Percy Jackson Books 3 and 4

I said I would post next when I had finished books three and four of the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series and here I am, posting :)  I cannot explain how fun and easy these books are!  I am flying though them!

Percy Jackson and The Titian's Curse is book three in the series.  Percy is halfway through his grade eight year and is called upon by his friend Grover to lead a rescue mission during Christmas break.  Percy and his friend Annabeth, along with the newest member of their group, Thalia, go to the school where Grover is stationed to bring a couple of half bloods back to camp.  The mission goes badly when Annabeth is lost to the bad guys, but Percy, Thalia, and Grover are able to rescue the two new half bloods with the help of Artemis and her hunters.  The new half bloods are Bianca and Nico.  Bianca agrees to become one of Artemis' hunters once she finds out that she is a half blood, but it means leaving her little brother behind.

Once the group gets back to camp they find out that Artemis has gone missing and the hunters receive a prophecy from the Oracle to go on a quest.  Zoe (the leader of the hunters) chooses Bianca, Thalia, and Grover to go on the quest with her, leaving Percy behind.  Of course, Percy decides to follow them in order to help save Annabeth.  The group sets out on another quest where lives are lost, prophecies are explained, and the evil Titan Lord gets closer to rising back to power. 

The fourth book in this series is called, Percy Jackson and the Battle of the Labyrinth.  In this book, Percy, Annabeth, Tyson, and Grover must enter the Labyrinth to stop Luke from getting his evil army into Camp Half-Blood.  They are racing against time to find their way to the center of the Labyrinth where Daedalus's workshop is, so that he might help them stop Luke.

This book is full of surprises!  I really enjoyed this one - it tied up some loose ends from previous books and we got to see Percy finally noticing Annabeth as a bit more than a friend.  This book doesn't have the happy ending that the rest have.  Many people die, and the half-bloods are now only one year away from the horrible prophecy possibly coming true.  I sort of remember how the series ends, but can't remember all the details, so I am excited to read the last book in this series again!

Percy Jackson and The Olympians Series

I read this series a few years ago, but wanted to re-read them since I really couldn't remember much of what happened in them, just bits and parts.  I originally borrowed the books, but a couple of months ago I saw the entire 5 book series in a boxed set on Amazon for less than $30, so I decided to buy it knowing that I wanted to re-read them.

The author of this series is Rick Riordan and the first book is called, "The Lightning Thief".  The series focuses on a boy named, Percy Jackson who is 12 years old and in this first book he finds out that he is a demi-god (half human, half god).  With the help of his friend Grover (who turns out to actually be a satyr disguised as a human), Percy gets to Camp Half-Blood where he finds out that his father is Poseidon.  Percy is selected to go on a quest (he invites his friend Grover, and a girl named Annabeth who is a daughter of Athena, to go with him) to find out who stole Zeus' master bolt and return it to him in Olympus.  The three friends face many monsters along the way, they also discover a traitor in the camp, as well as an even bigger problem that is sure to come up in later books.

This book is a great start to the series.  It is full of adventure, mystery, and you actually learn a surprising amount about the Greek Gods and their mythology.  It's a quick and easy read, but very well written.

The second book in this series is called "The Sea of Monsters".  We meet up with Percy at the end of his grade seven year at another new school.  He has made a new friend named Tyson and with the help of a surprise guest (Annabeth) they are able to get away from the school before it is over-run by a bunch of Cannibals!  The three of them make their way to Camp Half-Blood for another summer only to find it much changed.  The tree that protects the borders of the camp from monsters has been poisoned!  Percy has also been having strange dreams about Grover who seems to be in trouble and need his help.  Percy, Annabeth, and Tyson (who Percy finds out is a good cyclops and his half brother) sneak out of the camp after a rival camper (Clarisse, daughter of Ares) is given the quest to find the golden fleece that will save the camp.  They all must travel through the Sea of Monsters in order to retrieve the fleece and save Grover from having to marry (or be eaten) by the cyclops Polyphemus.  After nearly dieing a few times, they make it back and the fleece saves the camp, but another unexpected thing arises from healing the tree.  Thalia, daughter of Zeus, is freed from the tree and is once again amongst the campers of Camp Half-Blood! 

Will post again after I read the next two books of the series :)  Love these books, they are so fun to read and always keep you on the edge of your seat!

New Black Dagger Brotherhood Book!!!

I have been waiting for this book for nearly a year!!!  Love this series so much - it is awesome and I recommend it to anyone who likes a good straight talking vampire who knows how to treat a lady like gold ;) 

The newest book in this series by J.R. Ward is called "Lover Reborn" and focuses on the Black Dagger Brother, Torhment who had lost someone very close to him in one of the previous books.

It is hard for me to say much about this book, because it will ruin a lot of surprises in the books that came before it - you definitely need to read this series in the proper order because each book builds on the story lines from the other ones, even though each book focuses on a different Brother.

Torhment needs to find a way to move on in this book and we see him struggle through making new relationships, mending old ones, and realising that it's ok be happy again.  I really liked this book and Torhment has always been one of my favourite Brothers, so it was great to see him finally get his happy ending after going through so much in the other books.

Can't wait for the next book in the series and I'm really hoping it will be about Qhuinn and Blay (I'm sure Xcor and Layla will be in there too) - going to be amazing!

To learn more about this series visit J.R. Ward's webpage: http://www.jrward.com/bdb

Clockwork Prince

This is the second book in the Infernal Devices series by Cassandra Clare.  I was super excited to read this book because the first one was so good and had quite the cliff hanger ending that left me with a lot of questions.

This book starts a few weeks after the previous one ended.  Tessa, Will, Jem, and the rest of the London Institute occupants are summoned to a Council meeting where their actions from the first book are under review.  The meeting does not go very well and the members of the London Institute find themselves in a difficult situation - the must discover the plans of the man who calls himself The Magister within the next two weeks! 

Tessa, Will, and Jem help the others to try to figure out what the Magister wants and where he is, but in doing so they discover a traitor living amongst them.  This traitor does however, help them discover a lot about one of their rival Shadowhunters, as well as some of what the Magister has been up to.  There are some lives lost and many changed because of this traitors actions, but the London Institute's occupants become better for learning the truth.

Throughout this story we see Tessa become much closer with Jem, even though she still has feelings for Will.  This triangle comes to an unexpected place, where Tessa does choose one of the boys, but I am not sure if I like her decision or not.  Hopefully more will develop in the next installment.

Anyways, didn't want to give much away since this is a series of books.  I did love this one just as much as the first book in the series, maybe even more since this story looked into the past for many of the characters and we got to see more into each of the relationships in the story.  Can't wait for the next book, although I will probably have to wait another year for it :(

Book Club Book #2

It has been awhile since I have read a book from book club - bad me.  I didn't get a chance to read the February choice for the book club that I am a part of, but made sure I made the time to read March's pick!  March's book club book was called "The Secret Daughter" by Shilpi Somaya Gowda.  This book was great!  We had a fabulous time discussing it last week and were even treated to one of the dishes mentioned in the book (thanks Pryia for cooking for us)!

The Secret Daughter is written from multiple character's perspectives and over the course of about 25 years.  It begins in a small village in India with Kavita giving birth to her second child whom she gives up for adoption.  Daughter's in a small village like this are rare because the families cannot afford them; this is why Kavita's first child (another daughter) is killed the night she is born.  Kavita cannot stand the thought of her second daughter's life ending before it has even begun so she gives this daughter up.

We next meet Somer and Krishnan a couple who has been unsuccessful in having a child of their own.  They are both doctors who met in medical school (Somer being originally from California and Krishnan from Mumbai, India).  Krishnan's mother gives the couple the idea of adopting a child from his home town of Mumbai and the couple go to India to pick up their daughter.  We find out the the daughter they are to be adopting is the one that Kavita had given up earlier in the book.  Somer and Krishnan instantly fall in love with their new daughter and are determined to do everything for her back in California where they now live together.

The book explores the lives of Somer, Krishnan, and their new daughter Asha, as well as Kavita and her family.  The author impressively depicts the struggles that each family goes through; finding their own family unit despite cultural differences (Somer, Krishnan, and Asha) and just being able to survive in the Mumbai slums (Kavita and her family).  We get to see Asha grow up and return to the place she was adopted from as she discovers her Indian roots, as well as her parents learning who they are and how they missed out on things because of their lack of communication throughout their marriage.

This book was fantastic!  I learned a lot about India, which was very interesting and the story that the author wove was exciting, sad, happy, and even frustrating at times.  All in all, a great choice for book club - we definitely had a lot to discuss!  Looking forward to reading this month's choice :)