The Book of Life (All Souls Trilogy #3) by Deborah Harkness

Goodreads Summary:

Bringing the magic and suspense of the All Souls Trilogy to a deeply satisfying conclusion, this highly anticipated finale went straight to #1 on the New York Times bestseller list. In The Book of Life, Diana and Matthew time-travel back from Elizabethan London to make a dramatic return to the present—facing new crises and old enemies. At Matthew’s ancestral home, Sept-Tours, they reunite with the beloved cast of characters from A Discovery of Witches—with one significant exception. But the real threat to their future has yet to be revealed, and when it is, the search for Ashmole 782 and its missing pages takes on even more urgency.

My Thoughts:
This is the final book in the All Souls Trilogy. This book left me wanting more of Diana and Matthew's story but at the same time, it felt like a good way to end their story. Diana and Matthew are some of my all-time favorite book characters. This book did not disappoint. Diana has come into her own and Matthew has started to learn to be less of an overbearing butthead. I love the pacing of this book, you don't feel rushed through the story.
Diana has embraced her history and her future. She stops living in fear of those who wish her and Matthew harm. I love that this book can be applied to real life in that sometimes it takes a while but once you accept yourself you are unstoppable. We really should reach out to those who are different from ourselves, life is enriched by differences.

I have read this book three times now. I love the whole series and I can't recommend this series enough. I know a lot of people refer to this series as a "fangless" vampire series. I disagree with this assessment. I will say that this series isn't like other with or vampire series, but that isn't a bad thing. I never got tired or bored with these characters. I am so tired of the predictable vampire books and the overly quirky and annoying witch books. If that is what you are looking for, you may want to skip this series.

While writing this review I was listening to Let's See What The Night Can Do by Jason Mraz.

Shadow of Night (All Souls Trilogy #2) By Deborah Harkness

Goodreads Summary:

IT BEGAN WITH A DISCOVERY OF WITCHES.

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...

My Thoughts:

So this book is written for the history buffs. This is the most historical fiction book of the series. All of the books have large doses of history but this book actually takes place in the past. Diana has serious power, so much that her Aunts can't help her and every other witch that she meets can't help her or sees her as a threat. 

Here's the thing about this book. It makes a statement about segregation in gene pools. If you limit where your genes come from it limits evolution. While Deborah Harkness is applying this to witches, daemons, and vampires it could also be applied to humanity. Just look at the weak-chinned royal families we know and it is a case in point that limited genes are not a good thing. I like that she is making this social statement. We shouldn't try to limit where love comes from and we should embrace it when it shows up for us.

Diana and Matthew have to figure out what their love means for themselves and they are given that chance while in the past. Diana can time walk, which hello, hella awesome skill to have. Can you imagine all the awesome times and places you could go?!? Obviously, Deborah Harkness wishes she could go back in time, but that is predictable seeing as she is a historian.

I felt like this read was true to modern characters while also being true to historical characters. I think we see people from the past as stupid, closed off, and incapable of understanding complex thought. This is not how Deborah Harkness writes her characters. They are full-bodied people of their time, open and understanding and whole people. A lot of historical fiction forgets that people are of a time and place, but they are also just people. I guess that is the biggest complaint I have with a lot of historical fiction, too much of it is over the top and not enough of it is relate-able. I like a story that I can see myself in, regardless of the time.

I would recommend this book to historical fiction lovers, history nerds, and anyone who loves a good story.

While writing this review I was waiting for my Indian food. Mmm naan. Also, I have a bitch of a cold and nothing helps a cold like Indian food.

A Discovery of Witches (All Souls Trilogy #1) by Deborah Harkness

Goodreads Summary:

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's the only creature who can break its spell.

My Thoughts:

I love this book. Actually I should just say that I love this series but since I intend on reviewing each book separately I will start with, I love this book. First, you can tell that the author knows her shit. She is a straight up academic and she doesn't dumb anything down. I admit to having to look up some of the history mentioned and from my limited research I could see that this lady was a legit historian. After reading her books I wish I was still in college and I was in her class. She may have changed my mind on my major of Political Science to History. Enough fangirling and on with my actual review.

Diana has a stick up her butt about her family history. Which frankly I can't blame her. Who wants to grow up with an infamous witch's name anywhere near Salem, Mass? No one. Halloween would be a massive pain in the ass. Not to mention state history in elementary school, middle school, and high school. Long story short Diana didn't love her witch connection and it really didn't help that the family was still full of practicing witches. 

Our girl Diana grew up thinking that she was shit at witchcraft. She couldn't even light a damn candle, which is basically the shoe tying of spells. So she gave up and became a school nerd, as ya do when life is a pickle. She decided to focus on history, specifically alchemist history. While researching a key note speech Diana is in England working in an Oxford library when she comes across a witchy book. Since Diana hasn't been training as a witch, much the opposite, she doesn't understand the power she feels coming from the pages. I really liked that the way this interaction with the book was described in the book. Sometimes when opening an old book I like to put my hand on the cover, and in a way, introduce myself to the book. No, I don't think that I am of the witchy variety. I just love books. And so does Diana. 

This book was written for book nerds, who like a good story, can find bits of themselves in each character, and appreciates that the author thinks we can keep up. There is nothing worse than when an intelligent writer breaks things down for the peanut gallery. That might sound snobbish of me but I like that not everyone will appreciate the approach of this book. I don't think this book was written for those who exclusively read trashy romance novels. 

Diana and Matthew give us the romance but I like that the characters treat each other as equals with different strengths. Sure Matthew gets annoying with his manly shit, but I think in a lot of ways that furthers his development as a character. He recognizes that he is being a butt-head and then he works on fixing it. Not all characters act like real people who are self aware. I love this aspect of Deborah Harkness's writing, her characters feel like real people. They are flawed, they can can annoying and cliched but they recognize these parts of themselves along with the extraordinary parts of themselves.

I would recommend this book to lovers of vampire books, witchy books, romance books, and historical fiction books. It could be classified in some ways as all of those genres but at the same time it doesn't fully fit into any of them. 

While writing this review I was listening to the first episode of Grown-ish.

Midnight, Texas Series by Charlaine Harris

Goodreads Summary:

Welcome to Midnight, Texas, a town with many boarded-up windows and few full-time inhabitants, located at the crossing of Witch Light Road and Davy Road. It’s a pretty standard dried-up western town.

There’s a pawnshop (someone lives in the basement and is seen only at night). There’s a diner (people who are just passing through tend not to linger). And there’s new resident Manfred Bernardo, who thinks he’s found the perfect place to work in private (and who has secrets of his own).

Stop at the one traffic light in town, and everything looks normal. Stay awhile, and learn the truth...

Goodreads Summary:

There is no such thing as bad publicity, except in Midnight, Texas, where the residents like to keep to themselves. Even in a town full of secretive people, Olivia Charity is an enigma. She lives with the vampire Lemuel, but no one knows what she does; they only know that she’s beautiful and dangerous.

Psychic Manfred Bernardo finds out just how dangerous when he goes on a working weekend to Dallas and sees Olivia there with a couple who are both found dead the next day. To make matters worse, one of Manfred’s regular — and very wealthy — clients dies during a reading.

Manfred returns from Dallas embroiled in scandal and hounded by the press. He turns to Olivia for help; somehow he knows that the mysterious Olivia can get things back to normal. As normal as things get in Midnight...

Goodreads Summary:

At Midnight’s local pawnshop, weapons are flying off the shelves—only to be used in sudden and dramatic suicides right at the main crossroads in town.

Who better to figure out why blood is being spilled than the vampire Lemuel, who, while translating mysterious texts, discovers what makes Midnight the town it is. There’s a reason why witches and werewolves, killers and psychics, have been drawn to this place.

And now they must come together to stop the bloodshed in the heart of Midnight. For if all hell breaks loose—which just might happen—it will put the secretive town on the map, where no one wants it to be...

My Thoughts:

So... I never read the Sucky Stackhouse books. No, I didn't spell that name wrong, I promise. I did watch the Sucky Stackhouse TV show aka True Blood. I wouldn't say that I really enjoyed the show. I thought it was mostly stupid, but I did like that attractive dudes took their clothes off. The show often gave me a good eye roll and from time to time a chuckle. 

When I saw that the same writer had another series adapted to a show I assumed it would be crap like True Blood. I was pleasantly surprised that I enjoyed the show. The NBC series isn't great TV but it does entertain and allow you to turn your brain off, if that is what you want. 

I thought I would give these books a go since the Midnight, Texas series is thus far better than the True Blood series. I checked all three out via my local library app and read them all in a couple of days. First, I should point out that this rapid reading was not due to the books being overly engaging. 

The first book was decent enough that I decided to continue to the second. The second was decent enough that I decided to continue to the third. If there was a fourth, I likely wouldn't have read it at the same time.

The first book I would give three out of five stars. It wasn't terrible, it wasn't great. I was for the most part interested in what was going on in the story. I will say that I prefer the TV characters better than those actually in the book. The characters in the book are lacking diversity and depth. The story is fine so long as you go in not expecting much.

The second book I would again give three out of five. Again, I would say I prefer the TV characters more than the book characters. The story again was okay but nothing special. I wouldn't say this book was well written, but I wouldn't say it was poorly written. 

The third book, again, would get three out of five stars. If I was prone to giving half ratings I would say I would give the third book a 2.5 rather than a full three stars. This is because Fiji had a larger part in this book. I want to smack Fiji. Girl, get a self esteem and learn to like your fat ass.

So over all, Charlaine Harris isn't a great writer. She does have interesting things in each book. She has some over the top and annoying things in each book. I found Fiji the most annoying. Manfred wasn't a fully developed person. Olivia's back story and current method of making money are linked but the link felt lacking some how. There are a lot of people who have fucked up childhoods who don't murder for money. I guess I would say I would prefer more in depth character development than these books offer. Also, I would prefer Manfred to be more like the NBC Manfred in description, ability, and action. 

It feels so weird to say that I prefer the adaptation rather than the source material. I am not sure I have ever felt that way before. 

I will say I don't regret reading the Midnight, Texas books. If she writes another, I will likely read it at some point. I am hoping for a season 2 of the NBC show. I don't really recommend these books unless you like a cheap fast read. I mean cheap in that you aren't expecting great literature. I wouldn't ever pay for these books. If you want to indulge in these read, do what I did, support your local library.

While writing this review I was listening to the Rachel Maddow show. My god I am glad that she is back from vacation. I don't love Joy filling in. Rachel is my kind of nerd. I have such a lady crush on her. I want her to be my second best friend (Obviously, first best friend position is filled).

Also, Happy New Year kids. I will attempt to update more often. Life has changed a bit for me these days. I am one of those adults who had to move in with their Parental Unit's house to work on paying down some debt. It has been a fucked up few months adjusting to living at home again. Who knew that at 36 you could feel like an angry teenager again? The Husband Unit is getting a greater understanding of why I am the way that I am. Yet to be determined if that is a good thing. I have been reading a shit ton and not posting about it. I will be catching up on some of my more recent reads but definitely not all. I don't think I remember everything that I read in the last year and some change since last I posted.

As a different side note I would like to say that while I am an American, Donald Trump does not represent my America. I haven't posted since the election that put him in office. Partially, because I just didn't know how to express all of the anger, fear, hurt, shock, frustration, disgust etc etc etc that I was feeling. I still don't. Just today the Orange One was flexing his nuclear dick at North Korea. Donald Trump very well could be the end of America. I hope he isn't. I hope we the people are stronger than him. I will fight against him and his bullshit agenda as long as there is breath in my body. I am glad that Sen. Orrin Hatch is retiring. We don't need more of congress getting on their knees to suck the cock of such a tyrant. I intend on using my voice, my vote, and my money to support the America that I love. It is hard to see that America these days, but sometimes I get a glimpse. If you too want a glimpse I recommend picking up What Unites Us by Dan Rather. I haven't finished it yet but so far he is making me feel better about my fellow citizens and country. 

Drink Slay Love By Sarah Beth Durst

Goodreads summary:
Pearl is a sixteen-year-old vampire... fond of blood, allergic to sunlight, and mostly evil... until the night a sparkly unicorn stabs her through the heart with his horn. Oops.

Her family thinks she was attacked by a vampire hunter (because, obviously, unicorns don't exist), and they're shocked she survived. They're even more shocked when Pearl discovers she can now withstand the sun. But they quickly find a way to make use of her new talent. The Vampire King of New England has chosen Pearl's family to host his feast. If Pearl enrolls in high school, she can make lots of human friends and lure them to the King's feast -- as the entrees.

The only problem? Pearl's starting to feel the twinges of a conscience. How can she serve up her new friends—especially the cute guy who makes her fangs ache—to be slaughtered? Then again, she's definitely dead if she lets down her family. What's a sunlight-loving vamp to do?

My Thoughts:
She had me at Acknowledgments. I will say that this book made me laugh at least three times from how ridiculous it is. I think it was a fun read. This book had a sense of humor about itself and by extension I don't feel the author takes herself overly serious. I will say that she almost lost me though with some of the unicorn stuff. Without spoiling anything I will say that while making fun of Twilight she unintentionally had some of the same annoying aspects to her book as Twilight. For instance I would for once like a book to show that love doesn't just happen over night but takes time to build and develop. Silly teenagers and rushing to use the love word!

That being said I would recommend this to anyone looking for an eye rolling good time. I wouldn't recommend this book if you are looking for a serious and or deep read.

While writing this review I was listening to the blissful silence that is my apartment on a quiet afternoon.