Paper and Fire (The Great Library, #2) by Rachel Caine

I received this as an arc from the publisher whom I thank. The review is my own.

In this sequel to Ink and Bone Jess is serving in the Library's army but nothing is as he thought it would be. He has discovered something unbelievable, his best friend thought to be dead may be alive, held prisoner by the Library. If there is even a chance Thomas is alive Jess has to grab at it no matter what the fall out is. This time they are all forced to flee Alexandria, wanted fugitives. But in their fight Jess will come across the unsettling fact that no one is what they seem and that the choice presented to him now will cost him every thing he holds dear. They are now on the very front lines of this war.

As we learn more about the characters in this story we begin to comprehend the true depravity that is at the center of a world that is being torn apart. The lives of all hang in the balance and Jess' choices will be the only thing that can save or doom them all. The story line radiates with individual choices and sacrifices, personal greed and destruction on an unimaginable scale. The world is tipping and there is no safety net.

I definitely recommend this series. A great gripping world full of individual struggles that have ramifications for all. Recommend to those who love books that challenge you to place yourself in the situations presented. How well do you know yourself?

Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore (Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore, #1) by Robin Sloan

This book was brilliant and any true reader will be taken in and swept away. After all who hasn't dreamed of a 24 hour bookstore but when you add a mysterious back section, odd and eccentric readers who belong to a secret society, and an owner who is the holder of a secret that could change the world, you have the perfect recipe for a book that is satisfying and an instant favorite.

This story of a search to a puzzle hundreds of years in the making is lovingly crafted with wit and humor and a generous dollop of technological wizardry. But don't despair, the true gem of this story is the relationships between Mr. Penumbra and his newest clerk and the endless fascination that books hold for us. A tribute to all bookstores, book lovers, and clandestine intrigues around the world this is so much more than a mere reviewer could say.

Go get this book, relax in an armchair, and enjoy the experience. But get your own copy, you're not gonna want to let this one go.

The Path by Michael Puett The Path: What Chinese Philosophers Can Teach Us About the Good Life by Michael Puett, Christine Gross-Loh

This course from award winning Harvard professor Puett became quite popular with students who are using the ideas of ancient Chinese philosophers to take a new look at the way they can face every day challenges and open up new possibilities for themselves and others. This is not a self improvement book or a believe in yourself seminar, this is a look at how modern assumptions have actually limited the opportunities we have set before ourselves. The ideas contained in this book are by no means new but Puett's engagement of them brings them a fresh appeal for a new generation that is encumbered by the search to be themselves and live a good life. What exactly is a good person? How do we achieve the self fulfillment we all desire? 

These ancient scholars were all ready exploring these questions over two thousand years ago and their answers may seem counter intuitive but could be the beginning of a revolutionary look at how history and mankind has slowly crafted the modern world we live in. The Path is the beginning of a journey that requires one thing from the traveler, start by seeing and doing every thing completely differently than you've been taught. There is no Path to follow but every step is a chance to create a new set of possibilities. 

This book clearly makes it obvious why the course is so well received. With the knowledge contained in these writings any one can begin to realize the numerous ways that we curtail our potential by simply believing in the limitations that define our lives. Even little things that you have come to accept as your personality traits could be a hindrance to your search for fulfillment.

If at the end of the book you have done nothing else but come to understand how China helped to establish some of the basic concepts we still use today in our lives, consider yourself well rewarded. This book will help you to blow some of the cobwebs away and wake you up to the myriad ways in which you can expand your abilities and self knowledge.