Here it is! My second wrap-up for this year! 🙂 At this rate I’ll reach that 25 book goal before the first half of the year is done. Corona virus and being at home help to read a lot and it helps me relax, so it’s all win-win! I don’t really think you should aim too high with reading challenges, because otherwise you’ll just spoil the fun of reading, which is something I’m preventing at all costs.

Anyway, the wrap-up! My second one of this year, which means I’ve completed 10 books by now! Let’s have a look at what I read!

If cats disappeared from the World — Genki Kawamura

We picked up this book for our cat-book collection and this book just looked great! Especially if you take off the dust jacket! We both didn’t really know what this book was really about and as it was labeled as being “literature” I was a bit anxious to start my read through. This is because what people consider literature can differ a lot and usually it’s not really my cup of tea, just like modern art. I’ll try to write a blog about it sometime soon to further explain my dislike of the term. I think people should just read whatever they like, without being judged about whether something is literary enough, or not.

But this book… Wow, I just couldn’t let go of it! Which is quite the opposite of what I had expected. The book really managed to touch my soul and I just couldn’t stop reading until I finished it! This made me realize just how much of a monster Bren has created 😛 This book is a must read and I rated it five stars!

De smaak van hemel & hel — Dineke Ypeij

Bren bought this book because it’s about bipolar disorder and the story seemed very compelling. Because I like reading about the subject to better understand Bren and her disorder I decided to include this one in my TBR for this period. The title sounded very promising “The taste of heaven & hell” if you freely translate it from Dutch.

While reading this book I quickly found out it was mostly a biographical work and what happened to the protagonist was all based on the writer’s life, but I couldn’t help but shake that feeling that everything that had happened to her was “doable”. It was far from the things Bren told me what happened in her life, or the hardships a lot of people with bipolar disorder type 1, or depression run into when it comes to being misunderstood, or shunned. It wasn’t a bad book, but I had expected more, especially because the writer said she wanted to support people who have bipolar disorder, or people who know someone who has it. Nowhere in the book I found any helpful tips, nor lessons I thought were useful. That’s why I didn’t rate this book higher than three stars.

The Quantum Astrologer’s Handbook — Michael Brooks

This book was one of those you instinctively pick up in a bookstore because it just calls to you. This was a biography and science book in one. With a unique way of telling the story, sounds good, right?

Well, I found the story telling in this book lacking a little bit. I loved the biographical parts, but I found the parts about quantum theory rather dull. I have many books in my collection that explain the theory in a much better way. The way this book was written it just felt a bit forced to suddenly explain all kinds of theories and math. I really didn’t like the execution of this unique idea. That’s why I rated the book three stars.

A Guide to the Good Life — William B. Irvine

This book was on my wishlist for quite some time and when I got it as an X-mas gift from Bren I was so happy! ^_^ I love ancient Greek and Roman philosophers and the stoics are the ones I particularly look up to. I really find myself drawn to their school of thought. A lot of people might think I’m crazy, but those old geezers really knew their stuff! 😉

My expectations for this book were rather high, but I’m glad to say it really did hit the nail on the had. This book is perfect if you don’t really know much about the stoics and their philosophy of life. You get some history, some theory and the book ends with tips on how to apply stoicism to your life. It’s something I did partly, but with help of this book, I furthered my practice even more! It’s a must-read as far as I’m concerned and this book was given a five star rating. Not very surprising, eh? 😛

Star Wars – Thrawn: Treason — Timothy Zahn

The last part of the new Thrawn trilogy! Was it a good one? People who know me know I’m a huge Star Wars nerd, but I am critical and I definitely don’t like all books. But Timothy Zahn rarely fails to deliver! I really love the artwork on the dust jacket too! The menacing image of Emperor Palpatine in the background and the lighting with the red and blue really finished the cover! I love it!

This story was all about the intrige and political games that were being played by the Emperor’s subjects surrounding project Stardust, or the Death Star. Director Krennic (from Rogue One), Grand Moff Tarkin and many other key Empire players are all present in this novel. It’s a rollercoaster ride from start to finish with lots of space battles and a sinister plot against the Galactic Empire to boot! A worthy finish of the trilogy. I couldn’t do anything but give this a five star rating!

Conclusion

Without bragging, I think I made a good selection this time around! Not all books were great, but they were all enjoyable reads. All of them have been given good ratings and some of them are absolute must-reads. Now I’m going to select five new ones and I’ll share what I’m going to read this coming time with you tomorrow!

Happy reading!

~Jeffrey