Shadow of Night - Deborah Harkness

Title: Shadow of Night (All Souls Trilogy #2)
Author: Deborah Harkness
Pages: 584
Published: 2012
Genre: Fantasy, Historical Fiction
Edition: Hardcover
Source: Library

Description: Historian Diana Bishop, descended from a line of powerful witches, and long-lived vampire Matthew Clairmont have broken the laws dividing creatures. When Diana discovered a significant alchemical manuscript in the Bodleian Library, she sparked a struggle in which she became bound to Matthew. Now the fragile coexistence of witches, daemons, vampires and humans is dangerously threatened.

Seeking safety, Diana and Matthew travel back in time to London, 1590. But they soon realize that the past may not provide a haven. Reclaiming his former identity as poet and spy for Queen Elizabeth, the vampire falls back in with a group of radicals known as the School of Night. Many are unruly daemons, the creative minds of the age, including playwright Christopher Marlowe and mathematician Thomas Harriot.

Together Matthew and Diana scour Tudor London for the elusive manuscript Ashmole 782, and search for the witch who will teach Diana how to control her remarkable powers... (via Goodreads)

Thoughts: I quite enjoyed the book, as I managed to fly through the book, albeit with the aid of an audiobook.  One of the aspects that I like was the time travel aspect, especially the Elizabethan era, as well as the introduction of new characters that added to the overall flavour and tenor to the book.

But I did feel that the middle of the book seemed to drag a bit and that if I wasn't listening to the audiobook while reading the book, I may have not completed the book as quickly as I was able to.

Bottom line: As the book is a continuation of A Discovery of Witches, I would probably recommend that you read that book before reading this one.  But if you have read the first book in the series and enjoyed that one, you probably will enjoy this book as well.  Highly Recommended.

Rating: 4/5

A Sudden Light - Garth Stein

Title: A Sudden Light
Author: Garth Stein
Pages: 416
Published: 2014
Challenges: I Love Libraries
Genre: Paranormal
Edition: Hardcover
Source: Library

Description: In the summer of 1990, fourteen-year-old Trevor Riddell gets his first glimpse of Riddell House. Built from the spoils of a massive timber fortune, the legendary family mansion is constructed of giant, whole trees, and is set on a huge estate overlooking Puget Sound. Trevor’s bankrupt parents have begun a trial separation, and his father, Jones Riddell, has brought Trevor to Riddell House with a goal: to join forces with his sister, Serena, dispatch Grandpa Samuel—who is flickering in and out of dementia—to a graduated living facility, sell off the house and property for development into “tract housing for millionaires,” divide up the profits, and live happily ever after.

But Trevor soon discovers there’s someone else living in Riddell House: a ghost with an agenda of his own. For while the land holds tremendous value, it is also burdened by the final wishes of the family patriarch, Elijah, who mandated it be allowed to return to untamed forestland as a penance for the millions of trees harvested over the decades by the Riddell Timber company. The ghost will not rest until Elijah’s wish is fulfilled, and Trevor’s willingness to face the past holds the key to his family’s future. (via Goodreads)

Thoughts: When I started the book during this past fall's 24-hour Dewey's Readathon, I was hopeful that I would be able to get through the book in fairly short order.  But through a number of circumstances, it took me a bit longer than anticipated.  There were times that the book outright creeped me out, but there were also times in which I felt that book got a little too longwinded and dragged as a result.  It also felt that in some places that the book went off in tangents that didn't seem to make sense to me.  And as a result, I never got a sense of what the book was about.

Bottom line: While I had hoped to like the this book, it fell a little short for me.  Now if you are a fan of paranormal fiction with a little bit of a mystery thrown in, you probably would enjoy this book.  Recommended.

Rating: 2.75/5

Pages for 2014: 27,615

A Discovery of Witches - Deborah Harkness

Title: A Discovery of Witches (All Souls Trilogy #1)
Author: Deborah Harkness
Pages (File size): 579 (1.5 MB)
Published: 2011
Challenges: Chunkster, E-books, I Love Libraries
Genre: Paranormal Fantasy
Edition: E-book
Source: Library

Description: Deep in the stacks of Oxford's Bodleian Library, young scholar Diana Bishop unwittingly calls up a bewitched alchemical manuscript in the course of her research. Descended from an old and distinguished line of witches, Diana wants nothing to do with sorcery; so after a furtive glance and a few notes, she banishes the book to the stacks. But her discovery sets a fantastical underworld stirring, and a horde of daemons, witches, and vampires soon descends upon the library. Diana has stumbled upon a coveted treasure lost for centuries-and she is the only creature who can break its spell.  (via Goodreads)

Thoughts: Even though there were times that it was difficult for me to concentrate on the book and felt that it was a little slow at times, I liked how the author was able to draw the reader into the story and allow us to root for the two main characters. 

I can see where some readers have had an issue with the book, as the book does seem to drag a bit during the middle portion of the book, but I felt that the middle was probably the strongest part of the book.

Bottom line: It was a pretty good start to the series and I am looking forward to reading the other two books in the series.  If you have enjoyed other paranormal fantasy books, you probably will enjoy this book.  Recommended.

Rating:  3.75/5

Pages for 2014: 25,665

If you have enjoyed this book, what did you think of it?

Winter's Tale - Mark Helprin

Title: Winter's Tale
Author: Mark Helprin
Pages: 768
Published: 2005 (first published 1983)
Challenges: Chunkster, Historical Fiction
Genre: Fiction, Fantasy, Paranormal, Historical Fiction
Edition: Paperback
Source: Personal library

Description: New York City is subsumed in arctic winds, dark nights, and white lights, its life unfolds, for it is an extraordinary hive of the imagination, the greatest house ever built, and nothing exists that can check its vitality. One night in winter, Peter Lake, orphan and master-mechanic, attempts to rob a fortress-like mansion on the Upper West Side.

Though he thinks the house is empty, the daughter of the house is home. Thus begins the love between Peter Lake, a middle-aged Irish burglar, and Beverly Penn, a young girl, who is dying.

Peter Lake, a simple, uneducated man, because of a love that, at first he does not fully understand, is driven to stop time and bring back the dead. His great struggle, in a city ever alight with its own energy and besieged by unprecedented winters, is one of the most beautiful and extraordinary stories of American literature. (via Goodreads)

Thoughts:  I bought this book because I had hoped to go and see the film version of this book, which was released in North America on Feb. 14, and I had started out with high hopes for the book.  Based on how the book started out, I had hoped that this book would live up to the expectations that I had built up for this book and I ended up being a bit disappointed.

While I did like the author's use of words and how he described the rich atmosphere of the book early on in the book, I felt that it just kinda fell flat and by the end I just wanted the book to end.  I realize that this was my first foray into paranormal fiction and so I didn't really know what to expect and how I would react to such a book.

It's not that I didn't have times where I enjoyed reading the book, its just that I felt that it was maybe a little too long and that the book could have been much more effective and cohesive if somebody had cut 200-300 pages; it didn't really need the 700+ pages to describe what it did.

Bottom line:  If you absolutely love paranormal fiction, you maybe should give this one a try.  I realize that this a very long book, but one really does get swept up into the story and at times you really don't feel like you are reading so much.  Otherwise, I would probably give this one a pass and read something that I would enjoy. Recommended.  As for me, I really gave this book a chance and this genre a chance and I honestly don't know if I could read much more of the paranormal genre.

Rating: 3/5

Pages for 2014: 2366