Athena's Reading List 2015

[Athena]

So yesterday I was very excited as I found some of my old books in the attic of the main house . I'd been looking for these books for many years, and I'm so happy I finally found them ! I'm still missing some of the Lijsters books, but I found a lot of other ones I'd been looking for. I was actually looking for a specific book my parents own, one that I'd read while I was in secondary school for my Dutch exam and that I suddenly felt like seeing again and reading again. I was not able to find that one but I managed to find my own books!

 

I'll start cataloguing them though it will take some time (particularly also since I doubt some of these books are well known since they are older). There are many pleasant memories attached to these books, it was so nostalgic to see all these books again! There were a couple of adult books in the boxes too. Most of the books were children's books, for young children and for older children, but there were also some old young-adult books in there. I'm very excited about all this !

 

I've got two big boxes with books and two smaller boxes with books. There are a couple of books in there that belonged to my grandmother and some that belonged to my mother, all of them gifted to me. I found a book that was gifted to me when I was born, from an old friend of my grandmother (there's an inscription in the book). I also found some books gifted to me by my grandparents from dad's side, though they were not old copies but new children's books at the time. And other books I've bought for myself, many books were gifts from my parents.

 

My mum used to read to me when I was a young child, every day before bedtime. My dad told me stories that he'd made up. Both of these things were really nice and I have many fond memories of these times.

 

I look forward to go through these books and see all these books I have many pleasant memories of .

[frankie]

That's great news! It's like finding your old friends with whom you'd lost contact and didn't think to hear from them again  

[Timstar]

Chris Wooding is a great author, good purchase

[Athena]

That's great news! It's like finding your old friends with whom you'd lost contact and didn't think to hear from them again

 

It really is !

 

Chris Wooding is a great author, good purchase

Thanks, that's great to hear .

 

I've spent the past few days sorting out the ISBNs I scanned a while ago, and have now cleaned up the database from double entries. So I can start cataloguing the boxes of books soon .

[Athena]

Thea Stilton - Het Leven op Topford 4: De Danswedstrijd (Sfida a Ritmo Di Danza!)

 

 

Genre: Contemporary Fiction

Age-range: Children

Format: Hardback (Library Loan)

Pages: 128

Date read: 25-06-2015

ISBN: 9789085921714

Synopsis (me): The Thea Sisters participate in an audition for a dancing, theatre and music course.

 

My thoughts:

 

I saw this book at the library and while my experiences with this particular series haven't been solely positive, I decided to give this book a chance.

 

It was definitely better than a few others I've read from this series, but it wasn't brilliant either. The illustrations were nice and the story was enjoyable and at times slightly funny. This is the Stilton series I like the least though, and this book didn't do anything to change that. I'm glad the book was somewhat enjoyable but I doubt I'll remember much of it a year from now.

 

Rating: (***) (6/10)

[Athena]

Thea Stilton - Het Leven op Topford 6: De Magische Muisical (Cinque Amiche Per Un Musical)

 

 

Genre: Contemporary Fiction

Age-range: Children

Format: Hardback (Library Loan)

Pages: 128

Date read: 25-06-2015

ISBN: 9789085921974

Synopsis (me): The students of the college have to perform in a musical.

 

My thoughts:

 

I had borrowed this book from the library, and since book 4, which I just finished, was passable and mildly entertaining, I thought I'd read this one too.

 

The book sort of follows after book 4, the course of that book is being referenced and some of the same characters are in this book. This book was nice but the problem with this series is that so far most of the books contain a lot of similar elements. I can imagine children might not find this a problem at all, but it just makes the books a lot more predictable to me.

 

Anyway, the book was enjoyable but not more than that. I did like the illustrations.

 

Rating: (***) (6/10)

[Hayley]

I wish we had a national night of the library!

 

It's great that you found so many good books to buy at the library sale, as well as books you wanted to loan! I really liked Stardust and loved the Lemony Snicket books.  I also read the Darren Shan book 'Demon Thief'  years ago, I can't remember much about it now but I know I liked it at the time. I also remember it was meant to have a glow in the dark cover... that never actually seemed to glow in the dark! The cover did look like the one you have, but it had a sticker on it saying that it glowed in the dark, maybe yours does!

 

How lovely to have found your old books too! I don't have many books from when I was younger, a lot of them were given away or passed down to my nephew, but I love looking at the ones I do have and remembering the feeling of reading them back then.

[Athena]

I wish we had a national night of the library!

Thanks! It was great . I think more libraries and countries should have a thing like that.

 

It's great that you found so many good books to buy at the library sale, as well as books you wanted to loan! I really liked Stardust and loved the Lemony Snicket books.  I also read the Darren Shan book 'Demon Thief'  years ago, I can't remember much about it now but I know I liked it at the time. I also remember it was meant to have a glow in the dark cover... that never actually seemed to glow in the dark! The cover did look like the one you have, but it had a sticker on it saying that it glowed in the dark, maybe yours does!

I'm glad to hear these things . That is awesome, I shall have to check that!

 

How lovely to have found your old books too! I don't have many books from when I was younger, a lot of them were given away or passed down to my nephew, but I love looking at the ones I do have and remembering the feeling of reading them back then.

I'm sorry you don't have many books, but I'm glad you have some. It is such a nostalgic joy to remember those books, right .

[Athena]

John Flanagan - Ranger's Apprentice 10: The Emperor of Nihon-Ja

 

 

Genre: Fantasy

Age-range: Children

Format: Hardback (Library Loan)

Pages: 491

Date read: 23-06-2015 <-> 25-06-2015

ISBN: 9780440869849

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

 

My thoughts:

 

I've read most of the books in this series now. Book 10 was one of the ones I hadn't read yet. The other two are books 2 and 6. I've read all the other books currently out (at the moment there have been 12 books published). The books can pretty much be read as standalone stories with the characters, though some are a bit connected.

 

Somehow I enjoyed this book less than the other books I've read of this series. I just didn't really feel like reading (in general). I don't think this is the book's fault as I read two short Stilton books while I was in the middle of this one, and I felt the same with them.

 

I felt this book took a bit longer to get going (going back and forth between characters and places) and while there was a lot of suspense I was somehow not in the mood.

 

I liked the characters. George makes an appearance in this book, which is nice since he wasn't much in the other books I've read (mainly a bit in book 1). The Emperor was a really interesting character. I also liked some of the plot twists and it was nice that some bits of the Brotherband series were mentioned. I liked that little nod.

 

The country of Nihon-Ja was interesting, though it was obvious where the author's inspirations were from (he doesn't hide this, this is how it's intended).

 

Overall then I was slightly disappointed with this book. I think most of that can be ascribed to my loss of mojo / having a reading slump / not really feeling like reading much. I do look forward to read books 2 and 6 in the series, because those are the last ones left to read (out of those currently published). I hope to find them at the library sometime. I have books 3 and 4 in the Brotherband series to read, I borrowed them from the library. There is also a book 5 but the library doens't own it yet. I might take a little break from reading for a few days, depending on how I feel. To be honest, yesterday, after finishing this book, I didn't feel like doing anything else either. So it wasn't just that I didn't feel like reading, I didn't feel like doing a lot of things. Hopefully I will feel better soon.

 

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

[Athena]

Geronimo Stilton - Geronimo Stilton 37: Red de Witte Walvis! (Salviamo La Balena Bianca!)

 

 

Genre: Contemporary Fiction

Age-range: Children

Format: Hardback (Library Loan)

Pages: 128

Date read: 26-06-2015

ISBN: 9789085921011

Synopsis (me): Geronimo goes on a holiday and meets a whale.

 

My thoughts:

 

I borrowed this book from the library. I quite like the cover, it has a lot of blue in it.

 

I hadn't been in much of a reading mood lately and I was feeling very tired this afternoon. This book then turned out to be what I needed, I was able to follow it and enjoy it even though I was tired. I read it in one go and I enjoyed it a lot. The book is educational, offering some information on whales and the environment, and even the famous Moby Dick book by Herman Melville is mentioned.

 

Overall then I quite enjoyed this book, more than most of the books I've read so far of this series. I've got two more in this series borrowed from the library.

 

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

[Athena]

Geronimo Stilton - Geronimo Stilton 51: Schattenjacht in de Zwarte Heuvels (Il Tesoro Delle Colline Nere)

 

 

Genre: Contemporary Fiction

Age-range: Children

Format: Hardback (Library Loan)

Pages: 128

Date read: 26-06-2015

ISBN: 9789085921882

Synopsis (me): Geronimo goes on a treasure hunt.

 

My thoughts:

 

I had borrowed this book from the library. This was an enjoyable story, and it was nice to read about the Black Hills. I liked the story, but not as much as the previous book I read (which was book 37, Red de Witte Walvis!). Both had a holiday theme but I preferred that one.

 

Overall then I found the book to be enjoyable. The characters were nice but some of them can be a little bit annoying! I wish Geronimo would be a little bit more assertive in this book, but I guess there would be less of a story if he was.

 

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

[Athena]

Geronimo Stilton - Geronimo Stilton 62: Geronimo Moet Verhuizen! (Geronimo Cerca Casa)

 

 

Genre: Contemporary Fiction

Age-range: Children

Format: Hardback (Library Loan)

Pages: 128

Date read: 26-06-2015

ISBN: 9789085922254

Synopsis (me): Geronimo's newspaper has gone bankrupt and so Geronimo is forced to sell his house.

 

My thoughts:

 

I borrowed this book from the library. It was an entertaining story. A few bits were predictable, but I enjoyed the illustrations and the story. It was a nice, entertaining story and it reminded me of when I had to move house.

 

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

[Athena]

John Flanagan - Broederband 3: De Jagers (Brotherband 3: The Hunters)

 

 

Genre: Fantasy, Historical Fiction

Age-range: Children

Format: Hardback (Library Loan)

Pages: 407

Date read: 26-06-2015 <-> 27-06-2015

ISBN: 9789025751166

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

 

My thoughts:

 

I've read books 2 and 1 recently, so next was book 3. I read a Ranger's Apprentice book first, to break it up a bit, and I read a few short Stilton books, because I wanted to hand them in at the library soon.

 

The book consists of two parts. This book was more enjoyable than book 2. The story had a better pacing and it was very suspenseful throughout the book. I enjoyed reading this book. I really like the characters and some of the plot twists were really well thought of.

 

Overall I really enjoyed reading this book. It had a good pacing and it was pretty suspenseful. I liked the writing style. I can't 100% imagine what happens with a ship sometimes, because I've never been on a sailing ship, so I have no idea if it would be like how I imagine it would be. I really enjoyed reading this story. The translation is again pretty good. I think reading the English version with English sailing terms might have confused me to be honest. I've got book 4 left to read, I've borrowed it from the library. I just found out the library owns book 5, so I hope to find it at the library soon too (I didn't see it today).

 

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

[Athena]

I went to the library recently and borrowed some new books. I also went to the charity shop and bought some books.

 

I already had these:

 

John Flanagan - Broederband 3: De Jagers (Brotherband 3: The Hunters)

John Flanagan - Broederband 4: De Slaven van Socorro (Brotherband 4: Slaves of Socorro

Thea Stilton - Thea Stilton 17: Paniek op Hawaï (La Leggenda Dei Fiori Di Fuocco)

Geronimo Stilton - De Drie Muisketiers (I Tre Moschettieri)

Geronimo Stilton - De Avonturen van Robinson Crusoe (Le Avventure di Robinson Crusoe)

Geronimo Stilton - Jolanda, Dochter van de Zwarte Piraat (Jolanda, La Figlia Del Corsaro Nero)

Geronimo Stilton - Fantasia 8: Fantasia VIII (Ottavo Viaggio Nel Regno Della Fantasia)

Geronimo Stilton - De Kronieken van Fantasia 1: Het Verloren Rijk (Cronache Del Regno Della Fantasia 1: Il Reame Perduto)

Geronimo Stilton - De Kronieken van Fantasia 2: De Betoverde Poort (Cronache Del Regno Della Fantasia 2: La Porta Incantata)

Thea Stilton - Princessen van Fantasia 4: De Woudprinses (Principessa Delle Foreste)

Thea Stilton - Heksen van Fantasia 5: De Heks van Stof en As (Strega Della Cenere)

 

New Library Loans:

 

Geronimo Stilton - Superhelden 4: Superhelden Tegen de Dubbelgangers (Supersquitt Contro i Terribli Tre)

Geronimo Stilton - De Avonturen van Koning Arthur (La Avventure di Re Artù)

Prunella Bat - Milla & Sugar 7: De Blauwe Maanprinses (La Principessa Luna Blu)

Prunella Bat - Milla & Sugar 8: De Heksenjager (Il Cacciotore di Streghe)

David Walliams - The Boy in the Dress

David Walliams - Joe Biljoen (Billionaire Boy)

Hilde E. Gerard and Eric Bouwens - Heinrich Ooooh 4: Heinrich Ooooh & het Grandioos Griezelige Galabal

Brian Selznick - Het Wonder Kabinet (Wonderstruck)

Walter Moers - Zamonië 3: Rumo & De Wonderen in het Donker (Rumo & die Wunder im Dunkeln)

Walter Moers - Zamonië 4: De Stad van de Dromende Boeken (Die Stadt der Träumenden Bücher)

 

 

Terre des Hommes:

 

Rhiannon Cross - Tina Topper 70: Valse Streken (The Dad Dilemma)

Miep Gies and Alison Leslie Gold - Herinneringen Aan Anne Frank: Het Verhaal Van Miep Gies, De Steun En Toeverlaat Van De Familie Frank In Het Achterhuis

Kerry Reichs - The Good Luck Girl

Henry H. Neff - Het Magische Wandtapijt 1: De Wolfshond van Rowan (The Tapestry 1: The Hound of Rowan)

Michael Moorcock - Corum 1-3: The Prince In The Scarlet Robe: The Knight of the Swords, The Queen of the Swords, The King of the Swords

Mary Gentle - Carthomancy

Mary Gentle - White Crow 1-3: White Crow: Rats And Gargoyles, The Architecture Of Desire, Left To His Own Devices

John Marco - The Bronze Knight 1: The Eyes Of God

Virginia Andrews - Hudson 1: Als Een Regenbui (Rain)

Virginia Andrews - Ruby 3: Alles Wat Schittert (All That Glitters)

Charlotte Brontë - Jane Eyre (Dutch)

 

There were some deals such as 3 voor 1 €, so that's why I picked up certain books. I couldn't resist the pretty edition of Jane Eyre even though I already owned the English one.

 

[Little Pixie]

Enjoy your books ! That Jane Eyre hardback does look good. 

 

BTW, I had no idea that Kathy Reichs` daughter was also an author ; have you read any of Kerry Reichs` other books or will this be the first one ?

 

I found a fun interview here . I especially liked this bit...

 

 

 As you were growing up how did you feel about your mom being a writer?

Kerry: When I was growing up my mother was a college professor who occasionally brought home human remains and left them in the garage or office. It was definitely hard to coax friends to sleep over! 

 

 

[Athena]

Thanks, I thought so too .

 

I haven't read any of Kerry Reichs books before, the reason I picked it up was that there was a 3 for 1 euro deal and they kind of won't let you leave without you picking a third book , so I had another look through and I liked the synopsis and the cover of the book . It sounded interesting, like a book I'd enjoy . That's an interesting interview ! Thanks for that !

[Little Pixie]

I haven't read any of Kerry Reichs books before, the reason I picked it up was that there was a 3 for 1 euro deal and they kind of won't let you leave without you picking a third book ,

 

You can find some good books that way; I think it makes you step out of your comfort zone. 

[Athena]

You can find some good books that way; I think it makes you step out of your comfort zone. 

That's true .

[pontalba]

Oh, that was funny.  When I saw Kerry (Reichs), I totally misread it and thought it said Kathy....I looked it up on Amazon because I thought it was an odd title for Kathy Reichs to have written......      I didn't know she had a daughter, and one that writes too!!  Good for them! 

I have read a bunch of Kathy Reichs books, but for me at least, they lost their zest.  I ought to go back and try her again.  It's been quite a few years since I have read any of her at all. 

 

That was a nice haul, Gaia.  LP is right, the Jane Eyre is a lovely copy!  And I think it would be fun to compare the Dutch and English versions, just to see how the translator has done their job. 

[Athena]

I didn't know that either, I haven't yet a Kathy Reichs book before (nor Kerry Reichs), but it does sound nice with the both of them being authors .

 

Thanks ! I couldn't resist the Jane Eyre copy, it's beautiful, I'm glad you like it too. That's very true!

[Athena]

John Flanagan - Broederband 4: De Slaven van Socorro (Brotherband 4: Slaves of Socorro)

 

 

Genre: Fantasy, Historical Fiction

Age-range: Children

Format: Hardback (Library Loan)

Pages: 467

Date read: -06-2015 <-> -06-2015

ISBN: 9789025758134

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

 

My thoughts:

 

After reading book 3 in the series I went on to read book 4.

 

The book contains references to earlier events in the Ranger's Apprentice series, there was a nice little reference in the book that I appreciated. The book consists of three parts.

 

What I really liked about this book was that one of the Rangers from the Ranger's Apprentice series (or Grijze Jagers as they are called in the Dutch translation) is one of the characters in this book. I really enjoyed that.

 

The book did have a few pacing problems, or maybe it's just because I don't feel much like reading. I wanted to finish this book in time before the read-a-thon though.

 

One fun thing about John Flanagan's books is, a lot of his important characters like coffee. I think that's interesting, I'm guessing the author must like coffee .

 

I enjoyed reading this book but I still don't feel much into a reading mood. I guess forcing it is no good. I might take a break from reading for the next two days so that then hoepfully I'll feel more like reading during the upcoming read-a-thon which starts Friday, three days from now (when I wrote this).

 

The book has some good plot twists but I felt the fighting sometimes took a bit long.

 

I would like to read book 5 in this series when I can find it at the library. I also want to read books 2 and 6 in the Ranger's Apprentice series, then I'll have read all books in that series, that are published so far.

 

Some spoilery thoughts on the book this review is about:

 

 

I liked that this part of the storyline was nicely wrapped up. The ending was satisfying and there wasn't a huge cliffhanger which I really appreciated, yet it did for sure let the reader know where we'll start in the next book.

 

 

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

[frankie]

Oh, that was funny.  When I saw Kerry (Reichs), I totally misread it and thought it said Kathy....I looked it up on Amazon because I thought it was an odd title for Kathy Reichs to have written......      I didn't know she had a daughter, and one that writes too!!  Good for them! 

I have read a bunch of Kathy Reichs books, but for me at least, they lost their zest.  I ought to go back and try her again.  It's been quite a few years since I have read any of her at all. 

 

That's what happened to me too Although I didn't actually look her up. Kathy Reichs's early novels were really good, haven't read that many of them though so didn't know the later ones aren't as good. Sorry Athena, I'm going a bit off topic, but pontalba, have you read Karin Slaughter's books? I'd highly recommend them. I think they are better than Reichs's novels. 

[Athena]

I don't mind you going off topic . I read one book by Karin Slaughter which I liked, so I'd be happy to hear from Pontalba about her experiences. I'm glad you enjoy them!

[Athena]

Summary and Reflection of my Reading in January-June 2015 (Q1-Q2)

 

We're half way through 2015 already! So it's time to post my usual update on my reading this year so far (so the first six months of the year). Note: When I refer to Q1, I mean the first three months of 2015 (the first quarter of 2015) and when I refer to Q2, that means the second quarter of 2015, so April, May and June. Note that these statistics below are of Q1+Q2, so the first half of 2015. See the bottom of the post for some graphs!

 

A Reflection on my Goals

 

Here are the goals I set myself, along with some commentary:

 

- 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 11 pre-orders (currently 2 more to be received) and I have read 4 of them (6 or 7 pre-orders are part of series which I need to start first.

- I plan to read more Jodi Picoult books, at least one // I read 2 books by Jodi Picoult (one more since Q2 started), so that's going well!

- I plan to read more Diane Chamberlain books, at least one // I read 1 book by Diane Chamberlain, so not any since Q1 ended. I could do better.

- I plan to read more Catherine Ryan Hyde books, at least one // I've read one Catherine Ryan Hyde book, in Q2, so that's good.

- 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 this.

- I plan to read at least one Brandon Sanderson book // I have read 6 books by Brandon Sanderson so far, though none since Q2 started. Still good though!

- I plan to read at least two Sophie Kinsella / Madeleine Wickham books // I have read 1 book by her, none since Q2 started. Going allright.

- 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 have read one book by this author this year, in Q2.

- I plan to read the Void trilogy by Peter F. Hamilton // I have read 2 out of 3 books in this trilogy and plan to read the third one not too long from now, so that's good progress.

- 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 read this trilogy yet.

- 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 have read 15 books with a horror theme, so that's great.

- I want to read at least one wintery and / or Christmassy themed book in November or December // I've read 13 Christmas and Wintery themed books so far. So that's great!

- 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 12 books so far, and we're 6 months into the year, so this is completed already!

- I want to read at least 12 books by A. C. Baantjer and / or Simon de Waal // I have read 6 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 7 read-a-thons in these 6 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 47 books so far, so this is going very well!

- I want to read more books by Francine Oomen, specifically the Hoe Overleef Ik... series // I've read 14 books by the author so far and I have finished off this series, so this is completed!

- I want to read books by John Flanagan // I have read 14 books by this author, so that's going brilliantly.

- I want to read more books on ADD and / or autism or related things // I've read 10 books so far, so this goal is going pretty great.

- I want to start and finish some series of which I own all the books // I have read 186 books that are part of series (and 60 standalone books, 1 a combination), though some of those were library loans. I started some series and finished some series (in so far as that the books have been released). I think all the series that I started were mainly library books, mainly children's and young-adult books.

- 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 (191 books by familiar authors vs. 53 books by unfamiliar authors, 3 books were a combination of that.)

- I want to read some of my Kindle Singles // I have read one Kindle Single, in Q2.

- I want to read some spring / Valentine's themed books // I have read 3 books with this theme, so not too bad.

- I want to read some summery and holiday themed books // I have read 22 books with this theme, so that's quite good.

 

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 the second half of last year. I went to one book fair and have bought books from Terre des Hommes (charity shop) and from the library, and a few books from BookDepository and a couple for on my Kindle. I bought 212 physical books. I bought 2 Kindle ebooks. I downloaded 24 ebooks for free on Kindle and I read 6 ebooks for free through their author's websites. I received 13 books as gifts. Overall I spent more on books in Q2 than in Q1, but it's still a lot better than last year. Still, I can do a bit better to be honest. I borrowed over 150 books from the library too. Money-wish the book fair made me spent the most (per book and in total).

 

- 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 half of this year. I read 73 books that I owned, 159 library books (+ 6 returned without reading them) and 4 books I read from an author's website (free short stories). So I'm getting great use out of my library card. I'm reading about twice as many library books, as my own books. That ratio is similar to Q1 (Jan-March).

 

- 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), and I have sorted out the ISBNs in Book Collector, so that's good progress. It'll be more work sorting through everything and adding all the information I want to add.

 

- 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 little bit of progress with this, but not a lot. Now that I'm buying less books, it's somehow not as interesting as I'm mainly going by what the library has available and what books I desperately must have. Still, a task for the future.

 

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

 

Days: 181 (01-01 <-> 30-06)

Total books read this year: 247

Amount of pages read (averaged): 60018

Average amount of pages per book: 243

Days per book: 0.73 days/book [i read more shorter books]

Book(s) per day: 1.4 book(s)/day

Pages per day: 332

 

Amount of books bought: 213 physical, 2 ebook(s) [more than in Q1]

Amount of books received as gifts or trades: 13

Amount of ebooks free: 24 + 4 from author's website

Amount of books pre-ordered and paid for in 2014 but received in 2015: 11

Amount of books borrowed from library: 159 read, 6 returned unread

 

Reads TBR / R (new books vs. re-reads): (220) (~89%) vs. (87) (~11%) [similar to Q1]

Male / Female authors: (83) (~34%) vs. (97) (~39%) (excluding (70) (~28%) unknowns or both genres if multiple authors) [read a bit more male authors and less unknowns or both genres)

Nationalities (from most to least): US (62)(~25%), UK (54) (~22%), Italy (54) (~22%), Netherlands (35) (~14%), Belgium (17) (~7%), Australia (16) (~6%), Germany (4) (~2%), Japan (2) (~1%), Unknown (2) (~1%) [i read more diverse countries in the first 6 months, compared with Q1)

Books from new authors vs. familiar authors: 53 (~21%) new vs. 191 (~77%) (3 (~1%) a combination) [slightly more familiar authors]

Standalones vs. series books: 60 (~24%) vs. 168 (~75%), combination 1 (~1%) [more series books]

Genres (most to least) (note: some books have multiple genres): Contemporary Fiction (93) (~32%), Fantasy (42) (~15%), , Literature (12) (~9%), Information (24) (~9%), Science-fiction (23) (~8%), Rom-com (19) (~7%), Historical Fiction (16) (~6%), Detective (21) (~4%), Horror (10) (4%), Biography (7) (~2%), Thriller (5) (~2%), 'Disney' (6) (~2%), Paranormal (4) (~1%)

[more horror, more fantasy, less contemporary fiction, more historical fiction, less detective, less biographies, more information]

Type: Textbooks (including books with a few small illustrations, ie. at chapter headings) (~113)(~46%), Illustrated (126)(~50%), Comics (8)(~3%), Manga (1)(~1%), Graphic Novels (0)(0%) [similar to Q1]

Format: Paperback (60)(~24%), Hardback (no flappy bits) (175) (~70%), Hardcover (2) (1%), Kindle (6)(2%), Ebooks on website (4)(2%) [slightly more variety in formats]

Ageranges: Children's (136)(~55%), Young-Adult (48)(~19%), Adult (63)(~26%) [more children's books and less young-adult books]

Fiction vs. Nonfiction: Fiction (215) (~87%) vs. Non-fiction (11) (~7%), Combination (4) (~1%) [slightly more non-fiction and less fiction]

Languages: English (96) (~39%), Dutch (132)(~53%), Flemish (19) (8%) [less English and more Flemish]

Original language vs. translated book: Original (149) (~60%) vs. Translated (98) (~40%) [slightly more translated works]

Publication Years: 1980-1989 (3) (~1%), 1990-1999 (22) (~9%), 2000-2009 (67) (~27%), 2010-2015 (153) (~62%), Unknown (2) (~1%)

[more from 2000-2009, less from 2010-2015]

Original publication years: Pre-1930 (1) (~0%), 1930-1939 (1) (~0%), 1940-1949 (2) (~1%), 1950-1959 (1) (~0%), 1960-1969 (0) (~0%), 1970-1979 (2) (~1%), 1980-1989 (11) (~4%), 1990-1999 (21) (~8%), 2000-2009 (102) (~41%), 2010-2015 (99) (~40%), Unknown (8) (~3%)

[less 1980-1989, more 1990-1999, more 2000-2009, less 2010-2015]

Ratings: 1 (0) (~0%), 2 (0) (~0%), 3 (2) (~1%), 4 (1) (~0%), 5 (3) (~1%), 6 (11) (~4%), 7 (16) (~6%), 8 (67) (~27%), 9 (83) (~33%), 10 (64) (~26%)

[more 6, 7, 8, less 9, less 10]

Average rating: 8.6 [0.1 lower]

Male protagonist(s) vs. female protagonist(s): Male (102) (~41%), Female (93) (~37%), Both (27) (~11%), N/A (no main characters) (26) (~11%)

[less female characters, more books with no main characters, ie. information books]

Page numbers x per book: x < 300 pages (173) (~70%), 300 < x 500 pages (62) (~25%), x > 500 pages (12) (~5%)

[i read more shorter books]

Page numbers x per book: x < 100 pages (16) (~6%), 100 < x 199 (102) (~41%), 200 < x 299 pages (55) (~22%), 300 < x 399 pages (36) (~14%), 400 < x 499 pages (26) (~11%), 500 < x 599 pages (8) (~3%), 600 < x 699 pages (1) (~0%), 700 < x 799 pages (3) (~1%), 800 < x 899 pages (0) (~0%), 900 < x 999 pages (0) (~0%), x > 1000 pages (0) (~0%)

 

Reading per month: January (30) (~12%), February (27) (~15%), March (32) (~13%), April (53) (~21%), May (48) (~20%), June (47) (~19%)

 

Overview

 

I have read 247 books in Jan-Jun of this year. I've read the most in April, then May, then June. I read a lot more in the past three months, than in the first three months of the year (Q2 vs. Q1). I didn't think I'd read this many books. I would have loved to have made 250 but the last few days of June I wasn't in a reading mood, and I didn't want to read a few short books for the sake of upping the total because it wouldn't feel genuine. Still, I read more books than I thought I would. I read 99 books in Jan-March, so I definitely read more in Q2 (148 books). (previous statistics: Jun-Dec 2012: 43 books, 2013: 143 books, 2014: 254 books). I read ~60018 pages in January-March 2015 (in comparison, I read ~18000 in Jun-Dec 2012, ~37000 pages in 2013 and ~62932 pages in 2014). So I read almost as many pages in the first half of 2015, as in the whole of 2014. The average page count per book was 243, which is lower than in Q1. I read more shorter books and not so many longer ones. I took 0.73 days on average to finish a book, and I read about 1.4 books per day. I only read 12 books which had more than 500 pages (which is twice as much as the 6 I read in Q1), but I read more shorter books (< 300 pages) and less medium length books (300 < x < 500 pages).

 

Genres

 

I read from a variety of genres, a greater variety than in just Q1. I still read a lot of contemporary fiction, but not as much as in Q1. I also read less detective books and less biographies. Instead I read more horror, more fantasy, more historical fiction and more information books. I also read quite a few books with a summer, autumn or winter theme. I read a couple of books with a spring theme, but that's mainly Valentine's Day and I don't know of a lot of books about that (they'd have to be rom-coms or contemporary fiction books, generally).

 

New reads and re-reads

 

I read slightly more new books compared with re-reads. Most of the books I read were new books to me, but about 11% were re-reads. I believe most of the re-reads were older children's books I read when I was younger.

 

Gender of authors

 

It's almost evenly split between male authors, female authors and multiple authors where there is at least one person of each gender, such as the Stilton books, or where I've been unable to look up the gender of the author. Not entirely evenly split, I read slightly more by female authors.

 

Gender of main characters

 

I read a similar amount of books with male and with female main protagonists, with some books having both genders as main characters and others not having a character due to them being an information book. The statistics are pretty similar to those of just Q1.

 

Nationalities of authors

 

I read from more diverse countries in the first half of 2015, compared with just Q1. The US, UK, Italy and the Netherlands are still the top ones, but I read some more books from Australia, Belgium and Germany.

 

Familiar or new authors

 

I read slightly more familiar authors, compared to new ones, in Q2 compared with Q1. Overall I read a lot more books by familiar authors than by new ones. What generally happens is that I find a nice new author at the library, and then I read several of their books. So the first time it's a new author, but the rest of the books count for familiar author. If it'd be 'books read by authors discovered this year', the amount of that would be higher than new authors.

 

Series and Standalones

 

I've read quite a bit more series lately. Though it should be said, some of these series are actually standalone stories with the same characters. The amount of series that involve one continuing storyline, is significantly less.

 

Type of books

 

The ratio of illustrated books (mainly children's books) vs. 'text'books stayed about the same. I read a couple of comics too.

 

Format

 

I read a larger variety of formats. Most of the books were hardback (no flappy bit, and most of these were library books), some were paperback, but I also read a couple of hardcovers, Kindle ebooks and ebooks from the author's website.

 

Age-ranges

 

I read a lot of children's books and less young-adult books in the Q2. The ratio of adult books that I read stayed about the same. I seem to be more in the mood for less complicated books, though I read a fair amount of adult and young-adult books too.

 

Languages

 

I read more Dutch than English books, and I read some Flemish books. It's been quite some time since I read more Dutch than English books. 60% of the books I read were read in the original language, 40% were a translation .

 

Publication Years

 

Most of the books I read were published more recently, but I read less really recent books (2010-2015) and slightly more older books (2000-2009). Originally publishing wise, I read more books from both 1990-1999 and from 2000-2009 and less of 2010-2015.

 

Ratings

 

It's interesting that I overall read more mediocre and slightly lesser brilliant books in Q2, compared with Q1. The average rating went down by 0.1 and overall I had less 9's and 10's and more 6, 7 and 8's. I didn't abandon any books, other than the Stories on the Go which was in the first three months somewhere.

 

Conclusive Comments

 

Overall then I can say that my reading keeps evolving. I'm enjoying finding nice books at the library and reading a lot of their books. I'm also enjoying reading my own books. I'm enjoying books from various age ranges and genres. I haven't read this many books in a long time and while I am leaning more towards the shorter books, I do enjoy a variety of things and I'm happy with my reading. Buying wise I could do a bit better, but I'm definitely doing better than last year. The library really helps with this. I'm also slowly making progress with my book database in Book Collector and my wishlist has been put on a lower priority as I'm trying not to buy so many books and I'm often going by what I can find at the library (so I don't really need to get out my phone to check if it was on my wishlist or not, since I can borrow it for free I just see there and then if I feel like reading it). And what areas of the library I go to, depends on what pops into my head, though there are several areas I pretty much always visit. Anyway, my reading keeps evolving and that's a good thing, I think.

 

In the following posts I will post some graphs for good measure. I made an image with all of them but for some reason Dropbox isn't working , so I will just make several posts with images attached. I can't attach the big image or the forum shrinks it down and then it's not readable anymore.

 

EDIT: Here's the link in case it does work:

 

Edited July 1, 2015 by Athena

[Athena]