The Last Apprentice: Clash of the Demons by Joseph Delaney

Title: Clash of the Demons
Author: Joseph Delaney
Rating: ☆☆☆☆☆
5/5 Stars

Let me just put it out there that Joseph Delaney is one of the only authors who can tear me away from school work, keep me up until 2 am and still leave me completely satisfied with what I’ve just done. Last night, when I should’ve been studying for midterms or sleeping, I was reading The Last Apprentice: Clash of the Demons until I had read through every last word.

This is the sixth book in Joseph Delaney’s Last Apprentice series (or Spook’s Apprentice as it’s known abroad). In this volume, Tom Ward’s mam returns from her homeland of Greece to beg for Tom and the Spook’s help to rid Greece of an ancient evil called Ordeen. Ordeen is an old god and is stongly back by the Fiend, the devil incarnate. Tom and the Spook fear there is no hope in beating Ordeen with the Fiend on her side, but they set out for Greece to face creatures of the dark that they’ve never encountered in the County before.

What I love most about this series is how it has become progressively more psychological. The further we get into Tom’s story, the more internal conflict we see. He has to make some really difficult choices when it comes to his family, his apprenticeship and his own fate.

As always, the drawings throughout are spectacular. They really add to the scary elements of the book. This one is definitely perfect for the Halloween season if you’re looking for something creepy to read. Personally, I would read this one any time of year. Just give a stressful school situation, a cup of hot chocolate and Joseph Delaney, and I’m in for one heck of a night.

ISBN: 978-0061344626
Price: $17.00, hardcover
Pages: 416

BTT: Library Weeding

When’s the last time you weeded out your library? Do you regularly keep it pared down to your reading essentials? Or does it blossom into something out of control the minute you turn your back, like a garden after a Spring rain?
Or do you simply not get rid of books? At all? (This would have described me for most of my life, by the way.)
And–when you DO weed out books from your collection (assuming that you do) …what do you do with them? Throw them away (gasp)? Donate them to a charity or used bookstore? SELL them to a used bookstore? Trade them on Paperback Book Swap or some other exchange program?

The last time I weeded out my library was probably two years ago. Since starting college, I really haven't wanted to et rid of anything. If it's a textbook that I know I'll never use again, I sell it to the university bookstore. If I liked the book, however, I keep it. Lately, I;ve been really hesitant to get rid of books. I want to build my library into something HUGE that my kids will take books from and that I can revisit again and again. I also think it would be really beneficial to my [future] job as an editor to have as many references around as possible.

When I do get rid of books, I always donate them to Goodwill. I think it's nice to pass them on to someone who can't go to Barnes and Noble every time they get the urge. I think in the future, however, I'd like to give them to some kind of literacy organization. I think books should be in the hands of kids and teens with no charge to them. Books offer such an awesome alternative to the more violent video games and movies that are out today. I wish every kid could have the relationship I've had with books.