April Book of the Month: A Discovery of Witches

Alright! Alright! I admit it! I'm been slack over the last few weeks. Between uni, work, volunteering and interning I haven't had the slightest inclination to blog. I have continued reading though, so have no fear, I will reach my intended goal for the year.

Moving on to the much delayed, and much enjoyed April BotM! I picked this up in passing, without really understanding what I had my hands on. Like most avid readers/ book bloggers, I have the writers bug and I love picking up encyclopaedia's. I have a shelf and a half full now and I pick up more all the time. So when I grabbed this book, I didn't actually read the blurb properly and just chucked it in my pile. Lucky I did or I might have missed one of the best supernatural books I have ever read.

A Discover of Witches by Deborah Harkness

A richly inventive novel about a centuries-old vampire, a spellbound witch, and the mysterious manuscript that draws them together. 
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. 
Debut novelist Deborah Harkness has crafted a mesmerizing and addictive read, equal parts history and magic, romance and suspense. 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. This smart, sophisticated story harks back to the novels of Anne Rice, but it is as contemporary and sensual as the Twilight series-with an extra serving of historical realism.

Keep watching for my review and I'm sorry I'm so far behind!

Ice Station by Matthew Reilly

#48 of 200

Original Language: English
Publisher: Pan Macmillan
Country: Australia
Publication Date: August 1, 1998
ISBN: 0330360892
Page Count: 611

Anarctica is the last unconquered continent, a murderous expanse of howling winds, blinding whiteouts and deadly crevasses. On one edge of Antarctica is Wilkes Station. Beneath Wilkes Station is the gate to hell itself... A team of U.S. divers, exploring three thousand feet beneath the ice shelf has vanished. Sending out an SOS, Wilkes draws a rapid deployment team of Marines-and someone else... First comes a horrific firefight. Then comes a plunge into a drowning pool filled with killer whales. Next comes the hard part, as a handful of survivors begin an electrifying, red-hot, non-stop battle of survival across the continent and against wave after wave of elite military assassins-who've all come for one thing: a secret buried deep beneath the ice...

Matthew Reilly brings exhilaration, endurance and science together in the adventure riddled novel. Ice Station  is the first in Reilly's adrenaline pumping Scarecrow series and definitely kicks off with a splash.

Cover Conversations: Revealing Measure of Magic by Terry Brooks

The sequel to Bearers of the Black Staff (Legends of Shannara) was revealed today. The beautiful cover and the first two chapters were shown off by Terry himself at the University Bookshop in Settle yesterday.

The Measure of Magic by Terry Brooks

For more than three decades, New York Times bestselling author Terry Brooks has ruled the epic fantasy realm with his legendary Shannara series. With each new novel the mythos has deepened, ever more fascinating characters have arisen, and increasingly breathtaking vistas of magical adventure have emerged. Now the evolution of one of imaginative fiction’s most beloved worlds continues in the first book of the new series Legends of Shannara:Bearers of the Black Staff.
Five hundred years have passed since the devastating demon-led war that tore apart the United States, leaving nothing but scorched and poisoned ruins, and nearly exterminating humankind. Those who escaped the carnage and blight were led to sanctuary by the boy savior known as the Hawk—the gypsy morph. In an idyllic valley, its borders warded by powerful magic against the horrors beyond, humans, elves, and mutants alike found a place they believed would be their home forever.
But after five centuries, the unimaginable has come to pass: The cocoon of protective magic surrounding the valley has vanished. When Sider Ament, the only surviving descendant of the Knights of the Word, detects unknown predators stalking the valley, he fears the worst. And when Panterra Qu and Prue Liss, expert Trackers from the human village of Glensk Wood, find two of their own gruesomely killed, there can be no doubt: The once safe haven of generations has been laid bare and made vulnerable to whatever still lurks in the wasteland of the outside world.
Together, Ament, the two young Trackers, and a daring Elf princess race to spread word of the encroaching danger—and spearhead plans to defend their ancestral home. But suspicion and hostility among their countrymen threaten to doom their efforts from within—while beyond the breached borders, a ruthless Troll army masses for invasion. And in the thick of it all, the last wielder of the black staff and its awesome magic must find a successor to carry on the fight against the cresting new wave of evil.

Bonus material: Terry did a reading at this particular appearance and I have the first two here for you to listen to! I always imagined his voice was deeper...

Part One

Part Two

Enjoy!