City of Bones

City of Bones by Cassandra Clare

This is the first of The Mortal Instruments series. There are four books published but I found a listing where another two books are planned for publication. She has also written a trilogy of prequels to the series in the Infernal Devices series.

This was pretty entertaining reading. It is young adult fiction set in our modern world but within our world live a variety of demonic creatures as well as the human angel hybrids who hunt them called ShadowHunters.

An average 15 year old girl named Clary stumbles onto the fact of this "other world." For unknown reasons she can see past the glamour that is created for the mundanes (plain humans). Soon, she is embroiled in a mystery and the search for her missing mother.

I thought this was a good way to blend the supernatural world and the real world together. It's also a pretty good story line as to why kids are saving the world and solving the problems rather than the adults.

I have the first three book of the set and if all three stay this fun and easy to read, I will probably read the whole series. I think after the first three of this series, I'll probably ready the prequel books and then get back to Mortal Instruments.

Ring of Fire

Ring of Fire by Pierdomenico Baccalario

This is the first book in the Century series. The books are written in Italian and translated into English by Leah D Janeczko.

Once every hundred years, the world must be saved by four kids. In this century, four seemingly unrelated kids happen to end up in the same hotel in Rome together.

They are thrown into a mystery of ancient secrets. This is a game of sorts but someone has changed the rules. Someone who wasn't supposed to die was murdered. The stakes are higher but no one is telling the kids anything - they have to figure it out on their own.

This is supposed to be a 5 book series in young adult fiction. This is a pretty entertaining book. I'm planning on reading at least the next book which is Star of Stone. If I still like it, I'll finish the series.

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot

This was a fascinating story. Anyone who has ever worked in a lab and looked at cultured cells under a microscope has probably seen the HeLa cells. They are the most cultured and utilized cells in science. They have been sent into space, irradiated, implanted into all sorts of lab animals as well as humans (both knowingly and not). This book is the story of those cells and the person from whom they originated.

Rebecca Skloot spent years researching the information in this book as well as getting to know the family of Henrietta Lacks and, most importantly, gaining their trust.

This book covers the personal histories of Henrietta Lacks and her children. It also talks a great deal about the scientific advancements that could not have been made save for the HeLa cells. The science is presented in a very accessible manner and the story of the people involved is engaging.