The City of Ember by Jeanne DePrau

Rating 2.5 out of 5

"It is always night in the city of Ember. But there is no moon, no stars. The only light during the regular twelve hours of "day" comes from floodlamps that cast a yellowish glow over the streets of the city. Beyond are the pitch-black Unknown Regions, which no one has ever explored because an understanding of fire and electricity has been lost, and with it the idea of a Moveable Light. "Besides," they tell each other, "there is nowhere but here" Among the many other things the people of Ember have forgotten is their past and a direction for their future. For 250 years they have lived pleasantly, because there has been plenty of everything in the vast storerooms. But now there are more and more empty shelves--and more and more times when the lights flicker and go out, leaving them in terrifying blackness for long minutes. What will happen when the generator finally fails?" Blurb from Amazon.com

I found this book to be very average. It was a good light read but nothing great. I apologise this review will be short and light on. I read this book before I got sick and the memory is now vague basically it did not leave a big impression on me and I would not rush out to read the rest of the series. There is not a lot to say really especially when my memory is failing me on this book.

The story line of this book is interesting and the world created is imaginative. I kept reading mostly to learn about the society created.

After reading this book I was suprised a movie had been made, after watching it I know why. The movie only really captures the essence of the book and even made some stuff up complely. Didnt like the movie much either in case you couldnt guess.

On a personal note my blog might suffer from a bit of neglect over the coming year. I will try to post as frequently as possible but I cant garantee anything. First thing though is to catch up on my reviews that are out standing!

Finger Lickin' Fifteen by Janet Evanovich

Rating: 5 out of 5

Stephanie is at it again. She and Morelli are currently off again and she is struggling to bring in the skips to earn her cash. Ranger is having some “security issues” and hires Stephanie to investigate his staff. Meanwhile Lula witnesses the murder of celebrity Chef Chipotle and enters the bbq spare ribs cook off in an effort to catch the killers and get the reward of $1 million.

Where to begin, firstly I think this is Evanovichs best for a long time. While I sniggered and giggled through the last couple of adventures they were just good to ok. This book is a return to Evanovich form. I could not stop laughing in this book and even had to stop reading at one point I was laughing so hard.

Lula and Grandma Mazur really are stealing the show now and are just as funny here. Most of my tears inducing laughter spots involved Lula and Grandma Mazur. I really thought this book might be the one where Stephanies mother has a complete and utter break down. The poor woman must have drunk the whole bottle of her secret liquor stash and said enough hail Mary’s to cover most of The Burbs.

I was turned off Ranger a little in this book. I’m not sure why but I found him to be a little bit of an arrogant prick in the way he spoke to Stephanie. Some of his comments I was just waiting for a “woman” to be tacked on like “get my beer woman”. I cant say I have ever noticed this before but if it was there previously it didn’t bug me like it did in this book.

Stephanies life seems to be in limbo and she admits this herself during the book. I really hope this signals a change in terms of the whole Morelli, Ranger, Stephanie love triangle thing. I think the triangle has really run its course and needs a resolution of some kind.

A great fun read. Definately worth the effort.

An Unplanned Absence

Just a quick note to say I am sorry for disapearing for the last six weeks but I have been terribly ill and only recently felt well enough to get back on the PC. I wont bore you with details but I am slowly on the mend.

I wont even try to catch up on everyones blogs. When I looked at google reader and saw I had missed 400 odd posts I just thought "no way can I catch up on those". So I decided to just start from scratch. For the time being I am just going to be more of a lurker then a commenter. I will try to comment here and there but as I wont be on the internet that much comments will be restricted.

I hope to start posting reviews again soon but for now I am on hiatus.

The Alchemyst: Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel by Michael Scott (Book 1)

Rating 4.5 out of 5

Sophie and Josh are twins. They are currently living in San Francisco with their Aunt while their parents are away on an archaeological dig. When they land jobs in the same street; Josh in a book shop and Sophie in a tea shop the twins think that life is good. Their world is turned upside down when they get caught up in an ancient battle between an ancient race called the Elders. They soon learn the lovely elderly couple who ran the book store Nic and Perri are in fact Nicholas and Perennelle Flammel. Now Josh and Sophie are on the run for their lives as the sinister John Dee pursues them looking for Nicholas and the infamous book.

I was loaned this book by a work colleague who highly recommended it. To be honest I did not know anything about this book and put off reading it for awhile. Then I picked it up and decided to give it a go. I don’t know why I was so reluctant to read it I just was which is strange.

Well straight away I was drawn in. What an exciting book. There was lots of action and adventure that made the story tick along. There were no real slow spots. The author was able to balance the need for explanations, character development and fast paced action.

The mythological aspect of this book is really fascinating. I believe all the characters bar Sophie and Josh are mythological beings from history. There were Celtic gods (The Morrigan), and Egyptian gods (Bast). Then there were the characters who were based on actual historical people who might be borderline mythical themselves such as the alchemists Nicholas Flammel, his wife Perenelle and Dr John Dee. From what I could see on the net the author captured all these characters backgrounds accurately. Scatty was my favorite character she knew how to kick ass (which she should being th founder of several martial arts) and was pretty cluey on the kids and what they were thinking.

Sophie and Josh were an interesting mix. Sophie being calmer and more level headed, and Josh being short tempered and suffering foot in mouth disease. They behave more like brother and sister not twins (which they also admit to in the book themselves). The kids are not orphaned which seems to be a popular way of getting parents out of the picture in Young Adult novels these days. However the parents are effectively out as they are away on an archaeological dig leaving the kids basically alone.

The author did a wonderful job bringing the world the book is set in alive. While part is set in the “human” world some is also set in the “magical” world. When he described the World Tree I felt like I was standing right at its base with the characters. Also the story is told from a few different point of views both male and female. The author did a great job with this as well with neither gender falling into a stereotype.

The main thing I really enjoyed which I have already mentioned was the mythological aspect and it is clear the author did his homework. Any kids reading this book will inadvertently get a bit of an education about deities and historical figures.

I would not be suprised if the rights for this book (and series there is supposed to be six books all up) have not already been purchsed to be turned into a movie. To be honest if this was done correctly it would make an awesome movie. Oh wait just did a quick search on the net and it is being turned into a movie and is in production currently!

My only problem with this book is it is clearly part of a series, you will have to read the books in order, and I would recomend having books 2 and 3 (I believe that is all the author has currently released) on hand to continue reading.

I highly recomend this book to anyone who loves YA.

Other stuff

A chapter sample can be found at the authors website.

Other Reviews

Check out TexasRed's review here.

Technical Difficulties - We has them!

I like this little guy so much I brought him back for more :) He is just so darn cute!

Ok in all seriousness it has been brought to my attention that a fellow blogger was having issues leaving comments on my blog. They keep getting an error message every time they try to post a comment.

Has anyone else been experiencing the same or similar issue?

Also has anyone else experienced a similar issue with their blog and could kindly give me pointers on how to fix it?

Thanks in advance to everyone!

Friday Fill-Ins: 17 July 09

Janet is the Host of Friday Fill-In.My responses are in green.

1. Chicken, salad and wraps make a quick and easy dinner.

2. The Forest of Hands and Teeth is the book I'm reading right now.

3. July brings back memories of road trips round Australia with the family mostly visiting relatives at some point.

4. Doing the chicken dance in a tutu in retrospect was obvious.

5. They say if you tell your dreams then a little fairy dies.

6. I don’t need time to think it over. I will have that chocolate now!

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to, well not really looking forward to it but going to a memorial for K’s work colleague who recently passed away, tomorrow my plans include spring cleaning and Sunday, I want to read of course!

Whats on Your Desk Wednesday? Meme

What's on your desk Wednesday? is a weekly bookish meme hosted by Sassy Brit of Alternative-Read.com.

Mine is a joint desk with my other half. To be honest it is mostly his desk, I have a laptop (not the one in the picture) that goes where ever I go. The books visible are mostly his.

There is the Bourne Ultimatum and numerous books by James Rollins. Only my current read tends to end up on this desk.

Next time I will have to take a picture of Mt TBR which resides on a bookshelf and the dining table (because that's what dining tables are for aren't they?).