A Discovery of Witches and sniffles

Hello my lovelies,  I'm here hold up in bed with a stuffy head - thanks to whomever must have passed on their germs to me - and, being stuck in bed I decided to grab a few books to tide me over for however long this stupid headcold lasts.

Yesterday I finished re-reading A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness, and let me tell you it was as great the second time as it was the first.  Of course, now I just want to get my hands on the next book, Shadow of Night, but unfortunately, the local library doesn't hold any copies of it yet.  Grrrr!  Anyway, what can I say?  I loved it.  Diana Bishop and Matthew Clairmont are wonderful - although IMO Matthew does in some ways remind me of an older, more mature version of Twilight's Edward with all the brooding he can manage - and I certainly loved the whole Ashmole 782 angle (and the fact that it is a real manuscript that has been missing for over 100 years!) plus the uber-witch angle.  The woman who for the first time since she was 7 will have to embrace her witchy-ness if she wants any chance of surviving. . . and, any book that includes witches, vampires and daemons just has to be worth checking out.

Now, I will admit that I did start to see parallel's with Twilight and other paranormal star-crossed lovers stories.  I guess when you're doing a forbidden love story you just can't get away from some stereotyping, but even that is not enough to put me off the book.  Now while the book is great, there are a few harsh moments when the reality of the world creeps to the forefront.  For those of you who haven't yet picked up ADoW, Diana's treatment at the hands of some vampires and a certain witch aren't for the squeamish.  It's a definite reminder that Diana and Matthew are involved in a cut-throat world where the weak don't survive long.  But, take heart dearies, while heavy moments like those are present, they are more than outnumbered by the relationship that's building between our witch and her man, and their families (plus a touchy cat, ghostly witch ancestors and a house that I would personally love to live in!

So, that is my quick once-over of the first installment of what promises to be a fabulous trilogy.  Next on the list, the Chronicles of Elantra by Michelle Sagara.  Wish me luck!