Happy New Year!

Well, it's 2012 and it's time to get rolling! I took a break from blogging for awhile, but now I am back with some reviews of books that I read over the holidays!

This is a new companion series to the wonderful Ranger's Apprentice series by John Flanagan. If you read the Ranger's Apprentice and are sad that it ended, this new series is for you. It is very similar in a sense to Ranger's Apprentice- great characters, life lessons, right versus wrong, overcoming hardships, loyalty, learning how to be a man, action and adventure, etc. So, I really enjoyed this first installment! Great reading and I can't wait until the next one!

It's 1952 and the Scott family has just moved from Los Angeles to London. Here, fourteen-year-old Janie meets a mysterious apothecary and his son, Benjamin Burrows - a fascinating boy who's not afraid to stand up to authority and dreams of becoming a spy. When Benjamin's father is kidnapped, Janie and Benjamin must uncover the secrets of the apothecary's sacred book, the Pharmacopoeia, in order to find him, all while keeping it out of the hands of their enemies - Russian spies in possession of nuclear weapons. Discovering and testing potions they never believed could exist, Janie and Benjamin embark on a dangerous race to save the apothecary and prevent impending disaster.

I read this book in one sitting. I really enjoyed it. It combined historical fiction and fantasy together in a exciting read.