ReadingGrrls Paper Safari

Title:   Shadow of Night: A Novel (All Souls Trilogy) by Deborah Harkness Publisher: Viking Adult 592 pages Genre: fiction Synopsis:  The second book in the All Souls Trilogy -  Shadow of Night  plunges Diana and Matthew into Elizabethan London, a world of spies, subterfuge, and a coterie of Matthew’s old friends, the mysterious School of Night that includes Christopher Marlowe and Walter Raleigh. Here, Diana must locate a witch to tutor her in magic, Matthew is forced to confront a past he thought he had put to rest, and the mystery of Ashmole 782 deepens. Review:  A trip through the past.  When Diana and Matthew go back in time to try to locate Ashmole 782 they get more than they bargained for.  Its hard not to change the future when you spend too much time in the past, but they are doing their best to not cause too many disturbances and ripples.  Luckily you don't have to wait until book 3 to find out what some of those ripples are. ...

Title: Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness Publisher: Viking 592 Pages Genre: Fantasy, Fiction, Romance Synopsis:  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. Diana is a bold heroine who meets her equal in vampire geneticist Matthew Clairmont, and gradually warms up to him as their alliance deepens into an intimacy that violates age-old taboos. Review:  Diana is the daughter of two of the most famous witch families, the Bis...