another too much. So I'm not sure if I should change anything about the way I rate books or if so what to do with all my previously rated books. I enjoy most of the books I read, and I tend to pick ones I enjoy, usually. I do apologise to those of you who might use my ratings as guideline, as some people out there are much more critical than I am. I just like a lot of different books and enjoy them for how they are . Maybe posting this will clarify a few things though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Little Pixie Posted August 6, 2015 Share Posted August 6, 2015 Thanks - I`ve put the strawberry one in my ` purchase when I have enough books to get free p&p` list ( I like this cover even more, and the excerpt looks fun ). I`ve read a couple of books which you`ve recommended and enjoyed them. Your ratings make sense to me, and I think even if you give a book 10/10, not everyone`s going to be interested in that particular genre, even if it`s brilliant ( for instance, I like cozy mysteries which happen to have cats in them - I appreciate that not everyone will be excited about those books..) ( ) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Athena Posted August 9, 2015 Author Share Posted August 9, 2015 (edited) That is a great cover! Thanks , I'm glad to hear that. That's very true ! EDIT: I forgot to say, I decided to reward myself for starting to help my sister, so I've bought: Simon de Waal and A. C. Baantjer - De Waal & Baantjer 12: Een Schim in de Nacht Which I wanted since I knew it was out. I think I'll be reading it for the next read-a-thon, the one in September. Edited August 9, 2015 by Athena Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anna Begins Posted August 9, 2015 Share Posted August 9, 2015 EDIT: I forgot to say, I decided to reward myself for starting to help my sister, so I've bought: Simon de Waal and A. C. Baantjer - De Waal & Baantjer 12: Een Schim in de Nacht Which I wanted since I knew it was out. I think I'll be reading it for the next read-a-thon, the one in September. Oh lovely, you've been so good all year! I've already started thinking about September's read a thon too I had to push back some of the books I bough for August, like another Raymond Carver and the Howey stuff, as I picked up Nagasaki at the last minute. I hope you enjoy your new book, what is the title translation? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Athena Posted August 10, 2015 Author Share Posted August 10, 2015 Oh lovely, you've been so good all year! I've already started thinking about September's read a thon too I had to push back some of the books I bough for August, like another Raymond Carver and the Howey stuff, as I picked up Nagasaki at the last minute. I hope you enjoy your new book, what is the title translation? Thanks ! I hope the September read-a-thon will be more successful for you. 'Een schim in de nacht' means 'a shadow in the night' (though we also have the word 'schaduw'. A 'schaduw' is just any kind of shadow, a 'schim' is like a shadow of a person I guess ). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Athena Posted August 10, 2015 Author Share Posted August 10, 2015 Ann M. Martin - De BabySitter's Club 6: Een Grote Dag voor Gertie (Kristy's Big Day) (re-read) Genre: Rom-com Age-range: Children, Young-Adult Format: Paperback Pages: 120 Date read: 03-08-2015 ISBN: 9789024342181 Synopsis (GoodReads): When her mother gets married, Kristy and the other members of the Baby-sitters Club have their hands full taking care of fourteen children at the wedding. My thoughts: It was another read-a-thon and the next BSC book to re-read was this one. I'm going back and re-read the ones I didn't own in English, instead I read the Dutch ones, to complete the story. I only own some of the books in English and since re-reading the Dutch ones so far has been fun, I'm continuing with book 6 (the next one after that is book 11). It was great to re-read this book. It's not one of the most suspenseful books, but it's fun. This one was never one of my favourite BSC books if I had to pick some (in fact, I bought a couple of books that came after this one, before I bought this one, when I had to choose in the shop from a couple of BSC books with a limited amount of money). It was really nice though to read this aprt of the story. It was also nice to read about how the BSC handled babysitting fourteen children and what they did. These books were a bit educational for me when I read them as a child and young teenager, as I didn't really know a lot about children and social rules (I would still say I'm not at ease with children, they can be tiring for me heh). Anyway, I really enjoyed re-reading this book and I'll be reading book 11 next. Rating: (*****) (10/10) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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