Athena's Reading List 2016

[frankie]

Yay, happy days Enjoy!! 

[Little Pixie]

That's the problem, isn't it... I would buy more of them if I had the space to fit them in nicely. I'm sorry you haven't got more space .

 

Still, I get the vicarious thrill of other people getting new bookshelves. 

[Athena]

Yay, happy days Enjoy!!

Thanks Frankie !! 

 

Still, I get the vicarious thrill of other people getting new bookshelves. 

Haha, that's true .

[Athena]

I went to a library sale and bought:

 

Thea Stilton - Thea Stilton 14: Vijf Prima Ballerina 's (Mistero Dietro le Quinte) (this book misses its cover and the first few pages, I'm a big fan of the Stilton books)

Francine Oomen - Sam, Beer en Pip 2: Het Boek Van Beer (I read and liked book 1 in this series)

Francine Oomen - Hoe Overleef Ik... 7: Hoe Overleef Ik Met/Zonder Jou? (I love this series, I read them from the library)

Francine Oomen - Hoe Overleef Ik... 10: Hoe Overleef Ik Met/Zonder Vrienden? (see comment above, I had books 8 and 13, now I have 7 and 10 as well!)

Hanna Kraan - De Boze Heks 6: De Boze Heks Geeft Een Feest (I read books in this series when I was a child)

Paul van Loon - De Vampiertand (this author is one of my favourite Dutch horror authors)

Paul van Loon - Dolfje Weerwolfje 3: Zilvertand (I've got books 1 and 2 in this series, also from the library. There are quite a few in the series now, I felt pretty lucky it was book 3 (though I'm sure you can read them seperately too.).)

Betty Ren Wright - Deltas Tiener Bibliotheek: De Schim In Het Duister (Out of the Dark) (I read this book, and others in the series, from the library when I was a child)

Eva Ibbotson - Het Geheim Van Spoor 13 (The Secret of Platform 13) (this sounded nice)

Simmone Howell - Bekentenissen Van De Teenage Underground (Notes from the Teenage Underground) (this sounded nice)

Kluun - Klunen (this is a somewhat famous Dutch author, I've got a book by him but I haven't read it yet, I've heard from several people though it was nice. This book are some articles by him, I flicked through the book before I bought it and it seemed nice.)

Rebecca Eckler - Uitgeteld!: Het Leven Met Een Mini-Dictator (Wiped!: Life with a Pint-size Dictator) (I have another book by this author and this is kind of a sequel, I don't want children myself but I do find it interesting to read about other people's experience with them).

Marianne Frederiksson - Het Raadsel Van De Liefde (Skilda Verkligheter) (this sounded nice and I've heard good things about this author)

Jacqueline Hoefnagels and Santje Kramer - Ons Soort Mensen (this sounded nice)

John Grisham - De Verbanning (Playing for Pizza) (I've read and liked other books by this author)

Bob van Ruyten - Kroniek van Lori-el 4: Zwarte Dinsdag (this sounded nice and I liked the cover)

Jeremy Mills - Outsiders (this sounded nice)

 

 

 

 

 

 

I also borrowed some books from the library. Some are for the read-a-thon, others are not. I doubt I will get around to reading all of these, especially since I'm still reading Peter V. Brett - The Demon Cycle 4: The Skull Throne, but at least I can see what I feel in the mood for to read. I just couldn't resist all the nice books .

 

Geronimo Stilton - Geronimo Stilton 4: Het Geheimzinnige Geschrift van Nostradamuis (Il Misterioso Manuscritto di Nostratopus)

Geronimo Stilton - Geronimo Stilton 20: Prettige Vakantie, Stilton?! (L'hai Voluta la Vacanza, Stilton?)

Geronimo Stilton - Geronimo Stilton 46: Goud in Gevaar (Attacco Alla Statua d'Oro!)

Geronimo Stilton - Groene Reeks 1: Het Kasteel van de 100 Verhalen (Il Castello Delle 100 Storie)

Thea Stilton - Heksen van Fantasia 4: De Heks van Weer en Wind (Strega delle Tempeste)

Cornelia Funke - Emma and the Blue Genie

Geoff Rodkey - The Tapper Twins 1: The Tapper Wins Go To War (With Each Other)

Sabine Zett - Hugo 1: Hugo's Geniale Wereld (Hugo's geniale Welt)

Tommy Greenwald - Otto-Jan 2: Otto-Jan zegt JA tegen Slijmen (Charlie Joe Jackson 2: Charlie Joe Jackson's Guide to Extra Credit)

Lauren Oliver - Liesl & Po (Dutch)

Gonneke Huizing - Fleur 1: Cito-stress, Turntoppers & Burgpiepers

Brandon Mull - Fabelhaven 1: Fabelhaven (Fablehaven 1: Fablehaven) (* this author has been recommended to me. I don't plan on reading all four of these, not all of his books have been translated or at least the library doesn't have all of them. So if I like them upon looking at them, reading bits, skimming or maybe still reading them if I feel like it, then I will buy an English boxset of this series and such)

Brandon Mull - Fabelhaven 2: De Opkomst van de Avondster (Fablehaven 2: Rise of the Evening Star)

Brandon Mull - Spirit Animals 1: Vechten voor je Leven (Spirit Animals 1: Wild Born)

Brandon Mull - Spirit Animals 2: Op de Vlucht (Spirit Animals 2: Hunted)

 

 

 

 

 

 

I also reorganised some of my book cases and of course put books on the new one. Pictures can be found earlier in my thread here (scroll down for all the pictures).

[Anna Begins]

Plenty of room for more fantasy in pics 3 and 4

 

The Stilton's are dwindling...

[Athena]

Haha, yes there is space for more fantasy books .

 

I only own a couple of Stilton books, but I'm always happy to find some. In shops they cost so much, but whenever I see one on sale at the library I'll get it (unless I already have that one). The publisher has a special deal with the library, to supply them with Stilton books for the children to read (I'm sure in exchange for money), since in the shops it's hard to afford for children to get their own copy (maybe as a birthday gift). I think it's nice .

[Anna Begins]

The publisher has a special deal with the library, to supply them with Stilton books for the children to read (I'm sure in exchange for money), since in the shops it's hard to afford for children to get their own copy (maybe as a birthday gift). I think it's nice .

Ya, but are they in Dutch or the original Italian?   

[Little Pixie]

Ooh, lovely new books. 

 

Aw, that`s really nice of the publisher, supplying the library with the Stilton books.

[Athena]

Ya, but are they in Dutch or the original Italian? 

 

In Dutch, the library doesn't have any Italian books as far as I know. They do have English, French, German and Spanish books. But it's important to me to type the original titles as well as the translated title, when I type a list of book titles . 

 

Ooh, lovely new books. 

 

Aw, that`s really nice of the publisher, supplying the library with the Stilton books.

Thanks .

 

I think so too .

[Athena]

I read Peter V. Brett - The Demon Cycle 4: The Skull Throne. The first book in this series was my favourite. After that there became a bit less interesting, though it was still interesting enough for me to buy the next installments. I read this series as the books came out, when I read book 1 I didn't know it was going to be a series. I don't normally do this, as I don't do well with cliffhangers (as some of you may know). Book 3 ended on quite the cliffhanger (literally ). I struggled a bit in the beginning of book 4. I couldn't remember some of the characters and some events that happened.

 

Gladly, the book has a glossary / dictionary in the back of it, as well as a family tree. I actually read this first, to refamiliarise myself with the terms. During the story, especially in the beginning, I referred back to it quite a bit, looking up things. It kind of took the flow out of reading. I like to be immersed in a book, and when I come across words I don't know or characters I can't remember or references I can't remember, it takes me out of the immersion of the book and I don't like that. It makes me stop and having to think about it and look in a dictionary or such. Anyway, gladly later on in the story I didn't need to refer back to the glossary / dictionary again. It's not good for me to read a series so long apart. I do feel the author could've put a little bit more reminding in the text, of who was who and such.

 

I struggled a bit with this book, and it took me much longer to read the first two thirds of it than the last one third. It cost me a lot of energy to read this book, and because I've been quite tired, I often didn't feel like reading the book, because I was afraid it would make me even more tired (and it did). Once I got to a certain plot twist and was in the last three quarters of the book, I wanted to finish it. Because it was suspenseful and I wanted to know what would happen next, but also because I was eager to have it done with. I've been reading this book for 7 days now, which is pretty long for me, especially since I would've read more if it had been less tiring. And reading is one of the few things I can do when I'm a bit tired, so to have that be less effective wasn't something I was keen on.

 

Anyway, there were some really enjoyable parts in this story. There were also a few less enjoyable parts. There were a lot of characters, and the focus wasn't on just one or two. There were multiple main characters (I think maybe a bit too many) and at times I would've liked to see more of certain ones, than we got to see. That said, the book was still somewhat enjoyable and since I got this far I will likely get the fifth and last installment in the series. But I didn't like this book as much as I had hoped beforehand. In that sense, it was a bit of a disappointment. Part of that though is I'm sure that I had such trouble remembering things. If I were to read the series closer together, I'm sure it would be more enjoyable (the author could've put more reminders in, though). As it stands, I did enjoy the book, once I started reading it, but it took me some time to step over the barrier and sit down and read it. It could be my mojo problems, who knows. And I was tired. So, I enjoyed the book and I'm glad I read it, and I will get the next installment, but it wasn't as nice as I had hoped due to my personal problems of low energy and low memory. It was enjoyable, but I am glad to be moving onto something that's easier for my mind to read and process.

 

=====

 

Wow, this is kind of like an actual review . I guess I had a lot to say.

[Little Pixie]

I do find that some books energise you and some book really take it out of you. 

[Athena]

I do find that some books energise you and some book really take it out of you. 

I agree, that's very true.

 

I read Gonneke Huizing - Fleur: Cito-stress, Turntoppers & Brugpiepers. I read the later book in this series last year. I *think* this one was an omnibus of books 1 & 2 and the one I read last year, books 3 & 4 but I'm not 100% sure (there isn't a whole lot I can find about it online). But either way, I think I enjoyed the second one more, this one was more similar to it. I guess if I had read them the other way around, I might have a different opinion and prefer the first one. Either way, the book was still enjoyable and I liked reading something a bit easier (this is a children's book) than what I've been reading lately (I'm looking at you, The Skull Throne). The book, like the one I read last year, also reminded me of my childhood as in this book the main character does I think it's called 'gymnastics' in English, and my sister and I used to do this when we were children (and, since it's a Dutch book, I recognise a lot of the terms).

 

EDIT:

 

I read Lauren Oliver - Liesl & Po (Dutch). It was quite good, it surprised me. I wasn't sure what to expect and wasn't sure if it would be good, seeing as the Delirium series by the same author seems much more popular, but it was actually quite enjoyable . I liked it a lot.

Edited March 23, 2016 by Athena

[Little Pixie]

I liked reading something a bit easier (this is a children's book) than what I've been reading lately (I'm looking at you, The Skull Throne). 

 

 

[AbielleRose]

Sometimes you just need a nice fun light read  

[Athena]

Yep .

 

EDIT: I read Maria V. Snyder - Storm Watcher. This was a good, enjoyable story. It involves a boy, dogs, grief, fear and thunderstorms. I liked it. I wasn't expecting much of it, because while her YA series have received so much praise (mainly her fantasy YA series), I hadn't heard anything about this book. But I liked it .

Edited March 24, 2016 by Athena

[Athena]

I read John Green - Paper Towns. I finished it in one day! The book was nice. I watched the movie before seeing the book, and it was the movie that made me want to read the book. There are some differences between the two, and I thought the book did some things better, and the movie did other things better. I liked the book, but I didn't enjoy it as much as I enjoyed The Fault in our Stars and An Abundance of Katherines. I don't totally get along with how some teenage boys think , and I feel I didn't 100% get the message of the book (it was the same with the movie, but it bothered me less there, somehow I can distance myself more from the characters and don't need to identify with them as strongly). But, I did enjoy reading the book, and it was nice to see the differences between the book and the movie. The book was enjoyable.

[AbielleRose]

Looove John Green. My prized book on my shelf is a signed copy of Paper Towns.  

 

So glad you enjoyed it xx

[Athena]

Oooh I'm a bit jaleous . Thanks !

[Anna Begins]

I finally get to The Skull Throne review! This computer mess bites. I know you struggled with the dictionary/ glossary. It was nice of the book to have that though. Maybe that's why the author didn't fill in many details from previous books.

 

Now that I have started getting more into series', I am finding it might be best to follow your policy of them all being released before starting... I just can't wait like you can

[Athena]

It really does 'bite'! I agree, it's nice of the book to have it. But some details I couldn't find in the glossary. It mainly contained an explanation of Krasian words, rather than details about certain characters or events (the book calls it Krasian dictionary, not a glossary, so that makes sense). Still, it was definitely better than nothing .

 

Haha . Well, for me, having the cliffhanger in my head until the next release, feels worse, than waiting to read the series until they're all out. So that's what I generally do if I can (but there are exceptions, like with The Skull Throne). If the series is a trilogy, then I find it's not too hard to wait, unless I'm talking about it with people perhaps, but if it's a longer series, then it becomes harder as the wait will be quite long then. For example I did start to read the A Song of Ice and Fire series by George R. R. Martin, because who knows when that will be finished .

 

I ordered some books .

[Anna Begins]

I don't think it's cliffhangers that bother me so much-needed in fact it sort of makes me want to read the next book...what it's supposed to do lol. I just hate when it takes so long for the others to come out, it ruins the flow.

 

What did you get??

[Athena]

That's true, I just can't stand too much tense cliffhangers (it keeps being in my head, especially the first while). It does ruin the flow, that's true. And I tend to forget sometimes what happened, by the time the next book comes out (ie. with The Skull Throne), which is annoying. I am not one of those people who re-reads the whole series every time a new book comes out, and then ends up in having read book 1 the most, and then book 2 and so on, and the last book the least amount of times (I don't like that). I prefer to (re-)read all books the same amount of times.

 

I got:

 

Dance Chamberlain - Pretending to Dance

Dorothy Koomson - That Girl From Nowhere

Terry Pratchett and Stephen Baxter - The Long Earth 4: The Long Utopia

Brandon Mull - Fablehaven series (boxset)

Brandon Mull - Beyonders series (boxset)

John Flanagan - Ranger's Apprentice series (1-12) + the new prequel

John Flanagan - Brotherband books 1-5

 

[Anna Begins]

Oh yeah for The Rangers Apprentice (did you find the right covers?) and Brotheband! Plus, there is extra room on the fantasy shelf

[Athena]

I've got the "right" covers for some of them, for the others I was unable to find any place that sells those covers in the Netherlands. It's a shame but there's nothing I can do about it. They are Australian editions. The other covers are nice too, just not the same as the ones I'm used to from the library (I wonder how the library got ahold of them). I haven't read the new prequel yet, but I read all the other ones, I look forward to read the prequel.

 

That is true, one of my reasons why I thought it'd be okay for me to order this many fantasy books .

[Athena]

I read Scott Meyer - Master of Formalities. I didn't enjoy this as much as I did the Magic 2.0 series (3 books; one of my favourite series), but I still really enjoyed the book. The book wasn't as laugh-out-loud funny as I was expecting, but it was very amusing and enjoyable to read. I thought the whole Formalities system was very interesting, and I quite liked a lot of the characters. At first I was a bit disappointed the book wasn't as laugh-out-loud as I thought it was going to be, but then I read the book for what it was and really got into the story and understood it more, and looking back on it now I have to say it was a very entertaining book (just not as funny as Off to Be the Wizard, book 1 in the Magic 2.0 series). It did cost me a bit more 'processing power' than ie. most children's books, but it was totally worth it. I quite enjoyed reading this book.

 

I read Thea Stilton - Heksen van Fantasia 4: De Heks van Weer en Wind (Strega delle Tempeste). I didn't expect to finish this book this soon (as I also read quite a bit of Master of Formalities today), but I did. I had already read books 2, 3, 5 and 6, so I knew parts of what would happen (just not how they happened). I've got books 1 and 7 left to read now, the first and the last one. I hope I can find them some time at the library. Anyway, this book was enjoyable. I wasn't sure beforehand if I felt in the mood for it, but I started reading and found myself enjoying the book. I like the characters.

Edited March 28, 2016 by Athena