The Enchantress by Michael Scott

This is the 6th and final book in the Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel series. This series was awesome. The characters were great and action was non-stop with just enough humor and sarcasm thrown in to make it a great read.


As with all endings, it is tough to analyze it clearly. Did the right people live or die? Did it unfold as you imagined? I think it is always difficult to judge the last book of a great series well because by that point, our own imagination has determined how the story should end. I don't know. The last book is always difficult.

But fans won't be disappointed, I don't think!

Skulduggery Pleasant- Death Bringer

The Skulduggery Pleasant series by Derek Landy (an Irish author) is one of my all-time favorite series. The fast-paced dialog and wit make me laugh out loud! The characters are incredible and the action is non-stop.

This is the 6th book in the series of nine. The first three were published in the US, but now they have stopped publishing the rest here. I don't know why. I am trying to find out. So, I have been purchasing the series from the UK Amazon store! Just got this one in.

I was not disappointed! Great book. But one of the main characters, Valkyrie, who started off in the first book at age 12 is now almost 17. So, the books have matured slightly. Also, since these books were published for the UK, there are words used that are unfamiliar. Just a warning...but I stilled loved it! The first books I said were fine for 4th grade and up, but now I would probably say 7th and up on this one.

Just to recap, Skulduggery Pleasant is a sorcerer, an undead skeleton and a detective. He teams up with a "normal" teenage girl, named Stephanie, after her uncle Gordon, who has friends with Skulduggery, was murdered. Skulduggery teaches Stephanie magic and the two go off on adventures to fight the evil in the world of sorcerers.




Inheritance by Christopher Paolini

850 pages later and I am done! And now I must say good-bye to Eragon, Saphira and Arya! 

This is the final book in the series. It was a good read and I enjoyed it. One day when I have time and I wanted to be whisked away to another world, I will sit down and read all four books again one after the other.

This is one of my favorite series because I liked the characters, the adventure, the battles and the good overcoming the evil. All my favorite elements in a story. A story where you are taken to a new world and you can see it all in your imagination. As always, it is a bit sad to say good-bye to characters that you like.

So Many Books...So Little Time

I have gotten so behind in my reading! Darth Paper Strikes Back by Tom Angleberger was hilarious. Now, I have started Leviathan by Scott Westerfeld because my daughter loves this series and the third book in this trilogy just came out.
I am also reading Sparrow Road by Sheila O'Connor.

It's the summer before seventh grade, and twelve-year- old Raine O'Rourke's mother suddenly takes a job hours from home at mysterious Sparrow Road- a creepy, dilapidated mansion that houses an eccentric group of artists. As Raine tries to make sense of her new surroundings, she forges friendships with a cast of quirky characters including the outrageous and funky Josie.

Together, Raine and Josie decide to solve the mysteries of Sparrow Road-from its haunting history as an orphanage to the secrets of its silent, brooding owner, Viktor. But it's an unexpected secret from Raine's own life that changes her forever.

Leviathan
This is World War I as never seen before. The story begins the same: on June 28, 1914, Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife are assassinated, triggering a sequence of alliances that plunges the world into war. But that is where the similarity ends. This global conflict is between the Clankers, who put their faith in machines, and the Darwinists, whose technology is based on the development of new species. After the assassination of his parents, Prince Aleksandar's people turn on him. Accompanied by a small group of loyal servants, the young Clanker flees Austria in a Cyklop Stormwalker, a war machine that walks on two legs. Meanwhile, as Deryn Sharp trains to be an airman with the British Air Service, she prays that no one will discover that she is a girl. She serves on the Leviathan, a massive biological airship that resembles an enormous flying whale and functions as a self-contained ecosystem. When it crashes in Switzerland, the two teens cross paths, and suddenly the line between enemy and ally is no longer clearly defined.

Inheritance

On November 8th, the 4th and final book in the Inheritance Cycle will be out!

If you have never read Eragon, Eldest and Brisingr, start reading these awesome books NOW before the final book is released. I have to reread them myself because it has been some time and I forgot where they left off.

The Betrayal of Maggie Blair by Elizabeth Laird

Maggie Blair is an isolated, illiterate girl who lives alone with her mean grandmother on a tiny island in 17^th century Scotland. Her life consists of hard work and not much else. Maggie is a strong character who proves herself to be more sensible than those around her even before she learns to read. This is a solid historical novel about a witch scare and the true-to-life persecution of Scottish Presbyterians by the English King Charles II.

The witch scare, trial and hanging are only the beginning. It goes on to cover a part of history that is not well known and it does so from Maggie's perspective which is very thought-provoking. Great book for 7th grade and up.

Between the Shades of Gray by Ruta Sepetys

This novel offers a harrowing and horrifying account of the forcible relocation of countless Lithuanians in the wake of the Russian invasion of their country in 1939.

What a beautifully written book. It was extremely heartwrenching to read, but very eloquently written. It is a great historical fiction novel for 7th graders and up.