Books

I've been on a bit of a hiatus from reading. I have plenty of books, both nook books and physical books and a list about a mile long on my springpad account (seriously, like 87 to read books), but for some reason not much has been able to grab my interest lately.

I'm very close to the end of The Bible of Clay by Julia Navarro. I'd seen Navarro's books for a while and the covers had always intrigued me, so when I needed a new nook book I decided to grab that one and try it out. Well...it's rare that I find a book that I don't enjoy, but this one is on that list. The characters who are supposed to be the protagonists are more like antagonists: one of them is even a former Nazi, and some exploits are described that make him an easy character to hate. The others are related to this man and therefore seem to be accomplices, or at least tacitly approving of his dealings, which include illegal antique smuggling from Iraq. The story involves a set of tablets on which a young scribe wrote the story of creation as told to him. The author switches between three groups in the modern day and the scribe, Shamas, and Abram. Usually I like stories that delve into the past (Labyrinth by Kate Mosse, The Eight by Katherine Neville, Bloodlines by Jan Burke, etc) but in this case, when they showed the story of creation as Shamas wrote it down, it was pretty much word for word Genesis from the King James' Bible, which would not be the story that Abram told (think of a game of telephone!). Anyways, I'm interested in the story and how it ends since the archaeologists are trying to find the tablets before the Iraq war begins. I'm too interested to stop reading, but I don't like ANY of the characters (all of whom have some serious character flaws) and the writing isn't good enough to make up for it.

I did finish the first book in the Septimus Heap series, Magyk by Angie Sage. This was a book I did enjoy. It was a simple book, meant for a younger audience, but I've found that I really enjoy youth and young adult books since they're a fast read, pretty fun and usually involve some sort of magic, which helps you lose yourself in the world. In this world, there are Wizards of two levels (Ordinary and one ExtraOrdinary Wizard), a lost princess, child-swapping, an evil necromancer, witches in the woods, a dragon boat (the dragon is alive!) and fun little twists and turns. It reminds me of reading in German, because of all the words they capitalize (Wizard, the Hunter, etc). I would definitely recommend this book, especially if you're a fan of Harry Potter or Rick Riordan's books. I would say that both JK Rowling and Riordan are slightly better authors, but I enjoyed the story, lost myself in the world and want to read the rest of the series. The best part for me: it was on my to read list, and I found it on bn.com for FREE! (Under free nookbooks--don't have a nook? No problem, download the app: iphone, microsoft phone, android, pc, mac, ipad, etc and read it on that device!)

Thanks to a friend's suggestion, I used my gift certificate to purchase the new Jennifer Lee Carrell book for my nook. Entitled Haunt Me Still, it follows her debut novel Interred With Their Bones, which I absolutely loved! The debut dealt with a previously unknown Shakespeare manuscript and the daring story and intrigue of the woman who somehow ended up recruited to find it. This next one deals with the Bard's "Scottish Play" and has the same characters looking into the possibility that there is a lost version of the play, and that their performance of the play may be cursed. I'm really looking forward to reading this second novel and seeing how it went.

Also on my list is a book called The Sherlockian by Graham Moore, which I found by browsing iTunes' audio books (I'm on the 5th Harry Potter, so I'm running out of books). Moore's book involves (who else but) Sherlock Holmes! In this case, it switches between the early 20th century, with Arthur Conan Doyle and modern times, with Harold White searching for Doyle's lost notebooks that may explain the death and resurrection Holmes went through. Sounds just as interesting and literary-minded as the Shakespeare mysteries, so I'm looking forward to reading or listening to that one.

Keep your eye tomorrow for a few different recipes, including quinoa croquettes, cilantro-yogurt sauce, cheesecake and gorgonzola tomato sauce!