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Abby's Reading Log (started 2009)


AbielleRose

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I've reserved Clockwork Angel at the library because it's in a large format paperback in the shops at the moment, making it £9.99 which is more than I'm usually willing to pay, however, I'm not sure if I can wait much longer, especially with all the twittering going on about it and now you're tempting me even further! You're bad news for my bank balance, Abby! :lol:

 

Well then I shouldn't be telling you that so far I'm enjoying it much more than the Mortal Instruments :D It is really fantastic, Chesil, you'll really enjoy this one. The concept just in the prologue alone is enough to really capture you. The Clockwork Angel is actually a necklace and the whole concept behind it has sort of captured my heart. The setting is much different in feel as well because it's set in the 1800's where as the MI was set in modern day. Ugh, hurry up and read it so I have someone to talk to about it! mocking.gif

 

Thanks, Paula! Same to you :D

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Ok, so I checked the library website and there is only one copy and I was fourth in the list so I probably won't get it for about 2-3 months. Fortunately, I've just got back from my lunchbreak to find that while I was in the bookshop, I must have bought a copy as there is now one sat next to me. I will start it tonight, so prepare for forthcoming discussion ;)

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Ok, so I checked the library website and there is only one copy and I was fourth in the list so I probably won't get it for about 2-3 months. Fortunately, I've just got back from my lunchbreak to find that while I was in the bookshop, I must have bought a copy as there is now one sat next to me. I will start it tonight, so prepare for forthcoming discussion ;)

 

We most definitely need a 'whistling innocently' emoticon! :D

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A few days ago I bought 2 more books:

 

Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare

and

Once a Witch by Carolyn MacCullough

 

I've been waiting for Clockwork Angel for nearly a year now and started reading it today. It was definitely worth the wait! If you haven't picked up one of Clare's books before then I highly urge you to do so. Her writing style is absolutely brilliant and her stories are unique and unable to be compared to anything else on the market. Her world of Shadowhunters is sort of like Harry Potter meets Buffy the Vampire Slayer, only with angels, demons and shadowhunters (and a few vampires, warlocks, witches, etc, thrown in.)

 

 

Oh this books sounds so good! Why did I say I wasn't gonna buy any more book....

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Abby, I'm trying to be strong and not buy books at the moment, but you're really tempting me with Cassandra Clare. So is The Clockwork Angel the beginning of a new series? And the Mortal Instruments is a trilogy, right?

 

 

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Abby, I'm trying to be strong and not buy books at the moment, but you're really tempting me with Cassandra Clare. So is The Clockwork Angel the beginning of a new series? And the Mortal Instruments is a trilogy, right?

 

 

 

 

Give into temptation :D They're just books, its not like you'll gain weight or committing a sin. Do it... do it... *makes ghosty noises*

 

The Clockwork Angel is the first book in a brand new series that's set in the same world as The Mortal Instruments. CA is actually a prequel series set in the 1800's with ancestors of characters in The Mortal Instruments. Definitely read MI first so you can get a feel for the world and explinations of the Shadowhunters because even though CA is a prequel, Clare doesn't go into as great of detail of explaining about the worlds and concepts behind everything. Its rare to find something purely 'unique' in the YA Fantasy realm these days between the vampire/werewolf feuds and magical schools.

 

Seriously... read the books. They are well worth it :D

 

(no... I'm not on the promotional committee) :)

Edited by CaliLily
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I've added a few more books to my pretty little library this last week:

 

Traveling with Pomegranates by Sue Monk Kidd and Ann Kidd Taylor

Ghost Country by Patrick Lee

The Breach by Patrick Lee

Shadow Fall by Erin Kellison

Shadow Bound by Erin Kellison

Thanks for the Memories by Cecelia Ahern

Filthy Shakespeare (Shakespeare's Most Outrageous Sexual Puns) by Pauline Kiernan

 

and an audio book:

 

A Secret Kept by Tatiana De Rosnay

 

Best of all, the total I spent on all of those books was $8.00!!! All except for Thanks for the Memories and Filthy Shakespeare were free :D Once I've finished Clockwork Angel I think I may start the Shakespeare book because after flipping through it a bit it looks absolutely hillarious.

 

I also bought a book called The Beatles- A Life in Pictures for $5.00 that is literally just a picture book. That one I am planning on cutting up for a bit of an art project. I bought 3 canvases and am planning on making a collage across all 3 of them. :D

Edited by CaliLily
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I haven't started it but really want to soon here. It looks like a great story (according to the Synopsis) and has gotten great reviews so far. :) Mostly I've just been reading Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare. Its by far my favorite book of hers yet. :)

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*Sigh* last night I caved and bought 4 books and a new booklight at work.

 

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

Houses of Horror by Hans Holzer

Wicked Appetite by Janet Evanovich

Halloween Horrors by Dean Koontz, Ray Bradbury and Peter Straub

 

I also got 6 free books a few days ago. Since they're all of the smutty romance nature I'll save the titles, lol. I don't normally read anything like that but these were free so...

 

After Clockwork Angel I think I'll start Wicked Appetite. It just came out this week and is supposed to be really good. :D

Edited by CaliLily
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  • 3 weeks later...

Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare

 

Synopsis:

Magic is dangerous—but love is more dangerous still.

 

When sixteen-year-old Tessa Gray crosses the ocean to find her brother, her destination is England, the time is the reign of Queen Victoria, and something terrifying is waiting for her in London's Downworld, where vampires, warlocks and other supernatural folk stalk the gaslit streets. Only the Shadowhunters, warriors dedicated to ridding the world of demons, keep order amidst the chaos.

 

Kidnapped by the mysterious Dark Sisters, members of a secret organization called The Pandemonium Club, Tessa soon learns that she herself is a Downworlder with a rare ability: the power to transform, at will, into another person. What’s more, the Magister, the shadowy figure who runs the Club, will stop at nothing to claim Tessa's power for his own. Friendless and hunted, Tessa takes refuge with the Shadowhunters of the London Institute, who swear to find her brother if she will use her power to help them. She soon finds herself fascinated by—and torn between—two best friends: James, whose fragile beauty hides a deadly secret, and blue-eyed Will, whose caustic wit and volatile moods keep everyone in his life at arm's length . . . everyone, that is, but Tessa. As their search draws them deep into the heart of an arcane plot that threatens to destroy the Shadowhunters, Tessa realizes that she may need to choose between saving her brother and helping her new friends save the world. . . . and that love may be the most dangerous magic of all.

 

Review:

 

The Steampunk style mixed with what is quickly becoming one of my favorite worlds to visit and revisit made Clockwork Angel an very enjoyable read. Clare has a fantastic gift of being able to bounce between her character's viewpoints so that the reader doesn't actually notice when perspectives are changed. It all comes together so that you are effortless reading a well rounded story full of everything I love about both the YA and Fantasy genres.

 

Will is written a bit like her other main male character from the Mortal Instruments series- heavily guarded and cocky- where as Jem (James) is the complete opposite of him, sensitive and observant. (Needless to say, I'm definitely on Team Jem!) Tessa is a very strong female lead who is easy to love and connect with, even if what she is experiencing in life is a whole world away. Its so hard to remember that just 140 short years ago our world was so different and new, that a trip from New York to London was done via ship and once the ocean was crossed the London in this book is merely a shadow of what it is today. Clare used the London that stood back in 1878 and did some amazing research in order to make it as authentic as possible while still fitting it into a believable fantasy world.

 

I would suggest that if you haven't read any of Clare's work before that you read the Mortal Instruments Series first as Clockwork Angel, the first in the Infernal Devices Series, is actually a prequel. The Mortal Instruments explains more on how the world of the Shadowhunters works where as Clockwork Angel reads as if the author expects you to already know about the world of the Nephilim.

 

I would rate Clockwork Angel a 4.5/5 If you like YA fantasy then definitely look into reading some of Clare's work, she's quickly becoming one of the genre's most well rounded rising stars.

Edited by CaliLily
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Great review Abby, 'Clockwork Angel' is on my wishlist but I will read 'The Mortal instruments' series first, hope you enjoy 'The Hunger Games', happy reading :)

Edited by Weave
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Thanks Paula :) I can't wait to hear what you think about the Mortal Instruments series and Clockwork Angel. Hope you enjoy them! I've decided to read Fallen by Lauren Kate next as I borrowed it from work and want to get it back to them instead of letting it sit around any longer. No need for a library anymore, we can borrow anything we want at work :D

 

The Hunger Games looks so good, I can't wait to get into it. Have you read Mockingjay yet?

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  • 2 weeks later...

I've finally managed to go through my books and re-do my current 'owned' booklist. I haven't marked yet which ones I've read and which have yet to be, but this little project has taken me the last 12 hours (give about 5 or so for sleep and another 2ish for staring mindlessly at the computer screen). Later I'll update the ones I've already read and add a mini list of books I'm hoping to buy/read in the near future that I don't already own.

 

Abby’s Books

 

(Auto-) Biography

 

The Beatles- Lewisohn

 

Reading Lolita in Tehran- Nafisi

 

John Lennon- The Life- Norman

 

A Child Called ‘It’- Pelzer

 

Prime Green- Remembering the 60’s - Stone

 

Classics

 

Essential Shakespeare

 

Irish Fairy Tales

 

The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood

 

Women and Literature (textbook containing multiple authors)

 

Jane Eyre- Bronte

 

The House of the Seven Gables- Hawthorne

 

To Kill a Mockingbird- Lee

 

Dramatic Life- Ludlow

 

The Bell Jar- Sylvia Plath

 

Catcher in the Rye- Salinger

 

Romeo and Juliet- Shakespeare

 

Frankenstein- Shelley

 

The Picture of Dorian Gray- Wilde’

 

Cookbooks

 

The Unofficial Harry Potter Cookbook- Bucholz

 

Poetry

 

Japanese Death Poems

 

Selected Poems of William Blake

 

The Collective Works of Elizabeth Barrett Browning

 

The Collective Poems of Emily Dickinson

 

Essays and Poems of Ralph Waldo Emmerson

 

Refrence

 

American Heritage Dictionary

 

Druid Magic

 

The History of Witchcraft and Demonology

 

The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Royal Britain

 

Revision and Self Editing- Bell

 

Romance/ Mystery/ Historical Fiction/ Other

 

Thanks for the Memories- Ahern

 

Warlord-Bell

 

The Heir- Burrows

 

Secrets of Mary Magdalene- Burstein

 

Hero- Brooks

 

The Reckless Surrender- Campbell

 

Stories I Wouldn’t Tell Nobody But God- Clark

 

A Secret Kept- de Rosnay

 

Learning to Die in Miami- Eine

 

A Lady’s Guide to Improper Behavior- Enoch

 

Sun Stroked- Fox

 

Water for Elephants- Gruen

 

A Thousand Splendid Suns- Hosseini

 

The Devotion of Suspect X- Higashino

 

Seabiscuit- Hildenbrand

 

A Kiss at Midnight- James

 

Echoes- Jones-Gunn

 

Filthy Shakespeare- Kiernan

 

Traveling With Pomegranates- Kidd/Taylor

 

The Breach- Lee

 

God’s Guest List- Macomber

 

The Secrets of Seduction- Mallory

 

More Tales of the City- Maupin

 

O. Juliet- Maxwell

 

The Road- McCarthy

 

A Man No More- McPhee

 

The Heretic Queen- Michelle Moran

 

Adam and Eve- Naslund

 

Voice of America- Osondu

 

Sunday at Tiffany’s- Patterson

 

The Monster of Florence- Preston

 

Irish Born Trilogy- Roberts

 

Push- Sapphire

 

The Death and Life of Charlie St. Cloud- Sherwood

 

The Man Who Ate the 747- Sherwood

 

The Lovely Bones- Sebold

 

Dear John- Sparks

 

Wolf Fever- Spear

 

The Lady Elizabeth- Wein

 

Sci-Fi/Fantasy/Paranormal

 

Halloween Horrors (Multiple Authors)

 

Bitten- Armstrong

 

Doctor Who- Autonomy- Blythe

 

The Alchemist- Coelho

 

Wicked Appetite- Evanovich

 

Pride and Prejudice and Zombies- Grahame- Smith

 

House of Horror- Holzer

 

First Grave on the Right- Jones

 

Shadow Bound- Kellison

 

Shadow Fall- Kellison

 

Through the Faerie Glass- Klein

 

The Historian- Kostova

 

Ghost Country- Lee

 

The Next Queen of Heaven- Maguire

 

Doctor Who- The Glamour Chase- Russell

 

Born to Bite- Sands

 

Lord of the Rings- The Two Towers- Tolkien

 

YA Fiction

 

Buffy the Vampire Slayer 1- 3 stories (Multiple Authors)

 

Brightly Woven- Bracken

 

Glass Houses- Caine

 

Clockwork Angel- Clare

 

Hunger Games- Collins

 

Revolution- Donnely

 

Inkheart- Funke

 

Nightlight- The Harvard Lampoon

 

Heavenly- Laurens

 

A Wrinkle in Time- L’Engle

 

The Mermaid’s Mirror- Madigan

 

Once a Witch- McCullough

 

Evermore- Alyson Noel

 

If I Should Die Before I Wake- Nolan

 

Before I Fall- Oliver

 

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix- Rowling

 

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince- Rowling

 

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows- Rowling

 

The Forest of Hands and Teeth- Ryan

 

The Book Thief- Zusak

 

 

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  • 1 month later...

Only a couple weeks left in the year and I'm pretty sure that I won't be able to finish another book before Jan 1 so I am going to ask the lovely mods to close and delete this thread so that I can start a new one with my goals for 2011.

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