The Book Thing of Baltimore

I know I haven't posted in awhile but it's summer and although I have been reading a fair amount of books I just wasn't up to spending time writing and posting full reviews for them. So to catch up a bit on what I've been doing I want to post about a place that is books heaven. 

Recently, my family and I took a trip to Baltimore and of course we did all the wonderful touristy things but the one thing that I had on my agenda was book related. A used book store just outside of the harbor area. I was expecting the usual used book store that sells half price books and I was hoping to find some books that I have been wanting to add to my collection. When we got there and I got a glimpse of the glorified garage and beaten up sign I had a feeling I would be disappointed. 

But then I looked around at the full parking lot and all of the people constantly going in and out. How could a bad book store get that much business? Simple answer: it wasn't a bad book store it was the best book store. 

The place consisted of about three rooms all stuffed full of bookshelves. I begin by browsing around the first room but I don't really see anything that interests me because it was mostly nonfiction books or textbook type reads. I had just began to browse the worn looking classics when my mom walks up behind me and whispers like its a secret, "all of the books are free". At first I thought I must be dreaming or something but looking around people are just filling boxes or bags with free books. 

I then decide that since they're free I might as well grab some antique looking classics. I then speed walk into the next room and find that it's all fiction. Knowing that I will find a bunch of books I grab a box from the pile in the corner and begin filling it. By the end if my spree I have twelve books. I had to stop there because 1) my box was full 2) my arms were aching from holding the heavy box and 3) everyone else in my family was bored and ready to leave. The only bad thing about the shop was that the books were only organized my genre and weren't alphabetized. I have been dying for a copy of Gone With the Wind and I was unable to find a copy. Here are the books I ended up getting in case you were curious.

(The little one on the end that is hard to see is The Hound of the Baskervilles)

Despite that the book store was easily the highlight of the trip and has to be the coolest bookstore I have ever visited. If you live anywhere near the bookstore I highly recommend a trip. Also if u have visited and enjoyed it or are just feeling generous the store needs money to repair their roof and is accepting donations at their website. 

I also hope to soon be posting a brief list of the books I have read this summer since I haven't been writing reviews. 

Dust Lands Trilogy (books 46, 47, and 48)

                    By Moira Young

I didn't write reviews for the two books that came before this in the series because they were rereads for me. I read them to refresh my mind before I read the concluding novel. In this review I am going to provide some background from the first two books before I dive into reviewing Raging Star. When I first started reading Blood Red Road I was a bit thrown off by the grammar and spelling errors. Soon I was able to read without them bothering me and I began to understand why Young wrote the way she did. It made Saba a more constant and reliable narator. The books are set in a post-apocalyptic desert world. There are artifacts from the past that have weird names. At first the names confused me. I couldn't tell the difference between the bolt shooter and the fire shooter. As I read on a began to skim over the names and just focus on the idea of the weapon. At the end of Rebel Heart I was angry at Saba. She was selfish: she forgot her sister was kidnapped, almost killed herself, slept with the enemy, she used Tommo's feelings against him, and lead Maev to her death. At the beginning of Raging Star I understood why her team didn't fully trust her. For the whole entire book I was focused on Creed and Tommo. I thought one of them was the traitor because of their hate for Jack and their distrust of Saba. I began to focus on Tommo though for a bunch of reasons. Saba said that Tommo was a better kisser the last time he kissed he and Molly had been sleeping with the traitor and teaching him what she knew. I thought that he got better at kissing because Molly ahd taught him. Tommo also had a bracelet that matched DeMalo's, I figured that was the symbol to the Tonton. He also had the twine. I was so sure that it was Tommo that when I found out it was Lugh I was beyond shocked. Emmi had been shot and was dying and I was already blown away and then Lugh turned out to be the traitor. The shocks kjept coming when I realized that Tommo was DeMalo's son, Lugh died, and I found out that Sabahad been pregnant but haad miscarried. In the end all loose ends were tied up. Tommo found his dad (even though he died right after). Peg built her flyign machine. Jack and Saba worked out their issues. Molly realized her heart's desire was Creed. Molly was pregnant with Lugh's son. Saba restarted New Eden including all people. All in all it was one of the best concluding novels in any trilogy.

City of Heavenly Fire (book 45)

This book stood up to all of my expectations for Cassandra Clare. She finished the Infernal Devices series so well that I was expecting alot out of this book and I can safely say that I was not dissapointed. One of my favorite parts of the book was that it combined characters from The Mortal Instruments, The Infernal Devices, and the upcoming Dark Artifices. We got to meet Emma and Julian right off the bat in the prologue. I am so excited to be able to read the series as soon as it comes out. I am already loving Emma and Julian but inside I am screaming at them no tto become parabatai because if they do they can't love eachother. In the begining of the book there were so many referneces to Tessa that I couldn't wait until she popped up in the book. She protected the London insitute and was the reason that Jocelyn changed her last naem to Fray (F for Fairchild and the rest was based of Tessa's last name Gray). Brother Zacariah was also changed back into Jem. I wished that he could have told Emma that he was related to her so that she would have some kind of blood family. I don't really know what to say about the rest of the book because I had so many feels and they is just so much that happened. I was expecting alot of people to die and was kind of dissapointed that the only really big character to die was Jordan and he dies fairly early into the book. I am happy that none of my favorites died but it seems a bit unrealistic that during such a dangerous war none of the main characters died. Theonly other characters that died were Amatis and Raphael. Sebastian also died but before he died we got to see the person that he could have been if he didn't have demon blood. Jocelyn and Luke finally got to get married and Alec and Magnus got back together. Jace and Clary were perfect of course. Poor Simon though. He had to scarifice himself and his memories to allow his friends to get away. Izzy and Simon were doing so well as a couple and then he had to go and forget her. he said he still dreamed of her but the book ended and you never got to find out if Izzy and Simon worked it out and became a couple again. When the Dark Artifices come out I hope the characters of The Mortal INstuments pop up every now and again so I can see how their characters are doing. So excited! Cassandra better write faster!

Sweet Reckoning (book 44)

This book was a great conclusion to the series. I think I might even go as far as to say it was the best in the trilogy. It tied up all loose ends and each character got their own little ending to their story.
1. Patti- Patti was kind of the rock of this demonic, rebelious group. She was one of the only humans yet she was one of the strongest people. She was always happy and ready to provide for anyone who needed help and love. She became a mother to Ginger and gave constant support to Anna and Kai during their rocky relationship. Her death was a bittersweet end to the series. Of course I was sad that Anna lost the only nother she had ever known but at the same time I felt peace. Patti was strong thoughout her capture and only had love for the Neph even when she was dying. The reason I accepted Patti's death was because Anna got to witness an angel coming down to take Patti to Heaven. I feel like her death was had a huge impacted on all of the Neph and it gave them the will they needed to fight the Dukes.
2. Belial- Belial finally got his happy ending and was reuinted with his fellow angels in Heaven. I guess you can technically say he died too and Anna lost her father but she knew this would happen if they succeeded. I really enjoyed Belial's character after he had taken the body of Big Rotty. I loved being able to see his mannerisms change when he changed bodies yet he was still himself. I think Anna will miss her dad but I would like to think that he would be able to contact her in some way in the future.
3. Jay and Marna- They had one of the saddest stories in this book. Jay and Marna finally expressed their love for eachother and of course something goes wrong. Marna becomes pregnant which eventually leads to her death. I had been hoping since they had rid the world of demons that Marna would live through her child's birth but sadly she passed. it was pretty sad knowing almost the whole book that Marna would die but at the same time she provided a light to the other Neph. Jay made the cutest boyfriend and the best father-to-be. Even though their daughter lost her mom she still had a great father and a great group of Neph for aunts and uncles. The only real question I had about Marna's daughters was whether she still had Neph powers. I know Anna and her friends did but I was hoping that she wouldn't feel the draw towards sin.
4. Kope and Z- They didn't really have a huge impact on this story but I was happy that Z got over her addiction and hate for men and eventually married Kope. Kope got over his feelings for Anna and found someone that truly loved him.
5. Blake and Ginger- Blake and Ginger also got their happy ending. Although they didn't get married they were finally able to be together without worrying about the Dukes. One question I had about them was,what happened to Caterina?Ginger said that Caterina could live with them but I was wondering how Caterina turned out and if she actually ended up living with Blake and Ginger.
Saving the best for last...
6. Anna and Kaidan- Anna and Kai were finally able to openly express their love. I was wondering how Anna would manage to hold off Kai and his advances while remaining pure but they found a way. THEY GOT MARRIED! I was a little worried when Kai wasn't all for the marriage at first but his reasoning was sweet. Their affection for eachother was adorable and steamy at the same time. I was also happy that Kai essentially got the blessing to marry Anna from both her real mother and her father. They also were able to have a family even though Neph can't have children without dying. They only went to adopt boys from Africa because Kai didn't want a daughter but then that little girl said he was her father in her dreams and he cried for the first time ever. I would like to think that the girl's dream was a message from heaven so that Kai would become her father. When they were all talking about what they would do first after they got rid of the Dukes I thought Kai was going to say have sex with Anna but he said the best thing he could have said. Instead he called the police to bust up the prostitution/trafficking ring that Marissa was running.
As a whole the book was fantastic! Every character got their ending, good or bad and Anna and Kai got the happily ever after they deserved

The Impossible Knife of Memory (book 43)

I guess I was expecting more out of this book. I was expecting a book about a person with PTSD, the effects it had on their life, and their inspiring recovery from the disease. Instead I got a book abotu an enabling daugther that allows her dad to drink himself to oblivion instead of seeking medical help. The daugther herself has some issues with memory which I understood but I thought certain components of the book could have been left out or should have been stressed more. Hayley had moments where the past would rip into the future often and that made sense but there was like 5 pages spread out throughout the book that were her dad's memories of the war. I think that if Laurie Halse Anderson really wanted to add those memories she should have added more to stress the horrors that he had seen. I also thought the book could have done without the "romance". It was categorized as contemporary on some sites yet I didn't get the feel of a contemporary book. I didn't get the good feels that I normally get from contemporary novels. I thought the relationship between Finn and Hayley was halfdone and lackluster. I never really felt anything when it came to them as a couple. I liked the idea of Finn's charcter (his nerdy quirkiness and all) yet I didn't really think he was essential to the story. I was also confused with the relationship between Trish and Hayley at first. Hayley's memories of Trish all seemes normal and fun until she left and then Hayley was unwilling to let Trish help her dad. I guess Trish used to be an alcoholic but she seemed to genuinly want to help and Hayley kept pushing her away. The problems with her dad kept building and he was unable to face the past. When she found him laying on the floor with blood around his head I had accepted the fact that her dad would kill himself and it was kind of anti-climatic when he just sat up. Apparently he was just laying in a pool of blood from his nose or something. Then at the end of the book she once again finds her dad ready to kill himself and this time I'm like "he better either do it or decide to get some help". Then it turns into this whole thing where Hayley is standing on an overhang of snow that is about to collapse. I couldn't really picture this. All I could think of was Wiley Cayote standing on a floatign pile of snow and it suddenly colapsing. It takes his daughter almost dying trying to talk him down from the edge of cliff for her dad to get help. I just thought that the story didn't connect very well and that it could have been condesed into a much shorter book. It was very drawn out and kind of depressing. It wasn't something I would ever recomend.

Ignite Me (book 42)

** spoiler alert ** I thought this was a really good conclusion to the series but then again I was team Warner. I was happy with the ending but I bet a lot of Team Adam readers were a bit upset. By the end of the last book and during Fracture Me, I began to become more and more of a Team Warner person. By the beginning of Ignite Me I was completely sure of my choice. I had liked Warner before but after learning about his true motives and his true personality I forgave everything he did tobJulieete in the first book. I really loved how Juliette came to understand her past relationship with Adam. When I was reading Shatter Me I was thinking that of course she would fall in love with the first guy that showed interest in her and didn't die when she touched him. I was happy that she figured out that it wasn't really love but just an infatuation because Adam had been the first guys she could actually be with. I also liked how Warner reacted when he found out Adam was his brother at first he was mad but then he decided that they should put aside their differences and become a family of sorts because they both lived through similar abusive fathers. I enjoyed seeing how Warner reacted to James because it was cute to see how he behaved with a little kid. The only regret I have about the book was that it was the last one. Sure they won the battle and killed Anderson but it seems a little optimistic to assume they took control without any opposition or difficulty. I think it would have been better the extend the trilogy into a true series and explain how Juliette and her friends changed the Restablishment. I am sad to see this series end because Juliette and Waner were only together for the end of the book and I didn't get to read about them as much as I would have liked. I also would like to read about Kenji some more. That boy needs to get a girlfriend. I think he deserves to find happiness just as much a Juliette did. Kenji is a great character and I don't want to see his story end. Please Tahereh Mafi, write more books!

Ps. I was kind of hoping the Julieete would get to see a real bird in this book but I guess not :(

Pps. Really pretty cover!

World After (book 41)

This book was kind of a let down after the first book. I'm not saying the first book was amazing but it had enough action and had such a big cliff-hanger that I expected more out of the sequel. Normally the first book does the job of laying the ground work that it doesn't have time for as much action and then by the second book you are just fully imersed into the world ad there is more room for actual plot. This book had lesssubstance and story than the first one did though. There were very few revelations and the ones there were weren't exactly mind blowing. Sure you found out that the scorpion monsters were beign made out of humans but it just wasn't enough to keep you on the edge of your seat. You findout that Belial is part of the angel politics but that could have been infered or figured out in the first book. Also there wasn't enough Raffe. he was such a strong character in the first book and there was a huge cliff hanger at the end of Angelfall when he thought Penryn was dead. I was really hoping that there would be more of him in this book. You got glimpses of him about halfway throught the book but Penryn didn't reveal herself to him until the very end. I was also hoping for more romance between the two of them. At the end of the last book Raffe seemed crushed that she had died and it also seemed like he regretted not opening up to her. When they were finally reunited I was hoping for more than the friendly relationship they continued. It was all this build up about Raffe being devastated that she was dead and all the build up to when he finally found out she was alive yet when he found out he did little more than hug her. There were moments where you could kind of see a developing romance but then it would snap right back into the "we can be friends but nothing more becasue I am an angel thing". Raffe didn't get his wings back yet either. Also Penryn's sister keeps getting weirder and weirder. It is getting really hard to see the cute little girl in a wheelchair that Paige was because no she is ripping people's throats out and eating it with her metal teeth. She is like a bipolar monster; one minute she is eating people's flesh and the next she is crying for "Ryn Ryn". There was also no further mention as to why the angels invaded Earth. I think this series is going to be very drawn out and that it will take a while for the reader to actually piece together any information. The next book isn't out til 2015 and I doubt even that book will answer many of my questions. I wasnt to find out what happens with this series but at the same time I don't feel up to reading anouther one of these books.