It's Monday! What Are You Reading?

WHAT I READ LAST WEEK

It had been far too long since I intended to read Harry Potter, so last week I embarked on a Harry Potter marathon and my mind was ready . It was about time I took them off my shelf. Now I can finally say I read the books!  I enjoyed watching the movies as an added benefit and it was a rewarding experience, I only wish I'd had some butterbeer to drink or some Honeydukes Ever flavour beans or Fizzing Whizzbees.

The Philosopher's Stone (Harry Potter #1) by J.K. Rowling

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I'm finally in the mood to reading Harry Potter. I admit after watching the movies, it did take away the enjoyment but I promise NEVER again to watch a movie until AFTER I've read the book.

I don't know how many times I began reading the Philosopher's Stone only soon abandoning it because all's I could see were the images I'd already seen on screen and afterall, I own the movies and can just pop the DVD in and watch it because the movies are so good but alas, there had always been a few details that I missed.


The Chamber of Secrets (Harry Potter #2) by J.K. Rowling
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Wow, that was unreal!

When Harry is with the Dursley's you can't help but feel sorry for him because of being treated so unfairly by his Muggle Family. However, everyone knows about Harry Potter , the boy who lived. He's quite famous in the wizarding world because of the scar on his forehead. When he was a baby his mother sacrificed herself to save Harry from Voldemort. We know that it was the love for her child that defended him but Voldemort's a complex character that we won't fully understand until the very end apparently.

Dobby the house-elf tries to persuade Harry not to go back to Hogwarts because he's terrified of the evil plans against Harry, his intentions are good but Harry ends up with a load of grief not just from the Dursley's but from Hogwarts too. School didn't start off on the right foot for Harry or Ron Weasley as Dobby had blocked off the wall leading to platform 9 3/4 and they missed the train and had to borrow Mr. Weasley's flying car and crashed into a Whomping Willow. They both were in major trouble all because of Dobby's good intentions. *sigh

Ginny Weasley got hoodwinked in Voldemorts dark powers. Mr. Malfoy put an object of dark magic inside her basket of schoolbooks. It was a diary that belonged to Tom Riddle. She was unaware that he was controlling her and it almost killed her and some of the students at Hogwarts including Harry , but Harry and Ron figured it out and were able to solve the game of Clue and save the day.


The Prisoner of Azkaban (Harry Potter #3) by J.K. Rowling
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I liked this one for all of the hullabaloo in Hogsmeade. The letter Harry received while on the train from Sirius Black was awwwwwwesome.




The Goblet of Fire (Harry Potter #4) by J.K. Rowling
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Ugh! How frustrating and stupid Cornelius Fudge is! I was outraged that before Bart Crouch could bear testimony to Voldemorts rising again, Barty was killed by a dementor! AND on top of that Cornelius didn't believe Voldemort was back again even after Harry Potter saw him rise before his eyes! even after Cedric died there in the graveyard! It was a very sad ending and the only ones who seemed to have gained anything this year was George and Fred Weasley. Harry Potter gave the thousand galleons he won from the Tri Wizard Tournament to them.

I would've never guessed who the culprit was who'd been spying at Hogwarts the whole time right under everyone's noses. From the beginning the story flowed quite nicely and now that I've read it, I understood a lot more than I'd perceived from watching the movie.

Something we learn by reading the book that we don't see in the movie was that Rita Skeeter was an Animagus who transformed herself into a black beetle. That's why she was able to write in depth stories about things to put in the Daily Prophet Newspaper.

I've been on a Harry Potter book/movie marathon for the past week starting with the Philosopher's Stone. I have to say the movie cuts out a lot of insightful information however I thought the tent the Weasleys stayed in looked better in the movie ha! The house elfs were completely left out in this movie whereas Winky played a big role and so did Dobby and the rest of the Hogwarts house elves.


The Order of the Phoenix (Harry Potter #5) by J.K. Rowling
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I really dislike Dolores Umbridge . She truly destroyed all the beauty and glory from Hogwarts and she deserved more than what she got. Her and her stupid *hem-hem* UGH! I would've wanted rather her die than well....Sirius Black. Oh the injustice! Her and the minister both disbelieved Harry and Dumbledore about the fact that Voldemort was back, and ruined the school. It was a nightmare. A NIGHTMARE!


The Half-Blood Prince (Harry Potter #6) by J.K. Rowling
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Hagrid crying over Aragog the giant spider was kinda silly as was his brother Grawp. I mean Grawp was silly and Harry should've known who the half blood prince was . He should've known who that textbook belonged to and shown it to Dumbledore. I liked Professor Slughorn for eventually helping Harry to see the last thread of truth about Voldemorts Horcruxes. Harry's private lessons with Dumbledore were very interesting. A bit of hard investigation on Dumbledores part I'd say.


The Deathly Hallows (Harry Potter #7) by J.K. Rowling
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

That was SO fun. I must admit I've always had a crush on Snape. He has a very powerful mind. Dumbledore on the other hand is a bit too old for me lol but he knew the difference between good and evil for sure. These two characters are what made the story great, exciting even.

Like Aberforth, I liked Dobby and I was sad he died.
I loved-to-hate The Malfoys, Narcissa, Lucias and Draco. It was touching to see how great their mother and son bond was.
The Weasleys could've all been from the house of Ravenclaw instead of Gryffindor, for their wit was a treasure indeed.
Hermione was only the stronger for being half-blood or a Mudblood as Draco so often called her.

I am very glad to have read the Harry Potter books. They cleared up a lot of the missing pieces and I gained information the movies failed to transmit. I urge everyone to read the books! I have been a bit obsessed over Harry Potter since I started reading them.

WHAT I'M CURRENTLY READING

Since I finished The Hobbit recently I am currently on another marathon. The Lord of The Rings . I just finished with book 1 of The Fellowship of the Rings : The Ring Sets Out .


The Ring Sets Out (The Lord of the Rings, Book 1) by J.R.R. Tolkien
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

There aren't many books that are written quite like this anymore. It is a well written fantasy about Hobbits mainly Bilbo Baggins and his nephew Frodo, who had come upon the unfortunate findings of a Ring . The ONE ring to rule them all...etc that was lost long ago and picked up by Smiegle. This ring is the sole connection between The Hobbit and The Lord of The Rings. I must say that I adored The Hobbit and I can't wait for the last movie to come out. How exciting.

Frodo is so sweet and kind as are most Hobbits, which I find quite fascinating and satisfying. The Elvens are also a peaceful and gentle people who make suitable friends of Hobbits.

The adventures of Frodo Baggins thus begins in the Shire and in this installment, ends near the Elven territory of Rivendell, called The Ford. I kept looking for signs of where Bilbo journeyed approximately 80 hobbit years ago. Where Frodo and Company arrived at the 3 stone Trolls they sat down and ate. How wonderful it was to be in the same vicinity as Bilbo! Oh and at the watchtower of Amon Sul that is where the Orc leader in The Hobbit stationed his army and one of them was killed for his failed attempt to kill Thorin Oakenshield. Herein is where the Dark Riders stabbed Frodo in the shoulder.

Of course I've watched the Lord of The Rings movies years ago, but it's immensely rewarding to read along with the Audiobook Read by Phil Dragash on youtube. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9jYdUf...

WHAT I PLAN ON READING

I will continue my book marathon until I finish the 7th and last LOTR book . The Appendix

The Chamber of Secrets (Harry Potter #2)

HARRY POTTER and the Chamber of Secrets by J.K. Rowling

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Wow, that was unreal!

When Harry is with the Dursley's you can't help but feel sorry for him because of being treated so unfairly by his Muggle Family. However, everyone knows about Harry Potter , the boy who lived. He's quite famous in the wizarding world because of the scar on his forehead. When he was a baby his mother sacrificed herself to save Harry from Voldemort. We know that it was the love for her child that defended him but Voldemort's a complex character that we won't fully understand until the very end apparently.

Dobby the house-elf tries to persuade Harry not to go back to Hogwarts because he's terrified of the evil plans against Harry, his intentions are good but Harry ends up with a load of grief not just from the Dursley's but from Hogwarts too. School didn't start off on the right foot for Harry or Ron Weasley as Dobby had blocked off the wall leading to platform 9 3/4 and they missed the train and had to borrow Mr. Weasley's flying car and crashed into a Whomping Willow. They both were in major trouble all because of Dobby's good intentions. *sigh

Ginny Weasley got hoodwinked in Voldemorts dark powers. Mr. Malfoy put an object of dark magic inside her basket of schoolbooks. It was a diary that belonged to Tom Riddle. She was unaware that he was controlling her and it almost killed her and some of the students at Hogwarts including Harry , but Harry and Ron figured it out and were able to solve the game of Clue and save the day.

Mr.Mercedes ( Unnamed Trilogy #1)

Mr. Mercedes by Stephen King
Audiobook narrated by Will Patton
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Brady 'Honeyboy' Hartfield is one creepy and disturbed character whom I could believe is real because of such people like Ted Bundy. I was engrossed in page after page of how the perpetrator was so close yet failed to get caught. How did that happen? Brady may have evaded getting caught in the City Center Massacre that killed 8 people but he was never going to allow anyone to take his recognition as a massive killer away from him as he prided himself in it. Ugh! what a sicko! He may have promised Hodges the retired detective -DET RET that he would never do it again, but he had plans on killing again.

Even though I'd enjoyed a few books by Stephen King, I am not a big fan. He's such a cynic and he shows it in his writings on just about everything. i.e.:

"To Hodges she looks like Princess Leia after a year on the Karen Carpenter diet?"

really? I was interested in the characters like Jerome and Holly; the main "heroes", but I was sad about what happens to Hodges' love interest Janey, because I liked her a lot.

Waiting on Wednesday - The Silkworm

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly meme that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating. To view all the participants visit Jill@Breaking the Spine

From the best selling author J.K Rowling comes the 2nd book in her series of murder mysteries written under the pseudonym of Robert Galbraith. Strike is back and I look forward to seeing what crime he has to solve this time.

The Silkworm (Cormoran Strike #2)

Expected Publication: 19th June 2014

A compulsively readable crime novel with twists at every turn, The Silkworm is the second in the highly acclaimed series featuring Cormoran Strike and his determined young assistant Robin Ellacott.

When novelist Owen Quine goes missing, his wife calls in private detective Cormoran Strike. At first, she just thinks he has gone off by himself for a few days – as he has done before – and she wants Strike to find him and bring him home.
But as Strike investigates, it becomes clear that there is more to Quine’s disappearance than his wife realises. The novelist has just completed a manuscript featuring poisonous pen-portraits of almost everyone he knows. If the novel were published it would ruin lives – so there are a lot of people who might want to silence him.
And when Quine is found brutally murdered in bizarre circumstances, it becomes a race against time to understand the motivation of a ruthless killer, a killer unlike any he has encountered before…

The Hobbit: J.R.R. Tolkien

THE HOBBIT by J.R.R. Tolkien

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

The audiobook is phenomenal. I really like the voices of the characters. You can actually listen to the audiobook free on youtube HERE.

Brief Summary

Whisked away from his comfortable, unambitious life in his hobbit-hole in Bag End by Gandalf the wizard and a company of dwarves, Bilbo Baggins finds himself caught up in a plot to raid the treasure hoard of Smaug the Magnificent, a large and very dangerous dragon...

After I read the book I watched The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug. Need I say that the book and the movie are as different as hot and cold are? Honestly.

I thought the book was ....a brilliant and even cute fantasy adventure. When I saw The Desolation of Smaug I was shocked at how it'd become a dark and dangerous series of events. The trouble with Orcs hunting the dwarves in the book hadn't been much of an issue. Talk about harassing! Those Orcs are so infuriating, in fact in the Children of Hurin Orcs did rule middle earth.

Anyway, the best parts of The Hobbit were the encounters with: the trolls, the Goblin caves, meeting Gollum, the orcs and the wolves, the flight of the Eagles and Beorn...uh, the spiders and the dwarves being captured by the Elven King, Bilbo rescuing them in crates and floating down river to safety. NO ORCS!

I then had to watch The Hobbit:An Unexpected Journey. I must say I was relieved at how much I liked it more but I still recommend you read the book. Even in the forest of Milkwood with the spiders and the faeries. The visuals made it frightening. In the book Beorn the skinchanger (the bear) was their friend and it was the Goblins that almost killed the dwarves, NOT the Orcs! We shall have to see what happens to Smaug in the last movie of The Hobbit Trilogy: There and Back. I already know what happens however.

What I didn't like about Thorin is how he became a greedy sob with the treasure and because of that The Battle of Five Armies came upon Thorin on the mountain. Other than that there was nothing I didn't like about the book and I recommend reading it.

View all my reviews

Endlessly (Paranormalcy #3)

Endlessly by Kiersten White

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Book Description 

Evie's paranormal past keeps coming back to haunt her. A new director at the International Paranormal Containment Agency wants to drag her back to headquarters. The Dark Faerie Queen is torturing humans in her poisonous realm. And supernatural creatures keep insisting that Evie is the only one who can save them from a mysterious, perilous fate. The clock is ticking on the entire paranormal world. And its fate rests solely in Evie's hands. So much for normal.

So. I'm finally getting around to read the final installment of Paranormalcy.

What is so special about Evie that she is qualified to open a gate so the paranormals stuck on earth can waltz on through? I must have forgotten the part that explains that. Of course there is so many ridiculous twists and turns about this world but particularly in Endlessly I noticed that Evie was so busy with school and her relationship with Lend that she totally neglects the more important things to do on her list , like saving the world . I understand totally being 17 years old and all. She just wants to live a normal life. I get that she doesn't want any part of the IPCA anymore which is cool. They changed and Mrs whatever whatever is a snotty old hag who is working with the evil fairy's who want to kill Evie and the rest of the paranormals. I didn't think Evie should have been responsible for that whole business of saving the world even though she did succeed with the help of a few of her friends, and proved remarkable, it seemed like a dirty and thankless job. Ha! This book wasn't serious but it was fun.

About the Author

Hi! I'm the New York Times best-selling author of Paranormalcy and Supernaturally. I also give the most awkward hugs in the world. You should probably opt for one of my books over one of my hugs, but then again, maybe you like awkward hugs.
As for me, I like writing flirting scenes, and fighting scenes, and sometimes I write scenes that fall somewhere in between the two, but only if I can't avoid it.

Website

The Children of Húrin (Middle-Earth Universe)

The Children of Húrin by J.R.R. Tolkien

Christopher Tolkien (Editor), Alan Lee (Illustrator)
Genre: High Fantasy
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

The Children of Hurin was amazing, and I love the illustrations, but what a tragic ending! Hurin was finally released from Morgoth's bondage and was reunited with his wife Morwen, but it was too late!

I loved that Turin slays the dragon (Glaurang) like Hercules. I loved the Fey in Lord of The Rings and this story too.


The story concentrates on a Man of the House of Hador, Túrin Turambar, and his sister Niënor Níniel, who are cursed along with their father Húrin by the Dark Lord Morgoth. The events take place more than 6,500 years before the War of the Ring.

According to the Tolkien Estate:

The Children of Húrin takes the reader back to a time long before The Lord of the Rings, in an area of Middle-earth that was to be drowned before Hobbits appeared, and when the great enemy was still the fallen Vala, Morgoth, and Sauron was only Morgoth's lieutenant. This heroic romance is the tale of the Man, Húrin, who dared to defy Morgoth, and his family's tragic destiny, as it follows his son Túrin Turambar's travels through the lost world of Beleriand...

[source]

My Favorite Scene: 

The Death of Glaurung The Dragon

"Turambar, Turambar, come back! Hear Me! Awake! For it is Niniel. The Dragon is dead, dead, and I alone am here by you."

Skin Game: The Dresden Files #15

SKIN GAME by Jim Butcher

Genre, Urban fantasy
Hardcover, 454 pages
Published May 27th 2014 by Roc Hardcover
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Harry Dresden is stuck on the Island of Demonreach situated somewhere in the middle of Lake Michigan, reluctant to get off because of that 'thing' living inside his brain, he spends his time getting in shape ; chasing monsters. So far, we don't know what this 'parasite' is we heard so much about in Cold Days, that is causing Harry so much pain but it will kill him if he doesn't get it out and the only one who can help, is of course Mab Monroe, the queen of faery; except he hasn't seen her in well over a year.

When she arrives out of the blue one day, Harry fears she wants something, naturally. She doesn't come bearing gifts, but tells him to put on an earring meant to keep the creature at bay and relieve his suffering and to come with her immediately. I am worried about the assignment that's in store for Harry. Agh!

Mab uses Harry to pay off a debt she owes Nicodemus Archleone that forces him to work alongside the Denarians in performing a bank heist, and the bank vault belongs to Hades, the greek god of the underworld. Oh Snap! The team travels to the underworld via Marcone's vault.

Book Characters

•  The team includes Nicodemus' daughter Deirdre(bad), Goodman Grey(good guy), Binder(greedy but good), Anna Valmont(good), Hannah Ascher(bad), Genoskwa(bad), and, at Harry's insistence, Karrin Murphy(good). You do not want to mess with Genoskwa. He's ugly and eats goats for breakfast and Harry learns a very painful lesson in keeping his mouth shut around this guy. Other characters are Nicodemus' wife, Polonius Lartessa, usually called Tessa Dr. Waldo Butters. I was disappointed that Bob the Skull didn't make much of an appearance. :(. Harry could've used him on more than one occasion. We see Michael Carpenter fighting alongside Harry again. Molly appears at the end for a bit. Harry's daughter, Maggie plays more of a role, however, that spirit thing that inhabited Harry's brain? Harry's pregnant? what? what was that all about? That was wierd. I didn't understand even though it felt like a major plot theme of a future book that began in Cold Days .

Favorite Scene Quote 

“Do you know my dog's name? [...] 
"It is from an ancient word, kerberos. It means 'spotted.'" I blinked. 
"You're a genuine Greek god. You're the Lord of the Underworld. And . . . you named your dog *Spot*?

About Jim Butcher

Jim Butcher is the author of the Dresden Files, the Codex Alera, and a new steampunk series, the Cinder Spires. His resume includes a laundry list of skills which were useful a couple of centuries ago, and he plays guitar quite badly. An avid gamer, he plays tabletop games in varying systems, a variety of video games on PC and console, and LARPs whenever he can make time for it. Jim currently resides mostly inside his own head, but his head can generally be found in his home town of Independence, Missouri.
Jim goes by the moniker Longshot in a number of online locales. He came by this name in the early 1990′s when he decided he would become a published author. Usually only 3 in 1000 who make such an attempt actually manage to become published; of those, only 1 in 10 make enough money to call it a living. The sale of a second series was the breakthrough that let him beat the long odds against attaining a career as a novelist.
All the same, he refuses to change his nickname.

http://www.jim-butcher.com/

Waiting on Wednesday-

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly meme that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating. To view all the participants visit Jill@Breaking the Spine

I can't wait for the Dark Artifices series by Cassandra Clare because we will hopefully see glimpses of the characters we have all come to know and love again and they will be older and I love the Mortal Instrument series so....

Lady Midnight is the first book in The Dark Artifices trilogy , which is coming in late 2015/early 2016.

Clare’s third Shadowhunter Chronicles series will focus on Emma Carstairs and the Blackthorns of the Los Angeles Institute five years after the events of City of Heavenly Fire. Emma, Julian and other characters first made an appearance in City of Heavenly Fire setting up a new world of Shadowhunters.

SYNOPSIS

Expected Publication: MARCH 2015

Los Angeles, 2012. It’s been five years since the events of the Mortal Instruments when Nephilim stood poised on the brink of oblivion and Shadowhunter Emma Carstairs lost her parents. After the blood and violence she witnessed as a child, Emma has dedicated her life to the eradication of demons and being the best, fastest and deadliest teen Shadowhunter since Jace Lightwood. Raised in the Los Angeles Institute, Emma is paired as a parabatai with her best friend, Julian. As Emma hunts those who caused the death of her parents, the trail they’re following leads back to those they’ve always been taught to trust. At the same time, Emma is falling in love with the one person in the world she’s absolutely forbidden by Shadowhunter Law to love. Set against the glittering backdrop of present-day Los Angeles, Emma must learn to trust her head and her heart as she investigates a demonic plot that stretches from the warlock-run nightclubs of the Sunset Strip to the enchanted sea that pounds the beaches of Santa Monica.

Here are snippets from LADY MIDNIGHT, the first installment in THE DARK ARTIFICES trilogy

Snippet #1

The cycle hit the beach and spun out. Emma went into a rolling crouch as she flew free of it, keeping her elbows in, pushing the air hard out of her lungs. She turned her head as she hit the sand, slapping her palms down to roll herself forward, absorbing the impact of the fall through her arms and shoulders, her knees folding up into her chest. The stars wheeled crazily overhead as she spun, sucking in her breath as her body slowed its rolling. She  came to a stop on her back, her hair and clothes full of sand and her ears full of the sound of the wildly crashing ocean….

In the Afterlight (The Darkest Minds #3)

by Alexandra Bracken
Hardcover, 496 pages

Expected publication: October 28th 2014

Ruby can't look back. Fractured by an unbearable loss, she and the kids who survived the government's attack on Los Angeles travel north to regroup. With them is a prisoner: Clancy Gray, son of the president, and one of the few people Ruby has encountered with abilities like hers. Only Ruby has any power over him, and just one slip could lead to Clancy wreaking havoc on their minds.
They are armed only with a volatile secret: proof of a government conspiracy to cover up the real cause of IANN, the disease that has killed most of America's children and left Ruby and others like her with powers the government will kill to keep contained. But internal strife may destroy their only chance to free the "rehabilitation camps" housing thousands of other Psi kids.
Meanwhile, reunited with Liam, the boy she would-and did-sacrifice everything for to keep alive, Ruby must face the painful repercussions of having tampered with his memories of her. She turns to Cole, his older brother, to provide the intense training she knows she will need to take down Gray and the government. But Cole has demons of his own, and one fatal mistake may be the spark that sets the world on fire.

About Alexandra Bracken

Alexandra Bracken was born and raised in Arizona, but moved east to study at the College of William & Mary in Virginia. She recently relocated to New York City, where she works in publishing and lives in a charming apartment overflowing with books. 

You can visit her online at www.alexandrabracken.com or on Twitter (@alexbracken).

Skin Game Teaser: The Battle of Octokong.

I just started Skin Game by Jim Butcher guys and I LOVE IT!. I chose a quote from Chapter 10 where Dresden, Hannah Ascher and Anna Valmont are stuck in a ritzy hotel in Chicago and are running away from the Octokong .  Harry named them cause he figured if they had a name then they weren't so scary . They could've been Octogorillataurs or Gorilloctopi :/. Just so you know there is no title for the chapters in this book . I just named it that.

Skin Game by Jim Butcher

The Battle of the Octokong - Chapter 10

"There," I snapped at Ascher on the way down. "We got her out and she's helping. You happy?"
"Yeah, Dresden," she said, her tone cross. "I'm happy. I'm thrilled. I'm freaking joyous. Now shut up and run."

My review: City of Heavenly Fire (Mortal Instruments #6)

CITY OF HEAVENLY FIRE by Cassandra Clare

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I didn't want it to end because I will miss Simon, Jace, and all the gang but I plan to re-read it.

What I didn't expect from reading the last book of the Mortal Instrument series was the introduction of two new characters that promise to have a fulfilling lifetime ahead of them in the Dark Artifices series which continues with Emma Carstairs and Julian Blackthorn who allegedly become parabatais AND are in love. I wasn't much into reading about Emma and Julian in City of Heavenly Fire when there was already so much going on. On the other hand, reading about Brother Zacharias aka Jem Carstairs and Tessa Gray was worth all the glitter in Magnus' loft and then some.

Magnus Bane also revealed some secrets of his own [Asmodeus *cough ]
Sebastian aka Jonathan Morgenstern [dies in the end. ] I know big surprise right? But, the way it was done and how, you'll have to find out for yourself by reading the book. I didn't care about the other characters who died , honestly.

I hope in the upcoming books we will read about Isabelle aka Izzy Lightwood being an Iron Sister but that prediction is just way too far off . On the other hand I don't think she would make a good wife but you never know.

As for Simon the vampire, I definitely miss him like all his other downworlder friends do, but [he's not dead anymore! I wonder if chairman meow could spark some of Simons memories. Did I mention he lost his memories? When the gang found themselves in Edom, with no escape, Simon bargained his soul in exchange for a safe passage, only he would never remember his downworlder friends , BUT he would be human again and alive with a beating heart! Simon never liked being a vampire anyway so I could see how much he wanted it. I don't blame him but if it were me I wouldn't mourn his loss because that is what he wanted and they should've rejoiced instead, but meh, they just couldn't stay away from him and with a little of Magnus' magic they get Simon to remember things , sort of *shrugs* . ] I don't see how Simon could ever live a normal life and I feel they are putting themselves and Simon again in jeopardy. Poor guy lol.

The pursuit of Sebastian in the realm of Edom was a lot of fantastic and unexpected but intense and enjoyable moments including the deliverance of Clary's real brother. It was after the portals were destroyed with the hope of ever escaping, that Cassie, Jace, Simon, Isabelle, Alec, Magnus, Luke and Jocelyn , had to find a way home [and that is when Simon made a bargain with Asmodeus, the Prince of Edom. ]

View all my reviews

About City of Heavenly Fire -Author's Synopsis

“In the long-awaited conclusion to the acclaimed Mortal Instruments series, Clary and her friends fight the greatest evil they have ever faced: Clary’s own brother.
Sebastian Morgenstern is on the move, systematically turning Shadowhunter against Shadowhunter. Bearing the Dark Cup, he transforms Shadowhunters into creatures out of nightmare, tearing apart families and lovers as the ranks of his Endarkened army swell.
The embattled Shadowhunters withdraw to Idris  — but not even the famed demon towers of Alicante can keep Sebastian at bay. And with the Nephilim trapped in Idris, who will guard the world against demons?
When one of the greatest betrayals the Nephilim have ever known is revealed, (The Fairy Queen allies with Sebastian) Clary, Jace, Isabelle, Simon, and Alec must flee — even if their journey takes them deep into the demon realms, where no Shadowhunter has set foot before, and from which no human being has ever returned …
Love will be sacrificed and lives lost in the terrible battle for the fate of the world in the thrilling final installment of the classic urban fantasy series The Mortal Instruments!”

*This is the beautiful illustration that is hidden on the inside hardcover books jacket

About Cassie

Cassandra Clare was born to American parents in Teheran, Iran and spent much of her childhood travelling the world with her family, including one trek through the Himalayas as a toddler where she spent a month living in her father’s backpack. She lived in France, England and Switzerland before she was ten years old. Since her family moved around so much she found familiarity in books and went everywhere with a book under her arm. She spent her high school years in Los Angeles where she used to write stories to amuse her classmates, including an epic novel called “The Beautiful Cassandra” based on a Jane Austen short story of the same name (and which later inspired her current pen name). After college, Cassie lived in Los Angeles and New York where she worked at various entertainment magazines and even some rather suspect tabloids where she reported on Brad and Angelina’s world travels and Britney Spears’ wardrobe malfunctions. She started working on her YA novel, City of Bones, in 2004, inspired by the urban landscape of Manhattan, her favourite city. She turned to writing fantasy fiction full time in 2006 and hopes never to have to write about Paris Hilton again. Cassie’s first professional writing sale was a short story called “The Girl’s Guide to Defeating the Dark Lord” in a Baen anthology of humor fantasy. Cassie hates working at home alone because she always gets distracted by reality TV shows and the antics of her two cats, so she usually sets out to write in local coffee shops and restaurants. She likes to work in the company of her friends, who see that she sticks to her deadlines. 

City of Bones was her first novel.

It's Monday! What Are You Reading?

It's monday what are you reading is a weekly meme hosted by Sheila @Book Journey,  where we share the books we have read and are currently reading and plan on reading. We encourage everyone to visit as many other participants as possible

Here are the 4 books I read last week along with my reviews if you click on their book covers.

 

I'm currently RE-reading

 City of Lost Souls

I plan on reading 

Skin Game by Jim Butcher. The hardback only cost a small fortune

Harry Dresden, Chicago’s only professional wizard, is about to have a very bad day…. Because as Winter Knight to the Queen of Air and Darkness, Harry never knows what the scheming Mab might want him to do. Usually, it’s something awful. He doesn’t know the half of it…. Mab has just traded Harry’s skills to pay off one of her debts. And now he must help a group of supernatural villains—led by one of Harry’s most dreaded and despised enemies, Nicodemus Archleone—to break into the highest-security vault in town so that they can then access the highest-security vault in the Nevernever. It’s a smash-and-grab job to recover the literal Holy Grail from the vaults of the greatest treasure hoard in the supernatural world—which belongs to the one and only Hades, Lord of the freaking Underworld and generally unpleasant character. Worse, Dresden suspects that there is another game afoot that no one is talking about. And he’s dead certain that Nicodemus has no intention of allowing any of his crew to survive the experience. Especially Harry. Dresden’s always been tricky, but he’s going to have to up his backstabbing game to survive this mess—assuming his own allies don’t end up killing him before his enemies get the chance….