Dragons of the Hourglass Mage Review

Title: Dragons of the Hourglass Mage
Author: Margaret Weis & Tracy Hickman
Series: The Lost Chronicles #3,
Genre: Epic Fantasy, Fantasy. Dragons, Goblins, Kender, Knights, Warriors, Wizards

Review:


Spoiler Alert! - leave now if you have not read the book


The Lost Chronicles book are considered "fill-in" book rather than a series as this answer issues that where raised from the original Chronicles series. I read and review this book over the Dragons of the Dwarven Depths and Dragons of the Highlord Skies because I was excited to read what really happened to Raistlin between the events after he teleported out of the Maelstrom and return in end of
Dragons of Spring Dawning

Dragons of the Hourglass Mage fills the gap to which I commend the authors for doing so as this basically explains it all. As always Raistlin was "foxy" as ever as he was able survive countless events that could have him killed even surviving the wrath of Takhisis because he carries the last of the Dragon Orbs.The story also reveal how treacherous Kitiara Uth-Matar is as she is willing to kill Raistlin after he stole Hourglass of Star in Dargaard Keep.

The final battle betwen Raistlin and his lich, Fistandatilus was the highlight of the book as he was able to defeat the "soul" of the "present" Fistandantilus and revealed to the Dark queen that he "IS" Fistandantilus in the flesh in the body of Raistlin. With this development, Raistlin was able to fully acquire Fistandantilus knowledge and power and set his sights on becoming a god which  will be chronicles on  the Legends series.

Overall, Dragons of the Hourglass Mage is by far the best book of the three Lost Chronicles series as this has serve as a "prequel" to the Legends Series although I have to read the first two books but every Dragonlance fans know that Raistlin is the MAN when you talk about Dragonlance and I dare say this is a must-read book for every fan out there.

Perfect Shadow Review

Title: The Perfect Shadow
Author: Brent Weeks
Series: Night Angel Trilogy Prequel, Novella
Genre: Epic Fantasy, Magic, Assassins, Action, Adventure

Book Preview:

Discover the origins of Durzo Blint in this original novella set in the world of Brent Weeks' New York Times bestselling Night Angel trilogy."I got a bit of prophecy," the old assassin said. "Not enough to be useful, you know. Just glimpses. My wife dead, things like that to keep me up late at night. I had this vision that I was going to be killed by forty men, all at once. But now that you're here, I see they're all you. Durzo Blint."Durzo Blint? Gaelan had never even heard the name.Gaelan Starfire is a farmer, happy to be a husband and a father; a careful, quiet, simple man. He's also an immortal, peerless in the arts of war. Over the centuries, he's worn many faces to hide his gift, but he is a man ill-fit for obscurity, and all too often he's become a hero, his very names passing into legend: Acaelus Thorne, Yric the Black, Hrothan Steelbender, Tal Drakkan, Rebus Nimble.But when Gaelan must take a job hunting down the world's finest assassins for the beautiful courtesan-and-crimelord Gwinvere Kirena, what he finds may destroy everything he's ever believed in.

Review
This is my second short story/novella that I have read among my collection of e-books as I rarely read novellas unless it serves as a prequel of a book series that interests me. This week I was able to finish reading Brent Meek's "Perfect Shadow" which is a prequel to the Night Angel trilogy series.

The story setting is somewhat similar to Anne Rice's Interview with a Vampire to which the protagonist Gaelen Starfire (which is one of Durzo Blint's past name before the start of the Night Angel trilogy) is telling his life story to a young redhead Yvor Vas who later on was revealed to have an interest in "acquiring" the Black Ka'Kari from Durzo to no avail.

This novella is a must read for those who want to start reading the Night Angel series as this will give you an overview about Durzo Blint's history.

Fool Moon Review

Title: Fool Moon
Author: Jim Butcher
Series: Dresden Files #2
Genre: Detective, Private Investigator, Urban Fantasy, Wizards, Werewolves

Review:
The "Fool Moon" continues to follow the career of Harry Dresden, Chicago's only wizard/private invesigator, who seems to be having some trouble finding work after the incidents from "Storm Front. But when there's a string of grotesque murders happening, Harry gets to investigate the case which later involves a mob boss and a vicious gang of werewolf bikers.

Harry has also progress as the protagonist as the story begins to explore part of Harry's past as well as a potential budding romance even his sarcasms and jokes are beginning to evolve (specially when Harry consults with Bob the Skull).

Aside from the main protagonist, the plot is interesting as readers are presented with wide variety of lycanthropes (werewolves, hexenwolves, loup garou etc.) which made this book action-packed.

All in all, Fool Moon is by far one of the best books ever written by Jim Butcher and I cannot wait to read the next book of this series

I would recommend this novel to anyone who read and liked the first book and anyone who is looking for a good paranormal/urban fantasy series.

Clockwork Angel Review

Title: Clockwork Angel
Author: Cassandra Clare
Series: The Infernal Devices #1
Genre: Young Adult, Urban Fantasy, Paranormal, Nephilim, Steampunk, Romance.

Review:
Clockwork Angel is the first installment of the Infernal Devices Trilogy a prequel story to the highly successful The Mortal Instruments series. This series is set into  Victorian time London other than setting, the theme is rather the same with the TMI.

Clockwork Angel is a captivating novel that Twilight fans will enjoy sinking their teeth into. At the end of each chapter, the Clare dangles just enough information and action to keep the reader hooked. As with the original series, Clare has a penchant for using cliffhangers to keep the series interesting.  

Even so, the Cassandra Clare succeeds in offering enchanting and diverse characters placed in a well-constructed "steampunk" Victorian London setting. Readers will find the characters' background -- each was orphaned as a young child, has a secret past, and struggles with identity and longing for home.

Overall, Clockwork Angel is a great introduction to world of the Shadowhunters particularly the ancestors of the characters in the TMI series. Despite some similarities with the original series, the overall flow of the stories was more mysterious and interesting.

Zero Dog War Review

Title: The Zero Dog War
Author: Keith Melton
Series:  Zero Dog Missions  #1
Genre: Urban Fantasy, Elemental Magic, Vampires, Military, Zombies, Demons, Mages

Review:

aptain Andrea Walker is the fearless leader of a unique band of mercenaries named The Zero Dogs. A eclectic band of warriors comprised of a sexually-repressed succubus, a gay demon sergeant, a decidedly un-empathic empath, a lazy vampire, a wanna be ninja medic, and a werewolf with a penchant for all things naughty. When The Zero Dogs are contacted by Homeland Security to find and eradicate a rogue necromancer who is using zombies to make gelatin to eventually rule the world, they get more then they bargained for in the form of Captain Jake Sanders (a shield mage). A professional soldier, having Jake on their team is a non negotiable condition to getting the job. The pages sizzle with the force of Andrea’s attraction to Jake but Andrea doesn’t trust him. Too many cooks spoil the soup and she’s not used to sharing her authority or her team. Andrea soon learns she’s going to need all her skills to survive this battle.

Zero Dog War is a unique combination of humor, military fiction, urban fantasy, and zombie fiction to go with a mashup between the A-team and the X-Men to which you will surely enjoy reading. I look forward for the sequel  

Storm Front Review

Title: Storm Front
Author: Jim Butcher
Series: Dresden Files #1
Genre: Urban Fantasy, Private Investigator, Wizards, Demons, Vampires

Review:
Storm Front is the very first book written by Jim Butcher. The book introduce us to Harry Dresden, A wizard and a private investigator who deals with cases relating to the paranormal (vampires, werewolves, the fae, spirits, demons etc.). He is also a consultant for the Special Investigations divisions of the Chicago Police Department headed by Karrin Murphy which is task to keep paranormal cases under wraps to avoid public knowledge.

The story is about a case of a couple that was murdered using magic. The woman was later learned that she was works for a Red Court vampire named Bianca while the man was later reveal to be working for a guy name "Gentleman" Johnny Marcone, a well known kingpin in Chicago's criminal underworld. Meanwhile another woman hires Dresden to find her missing husband who was experimenting with magic and has gone missing for several weeks now. The two cases where later learned to be inter related as the missing husband was warlock responsible for the couples deaths.

Storm Front was also the first time we get to know Bob the skull, who was technically an intellectual air spirit who considered the skull to be his sanctum. There is always a comical moment everytime Harry consults Bob for anything related tomagic or the paranormal. We also get to know Susan Rodriguez, a persistent local reporter for a paranormal publication called "the Arcaine" which later becomes Harry's love interest.

Overall, Storm Front is a great introduction to the Dresden Files series despite a not impressive action scenes.

Succubus Blues Review

Title: Succubus Blues
Author: Richelle Mead
Series: Georgina Kincaid #1
Genre: Urban Fantasy, Paranormal, Romance, Demons, Angels

Review:

Succubus Blues is the very first paranormal romance book I ever read. I decided to read this over the more popular Vampire Academy series by Richelle Mead. I was enamored with "succubus" themes stories at the time and this series was the best to read at the time.  Succubus Blues is the first of installment of the Georgina Kincaid series.

 Ms. Mead was able to foray the demon world by using a "corporate" structure to their daily dealings in Seattle, Washington. The protagonist is the succubus Georgina Kincaid who works for an Archdemon "Jerome" with and imp named "Hugh" working as her "pimp".

Georgina’s fun! She’s smart. She loves books and unlike the any other succubi, She has a bit of a morality conflicts when she drains life energies from innocents that's why she prefer seducing men who are basically "bad" and that their souls are already tainted.

Another interesting aspect of this series is that Georgina has set of unconventional friends. Among them are a pair of vampires Peter and Cody, Hugh her imp, Jerome and to my surprise an archangel name Carter. Georgina's relationship revolves around her admiration to her favorite book author Seth Mortensen and guy named Roman.

Overall, Succubus Blue is a great introduction to the Georgina Kincaid series. Lots of romance, friendship, intrigues, drama, a bit of action and of course SEX.

Book Genre Preview: Urban Fantasy

Urban Fantasy has been the popular book genre today. Urban fantasy is a subset of contemporary fantasy, consisting of novels and stories with supernatural and/or magical elements set in contemporary, real-world, urban settings--as opposed to 'traditional' fantasy set in imaginary locations.

Many urban fantasy novels are told via a first-person narrative, and feature supernatural beings such as vampires, shapeshifters, fairies, witches, sorcerers, and demons. Urban fanatasy stories tend to have a high amount of suspense and action, and sometimes include mystery, romance, humor and/or horror in the plotline.

Some of the today's popular Urban-Fantasy books are the Twilight Series by Stephenie Meyer, Mortal Instrument Series by Cassandra Clare, Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead, Dresden Files Series by Jim Butcher, Grave Hunter series by Jeaniene Frost and Mercy Thompson by Patrica Briggs among others.

Amazon Kindle Fire: E-book reader and more

Amazon recently surprised everyone by announcing the Kindle Fire, a full-fledged tablet that runs Android OS on a dual core processor and implements cloud storage. It also focuses on your basic multimedia needs- web browsing, checking e-mail, watching videos, listening to music, playing games and of course, reading e-books.

The Kindle Fire will come with a price tag of only USD $199. That's less than half of what most tablets cost these days. Granted, it will have limited capabilities, but really, the Kindle Fire has pretty much everything you need in a tablet.

Update:
For a detailed information about the Kindle Fire, you can visit the official Kindle Fire website.

Poll: Alternatives to Vampires and Werewolves

Paranormal based books are mostly dominated by vampires and werewolves in terms of story themes and only some have story about demons(succubus), angels(nephilims), faeries, witches and warlocks. Aside from the two  which paranormal entity would be the next theme would you like to read.

Please do vote for your favorite paranormal entity which is located on the website sidebar.

The City of Fallen Angels Review

Title: City of Fallen Angels
Author: Cassandra Clare
Series: The Mortal Instrument #4
Genre: Urban Fantasy, Young Adult, Nephilim, Angels, Demons, Warlocks, Vampires, Demons, Faeries

Review:

City of Fallen Angels, The fourth installment of Cassandra Clare's Mortal Instruments series was a slight shift in terms of the storyline as the focus of this story now rest on Simon Lewis, the vampire "daywalker" and Clary's best friend. Though the series main protagonist Jace Weyland( or Morgentstern or Lightwood or Herondale?) and Clarissa Fray (or Morgensterm) as well as the rest cast  with some new characters particularly Jordan Kyle a member of Praetus Lupus and a new threat in demon Lilith, 'The mother of all warlocks".

The fourth installment was not deprived of drama, romance and some light comedy which fans love from the first three books. On this book, you will find out that Jace and Clary's relationship has encountered some "rough" times along with the new threat. As with the previous series, book ends in a cliffhanger which will surely the make the readers clamor for excitement of the upcoming next book entitled City of Lost Souls.

Overall, City of Fallen Angels is a good start to the second trilogy of the Mortal Instruments Series even though the technically the "mortal instruments" are where no longer the focus of the story.

Dragonlance Book Guide Site

Dragonlance has been one of the top fantasy book novels written by RPG gurus Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman. A few authors has also contributed to expand the Dragonlance universe which increases the number of novels to over 50 books. If your a newbie reader and want to start reading Dragonlance books but done want to get confuse which books to start reading, then I would recommend you follow the original series canon which is demonstrated on the Dragonlance Book guide website.

This website will guide the reader to the chronological order of the original canon of the story of the Companions. Aside from the original canon series, there will be other books that are no longer in line with the series canon but will also further tell the story of the characters and event that happened in Krynn.

Lucifer's Daughter Review

Title: Lucifer's Daughter
Author: Eve Langlais
Series: Princess of Hell #1
Genre: Paranormal, Romance, Erotica, Demons, Angels

Review:
The first ever romance/erotica book that I have read although for a man to read this is quiet unusual I tried it out since it was recommend to me by a friend on Goodread.com. The book is a story about Muriel who is Satan's daughter having to struggle to find her one true love and found her man who was actually an angel. The book showed some balance of romance, erotica and very good deal of comedy. The comedy portion of this book is somewhat compare to a sitcom on TV. Overall it's a good book to read on specially if you want to take a breather on some the paranormal, science fiction or fantasy books.

Martview, an attractive PDF reader that lets you share publications

Martview is basically a PDF reader that you have put steroids in the eye, thinking nothing more than touch screens. The appearance is what draws the most attention, with a modern design and useful. The program runs full screen and the menu bar is hidden at the top. We have several ways to view the documents, but the most striking is what allows us to turn the pages as if they were pages of a book, but we can resort to more usual methods, with a vertical or horizontal. In addition, it has the usual functions of zoom or display an index of pages through thumbnails.

Supports two formats: PDF and MART, the reader himself. However, we can convert images (JPEG, GIF and PNG), ZIP, RAR and PDF format them with the internal converter MART. Recommend it to PDF because that program performance is better. For testing, I tried to convert a pair of compressed files but there was no way, though I had better luck with images only, where I worked without problems.

Martview offers a service that allows you to download content uploaded by other users or increase our own using a small integrated manager. And of course, have the ability to share what they are reading at that time through Twitter and Facebook. For every click you make someone share the link, you will be given 5 points. When you reach a certain number of points you can unlock certain categories of publications that initially you can not access.

Among the "buts" that you can put the program is it lacks a function to mark pages and will only be able to read PDF, apart from the proprietary format. Also missing is an option to turn the interface and use it in portrait mode, something that would be wrong. In addition, it consumes considerable resources and recommended for use with other programs closed, so we can not be very useful if we have it to look up information as we work.

No doubt, a very attractive option in the panorama of desktop readers, but more suitable for prolonged reading or files that contain many images. I find it very convenient for when you feel only to read but not for everyday use constant consultation. His appearance is very pleasant and the experience of reading with this program seemed more pleasant than with other readers lighter. MartView is free and works on any Windows from 2000 to Windows 7. No further specification is available on its website, but if you have installed Java 1.6, you can not install the program. This lack of specifications is also a bug, so I recommend you be careful where you install, does not work or you do not do it halfway.

You can get the program in its own official website.

Resource: ArticleBase

Under Creative Commons License: Attribution No Derivatives

Podcast for Fictional Book readers

Aside from reading books, I am also an avid podcast listener and I have been listening to several podcast genre's on my iPod. There's one podcast show for sci-fi/fantasy and book afficionado called "Sword and Laser"

The Sword and Laser is a science fiction and fantasy-themed book club and podcast, hosted by Veronica Belmont and Tom Merritt. The main goal of the club is to build a strong online community of sci-fi / fantasy buffs, and to discuss and enjoy books of both genres.

You can follow the show the the Sword and Laser website as well as subscribing on iTunes just search for "Sword and Laser"

Social Networks For The Booklover

Most booklovers share two things in common: (1) the love of a great book and (2) sharing that book with friends. From book clubs to reading groups, social networking has always played a part in the avid reader's life. It is no surprise this love has gone digital.

Book social networks are those focused on reading and sharing books with others through book lists and reviews. Not only are these book-based social networks a great way to share good books, they are also an excellent way to find new books to read.

Social Networks for Booklovers

Review: City of Glass (book 3 of 3 of the Mortal Instruments)

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Title: City of Glass
Author: Cassandra Claire
Series: The Mortal Instruments #3
Genre: Urban Fantasy, Young Adult, Nephilim, Angels, Demons, Warlocks, Vampires, Demons, Faeries.

Review:
Finally posted my review for the 3rd installment of Cassandra Clare's Mortal Instruments series City of Glass

The third and final installment in the first Mortal Instruments trilogy definitely lives up to the reputation of the first two – City of Bones and City of Ashes .City of Glass picks up a short time after City of Ashes ends.Clary has a mission. Madeleine, her mother’s friend, is possibly the only person who knows how to wake her mother from a coma.Clary will have to travel to Alicante in Idris to get what she needs.

Alicante is the ancestral home of the Shadowhunters.It is known as the City of Glass because of the beautifully tall glass towers that guard the city from harm.The only way to get to Idris is through a portal and Magnus, the warlock, has arranged one.Clary is planning to go through the portal with Jace and the Lightwoods.The only problem is, Jace doesn’t want Clary to go so he lies to her about when he and the Lightwoods are leaving.He thinks it is too dangerous for Clary.

After being left behind, Clary eventually finds her way to Alicante.She uses her ability to create runes and makes a portal for herself.Being new to the Shadowhunter world, Clary doesn’t know that using a portal and entering the city without permission is against the law. If she is found she could be put to death.

Once in the City of Glass, Clary is thrown in the middle of the largest battle the Shadowhunters have ever had to face.Valentine’s evil plans are in the final stages and everyone is on full alert, not knowing what he will do next.Jace and Clary’s complicated relationship keeps them just as confused as ever, but provides great excitement for the reader.

To Read: Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card

Preview:
"In order to develop a secure defense against a hostile alien race's next attack, government agencies breed child geniuses and train them as soldiers. A brilliant young boy, Andrew "Ender" Wiggin lives with his kind but distant parents, his sadistic brother Peter, and the person he loves more than anyone else, his sister Valentine. Peter and Valentine were candidates for the soldier-training program but didn't make the cut--young Ender is the Wiggin drafted to the orbiting Battle School for rigorous military training.


Ender's skills make him a leader in school and respected in the Battle Room, where children play at mock battles in zero gravity. Yet growing up in an artificial community of young soldiers Ender suffers greatly from isolation, rivalry from his peers, pressure from the adult teachers, and an unsettling fear of the alien invaders. His psychological battles include loneliness, fear that he is becoming like the cruel brother he remembers, and fanning the flames of devotion to his beloved sister.


Is Ender the general Earth needs? But Ender is not the only result of the genetic experiments. The war with the Buggers has been raging for a hundred years, and the quest for the perfect general has been underway for almost as long. Ender's two older siblings are every bit as unusual as he is, but in very different ways. Between the three of them lie the abilities to remake a world. If, that is, the world survives."

A Winner of the Hugo and Nebula Awards, Orson Scott Card's Ender's Game (the 1st book of the Ender's Saga series) is a must read for all Science Fiction fanatics.

Future Reads: Constantine

"Hidden from mortal eyes are the angels and demons that coexist with mankind...supernatural beings who seek to influence our lives for better and for worse. Amoral and irreverent renegade occultist and paranormal detective John Constantine is blessed and cursed with the ability to interact with this secret world. When Constantine teams up with skeptical L.A. policewoman Angela Dodson to solve the mysterious suicide of her twin sister, their investigation catapults them into a catastrophic series of otherworldly events — even as the forces of Hell conspire against Constantine to claim his immortal soul...."

Even though I have seen the Keannu Reeves film of the same title, reading the book has a bit different feel apart that not all aspects of the books is being portrayed in the movie. So to enjoy "Constantine" more, I intend to add this book into my bucketlist of e-books to read.

Tips on buying the E-book Reader

Here’s a list of things to consider when selecting a new eBook reader.

Screen type

Remember when an eReader display pretty much meant E Ink? Well, the arrival of the Apple iPad as a viable eReading device has since changed that.

When picking an eReader, ask yourself if you don’t mind reading books on an LCD screen or prefer the more paperlike look of something like E Ink. Each has advantages and disadvantages. E Ink tends to reduce eye strain and greatly improve battery life. An LCD screen can display color and typically comes with touchscreen capabilities as well. Then you have hybrid readers such as the Barnes & Noble Nook and Spring Design Alex, which feature both an electronic paper display and LCD touchscreen at the same time.

For electronic paper displays, make sure you compare screens because some have better contrast than others. Sony’s PRS-300 Reader Pocket, for example, has great white levels and tack-sharp text whereas its siblings the Reader Touch and Reader Pocket have grayer screens.

Size and weight

Size matters. Especially on just how portable you want your eReader to be.

Fortunately, there are all sorts of options out there when it comes to size. Sony’s Reader Pocket, for one, actually fits in my jeans pocket, but its 5-inch screen is still big enough for comfortable reading. It’s also pretty light and is easy to take with you on the go. In the middle of the pack, you have devices such as the Amazon Kindle, Barnes & Noble Nook, Spring Design Alex, and Sony Reader Touch and Reader Pocket. Then you’ve got the huge devices, such as the Kindle DX and Apple iPad, which sport screens that are about 10 inches in size. Unless you’re a kangaroo, you ain’t fitting those in your pocket anytime soon. But they’re pretty good if you value a screen with larger real estate.

Interface

Controls for eReading devices are typically based on either buttons, touchscreens or a combination of both. Button-based controls require less power and are more accurate but can be more cumbersome to use. Touchscreens are more intuitive but can be laggy, smudge-prone, and typically suck more juice from your battery.

Button-based devices include Amazon’s Kindle 1, 2, 3 and DX models, plus Sony’s Reader Pocket and the Kobo eReader. The Nook and iPad are almost exclusively touch-based. Sony’s Reader Touch and Daily, and Spring Design’s Alex use both touch- and button-based controls.

Manybooks.net: a Great eBook Resource

Just thought we would give you a heads up on a great resource for eBooks. The website Manybooks.net features some of the classics in literature. from John Quincy Adam to H.P. Lovecraft. They are available in many different formats and are advertisement free.

Manybooks.net features approximately 29,000 titles and you can search by looking up the author, language, or genre. Lots of great short stories and hard to find titles from ages past are available.

Review: City of Ashes (book 2 of 3 of the Mortal Instruments)

Title: City of Ashes
Author: Cassandra Claire
Series: The Mortal Instruments #2
Genre: Urban Fantasy, Young Adult, Nephilim, Angels, Demons, Warlocks, Vampires, Demons, Faeries.

Review:
Clary Fray is having some major issues. Her best friend, Simon, is falling in love with her; her bad-boy crush, Jace, just might be her brother; her mom is in the hospital in a coma — oh, and did we mention that her dad is summoning an army of demons in a plot to take over the world?

It’s enough to make any girl want to scream, but Clary isn’t just any girl — she’s a Shadowhunter, and in Cassandra Clare’s new book, City of Ashes, her life gets a lot more complicated.

Book Review: City of Bones (book 1 of 3 of the Mortal Instruments)

Title: City of Bones
Author: Cassandra Claire
Series: The Mortal Instruments #1
Genre: Urban Fantasy, Young Adult, Nephilim, Angels, Demons, Warlocks, Vampires, Demons, Faeries.

The first book that I read after years of not reading fictional books because of my busy schedule. To be honest the main reason why I read this book (and looking forward in reading the succeeding books) is that I saw this book on the bookstore while I was buying some educational supplies for my daughter. As I read the overview at the back of the book, it got me intrigued. Since I prefer reading this as an e-book, I got online and purchased all three e-book of the Mortal Instruments series.

A Blog about Fictional Books

During my early years (before then internet and portable devices), I like to read books, particularly fictional books. Most of my genre of choice where about fantasy, medieval, futuristic or sci-fiction, gothic and mystery. My favorite books before and up to know are the Dragonlance books (my favorites where those where written by either or both by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman). When good books title are hard to find on our local bookstores, I decided to stop and focus more on other forms of entertainment.

With the emergence of E-book readers and portable devices, I decided that I was time for me to catch up on reading again. My first "journey" back to reading was a gothic genre book series called the "Mortal Instruments" written by Cassandra Clare. As of this writing, I'm on the third book right now entitled "City of Glass".