The Son of Neptune (Book #2 of The Heroes of Olympus Series) by Rick Riordan

Seven half-bloods shall answer the call,
To storm or fire the world must fall.
An oath to keep with a final breath,
And foes bear arms to the Doors of Death.

Percy is confused. When he awoke from his long sleep, he didn't know much more than his name. His brain fuzz is lingering, even after the wolf Lupa told him he is a demigod and trained him to fight with the pen/sword in his pocket. Somehow Percy manages to make it to a camp for half-bloods, despite the fact that he has to keep killing monsters along the way. But the camp doesn't ring any bells with him. The only thing he can recall from his past is another name: Annabeth

Hazel is supposed to be dead. When she lived before, she didn't do a very good job of it. Sure, she was an obedient daughter, even when her mother was possessed by greed. But that was the problem — when the Voice took over her mother and commanded Hazel to use her "gift" for an evil purpose, Hazel couldn't say no. Now because of her mistake, the future of the world is at risk. Hazel wished she could ride away from it all on the stallion that appears in her dreams.

Frank is a klutz. His grandmother says he is descended from heroes and can be anything he wants to be, but he doesn't see it. He doesn't even know who his father is. He keeps hoping Apollo will claim him, because the only thing he is good at is archery — although not good enough to win camp war games. His bulky physique makes him feel like an ox, especially in front of Hazel, his closest friend at camp. He trusts her completely — enough to share the secret he holds close to his heart.

Beginning at the "other" camp for half-bloods and extending as far as the land beyond the gods, this breathtaking second installment of the Heroes of Olympus series introduces new demigods, revives fearsome monsters, and features other remarkable creatures, all destined to play a part in the Prophesy of Seven.

The Son of Neptune continues from where the Lost Heroes left off and is the second book in the Heroes of Olympus Series.

While Lost Heroes was about Jason, it is very natural that The Son of Neptune is about Percy.  I really enjoyed Son of Neptune as Percy is still very much my favourite demi-god created by Rick Riordan.  In Neptune, Percy found himself in the Roman camp and being unaware of who is he.  Basically, he is experiencing what Jason went through in Lost Heroes but in a more Percy way if that is even possible.

While in the Roman Camp, he actually met Nico Do Angelo but Nico pretended that he didn't know Percy.  Now, that was really strange but then you are reading a book on Greek gods after all and strange has always been the theme of the series.

Next up is The Mark of Athena and if you know who the daughter of Athena is, you would know what the story focuses on.

Wait for my review of The Mark of Athena coming right up.

An Unexpected Sales - Car Boot Sales

At the end of the sales

It was an unexpected sales because it was....well extremely unexpected and it happened like this....

One recent hot bright sunny day, I received a call from a gentleman who bought some books from me last years and wanted to know if he can pick up some books from me again and he asked if he can do so the next day!

I was surprised beyond speech but agreed to meet up somewhere near where I work with some selections of what I think he might like based on his previous purchases. 

That night itself, I did the selections (a few rounds of it) and came up with  about forty titles of thrillers, murder mysteries and generally books of such genre as these were records of what he bought from me previously.  I am actually running low of such genre so it took me a couple of searches on my various shelves to come up with these forty odd titles.

I forgot to take an image of the books prior to the sales but it was two basket full and two paper bags full and at the end of the 10 mins sales, these are what was left of the collections that I selected.

It was a wonderful sale to this nice gentleman who runs an extremely unique homestay in the mystical island of Borneo where you get a taste of simple lifestyle in a beautiful tropic settings with simple organic meals planted right in the farm itself.

Black or White by John Aubrey Anderson

Synopsis :

Missy Parker is a seven-year-old white child.  She is beautiful, wealthy, willful and vulnerable
Junior Washington is an eleven-year-old black child.  He is a committed Christian, relatively poor and loyal.

On the shores of Cat Lake, in the midst of the most defined segregation in our nation's history, Missy and junior are best friends.

The synopsis doesn't say much does it?  In fact, if I am to base on the above synopsis when I was doing my selection of books, I would not purchase this particular book.  However, purchase it I did as I has an assumption of what Black or White has to offer and as they say of assumption, it is baseless and true enough I was wrong in my assumption and the book wasn't what I expected it to be at all.

Looking at the cover and from the synopsis, readers including myself will not know that it's a book based on the Christian faith.  The concept of accepting Christ and being a read Christian runs throughout the book. 

The book also deals with spiritual warfare and angels and demons especially guardian angles.  That are some parts of the book that are just beautifully written which I really enjoyed reading.  There are some parts that is rather disturbing if your faith is not strong.

Overall, it was an unexpected book but unexpected in a good way.

I believe I bought the book in a book sale end of last year and it was generally a good buy.

The Lost Hero (Book #1 of Heroes of Olympus Series) by Rick Riordan

 

Synopsis :

 Jason has a problem.
He doesn’t remember anything before waking up in a bus full of kids on a field trip. Apparently he has a girlfriend named Piper, and a best friend named Leo. They’re all students at a boarding school for “bad kids.” What did Jason do to end up here? And where is here, exactly?

Piper has a secret.
Her father has been missing for three days, ever since she had that terrifying nightmare about his being in trouble. Piper doesn’t understand her dream, or why her boyfriend suddenly doesn’t recognize her. When a freak storm hits during the school trip, unleashing strange creatures and whisking her, Jason, and Leo away to someplace called Camp Half-Blood, she has a feeling she’s going to find out.

Leo has a way with tools.
When he sees his cabin at Camp Half-Blood, filled with power tools and machine parts, he feels right at home. But there’s weird stuff, too—like the curse everyone keeps talking about, and some camper who;s gone missing. Weirdest of all, his bunk mates insist that each of them—including Leo—is related to a god. Does this have anything to do with Jason's amnesia, or the fact that Leo keeps seeing ghosts.

Finally, after a rather long hiatus, I came across the above title in the local library and just have the urge to pick it up, bring it home and curl up with some juice for some Greek adventure.  However, Heroes of Olympus Series not just features Greek gods but their Roman alter ego as well.  Zeus is Jupiter, Hera is Juno, etc.

Jason is a new hero from the Roman camp. Revealing this would not really affect your enjoyment of the story but this fact was not revealed in the book until three quarter into the story.  But Jason has lost his memory and he wasn't aware of his Roman side and was assimilate into Camp Half-Blood.  He went on a quest with Piper and Leo and the book focus on their relationship as well as the quest.

Percy wasn't really featured in this book other than the fact that he's lost too and no one from Camp Half-Blood especially Annabeth is able to locate him.  We will get to know what happen to Percy in the second book of Heroes of Olympus Series, Son of Neptune.

I quite enjoy the Lost Hero.  Much better than the other series by Rick Riordan which features the Egyptian Gods which I read just the first book and did not continue thereafter.

Watch out for the review of the second book Son of Nepture which is coming right up.

Wedding Night by Sophie Kinsella

Image from the web as there's something wrong with my webcam

Synopsis :

Lottie just knows that her boyfriend is going to propose, but then his big question involves a trip abroad — not a trip down the aisle. Completely crushed, Lottie reconnects with an old flame, and they decide to take drastic action. No dates, no moving in together, they’ll just get married . . . right now. 

Her sister, Fliss, thinks Lottie is making a terrible mistake, and will do anything to stop her. But Lottie is determined to say “I do,” for better, or for worse.

I did promise you a review of Wedding Night and here it is.   I was very excited to read Wedding Night as I haven't ready any Sophie Kinsella for quite a while already.  I can't really remember when was the last time but it can most probably be when I read Can You Keep a Secret.

That was two years ago.

Wedding Night is an independent novel by Sophie Kinsella.  The characters are new and I can't say I like both Lottie and her sister Fliss.  I find both characters rather uninspiring and stereotype of women in their circumstances.  Lottie who is rebounding from a failed proposal ended up with the first man she come across.  Fliss who is super bitter from her divorce just can't wait to trash her ex to anyone within distance.

I am quite surprised that someone who created characters like Becky Bloomwood and Samantha Sweeting (from the Undomestic Goddess, my favourite title by Sophie Kinsella) birthed out characters found in Wedding Night.

Anyway, fans of Sophie Kinsella will still read it no matter what but if you have not read any of her title, then this would not be the one to start with as it has high possibility to leave pretty bad impression.