Throne of Fire by Rick Riordan

This is the second book in the Kane Chronicles. I hadn't planned on reading it so soon after reading the first one (I am now trying to switch up genres when I read so I don't get in a rut. Besides, with school starting in two weeks, I'll be reading plenty of YA books during our school's daily SSR time - yes, I get paid to read a book of my choice for 20 minutes a day! It's a bit of heaven I must say.) But, it was on the shelf, and nothing else looked good at the time.

My review is pretty similar to The Red Pyramid. As with the Percy Jackson series, more about Sadie and Carter's past and family history gets revealed. Their ultimate goal/mission is also made clearer, but I'm also guessing that the full plan has  not been disclosed to us yet. There's also a few twists and turns woven into the plot that you didn't necessarily see coming, which is part of the reason Riordan's books are compelling; he makes sure to keep you on your toes.

I'm glad I read this, and I'll be picking up the third one when it comes out next spring.

City of Fallen Angels - Cassandra Clare

It's been a few weeks since I've finished a book. That's a bit embarrassing, I have to admit. But, in that time, I finished my thesis (I'll be an official Master's graduate in five days) and bought a house, so, I've been a bit busy. Still, I don't think I've ever gone that long without finishing a book of some sort.

Remember how I said I wasn't going to buy any more books until I read quite a few of the ones I had ... that was a lie. On April 9, I administered the ACTs, so I downloaded City of Fallen Angels onto my Kindle and then promptly left it in my classroom over the weekend after the tests.

This is the fourth in Clare's Mortal Instruments series, and I've really liked the previous three. I've described the series as "Twilight, but good" to other people as well as "Buffy with less focus on vampires and more focus on other creepy crawlies." I started the series because I had a crapton of my students tell me I HAD to read them, and they usually don't completely steer me wrong:) And, they were definitely right on these. Even though they're written with the YA audience in mind, they'll still hold the attention of adults, and the universe Clare's created is pretty fantastic and compelling.

It took me quite a while to get into this book. I thought the beginning dragged a bit, and that's also probably why I've gone so long without finishing anything - I couldn't get into this one. Then, I read the last quarter of the book last night. Holy buckets! That part was the most exciting out of the entire thing. (So, Natalie, you were right!)

Now that I look back, there's a few plot arcs that Clare could have cut, but I'm also guessing that they will make more sense in future books in the series. The cliffhanger at the end was very compelling, and I am excited for the next book to come out.