Witches, Vampires, Shadows and a bit of Elizabeth the first.....

The Bookbabe Reviews: Shadow of Night by Deborah Harkness

Well It took me much less time to read this book, then the almost two weeks it took me with book one. I was not at all bored with this book. This is mainly due to Harkness ability to pace the action and plot well. This book is littered with the familiar names and places from not only the first book but from history as well. From monarchs like Elizabeth 1 and Rudolf III to Walter Raleigh and the Lord of Northumberland. The most remarkable meeting of all (for me anyway) is Philippe; Matthews father. When Diana and Matthew travel to Sept Tours at his fathers request Philippee comes off as a brut. Mean and impassive and is the master of all those around him including his children. I expected this throughout the entire time they interacted with him however (as Harkness does so well) the character reveals himself. He slowly shows his care for Matthew and then for Diana. Slowly I begin to see why Ysabeau remains so in love with him, even after his death. What I loved about this book is we slowly see Diana and Matthew get to know one another better. We get to see more of Matthew's defenses shatter as Diana attempts to get closer to him. We see their relationship deepen and they arrive at a kind of understanding that only people truly in love can. Harkness really has a way of writing flawed, real and beautiful relationships. Another thing I loved about this book is the final coming together of the "family" behind Matthew and Diana. I can not wait to see them "fight" as a family unit. Of course, we find out that we have lost one of the members of the family and I can not wait to see how this plays out in the next book. I am also eager to see how Matthew's and Diana's new arrival will affect things as well. I give this book a four star rating; if you like this spoiler-less remove you can read many more at 

www.delawarebookaddict.blogspot.com

Favorite Quotes:

"You are not just my heart but it's beating" - Matthew to Diana

“Gallowglass returned to Sporrengasse with two vampires and a pretzel"

“We don’t lock up books in this house,” Philippe said, “only food, ale, and wine. Reading Herodotus or Aquinas seldom leads to bad behavior"

A New Gem for my collection!

I am so happy to have found this book online (cheaply) in great condition. I now have all three books in hardcover. 

My Book Shelves: As of April 2015

My vampire collection; of all these my favorites are The Strain Trilogy by G. Del Toro and Chuck Hogan.

Yet another author of my heart; J.J. Murray. I own almost all of his published works. Three of these books are signed.

Just a few books from my "to read immediately" shelves; my goal is to have as many of these read as possible in 2015! 

My "classic" books collection. Yes I own two copies of Pride and Prejudice and two copies of A Tale of Two Cities. Also, some modern classics are included on this shelf as well. Among them Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden.

 Now just a little YA! Cassandra Clare, JK Rowling, and Suzanne Collins! 

And last but not least; the most important book on my shelf! 

Cassandra Clare's Infernal Devices Series gets new covers and new contant

*none of the images belong to me; all photos are from Cassandra Clare's  Website*

My Opinion: I honestly only like Tessa's Cover for Clockwork Princess. I think the originals were much better. Because we got a better look at the characters faces; especially Jem's (Clockwork Prince). I believe the books are getting a face lift to help promote the new show and to attract more readers. Which I am all for. By all means Cassandra Clare needs her fan base to keep growing. 

A Witch, A Vampire and a book; whats not to Love?

The Bookbabe Reviews: A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness

I can not believe that I let this gem sit on my shelves for so long (almost three years). I remember it as one of the last books I purchased from a closing Walden Books location. What can I say about this book? I feel like I was taken away to England on a sea of wonderfully and imaginatively written prose. Deborah Harkness delivered everything you can expect in a Paranormal romance.  There is a very likable main character,  a distant and shadowy love interest and lots of drama. What I enjoyed most about the book was that Harkness has such and amazing way at describing the places and people that both Matthew and Diana interact with. Harkness also is very careful to slowly reveal bits and pieces of the characters at just the right time. The way she builds  the intensity of the drama is awe inspiring. It goes without saying that I have not read a book this good in sometime; especially in this genre. One thing that I really loved about the story was that Harkness was in no rush to get Matthew and Diana into bed; in fact she has the couple "married" off but they have not consummated their marriage. In so many paranormal romances readers often see the characters taking to the sheets in no time flat. I loved that Matthew Clarimont takes on the role of a night and shining armor and wants to protect his lady love; and is okay with "courting her".  Even though this frustrates Diana to no end no doubt. I can honestly say I was in love with Matthew Clarimont's character from the moment he decided to protect Diana in the library. I was also even more in love with him after we are introduced to his family; we get a get to see his devotion to them and we start to learn a little more about our lovable vampire. I really can not wait to see if some of my theories (which I can not post here because they would spoil a good read) about the characters come to past. I would recommend this book to anyone that is interested in a complex story with complex characters and high drama. If you love all things witches, vampires and daemons then check this out at the library or buy it at your local bookstore.

Quotes I loved:

"the smell of the library always lifted my spirits-that peculiar combination of old stone, dust, woodworm, and paper made properly from rags"

"As far as I can tell, there's only two emotions to keep the world spinning, year after year......One is fear. The other desire."

Bookish Quotable of the Day!

First Impressions: A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness

So I am a little late to this band wagon but hey I read what I want when I want. So this month I decided to start the All Souls Trilogy by Deborah Harkness. I am officially six chapters in and boy let me tell you....I LOVE IT! First off let me say that this book is different. I have read several books featuring a witch as the main character but never have I felt a connection to them; as I do with Diana Bishop. Diana is an intelligent, educated woman that does not want her ability to use magic to get her ahead in life. She is trying her hardest to be "normal" and she is anything but. She has daemons following her around and can not shake off Professor Matthew Clarimont; a sexy, intelligent vampire. I honestly can not wait to read more about Professor Clarimont. I am hoping that something romantically develops between Diana and Matthew. The only thing about the book that I think will drive me crazy is all the alchemy stuff. I see it going right over my head and I have a funny feeling that I will have to read up on some of the terms so that I can fully grasp the subject matter. As of right now I see myself really enjoying the first book and I can not wait to write a review on it. 

The Shadowhunter Cast; what we know so far....

I will have to admit that as the cast is announced I grow more and more excited. I can not wait to see who is cast for Magnus Bane; who is one of my favorite supporting characters in the series. Here are some fan mashups that some of my friends have posted on Facebook and reposted on Tumblr (none of these photos are mine) 

Hello Clary Fray; your looking pretty bad ass! Clary will be played by Katherine McNamara.

Well Hello there Jace Wayland. Jace will be played by Dominic Sherwood. Honestly I am excited and open to this change. Dominic looks like he will be perfect for the role.

Next up is Isabelle Lightwood....this casting was interesting. Mainly because she is what I pictured. The Izzy from City of Bones (movie) was not at all what I pictured. The beautiful Miss Lightwood will be played by Emeraude Toubia. 

Well Hello Simon Lewis. I was a little Leary of this one; because the Simon from the movie was absolutely perfect. After seeing the actor, Alberto Rosende, with glasses I was sold. I can not wait to see what he does with Simon. 

Last but not least; and by far the most interesting casting was that of actor Isaiah Mustafa as Luke Garroway. This was particularly interesting (and a tad perplexing) due to the fact that Luke was played by a Caucasian actor in the movie. Luke's character will also get a slight change from the book. Instead of being a bookstore owner he will be a NYPD detective. Which makes so much more sense when I actually took the time to think about it. 

I can honestly say that as of right now I am happy with the casting. Of course McG (the producer of the show) has a few more characters to cast but so far he  (with the help of Cassandra Clare) is doing an amazing job. I will be posting like crazy about the show as more news comes to light. Please feel free to let me know what you think about the castings. 

The Bookbabe Reviews: The Bane Chronicles by Cassandra Clare, Sarah Rees Brennan, and Maureen Johnson

 What can I say about this collection of stories? Well since it was a
work of one of my favorite authors I can say that I really am not
disappointed expect; that I missed some of my favorite characters that
made minimal appearances in this volume. I really would have loved to
see more Jace. I know that this is selfish but really….I wanted my
Jace to come back. Now that that is out of the way lets get down to my
favorite stories in the volume.

I loved “The Runaway Queen” because its Magnus in French at the
beginning of the French revolution. Not to mention Magnus in knickers
and a powered wig is a very interesting and comically image that I
want to keep locked in my memory forever.  I also loved “The Fall of
the Hotel Dumort“; this one was very interesting. Mainly because we
got to see the ugly side of Camille Belcourt (before the mortal
instruments series); we get to see her being less than careful about
her business; she is allowing her vampires to run wild and call
attention to themselves. We also get to see a picture of New York
during the “drug era” of the 70’s; something that is most likely not
written about in the young adult genre. The story also let us know
that vampires are not immune to addiction. Now on to the two stories
exclusively about Malec (Magnus and Alec); I loved these and I see why
my friends where in love with them too. “
What to buy the Shadowhunter Who has everything (And who you’re not
officially dating anyway)”;  what I loved the most about this one was
Elyaas. Who knew that a slimy, octopus like demon could be comical.
Also, the fact that Catarina and Ragnor want nothing to do with Magnus
love life is hilarious. I mean honestly, if Magnus was my friend I
would want no parts of it either.
Last but not least “The Course of True Love (and First Dates)” is also
wonderful and most likely my favorite of the entire book. What I loved
about this story was that Magnus is really afraid to get close to Alec
but also that Alec is afraid to get close to Magnus. My favorite scene
from this story takes place in the restaurant they go to. The fact
that the werewolf waiter just wants nothing to do with Alec is so
incredibly funny. The werewolf goes out of his way to make sure their
food is spicier than usual and makes sure that Alec and Magnus
understand that Alec makes him uncomfortable. In fact he even goes so
far as to say that he gets stress ulcers; and will most likely get one
because Alec stresses him out. I literally laughed out loud because 1)
a werewolf for an ulcer is to funny and 2) because Magnus makes it his
business to point out that stress does not cause ulcers.
Honestly, I think Cassandra Clare and her co-writers did an awesome
job on the Magnus book. I can not wait to read the Shadowhunter
academy series that she has been releasing these past few weeks. I
feel like this book gave me enough of a Mortal Instruments fix that I
am kind of okay with waiting for Lady Midnight; which is not due out
until spring of 2016. If you are as big a fan of Cassandra Clare as I
am please pick this volume up; its worth the read.

Quotes I Loved:

"I'm a demon" he said. "I'll curse a mermaid. I'll curse a cocker
spaniel. I don't care about anything" (Elyaas)

" If Jane Austen could see this," Magnus said, "I assume she would be
screaming, "There are tiny demons in this little box! Fetch a
clergyman!' and hitting the television with her parasol"

“Go to faeries for gossip about vampires, to werewolves for gossip
about faeries, and do not gossip about werewolves, because they try to
bite your face off: that was Magnus's Motto"

For more reviews please visit my sites
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For personal book recommendations you can email me at thebookbabe84@gmail.com