When a REALLY good series ends... :(

       Well, I reread Clockwork Princess- the last book of my all time favorite series- this weekend... Although I've read it multiple times before, and almost know the book by heart, I still felt this helpless feeling of drowning when I was done. It had such a beautiful and happy ending, so it definitely wasn't the plot that contributed to that feeling. It was the fact that there wouldn't be a book after that one that brought tears to my eyes. Can anyone relate?

 

       The first time after I finished the book, I frowned and thought to myself, "Well that was a very final ending... Everyone's life it perfect, what would the next book even be about?" I brushed that thought aside and eagerly went online and googled the sequel to it. I couldn't wait to find out when the next book came out. BAM! Just like that my hopes were shattered for I came upon this website:
http://cassandraclare.tumblr.com/post/19951137051/just-made-a-tumblr-to-ask-you-a-question-haha-is-the

       Pretty much it was a post about Cassandra Clare (the author) confirming that Clockwork Princess is indeed the last book of the Infernal Devices series. Quoting from the post:

(Question: )" I understand it will be the last book in TID, am I correct?"
 (Answer:) Yes. I have the Dark Artifices to write after that. I think the end of The Infernal Devices is a very final ending. I hope it is satisfying — I don’t think it’s what people are expecting but I hope it’s a satisfying surprise ....


       Anyways... after reading this, I sat at my desk for 10 minutes, stubbornly refusing to accept this fact. However, I soon realized that "all good things must come to an end," so I reluctantly came to terms with this new information.

    For me, when a good series ends and the characters who I had come to love disappear, I little part of me sort of vanishes. I know this sounds really trivial and exaggerated and you're probably thinking, "It's a series... you'll find another." You're probably right, maybe I'm just overly attached to the series. Maybe it's not normal...  Anyhow, I really do hope that I find another series that's good enough to compare with The Infernal Devices. *Fingers Crossed*

Clockwork Princess Book Trailer:

Predictions...

So far in the book Great Expectations, not a lot of major events have happened. But yet the book moves along because the author describes everything in so much vivid detail that it really draws the reader in.

Quick Summary:
       Pip (main character) meets a homeless convict. This man threatens/forces Pip to bring him food to him the next day. Pip does so and later the next day the King's military comes to have Pip's family fix a weapon. The soldiers (and Pip and his uncle) then travel to the commentary to look for the convict Pip had helped. Two convicts are found and both are captured. This marks the end of a significant event of Pip's life. The story skips ahead a year to when a rich lady named Miss Havisham asks Pip to visit her and play with her adopted daughter. Seeing this as a great opportunity for Pip to learn the way of upper classman and to experience what it's like to live high up in the social hierarchy, Pip's family, more than enthusiastically, agrees. at the Havisham's mansion, Pip meets a rude, condescending, yet extremely beautiful girl. This girl is Estella, Miss Havisham's daughter. Estella makes fun of Pip and his poor upbringings, which makes Pip feel really bad about himself.

Charles Dickens:

There are a lot of different ways that the story could go from this point on. I have watched the trailer for the movie, so I kind of have an idea of how this book will continue. But there are still facets of the plot that I have NO idea how it's going to unravel. I do have a few predictions, however.

First off, I think that Pip is going to turn into a very self- conscious and ashamed boy because of the horrid things that Estella said about his being poor. Pip could try very hard to learn to act like Estella and her family and eventually leave his real family because he feels he's "too good for them" I also think that he is going to fall in love with Estella despite how much she has and will hurt him and Estella will fall in love with Pip against her will. A lot of the story could also be focused on Pip trying to impress Estella and the obstacles he has to overcome to be with Estella.

There are also some very confusing parts of the text. For example, how did Pip's parents die- was it an accident or was someone set out to get them? The book starts with Pip in the cemetery and imagining what his parents looked like based on their tombstones, so inevitably, I kind of want to know what happened to them...

Also, I wonder if Estella and Pip will ever end up together, or if it just isn't meant to be with Pip coming from such a different background as Estella did. Will Estella do something so soulless that makes Pip resent her forever?

Pip and Estella from BBC adaptations of Great Expectations:

So far, this classic has DEFINATELY been a lot better than I expected, and although it is sometimes hard to follow the 'ancient' language, the general gist of what's happening can be clearly understood.

Google it!

If I asked you who sings the new hit song "Roar", you'd probably respond, "Katy Perry, of course." But if I asked you who founded the most popular search engine that you use everyday, you'd probably have NO idea. Well, at least that was the case for me.

Personally, I use Google at least ten times a day; whether that be to find a math equation to finish my math homework, or to watch a cat play ping pong... =) It's one of those things that you don't realize how much you use it until you really think about it. And yet, I had not the slightest clue about who might have created this powerful and utilitarian website.


Inside Google's Data Centers:

Turns out, a very quiet man (co)founded this website. Quiet, not by nature but because he has severe nerve damage in both vocal chord, Larry Page has big dreams for expanding Google. In the new Times Article 'Can Google Solve Death?" Harry McCracken and Lev Grossman talk about Page's philosophy and his future goals and plans for the ever successful company.

Page is "uncommonly ambitions and impatient". In a way, I feel that it is this drive that has made Google what it is today. With Page's unceasing motivation and good leadership, it is inevitable that Google is the leading search engine in the world. As Page says, "For me, it was always unsatisfying if you look at companies that get very big and they're just doing one thing. Ideally, if you have more people and more resources, you can get more things solved. We've kind of always had that philosophy."

The article also highlights what Google calls Moon Shots, or Google's more arduous endeavors. Google is planning on launching a new company that will solely focus on health and aging, called Calico. The goal is that with enough research and work, maybe one day Calico could solve the 'issue' of aging and possible slow down the mortality rates due to it. When I first read this my first reaction was, "What? Is that even possible?" But then again, we are talking about one of the richest and most powerful companies on this planet today, so I don't really put anything past them.


For more info on Calico, check out Page's personal post on Google+ at:
https://plus.google.com/+LarryPage/posts/Lh8SKC6sED1

Great Expectations

 

       I just started reading the book Great Expectations by Charles Dickens. I've been wanting to read a classic for a long time, but I never seemed to get past the first two chapters because they don't draw me in. However, this book was quite different. It had a very interesting start and although sometimes the old- fashioned wording is kind of confusing, so far I have been able to keep up. It starts off with the description of why Pip came to be called Pip. The descriptions of Pip's family- whom he had never seen- is also present in the beginning of the book. So far Pip, the main character, has talked to a homeless man who threatened to kill him if Pip doesn't bring him food the next day. Pip goes home to his sister- the woman who raises him- and is thinking about stealing some food from the dinner table to give to the homeless man. Told in first person, the story is able to include Pip's inner thoughts and intents for actions. During the night, Pip is only able to think about the man tearing out his heart and liver and barely gets a wink of sleep. Pip wakes up early in the morning and guiltily steals some food from the already low supply. He brings these goods to the homeless man who is sitting by the grave yard, asleep. Pip watches as the man stuffs food down his throat like he hasn't eaten for days- which might be the case. Pip thinks to himself and makes the connection that the man eats a lot like a dog does,  I found his descriptions of why he thought so quite humorous. Pip states that the man scarfs the food down hurriedly and messily, occasionally looks up to look for anything that might threaten his food, and crouches over in a protective manner over his meal, or as the book states:
"I had often watched a large dog of ours eating his food; and I now noticed a decided similarity between the dog's way of eating and the man's...He swallowed, or rather snapped up, every mouthful too soon and too fast; and he looked sideways here and there while he ate, as if he thought there was danger of somebody's coming to take the pie away."

       So far, this book has been a really good read and I look forward to finishing it, and watching the movie.

Book Recommendation

Your world has been shattered. Your boyfriend is now possessed by your murderous, coldblooded brother that you never knew you had. Everything you’ve known for 17 years is a lie. Now you are a part of an elite group of super-humans called ShadowHunters that could very possibly be eradicated by your brother. That is exactly what happened to a teenager named Clary in The City of Lost Souls. It was a really good read. Since the beginning of the school year, I’ve been continuing to read the Mortal Instruments series (City of Glass, City of Fallen Angels, and City of Lost Souls). All of these books were well-written, suspenseful, and descriptive. However, I read the corresponding series (The Infernal Devices) and the Moral Instruments did not live up to my expectations.  I already exclusively classified the Infernal Devices as one of my favorite series, so I figured that the Mortal Instruments series would be ‘mind blowingly’ good since they were making a movie for it. The main characters are really well developed and the reader is able to see these characters through different lenses. One can see them when they thrive in their best of times and crumble and adapt in their worst of times- this really allowed me to understand and relate to each of the characters.

 

 I feel like the series has experienced its up and downs. The first book I would say was the best. The second one was less exciting, but the third one redeemed the series with its unexpected twists in plot. The fourth book was my least favorite- it was very predictable and had minimum action until the last fifty pages. The characters pretty much went about their daily business and the author described this. Only near the end of the book did an antagonist show up and turned the character’s world upside down. The fifth book I really, really enjoyed reading. Although it did drag a little, I felt that there was enough action and was well written enough to keep me reading. From the middle of the book to near the end, the story was told through 2 different perspectives. One from the place that Clary, Sebastian, and Jace was in and the other from where Simon, Isabelle, Alec, and other ShadowHunters were staying. This kind of got confusing sometimes, but like with all changes, you'll get used to it.

Overall, I would give this book 4.5 stars because of the well-crafted writing, exciting plot line, unexpected turn arounds, and deeply relatable characters. However, I feel that the story was rather drawn out and a lot of irrelevant detailed was included. I would definately recommend this book to anyone who likes a little romance mixed in with a lot of action and surprises. Also, if you do like this book, I suggest that you read the Infernal Devices series or the Bane Chronicles.

 

Still Reading the City of Lost Souls....

       Got a bit of reading in this weekend and the book is getting really good. Jace, an arrogant yet charming teenager, is still bound/possessed by a mass murderer named Sebastian, so if one gets hurt the other does too. Clary, now however, decides to join Jace (her boyfriend) and Sebastian as they travel through dimensions of time to see if she can get some information about Sebastian's new plan to cause destruction. Magnus Bane, one of the Shadowhunter's good friends, has summoned the Prince of Demons- Azazel- to see if he has a weapon that can kill Sebastian but leave Jace unharmed. Azazel does have a plan, but the price is too high for the ShadowHunters-Isabelle, Alec, Jocelyn- to agree to.

        The book, at this point, starts switching between Clary's world and that of her other ShadowHunting friends. Clary is fighting demons with Jace and Sebastian and traveling the world with them too.  Simon, a vampire, is Clary's best friend and has the Mark of Cain. This means that anyone who tries to harm him will receive the damage sevenfold.  He is also trying to save Jace because he knows that if Jace dies, Clary would be devastated for the rest of her life. After much thought, Simon has devised a plan that the other ShadowHunters had shot down earlier. He was going to summon an angel. This seems impossible because the person who summons an angel always gets smoldered to ashes before any words can be exchanged. However, because of the Mark of Cain, Simon believes that he can summon an angel and not get harmed. Obviously the others object because there are still a lot of faults to this plan that could result in Simon being dead. In the end however, Simon is able to persuade them that he owes Jace and Clary this favor.

        Even though this book/series is very gripping and fun to read, I kind of feel that it might be dragging out a little too much. By the third book, the main antagonist had died, and there aren't many big problems. Thus, the fourth book, I feel, had no suspense or an interesting plot until the last 50 pages. I'm more than halfway done with the fifth book and so far, the characters are only talking and thinking about plausible plans, but no action has been taken yet. However, I still really enjoy the series and can't wait to get more reading done :)

Below is a little interview with the author- Cassandra Clare:

City of Lost Souls

Characters:

       This is the fifth book of the City of Bones series. The main character of the book is a seventeen year old girl named Clary. Another very important character is Jace- a skilled ShadowHunter. Clary and Jace have been in love since the first time they saw each other, but when they first admitted this to each other in the first book, they are told that they are siblings. Thus, they had to hide their feelings for each other and act as sisters and brothers do. Finally in the third book, it is revealed that Clary and Jace are actually not related. So now, they can officially date. All is well, but in the end of the fourth book, Jace, is possessed by the demon queen who is trying to revive Sebastian- a dead boy who is like her son. Jace and Sebastian are mortal enemies because Sebastian had hurt so many people in Jace's family. Clary and her other ShadowHunter friends are able to kill the queen, but in the end, Sebastian comes back to life because he was able to control Jace's mind to let him have some of Jace's blood. Now, these 2 enemies are bound to each other, which means that if one gets hurt, the other gets hurt, or if one dies, then the other dies as well. Sebastian, with mind control, is able to get Jace to act according to his every wish. This shows that through the course of 2 books, Jace had turned from a person who loved being his own person and voicing his opinion to someone who can only act as someone else tells him to.



       Clary, who was living the life of a normal teenage girl for 17 years, finally figures out the truth about her identity. And within days, her life had turned upside down. Her mother was in a deep sleep and couldn't be awoken, she had to face mythical creatures in battle, has to fight against her father so he doesn't kill the ShadowHunter population,and she has to choose between her best friend or the possible love of her life- Jace. In the fifth book, she starts off very worried about Jace because he had disappeared from where she had left him just 5 minutes ago. Also gone from the room is a mass murderer named Sebastian. So inevitably, Clary assumes that Sebastian probably hurt Jace.
       "Then you tell me why [Sebastian's] body isn't there, because it isn't,"[Clary] said, her voice finally breaking. "There's nothing up there but a lot of blood and broken glass. They're both gone, Simon. Jace is gone."
       As days go by, Clary's despair grows. Jace still cannot be found, and his best friend says that he has a bad feeling about what is happening to Jace. However, then she sees him and talks to him. It is then that she realizes that the Jace she's talking to is no longer the Jace she loves. Although she still wants to help Jace, she is a little scared of him and no longer trusts himi with her life as she did before. This shows how Clary changed from a carefree teenager to one who had to deal with the pressure of fighting demons, saving the ShadowHunter population, and losing the love of her life.


                                                                       ***

So now that I finished the book, I have a more detailed understanding  of how the characters have changed throughout the story. First off, Alec, who was initially very jealous of Magnus Bane- his boyfriend- has slowly learned to overcome this. At the beginning, he was considering to take away Magnus's immortality so that he couldn't love anyone besides him. Alec was very new to the concept of love and felt that it could only be true if one person was the only thing on the others mind. However, by the end of the book, Alec realizes that true love is when you will do whatever just to see the person you love be happy. He understands that you cannot expect love to work how you want it to. It's going to take the course it wants to take and you have to be the one to adapt to it.

       Clary, who from the beginning to late end of the book, could not imagine ever hurting Jace physically or mentally does the former with full intentions. "Glorious sank into [Jace's] chest, and she felt her bloddy hand slide on the hilt as the blage ground against the bones of his rib cage, driving through him until her fist thumped against his body and she froze. (490)."She transforms from a girl who cared almost solely for her boyfriend and his well being into one who is able to do something she hates for the well- being of her friends and family. This shows that she has learned to prioritize and is more mature and less selfish by doing only what she wants. She is now more capable of making decisions and considering later consequences.


To find out more about The City of Bones series or to find similar books, visit:
http://www.shadowhunters.com/index.php

City of Glass Summary

    Summary:

       The book City of Glass is the 3rd book of the series The Mortal Instruments. It took place in a world much like our own. However, the difference is that there are mythical creatures such as vampires, werewolves, and faeries. There are also these special people called Shadowhunters. These human beings have the ability to draw designs called runes onto their skin to get superhuman strengths. Jace, is the main male character, he is a Shadowhunter and is very good at hunting demons. He is very arrogant, but in a funny way. He is also very caring to people who he likes. Clary is the main female character. She is also a Shadowhunter, however, she doesn't have the training to fight bad creatures.  But, her ability to draw any rune that no one has ever seen to give others powers makes up for the above fact. Isabelle, Alec, and Max are Jace's siblings, and thus are also Shadowhunters. Clary and Jace are told that they are long lost sister and brother, but before they knew this fact, they had already developed feelings for each other.

       In this book, Clary's mom was drugged by her ex- husband (named Valentine), and the antagonist, with this magical potion that put her in an deep sleep. Clary who clearly loves her mother travels to Idris, which is the capital of the mythical world. There, a lot of Shadowhunters gather to discuss battle strategies to defeat Valentine, who is trying to collect 3 Mortal Instruments that, when used together, can summon the Raziel angel who will grant one wish to it's caller. Valentine is trying to destroy the Clave- the head of the Shadowhunters- and has already collected 2 of the Instruments (The Mortal Sword and the Mortal Cup), so it's very important that he does not get the Mortal Mirror, or he will demolish the Shadowhunters. Jace and siblings are staying at their close friends house in Idris. Here lives Aline and her cousin Sebastian. Clary decides to surprises Jace and shows up at where he's staying. But Jace takes this very badly because he wanted Clary to stay in New York, so he throws harsh words at Clary, who leaves heartbroken.

       As she leaves, Clary talks to Sebastian and finds him to be a piece of art and spends a day with him. They talk to Magnus Bane who says that he would be able to wake Clary's mother if the Gray Book could be found. He freezes Sebastian so that he doesn't hear the location of the sacred book. He tells Clary where the book is hidden. After this conversation, Clary and Sebastian spend the rest of the day together. Jace and Clary find the Gray Book and gives it to Magnus. During all of this time, Clary's best friend, Simon, is locked in Shadowhunter jail and the only other person he can talk to says his name is Samuel. In the late middle of the book, it is revealed that Sebastian is actually an imposter. His real name is Jonathan and he's working for Valentine as a spy. He had killed Jace's little brother Max and hurt Isabelle very badly. Sebastian flees to help Valentine again.

       After all is said and done, Clary's mom (Jocelyn) wakes up and secretly travels from New York to Idris to surprise Clary. Then, these two have a mother- daughter talk about their past. It turns out that Jocelyn's first born son was surreptitiously given demon blood by Valentine when he was still in her womb, thus making this son a monster. This little boy eventually grew into Jonathan (aka Sebastian).  Jocelyn said she couldn't love this boy, so when she became pregnant with Clary, she ran away. Before she left, though, Clary had been given angel blood, as did Stephen Herondale's son, who happened to be Jace. Delighted by the fact that the boy she loved wasn't related to her, Clary hurries to tell Jace only to discover that he had run to find Sebastian and revenge him for all the pain he'd put all the Shadowhunters through. Meanwhile, Clary and others are trying to find ways to beat Valentine when he would show up to fight them with hundreds of demons.

       When Jace finally finds Sebastian, they duel to the death. Sebastian has the upper hand with the demon blood and training from Valentine. But, as he is about to stab a sword through Jace's heart, a whip slashes his hand off. This whip belonged to Isabelle who traced down Jace to help him avenge their brother's death. Eventually, Jace and Isabelle kill Sebastian.

       In Idris, Valentine has collected all 3 Mortal Instruments and has sent his demon army off to finish the Shadowhunters. As he is in the process of summoning Raziel, Clary shows up and tries to stop him. Valentine hates Clary and is ready to kill her when Jace comes to her rescue. Valentine kills Jace and lets Clary live while he summons Raziel. Raziel hears of his horrible plan and kills Valentine in an instant. Meanwhile, the badly wounded Clary is given the one wish and she uses it to give life back to Jace. Soon afterwards, the demon army disperses without the control of Valentine. In the end Valentine is dead, the Clave regains its power, Jace and Clary can finally admit their love for each other, and Joselyn is awoken and engaged to her best friend, Luke.