I finally got my hands on a copy of Prized (sequel to Birthmarked, by Caragh O'Brien) and have just finished it. And I have to say that even though I was expecting the typical loss of quality of sequels, I am still disappointed. Not so much by the quality of O'Brien's writing, which is almost as good as for Birthmarked. There are some incredibly intense situations and strong emotional scenes. The characters' behavior is occasionally a tad unbelievable, but not seriously.

What disappoints me is how O'Brien addresses the issues she chose to deal with in Prized. Gaia arrives in the community of Sylum right at the beginning of the book. Her stay starts very poorly when But the worst problem by far is when Gaia agrees
I still plan to read the third book (which will probably be out next year), but my expectations have been greatly lowered. Which is quite sad. This series had such a promising start!

Finally I got to finish the last of Christopher Paolini's Inheritance series. This trilogy, starting with Eragon, turned out to be a what? A quartet? I hope the eponymous last volume, Inheritance, really is the last volume.

Having not received anything like the fear and loathing meted out to the HP books, this series clunks on to a predictable end.

Not too much to object to about any 'romance' involved. Unless you count a ferociously noisy get together between two dragons. Ain't love sweet!

I thought Eragon was pretty decent, but while the next two have their good points, the books are not good enough to be that long! I've forgotten quite a few of the many threads of plot and am not going to reread the series, which would of course be necessary to understand Inheritance. I'll probably read some spoilers online to satisfy my vague interest, and then move on.

Actually it isn't necessary to reread the whole series before reading Inheritance. There is one of those who's who of characters at the end of each book which explains who did what in the three earlier books of the series (Eragon, Eldest and Brisingr). And Inheritance mainly ties up the loose ends somewhat predictably.

I read the first two books but hated them, so I never read the last two. I rarely hate books, so it was quite the achievement.

What have I read lately . . a lot of books for school, I'm afraid. But I read The Last Cavalier, by Dumas! I was excited to be able to, but I was a bit disappointed. The writing itself is good (except that they don't let you get to know one character at all, and then expect you to love her and cry when she dies! I was personally chanting out loud "die, die, die," so the main guy wouldn't love her. ), but the ending - was it unfinished? Because that ending was NOT an ending. That annoyed me.

It sounds like it was, Elanor. Here's some informative notes on the book from the reading log of a fellow LibraryThing member: http://www.lonelymountain.net/books/feb09.html#dumastlc

I just started Sabriel. It's really good so far. I also started Swordbird, which is actually better than I expected. There's also a reread of L'Engle's Many Waters.

I just finished reading "Scorpia Rising", the last book in the Alex Rider series, by Anthony Horowitz. wow. I was hooked from page one (surprise, surprise ) and wow! it's so epic! I didn't know if Horowitz was going to be able to top "Crocodile Tears", but he did. boy, did her ever! it's amazing! I am SO going to re-read it right away. it's that awesome

here's a basic summary of the book:

Fifteen-year-old reluctant spy Alex Rider has bested Scorpia twice in the past year, undermining their reputation as the world's most formidable crime organization. So when Scorpia is hired to coerce the British government to return a collection of classical marble sculptures to Greece, the organization cannot fail. An elaborate blackmail scheme is hatched to accomplish this goal, while getting revenge against Alex in the process. And despite orders from the British Prime Minister that he is never to be used for a mission again, Alex is drawn into the trap set by Scorpia. Has the elite crime organization finally found a way to crush MI6's secret weapon?

Currently I am overloaded with books I am reading or trying to read. I have started The Help, the novel that was the source for the movie, Ask Me No Questions, a book about a Muslim teenage girl for English class, and The Hunger Games, also for English class.

Since I am the farthest into The Hunger Games, I will give my thoughts on the much hyped series.

Overall so far, it has been pretty good. Normally, I am never really attached or interested in what is popular for my age group. Twilight I could hardly get a chapter into, and Harry Potter I got bored with after the third book. Now, since I has got THG for a good deal, I decided to try it. Here are my mostly spoiler free thoughts.

The bad- I really did think the second half of the first part of the book dragged on a bit too long. I was starting to get bored, but fortunately, the second part of the book got me excited again. Second, I do wish that Gale's character had more development, but then again, this is only the first book, so I wouldn't know. Third,

However, I do really like the book other than these things. There are really vivid descriptions that help you seen the surroundings of the locations. The characters are really good, and I'm glad Katniss is smart to make decisions and knows how to take care of herself. There are a lot of questions that I have, but I hope that I like the rest of the book enough to get the sequels.

I just finished reading the second book in the series "The 39 Clues: Cahills vs. Vespers" called "A King's Ransom" - it's so awesome! this series just gets better and better! I still can't believe what happens at the end - and I am impatient for the next book! it's so awesome!!!!!

I'm thinking of getting my 9 year old brother a book from "The Dragonriders of Pern" series. I haven't read it myself. For anyone who has: would you recommend it? My brother loves Narnia and Harry Potter and usually reads fantasy/ adventure. He also really like knights. Do you think the series would fit his tastes. As well, I undertand it is a series- which book do you recommend I start him off at ( I'm unsure about which book is 'first')?

Also, would you recommend any other book/book series for him?

Thank you in advance!

Valiant, I have read a couple of books in the Pern series, and based on those I think your brother might enjoy them. They are a bit of a mixture of sci-fi and fantasy. The first book is Dragonflight, so I would recommend him starting either with that one or with Dragonsong, which is the start of a parallel trilogy. The knights aspects are more prominent in Dragonflight and its direct sequels. I can't remember but I think there may have been some more mature content in the trilogy with Dragonflight that might not be appropriate for your brother. You can always check out the Wikipedia page here.

My Christmas list consists mostly of books!

I got some great books, that I can't wait to dig into!

-I finally completed my Adventures of Tintin collection!!!!
I'm so excited to finish reading them all!!!!
There is nothing more satisfying then seeing a completed book series/collection on your bookshelf.
-Fabulous and Monstrous Beasts
-Castles (Illustrated by Alan Lee)
-Country Tales by Beatrix Potter (Illustrated by Pauline Baynes)
-Poems from The Lord of the Rings
-Uncharted: The Fourth Labyrinth (based on my favorite video game series Uncharted)
-West of the Mountains, East of the Sea: The Map of Tolkien's Beleriand(Illustrated by John Howe)
-The Book of Dragons

Also I have a question for anyone who might know:
My mom bought me a few books from Ebay that strongly smell like cigarette smoke (my poor mom felt bad).
Does anyone know how to maybe get rid of the scent or make it less strong?

Baking soda might help, but it can get messy.