Audiobook Review: A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness

Intelligent heroine, library intrigue and vampires. Why is this not my favorite book?

A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness
Series: All Souls Trilogy
Genre: Paranormal romance
Length: 24h 02m
Audio Publisher: Penguin Audio, 2011
Read by: Jennifer Ikeda
From: Audible

Story: Diana Bishop is a professor on sabbatical at Oxford researching alchemical texts. During her study, she comes across Ashmole 782. She returns it to the stacks, but soon finds every witch, demon and vampire in England wants to get their hands on that manuscript, especially Matthew Clairmont, a vampire geneticist who has been looking for the Ashmole for 150 years. He needs Diana to get it.

Thoughts: Intelligent heroine, library intrigue, and vampires are exactly what I want in a book. I love the thought of vampires working in research labs. They're perfect for it! The late-night hours, antisocial behavior, and decade-long projects fit right in with immortal night owls. Thought somehow the laboratorians I know are not as amazingly handsome or snappily dressed as the ones in A Discovery of Witches. It seems everyone in this book is perfect, especially the heroine Diana. She has a photographic memory, teaches at Yale, and is a witch. Only she doesn't use her witch powers because that would somehow be cheating on her massive intellect.


This is the first book in a series, so after setting up the search for Ashmole 782, the book completely abandons that plot to concentrate on the vampire romance. I don't care for paternalistic love interests, and it was too bad Diana stopped being an intelligent professional as soon as a hot guy entered the room. It was also weird how much the hot guy loves yoga.

Reading: I hadn't listened to Jennifer Ikeda before, but did a great job on the reading. She puts in just the right amount of elitism into her reading of Diana, and I really liked her elitist male voices, too.

Final thoughts: A Discovery of Witches is less Da Vinci Code and more Twilight: The College Years, but there are indications the next book will be Outlander with vampires.

Grade: 3 out of 5

The Oddiophile has a fantastic flow chart to help you decide if you should read Discovery of Witches. I wish I had seen it before I started!

Murder, monsters and mayhem is the darling of the fabulous Jenn of Jenn's Bookshelves while Carl of Stainless Steel Droppings is the mastermind behind RIP VI.

Audiobook review: The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon

When I picked up The Shadow of the Wind (2001) by Carlos Ruiz Zafon, all I knew was Stephen King called it "one gorgeous read." Stephen and I will have to agree to disagree.

Genre: Historical gothic romance with magical realism
Length: 18h 10m
Audio publisher: Penguin Audiobooks, 2004
Read by: Jonathan Davis
From: Local library

Story: 10-year-old Daniel is taken by his father to see the Cemetery of Forgotten Books, a huge sanctuary of lost and under-read titles. Daniel must choose one book to adopt and make sure it will never disappear. Daniel chooses The Shadow of the Wind. The book ensnares him and sends him on a quest to learn more about the author.

Review: I loved the Cemetery of Forgotten Books. I would have liked to spend the whole story there exploring and getting to know its patrons and employees. Unfortunately, the book quickly leaves the Cemetery to join Daniel as he grows up and peruses lead after lead following the author of The Shadow of the Wind.

The characters in this book are marvelous. The blind literature expert. The book buyer who dresses like Lord Byron. The homeless man who may or may not be a spy. However, with all these characters, several plots  in the present and the past, and every cliche ever invented, the book was too much for me. I just couldn't care as much as Daniel about The Shadow of the Wind, its author, or the 20 or so other people whose lives the book ruined.

I did like how women in this book are assessed by how literate they are, instead of by their wealth or beauty (or in addition to their wealth and beauty).

Reading and production: Jonathan Davis does an excellent job. He speaks fluent Spanish, so puts the correct accents in all the right places. It's hard when a book takes place in a non-English speaking country. Should the reader give everyone Spanish accents? Only some people? I'm of the mind that no one should have an accent unless there's some other reason for it. I found it strange that Daniel's dad had such a heavy accent while Daniel had none.

I was distressed by the music that was overlayed on the reading. This happened several times and was always distracting. The music was loud, jarring, and prevented me from hearing what was being read.

Final thoughts: Although I enjoyed the writing and some of the elements of The Shadow of the Wind, the book as a whole didn't work for me. It was too jam-packed and rambling a story for me to relate.

Grade: 3 out of 5

Other bloggers really enjoyed The Shadow of the Wind.
You've Gotta Read This raves about it.
Outlandish Dreaming highly recommends it.
Literate Housewife enjoyed it as well.

Murder, Monsters and Mayhem is sponsored by Jenn at Jenn's Bookshelves. RIP is run by Carl at Stainless Steel Droppings.

Audio Review: Pirate King by Laurie R. King

Pirate King is the 11th Mary Russell book by Laurie R. King. When I found out there was a new book in this series, I couldn't wait to read it. I was surprised I could get it through my library on Overdrive. I still like Mary Russell, but this wasn't my favorite book of hers.

Genre: Historic mystery adventure
Length: 11h 12m
Audio publisher: Recorded Books, 2011

Recap: Mary and Holmes are caught up in another adventure as Mary infiltrates a silent film company to investigate allegations of illegal activity.

Review: I am a huge Mary Russell fan. She's independent, she speaks seven languages, and she can throw a knife. However, this book does not showcase her many talents. Pirate King is subtitled "a novel of suspense featuring Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes." Unfortunately, there is a lack of suspense, little Holmes, and even Mary is missing for a stretch.

The movie industry is one of my least favorite settings. I've seen these stock characters and standard situations before. I was hoping in  a Mary Russell book some people might buck their stereotypes. Maybe the director could be accommodating or the female lead humble. No such luck. Even Mary falls into standard cliches as she travels and doesn't listen when her translator warns her about cultural differences. Listen to your informants, Mary. You're better than this.

The sections with Holmes were excellent, as always. I would have liked to have more time with him and Mary together. It would be great if they could just be home to see their day to day interactions.

Reading: For me Jenny Sterlin is Mary Russell. Her voice takes some getting used to. It's a bit gravelly, and she makes Mary a little more sarcastic than I picture her, but the reading is so energetic I just get swept away. This story had a couple British pronunciations I liked. Shiek is pronounced "shake" and harem "har-eem." It's always fun to learn a new language.

Final thoughts: For anyone who likes Sherlock Holmes or strong women characters the first Mary Russel book, The Beekeeper's Apprentice, is great. Pirate King might be for people who like early cinema or Mary Russell completests. I'm looking forward to the next book, when Mary goes to Japan in the space between The Game and Locked Rooms.

Grade: 3 out of 5