A CONSPIRACY OF KINGS

I am currently reading A Conspiracy of Kings by Megan Whalen Turner which is the fourth book in her series Queen’s Thief. The first book, The Thief, fits a modification of the old saying “it takes a thief to catch a thief.” In this case the saying would be “it takes a master thief to steal a treasure guarded by many traps.” Gen is in prison because of his thievery, but is offered a pardon if he can steal a precious stone from a remote temple of the gods. Gen survives several deadly traps on his way to the prize. I greatly enjoyed this adventure and its sequels, The Queen of Attolia and The King of Attolia, so when I got a copy of the fourth book I wanted read it before I decided to purchase a copy for Lakeview. I have only just started the book but I can see that you do need to read the previous books to really understand what’s going on. Lakeview has all of the first three books in the series. Maybe by the time you have read those, I will have gotten a copy of book four for Lakeview.

GHOSTLY PRESENCE????

A new book coming to the IMC very soon is Madeleine Roux’s book Asylum. Dan is spending the summer before his senior year on a college campus in a special prep program. The first night his roommate tells him that his dorm was once an insane asylum. While this news is shocking, it doesn’t bother Dan as he picks the classes he want to take. Dan meets Abby and Jordan and together they decide to explore a blocked-off area of the old asylum. Among the dusty relics of the past, the three students find things that link Dan and Abby to the asylum. Then when the murders start, Dan realizes he must somehow get to the bottom of this mystery and find out who the killer is and why he/she haunts the asylum.

NOW THAT IT IS OCTOBER...

I want to talk about some of the books I've read that have Halloween themes. One of most famous monsters of all time is, of course, the Frankenstein monster created by Victor Frankenstein in the classic book by Mary Shelley. But have you ever wondered what Victor was like as a teenager? Kenneth Oppel in his novel This Dark Endeavor takes us into the world of the wealthy Frankenstein family in the 1700s. Victor, his twin brother Konrad, and their cousin Elizabeth find a hidden passage in the mansion that leads to a secret alchemy laboratory and library. When Konrad becomes deathly ill, Victor and Elizabeth try to save Konrad by using information from the alchemy library even though their parents object. Find out what fascinated Victor as a teen and lead him to attempt to recreate life as an adult. Exciting, scary, adventurous, daring describe this new book by the author of the Silverwing books.

This is the first book in a series called The Apprenticeship of Victor Frankenstein. Let me know if you want the IMC to get additional titles in the series. Also I have learned that a movie version is in development. No word yet about when production might start.

A LIVING CASTLE!

In Jessica Day George's book Tuesdays at the Castle, Princess Celie lives with her parents, the king and queen, and her brothers and sister at Castle Glower, which adds rooms or stairways or secret passageways most every Tuesday. When the king and queen are ambushed while traveling, Celie, the Castle's favorite royal, is determined to use her secret knowledge of the Castle's never-ending twists and turns to protect her home and family from the foreign rulers who want to take over until her parents can return. Danger, excitement, and some magic follow Celie and all of her efforts.

This book is another of the Caudill 2015 nominees and will be ready for checkout soon.