I hope everyone had the BESTEST Christmas ever and that you are currently enjoying life and getting a jump start on the New Year!!!!

Weekly Reading with The Magician King

Recently Finished Reading
The Magician King, Lev Grossman. Quentin and his friends are now the kings and queens of Fillory, but the days and nights of royal luxury are starting to pall. After a morning hunt takes a sinister turn, Quentin and his old friend Julia charter a magical sailing ship and set out on an errand to the wild outer reaches of their kingdom. Their pleasure cruise becomes an adventure when the two are unceremoniously dumped back into the last place Quentin ever wants to see: his parent's house in Chesterton, Massachusetts. And only the black, twisted magic that Julia learned on the streets can save them.

Like most people said - reading the first book in the series is a must in order to understand Quentin's whiny, unhappy character (see Weekly Reading with The Magicians for my discussion). But unlike most people, while I liked the book, I had some major issues - the same I had with the 1st book - which is that random characters show up in the book to provide Quentin and his friends with what they need, when they need it. They're looking for a magical key - and somebody just points them to where it is! This kind of thing happened so much, I just couldn't take it.

The best part of the book - and what I wish the book would have focused on solely - was Julia's story. She's Quetin's friend (crush) who didn't make it into the Magician School. That part of the story was well told, and her character was deep - so much deeper than the rest.

Currently Reading

Imaginary Girls, Nova Ren Suma. I'm about half-way through and it's so good - so mysterious!
Chloe's older sister, Ruby, is the girl everyone looks to and longs for, who can't be captured or caged. When a night with Ruby's friends goes horribly wrong and Chloe discovers the dead body of her classmate London Hayes left floating in the reservoir, Chloe is sent away from town and away from Ruby. But Ruby will do anything to get her sister back, and when Chloe returns to town two years later, deadly surprises await.

The Monster's Corner: Stories Through Inhuman Eyes, Christopher Golden. An all original anthology featuring stories of monster's from the monster's point of view.

Next Up
Not sure yet. I might finish out the year reading only collections of short stories from my list of 10 Book of Short Stories From 2011 That I Want to Read - What are you looking forward to reading this week?

- via Book Journey's What are you reading meme.