Saturday, July 30, 2011

A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness

A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness is a book that I first discovered through a personal recommendation during a local literary event.  You cannot imagine my excitement when it was then voted to be the July read for my Tales to Tomes Online Book Club!

Diana is a descendant of the infamous Bishops of the Salem Witch Trials, and she wants nothing to do with magic because of this history.  She wants to earn her success.  But when she uses a simple spell to retrieve a book from a high shelf and unknowingly requests a manuscript with great power, she discovers beings . . . vampires, other witches, and daemons . . . all becoming a part of her life and her ancestry becoming more difficult to avoid.  She finds an unexpected friend in a fellow colleague (and vampire) Matthew.  And, the adventures they begin unraveling will keep you turning the pages as quickly as you can.

I stayed up way too late reading this book on a multitude of nights.  I could not wait to discover what was going to happen next.  I loved the complexities added in, including alchemic history, suspenseful mysteries, intricate connections, scientific relations to the paranormal, and more than a little romance.  When I read the last page, I was very tempted to turn back to the beginning and re-read it immediately!  In fact, if I didn't have the large stacks of books that need read and if my copy wasn't due back to the library, I probably would have.  I promise you that I will return to this book at some point in the future though.  And, I am even going to go so far as to say that this is my favorite book in 2011 so far!

A Discovery of Witches is the first book in the All Souls Trilogy.  For more information, visit the author's website.

What did you think of A Discovery of Witches?  Did you love it as much as I did?  If you have not read it, did I just convince you to?!?


5 comments:

  1. I've been curious about this and glad to hear it was so good!!! I just love the cover ... it looks like it is a book of magic. I'll have to read this if it makes your top book for the year list.

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  2. The Book Chook ... My job is now done! :)

    Jenners ... I definitely recommend it! I seriously need my own copy of this one to revisit soon!

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  3. Glad to see such a positive review! I had been eying this book for months and finally broke down and bought it about three weeks ago... who knows when I'll actually be able to get to it, though? Sigh. Piles everywhere.

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  4. Adam ... I wish I had my own copy of it!! I would seriously pick it back up and read it! I loved the book and cannot wait for a re-read and the sequel!

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