Books to read in April

'The Alchemyst (The secrets of the immortal Nicholas Flammel' - Michael Scott, Paperback, Published in 2007, Corgi.

What tempted me to buy this book? What tempted me into purchasing this book was actually the name 'Nicholas Flammel' As his name has popped up before in Films (Eg; Harry Potter and The Philosophers Stone and in historical events) I was intrigued to know more about him. Knowing already that he was a well known French Alchemist I was drawn in to find out more. What also tempted me to purchase this book was the cover, I've always been a sucker for interesting covers. Sometimes I do judge a book by it's cover. I know that this book is targeted to a young teen audience but i was too excited to care. The only other thing I picked up on which I wasn't satisfied about was that Michael Scott has intentionally spellt 'The Alchemyst' wrong.

Key Points that I enjoyed in the book:

• The mentioning of Alkatraz
•  The battle between Dr John Dee & Nicholas Flammel in the first chapter
• The description of Perenelle Flammel.

The first 5 Chapters: The first five chapters of this book have been really interesting, I loved how the author has mentioned one of Flammels greatest achievements of creating the 'Philosphers Stone' and the plot and description of the characters were interesting and the I like the fact that the book includes elements of Flammels life and explains to us that he is 'Immortal'. The only thing two things that I am disappointed in was the fact that the mysterious shopkeeper's name is 'Nick Flemming' (Which is obviously Flammels cover up name) and the second thing that was a let down was that Scott could of been more creative about the creatures 'Gollems' (Mud creatures). Which I see as a bit of a rip-off of the Lord Of The Rings Trilogyy.

You can buy this book here.

'The Sorcerer's Companion: A Guide to the Magical World of Harry Potter' - Allan Zola Kronzek, Elizabeth Kronzek, Paperback, Published September 18th 2001, Broadway.

I purchased this book because I was interested in finding out more about the mythical creatures that are created and by Rowling in the Harry Potter books. I have not recived this book yet but I will make sure to review it as soon as a read it.