Book Review: "The Magicians" and "City of Fallen Angels"

So, I guess I promised a review of "The Magicians" by Lev Grossman.

For some reason I thought this book was a YA novel, but it really wasn't. By the time they got to a part with transmorgified fox sex I was pretty convinced this was not for kids. Anyway... the book was interesting. Part Harry Potter (magic school), part Bright Lights, Big City (aimless in the city after finishing school), part Narnia (fantastical world quest)... it was actually broken up into four 'books', because it was a lot of different things. I got a little bored in the middle, so much that I considered putting the book away, but I forged on and it got pretty good again. And if I'd had the next book on hand when I finished this one I would have started the next one right away. But, it took me a lot longer to get through this book than the next book I read... could have been more words in it though. (The font was pretty small.)
3 and a half stars out of 5

And, I also read the fourth book in the Mortal Instruments series by Cassandra Clare, "City of Fallen Angels".
Not to give too much away to those that may want to start from the beginning of the series, it is a continuation of the previous three. Jace, Clary, Simon, Isabelle and gang continue fighting demons etc. The author does a pretty good job of creating a new 'world' with Shadowhunters (demon fighters) and Downworlders (vampires, fairies, warlocks, etc)
According to the back jacket the series is going to be a movie (series) from Sony Pictures, so I guess we'll see about that. Looking for the next Twilight series I guess.
The book was fine, good mystery, but like the previous books it felt pretty 'light'. It definitely didn't have all the layers of The Magicians. But that's okay. I'd recommend the Mortal Instruments series to those who enjoy a good supernatural YA read.
4 stars out of 5

Waiting for me to read, "American Gods" by Neil Gaiman and "A Discovery of Witches" by Deborah Harkness.

Update to Books I've Read

I finished "Virals" by Kathy Reichs the other day, and I think I'd give it 3-and-a-half to 4 stars out of 5. It had a good mystery and a good story overall, but I just couldn't really lose myself in it. I'm not sure why. I've put a hold on the next in the series "Seizure" I think it's called. I hope that now I'm familiar with the characters that it's easier to relate to them.

I started on "Magicians" by Lev Grossman. So far it's really interesting. It has really great reviews, so we'll see. :)

I have a few books on hold at the library and I've taken advantage of their new 'shelves' online. You can put books on your 'for later' shelf, so that's what I've been doing. Then when I'm done with the ones I have on hold I can get the others that I'm interested in. I just thought that was a good idea for the library. It's nice to have a list of books to read.

Anyway, I'll probably eventually make some sort of list of books I've read or series that I'm interested in. You'll see that it's pretty heavy on the 'urban fantasy' side of fiction. That's just how I roll. :P

Books I've Read Recently

I've been reading a bit more recently, and I thought I'd blog a bit about the books I've read.

Joey (with a little help from me) got me "The Nine Lives of Chloe King" by Liz Braswell for Christmas. It's actually three novels in one volume, so it was pretty hefty. But it was an easy read because it's technically a YA novel. I like to read young adult novels because they are fast and there are a lot of options for the supernatural romance-y types. Did you know teen girls like vampires? Hmmm, me neither. ;) There was a tv series based on the books (same name) on ABC Family last year and it was pretty good. There was a lot of differences though, and I liked both. At least the books were able to finish the larger story.

So, there's this girl who gets 'cat-like' powers and discovers she's part of an ancient race of cat people. She has boy trouble and school trouble and mom trouble, and also assassin trouble. So, good times basically.

I give it 4 out of 5 stars. :)

I also started into a 3 novel volume of Buffy books. The first was "Coyote Moon" by John Hornvolt. Buffy novels are tricky because it's hard to capture their 'voices', but this one was set season 1ish, so it wasn't too complicated. Good mystery, easy read...

3 and a half stars out of 5

Last night I started "Virals" by Kathy Reichs. I'm only a few chapters in but it seems pretty good. This is her first YA novel, she writes the books the tv show "Bones" is based on. I'll let you know how it is. :)

Later all!

Felt Poinsettia

So I can't add my latest craft on Ravelry because it's not crochet, so I thought I'd throw up a quick blog post so I can link to it... I'll make a bigger post after Christmas to roundup all of the stuff I made for gifts this year. But this is the one I wanted to show.

Fall Schedule, Chrisie-style

Here are the shows I'll be watching this fall. I think I'm going to try to hold a few until I have a bunch of episodes saved up... lots of my shows work so much better that way. But there's a few (I'm looking at you Vampire Diaries) that I just can't wait to watch.

Monday

Castle, How I Met Your Mother (oy, why am I still watching this?), 2 Broke Girls, Mike & Molly, Terra Nova, Gossip Girl, Hart of Dixie

Tuesday

Glee, New Girl, Ringer, Covert Affairs (pt2 of summer season)

Wednesday

Suburgatory, Happy Endings, Up All Night, Revenge, Psych

Thursday

Grey's Anatomy, Private Practice (why am I still watching this too?), The Big Bang Theory, Parks and Rec, Community, Bones, Vampire Diaries, Secret Circle, The Mentalist

Fridays

Chuck, Grimm, Fringe, Nikita, Supernatural

Sundays

Desperate Housewives, The Good Wife, Homeland, and (I think it's on this night, it's not on the schedule I was looking at) Once Upon A Time

So that's my fall season in a (long listed) nutshell. Happy TV watching! :)

New Fall Shows

Well, by popular request (ok, two people) here are my picks for the new fall shows this season.

Ringer (CW, Tuesdays) - Sarah Michelle Gellar is back (as twins!). But one of them is dead?! I don't know, but the premise is eerily similar to the currently airing The Lying Game. Oh well, SMG is a good draw for me. Mystery and intrigue and pg-13 nastiness.

Up All Night (NBC, Wednesdays) - So apparently the new comedies really suck this year, and this show is supposed to suck the least. Yup, they didn't say it was good, just that it sucked less than the rest of the crap. Christina Applegate and Will Arnett are new parents who, you guessed it, are 'up all night' I'll give it a shot.

The Secret Circle (CW, Thursdays) - It's about witches, stars Britt Robertson, and is from the same author as The Vampire Diaries. One can only hope it's nearly as good as VD. I love this kind of show, sue me.

2 Broke Girls (CBS, Mondays) - Another comedy. I think it's about 2 broke girls. Yup. Hey, it's 22 minutes of your life... you decide.

New Girl (Fox, Tuesdays) Zooey Deschanel. If you love her, watch this show. If you don't love her, run far away in the other direction. I love her.

Revenge (ABC, Wednesdays) - So, I wasn't going to watch this show about a young woman (Emily van Camp) who goes to the Hamptons for revenge on some rich people... but then I found the pre-air of the pilot online. And I liked it. It's big on mystery and manipulation.

Terra Nova (Fox, Mondays) - End of the world leads to time travel and dinosaurs. This show has been delayed repeatedly to polish and improve on the FX, so hopefully it looks good now (and has a story). I read somewhere that each episode is costing 3 million to make.

Hart of Dixie (CW, Mondays) - I'm a sucker for Rachel Bilson. I don't know if I'll buy her as a doctor, but we'll see.

Suburgatory (ABC, Wednesdays) Girl gets moved to the suburbs, funny stuff happens? I don't know, but I like Alan Tudyk, so I'll give it a shot.

Homeland (Showtime, Sundays) - From press release - 'Homeland is a psychological thriller that tells the story of Carrie Mathison (Claire Danes), a CIA officer battling her own demons, who becomes convinced that the intelligence that led to the rescue of Sgt. Nick Brody (Damien Lewis) a US soldier who had been missing and presumed dead for nine years, was a set-up and may be connected to an al-Qaeda plot to be carried out on American soil.'

American Horror Story (FX, Wednesdays) Looks really scary... like pee your pants scary.

Grimm (NBC, Fridays) - Solving fairy tale crimes in our world. Procedural with a twist.

Once Upon A Time (ABC, Sundays) - So, kind of like Grimm, fairy tales bleeding into our world. If I had to pick between the two I would chose Once Upon a Time, because Jane Espenson is a writer (head writer maybe?) and she writes on shows I really like (Buffy, BSG, Torchwood etc)

Hell on Wheels (AMC, Sundays) A western on AMC. Should be good. I still miss Deadwood.

OK, I think that's all for new shows. My full schedule to follow. :)

More Crochet Creations

Hey all! I know you've been eagerly awaiting an update on my crocheting progress. ;P So here's a few pics of what I've been working on.


Isaac and Katie's Easter stuff... a basket and eggs and little bunny for Katie.

A Mop-top Mascot with a camera for my photographer friend Jenn. :P


Some Easter stuff for Sophie and Josie. (Isaac did not want to part with the eggs.)

A case for my phone... it kept dropping out of my pocket, so I thought I should protect it.

The mobile I was talking about last blog. It was a pain in the butt to make and 3 of the 4 birds were pulled off in the first few days. Oh well.

I've got some more stuff on the go now... lots of birthdays for the kids and babies being born this year. You know what you're getting... :)

Until next time when I have another 5 minutes..

Chrisie :)