Book #37 week #30, City of Lost Souls (Mortal Instruments #5) by Cassandra Clare

**Warning if you haven't read books one through four there will be spoilers in this post read on at your own risk.**

In book four City of Fallen Angels  Jace fears he will harm Clary due to some scary dreams he is having. We later learn these dreams are being planted in his mind from a female demon who is trying to bring Sebastian back from the dead (and is trying to make more demon/human babies but failing miserably). In order to accomplish this the demon needs the help of Simon and that is why he was being attacked all the time. Simon is now living with Kyle (Jordan) who happens to be a werewolf and Maia's ex-boyfriend. Maia and Isabelle both break of their relationships with Simon, however Isabella starts coming back around and Maia reconnects with Jordan. Meanwhile the demon Lilith gets a hold of Jace, puts him under her spell and has him kidnap Clary. Jace, Clary and Simon end up on a rooftop with Lilith who is trying to bind Jace and Sebastian together and bring Sebastian back to life. However the trio manages to slay Lilith and the rest of the gang and the Clave come to the rescue and all seems well again. But while everyone is distracted Sebastian manages to take hold of Jace mentally, now Jace is under his control and they disappear together.

Since the sixth book in this series, City of Heavenly Fire, is due out until 2014! I am going to detail City of Lost Souls instead of just summarizing it. Okay Jace and Sebastian have disappeared and are nowhere to be found. However they come for Clary in the middle of the night. They want her to leave home and join them but a fight ensues with Luke and the pair run off.

Clary knows that they will be back though and she has on her a pair of faerie rings she promised to collect for the faerie queen. The rings allow the wearers to communicate with each other telepathically and Clary hatches a plan to go with Jace and use the rings to contact Simon to let him know where they are. The plan works for a short while until Clary takes some faerie drugs and wakes up without her ring. Jace has become a mindless lapdog for Sebastian and Sebastian keeps getting creepier and creepier. Eventually Clary learns of Sebastian's plans and is able to contact Simon with the information.

Meanwhile Simon decides to call on an angel to give him a weapon he can use to separate the bond  between Jace and Sebastian. The angel agrees in exchange for removing the Mark of Cain from Simon. When they are done Simon collapses and Isabelle rushes to him thinking he has died. Isabelle is starting to fall for him.

In the end Sebastian has raised the demon Lilith and is using her blood, in a second mortal cup he had forged, in order to change some of Valentine's followers into demons. Our band of heroes and Luke's wolf pack make it just in time to save Clary from being forced to drink from the cup but it is too late for Luke's sister who was kidnapped from her bed. A battle ensues, Simon cannot make it to Sebastian through the crowd so Clary grabs the angel's sword from him and stabs Jace through the chest. She took a huge risk but it works out in their favor and any evil inside of Jace is killed off. However in the chaos Sebastian disappears yet again.

Quotes:
“That thing that looks like me but isn't? He'll burn down the world if Sebastian wants him to, and laugh while he's doing it. That's what you're saving, Clary. That. Don't you understand? I'd rather be dead—” 

and

“I stabbed you. With a massive sword. You caught on fire."
His lips twitched, almost imperceptibly. "Okay, so maybe our problems aren't like other couples.”

Book #36 week #30, Cinnamon Roll Murder by Joanne Fluke

Ah something different! I have waited for months on the library waiting list for Cinnamon Roll Murder by Joanne Fluke. I've heard good things about Hannah Swensen series, this book is number 15 and without reading any of the proceeding books the story was easy to jump into and follow.

Hannah runs a bakery in Minnesota. It is a April, a busy time of year, and Hannah looks forward to seeing a popular jazz band, The Cinnamon Roll Six. But during a delivery a massive accident occurs on the highway and Hannah and her sister step in to help out. On the highway they see an overturned bus belonging to none other than the Cinnamon Roll Six.  Everyone on-board is fine except for the driver who perished in the accident, or did he? Things get even more interesting when one of the band members is murdered at the hospital.

Hannah and her group of friends and family step in to help solve the mystery and catch the killer. The group also has a side mission to find out what is up with Bev. Bev is a secretive dentist set to marry Hannah's old flame Norman. Bev has come back into Norman's life after six years to tell him they have a daughter he never knew about and no one but Norman believes her.

Cinnamon Roll Murder was a fun easy read. Every few chapters or so there is a delicious sounding recipe included. I will admit though after awhile I got kind of sick of all the food and coffee talk! These characters eat and drink a lot. This book is not very long and if you cut out the food talk and the recipes it would be quite short. However if I have some spare reading time I wouldn't mind picking up another Hannah Swensen Mystery, maybe I'll start from the beginning though!

Book #35 week #29, City of Fallen Angels (Mortal Instruments #4) by Cassandra Clare

**Warning if you haven't read book one, two or three there will be spoilers in this post read on at your own risk.**

City of Glass ended in a good spot. Technically speaking the series could have ended very neatly right there. Thankfully it didn't though! So book 3 left off with Jace and Clary back together since they finally found out they are not related, yay! Alec has come out to his family and is dating Magnus. Simon, who has moved from vampire to daylighter, now has the Mark of Cain protecting him for being hurt or killed. Clary's mom is back, Valentine is dead, Sebastian is dead (but his body is missing), poor little Max is dead and Jace has been brought back from being dead. Whew.

And that takes us to City of Fallen Angels. Jace and Clary are together now but he starts to pull away due to some very confusing and frightening dreams he has been having. Clary is finally training to become a full fledged Shadowhunter. Meanwhile Luke and Jocelyn are engaged and planning their wedding and Simon is dating both Isabelle and Maia.

The war is over but peace does not last long. Members of Valentine's old group the Circle are being killed and mysterious people in tracksuits keep showing up trying to kill Simon. All the while Simon is dealing with problems at home. He tries to tell his mom that he is a vampire but she freaks out on him and now Simon has no place to go. Poor guy can't catch a break!

Who knew Simon would be such a central character?

Quotes:

“You know, some people think Shadowhunters are just myths. Like mummies and genies." Kyle grinned at Jace. "Can you grant wishes?"

"That depends," he said. "Do you wish to be punched in the face?” 

and

“He looks," Simon had once said to Isabelle, "like he's thinking about something deep and meaningful, but if you ask him what it is, he'll punch you in the face.”

Book #34 week #29, City of Glass (Mortal Instruments #3) by Cassandra Clare

The Mortal Instrument series just keeps getting better and better. **Warning if you haven't read book one or two there will be spoilers in this post read on at your own risk.**

In the last book our good guys come face to face with the evil Valentine and wow what a ride! I thought for sure Simon had died but he came back and better than ever. In City of Glass, Clary wants to travel to the Shadowhunters homeland in search of a way to break the spell keeping her mother in a coma. However Jace is, surprise surprise, keeping his distance and doesn't want Clary coming along so he hatches a plan to leave her behind. Like any good book this blows up in his face and Clary ends up coming along on her own accord and almost dies in the process.

Meanwhile the Clave has decided they do not want a vampire in the city and have guaranteed Simon safe passage back home but the Clave ends up imprisoning him instead. Valentine is still plotting to take over and has people working on the inside to take down the wards that protect the city from demons. A lot of fighting and some surprising loss.

Lots of back story is given in City of Glass and several new characters are introduced. It was quite exciting trying to figure out who can be trusted and who is not what they appear to be. Excellent book.

Quotes:
“She supposed they were imperfections, those marks, but they didn't feel that way to her; they were a history, cut into his body: the map of a life of endless war.”

and
“Is this the part where you say if I hurt her, you'll kill me?"
"No" Simon said, "If you hurt Clary she's quite capable of killing you herself. Possibly with a variety of weapons.”

Book #33 week #28, City of Ashes (Mortal Instruments #2) by Cassandra Clare

While I enjoyed City of Bones I LOVED City of Ashes (the second book in The Mortal Instruments series).  **Warning if you haven't read book one there will be spoilers in this post read on at your own risk.**

Clary is now living with Luke, her father like figure who is part human, part Shadowhunter, part werewolf. Her mother is still in a coma and Clary is still coming to terms with the feelings she has for a boy who turns out to be her brother! (I was so upset over that). Poor Clary, poor Jace. Luckily, or unluckily, the two don't have much time to dwell on this issue since Downworlder youth are turning up dead and drained of blood.

All signs point to Valentine after he steals the Soul-Sword and needs blood to unlock its demon releasing capabilities. Meanwhile the Inquisitor has been sent to investigate Jace and decide how he will be punished for his actions in the first book. But the Inquisitor is not all that she seems. She has some sort of personal agenda going on and this makes her very scary indeed.

I thought City of Ashes was wonderfully written. It is full of action, suspense, drama and love problems galore! I couldn't put it down. I feel horrible for Jace and Clary, maybe it was just me but I felt there was some hinting going on that we don't know the whole story here and somehow this mess will be resolved. Maybe it is just wishful thinking on my part!

Quotes:

“Every time you almost die, I almost die myself”

“Of course she did. I'm a dangerous criminal. or hadn't you heard?" Jace heard the acid in his own tone, saw Alec finch, and was meanly, momentarily, glad.
"She didn't call you a criminal, exactly..."
"No, I'm just a very naughty boy. I do all sorts of bad things. I kick kittens. I make rude gestures at nuns.”

Book #32 week #28, Angels and Demons by Dan Brown

Honestly I did not want to read Angels & Demons. I have a stack of new books to read, a few borrowed from the library and a long "to-read" list but my husband has been bugging me to read it. Him complaining that I will read whatever anyone else suggests except him was the straw that broke the camel's back and I had to give in!

Robert Langdon is a Harvard symboligist having a peaceful night at home when a mysterious phone call followed by an unbelievable faxed picture convinces him to take a sudden trip to a Swiss research facility. The facility sends a plane that is able to get him across the Atlantic ocean in just one hour. Once there, Robert is asked to help solve a murder and to analyze a cryptic symbol seared into the chest of the murdered physicist.

I was a little bored in the beginning while it is explained what the facility does (the particle accelerator at CERN!) and the fight between religion and science. These are often big topics in my house so I usually tend to read books that don't deal with them at all. But the story really got going when it turns out a gram of antimatter capable of wiping out a few square miles is missing and has twenty-four hours until the container holding the antimatter will shut down and all hell will break loose.

So we embark with Robert and Vittoria (daughter of the murdered scientist and a scientist herself) on a quest to save the Vatican and four cardinals whom have been kidnapped. And they must do it in less than twenty-four hours all the while the world is waiting for a new Pope to be chosen. 


Very interesting book and full of action and suspense. Truly I was guessing up until the very end trying to figure out who the bad guys were!


Quotes:

“Nothing captures human interest more than human tragedy.” 


“Faith is universal. Our specific methods for understanding it are arbitrary. Some of us pray to Jesus, some of us go to Mecca, some of us study subatomic particles. In the end we are all just searching for truth, that which is greater than ourselves.”  


“Buddha had said: "Each of us is a God. Each of us knows all. We need only open our minds to hear our own wisdom.” 

Book #31 week #27, City of Bones (The Mortal Instruments #1) by Cassandra Clare

So I finish my 31st book of the year during the week of my 31st birthday! Pretty neat coincidence I think. Well technically I did read two books this week but I didn't count the other towards my goal since it was a re-read of The Host by Stephenie Meyer. I picked up the paperback and was dying to read the bonus chapter. By the way there is a movie version of The Host in post-production and due out next year. I was looking at the IMDB page and it seems like a lot of characters are absent from the cast list, this makes me nervous.

Anyway quite a few people recommended The Mortal Instruments series by Cassandra Clare to me so I picked up book one City of Bones at the library. This series is a Young Adult series with five books out now and a sixth to be released in 2014! Wow what a wait ; )

Clary (Clarissa) is an ordinary fifteen-year-old girl living with her mom in New York. At least she was ordinary until one night, when out at an all ages club with her best friend Simon, she witnesses something strange. Two boys and a girl murder another boy who's body mysteriously disappears after being killed. It turns out this group is invisible to everyone except for Clary. Without a body and the killers being invisible Clary doesn't know what to do so she heads home. Once home her mom and her mom's friend Luke walk in with a bunch of boxes. Her mom explains that they will be taking a sudden vacation for the summer. This news angers Clary and in a typical teenage fashion she takes off.

The next night Clary and Simon go out to support a friend at a bad poetry reading. Clary runs into Jace (the head of the killers from the club) and while talking to him gets a frantic phone call from her mom which ends suddenly after her mom warns Clary not to return home. But of course she does! And she encounters a demon in her apartment and her mother is missing. Clary's once normal world is suddenly turned upside down while she tries to find her mother, learn who to trust and deal with teenage love.

All in all for a YA book I really liked City of Bones. Well except for the bombshell near the end! But we'll see how that plays out. I like the characters Jace is cocky and full of himself, Clary is fiesty without being bitchy and there is finally a main character who is gay. But seriously how can you go wrong with werewolves, vampires, faeries and demons?

Quotes: I've got two, this book is filled with good quotes!

“Don't order any of the faerie food," said Jace, looking at her over the top of his menu. "It tends to make humans a little crazy. One minute you're munching a faerie plum, the next minute you're running naked down Madison Avenue with antlers on your head. Not," he added hastily, "that this has ever happened to me.” 

“Don't stop there. I suppose there are also, what, vampires and werewolves and zombies?"
"Of course there are. Although you mostly find zombies farther south, where the voudun priests are."
"What about mummies? Do they only hang around Egypt?"
"Don't be ridiculous. No one believes in mummies.”