The Magician: The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel

Whew. I finished this at the physio yesterday. I've figured it out, the physio is part of the reason I've been devouring book...I spend an hour 2-3 times a week lying on her table with the acupuncture needles or vibrating cup things or heat on my leg and that gives me a nice quite hour to read. No kid. No phone. No husband. No chores. No distractions. I also spend about 30 minutes each session on the bike and elliptical, so there's that too...

Anyway.

The Magician mostly takes place in Paris and introduces some new characters like Machiavelli and Joan of Arc. Seriously. It also provides more information on Nicholas Flamel's background and I'm beginning to wonder about him...

I've mentioned my obsession with London and how I always feel homesick when I read a book about it over there, but I also have this thing for Paris. I always wanted to go to Paris and for a while I thought I wanted to live there. And then I visited Paris and I didn't like it. And then I visited it again and I figured it would be fabulous the second time, but I didn't like it. But you know what, I visited it again and I still didn't like it.

But I still want to go back...especially after reading books about Paris (like this one) so I'm now in "Let's visit Paris" mode.

I'm still enjoying this series - I love all of the characters - the traditional mythology ones and the quirky others (Hi there Joan)...I am planning to do some background reading once my library book pile is substantially reduced.

Clockwork Prince

Ahhh...I've been waiting for this book for ages...and it came out last fall, but the waiting list was huge! I had to get it back right away too as there are something like 200+ people waiting for it after me!

Where do I start?

I really should have reread, or at least skimmed, Clockwork Angel before I started Clockwork Prince. I read it so long ago that I had trouble recalling some of the basics of the plot...I feel like this is a series (along with the Mortal Instruments) that will one day find it has a home on my bookshelves...

Will and Jem. Tessa. Jessamine and Sophie. The Fairchilds. The Herondales. Mortmain. Vampires. Shadowhunters. Downworlders. The Clave. The Institute. The Silent Brothers. I don't even know where to start.

I think I might actually like the Infernal Devices more than the Mortal Instruments, but that may just be my London obsession showing...

I like Tessa and she reminds me of Clarry - both in her innocence of a world she is part of but didn't grow up in and her overall being. I still haven't figured out WHAT she is (but that's probably the point!) or why she was in the City of Glass...

This booked was fast paced and not without some interesting twists and turns. I finished it much faster than I thought I would, which might be why I feel like I need to reread parts of it.

I'm torn between Will and Jem and I'm not sure if Tessa made the right decision...And I'm still mad about the last few pages of City of Fallen Angels. I'm itching for the next Cassandra Clare book - City Of Lost Souls is out in May.

Has anyone read any Cassandra Clare? What do you think about Will and Jem? And (totally about a different book) what do you think of the last scene in City of Fallen Angels?

The Alchemyst: The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel

I have had this book waiting in the wings for so long...and I had to finish it last night because the library wants it back today. I can't wait to start the second book, but before I do that I have another book that the library wants back on Tuesday that I have to finish first. Because I know I won't be able to renew it because there were something like 200 people on the waitlist after me. But more about that book in a few days.

The Alchemyst was book number nine in February. I got off to a slow start to the month - only two books in the first seventeen days, but I made up for it with seven books in the last twelve days. I don't think that's a sustainable number for me, but whatever, this month it happened. I happened to have a four day holiday that involved a plane ride and two sick days in the last part of the month, so that likely helped me out.

I had seen the various books in this series floating around the library for a few months and finally was able to grab the first three a few weeks ago. And then, after I had them, the series was highly recommended by a couple of friends, so I figured I had chosen some winners.

This book was great - I love how modern times and mythologies of multiple cultures are interwoven. I love the characters. I do not love how these books have made me acutely aware that I have little knowledge of most mythology...but I can easily remedy that! I keep looking characters up on the internet, just like Josh.

Once I'm done this series I think I need a break from the YA Fantasy genre...Ancient mythologies might be a good choice...we'll see...