Ruby Loves Adventure

A King's Ransom by Jude Watson
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

After reading the first 11 (12?) (13?) 39 Clues Books a few years back when I was still living in Manila, I decided to give it another go because I was looking for something fun and light to read when i was having such a bad month. This time, it picks up where book 1 left off - Vesper One still has Amy & Dan's family/friends hostage and they still have to steal another priceless artifact for him, in this case the Da Virga map. It takes them through Europe - Geneva, Neuschwanstein Castle & Prague in search for the map, along the way trying to dodge people who may want to harm them (the Vespers), and Interpol.

While it is an interesting read for me because I've personally been to Neuschwanstein and can definitely imagine the characters running around trying to find it through the passageways, the book tackles murder and well, sabotage - which I don't think is great for really young readers. I do love the fact that it tackles historical people & of course, the travel part from city to city.

Reading this book made me pick up the next book in the series from the library, which I'm due to pick up sometime soon. Now, this book is also one of a few more published/planned to be published in the franchise, so I think those who like the series will have something to look forward to.

I gave the book a three stars mostly because I'm getting annoyed at having a lot of questions yet not enough answers to them. I'm sure it'll be revealed during the last few parts of the book (or on consequent sequels), but it just hooks you to it. It kind of sucks if you have to buy the books as there are so many of them, but hey, I've got my local library to help me out!

Book was borrowed from the Jacksonville Public Library.

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**Would I recommend this book? Why yes, it is a great series -- but would only do it if you have a public library that has all the books. It's going to cost too much time & resources (ie money) if you want to collect all the books yourself! What if it never ends, you know?

Minions Volume 2: Evil Panic by Stéphane Lapuss'
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

It was a great, quick read - there is literally no dialogue in this book, just the illustrations of the minions, but it was cute and fun to read. I love the minions, they make me happy - so reading this after a long day at work makes it all the more better! This is also my first book read for 2016, so many more books to come, hopefully!

You don't need to pick up the first book in order to get what's happening in the second book as their stories stand alone from each other. The theme of this book is the evil minion - where one spray can actually cause your good, old minion friend to turn into a purple evil minion that wants to eat everything!

Of course there are plenty of other stories in the middle that makes it even more entertaining.

Definitely recommend reading this book - but probably not to buy it, as the price is a bit steep. I picked it up from my local library (Jacksonville, FL) - I'm always in the library a couple of times a month (sometimes even multiple times a week!)

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I found my 39 Clues groove back!! And well, ever since I got back from London, I met up with my friend who was more than willing to let me borrow her books again rather than me buying all the books in the series. Ha ha. Plus, the most read article in my blog is about a review of a 39 Clues book so here I am, reviewing the series again.

Summary from Goodreads:


For the past five hundred years, the Cahills have silently dominated the world. Their desperate hunt for the 39 Clues lies behind some of history’s biggest enigmas – the curse of the Hope diamond, the race to summit Mt. Everest, the wild life and death of Harry Houdini. And now – finally – the secrets are out. With an introduction by Rick Riordan, The 39 Clues: The Black Book of Buried Secrets reveals the shocking truth about history’s most notorious family. 
In full, lush color, The 39 Clues: The Black Book of Buried Secrets lays bare each hidden fact, concealed strategy, top agent, lost founder, secret base and hushed-up scandal of the Clue hunt. This complete guide to the Cahills contains information on all five branches, including the notoriously elusive Madrigals. The must-know information includes: 
-Full files on the enigmatic Man in Black. 
-The true purpose of the Madrigal branch. 
-The complete story of the fire that split the original Cahill family. 
-The truth about the night Hope and Arthur Cahill died. 
-Open access to the secrets of the Lucian, Ekaterina, Tomas and Janus branches. 

It’s never too late to join the hunt – especially with The 39 Clues: The Black Book of Buried Secrets to provide complete access to the Cahill’s most deeply-buried secrets. 

So, the Black Book of Buried Secrets is a companion book to the 39 Clues franchise. It features all of the Cahill branches (yes, including the Madrigals), and some information about that branch: what weapons they like to use, where the strongholds are, and who their key members are (and they provide a brief profile of some of their more reputable members). It also features lots of pictures of the places and the members. (Although I was surprised at the supposed photo of Jonah Wizard and Ian Kabra - when I was reading the series, I never expected them to look like the photos depicted in the Black Book).

What I love most about the book? The pages - they are absolutely glossy and shiny, compared to the other books in the series which are just printed on normal paper. Add the strongholds and key character information and it mixes historical figures and places with made up ones.

I like that for such a young reader market, the publishers and writers have thought of mixing history and present: it makes history much more interesting and learning so much more fun. And yes, if I were a kid reading the 39 Clues, I would also want to embark on the adventures of Amy and Dan, thanks very much. I mean, who wouldn't if you were given such bagloads of cash to spend trying to chase after clues all around the world?

Hmmm... the beginning of wanderlust, I would say.

In the near future, these kids reading these books would probably end up blogging about their travels too and I would be stuck reading about them and going green with envy as I read about their adventures.

Nevertheless, this is a good companion book (so much better than the Agent's Handbook) and one I would splurge on to complete the 39 Clues series in the collection!