Syren: Septimus Heap Book Five

by Angie Sage

I hardly know where to start telling you how much I enjoyed this book.  Syren is written for ages 9-12 and yet it held my interest for all 630 pages.  Many Junior and YA adult books are not so well written and as interesting as Angie Sage's series featuring Septimus Heap.  I often find myself thinking, "I can see how this would be good for a younger reader."  Syren draws that same thought and this additional one, "Totally enjoyable for readers 9 through 99."  I loved it.

The writing, the story, and the characters all drew me in.  There were several tales of adventure that intertwined throughout and kept me interested.  Syren has so many endearing characters that are so vividly described, like Aunt Zelda who looks more like a quilted tent than a woman. 

The Septimus Heap series is one of the better fantasy novels I've read and I highly recommend it.

1st To Die

by James Patterson

I've read a couple of books by Patterson over the years and have enjoyed them very much. One of my favorites was Suzanne's Diary for Nicholas.

Over the years I've read some good comments about his Women's Mystery Club series. So I jumped right in and started with the first book in the series.

Four women-four friends-share a determination to stop a killer who has been stalking newlyweds in San Francisco. Each one holds a piece of the puzzle: Lindsay Boxer is a homicide inspector in the San Francisco Police Department, Claire Washburn is a medical examiner, Jill Bernhardt is an assistant D.A., and Cindy Thomas just started working the crime desk of the San Francisco Chronicle.

I plan on reading the rest in the series so I'm going to list them in order here so I know where I'm going and what I've read. It helps that the titles include numbers.
1. 1st to Die
2. 2nd Chance
3. 3rd Degree
4. 4th of July
5. The 5th Horseman
6. The 6th Target
7. 7th Heaven
8. The 8th Confession

Is anyone else reading this series? What books have you read? Does the series hold up as new books are added?

Split Second

by David Baldacci

I read Hour Game by Baldacci back in January without realizing it was book 2 in a series. It could have been a good stand-alone, but I was delighted to find out there were more books featuring former Secret Service agents Sean King and Michelle Maxwell.

It was fun going back to book one, Split Second, and learning how King and Maxwell met each other and became partners. In addition, it was a gripping, page turning mystery. I look forward to reading book three.