vvb32 reads: Deborah Harkness

Showing posts with label Deborah Harkness. Show all posts

Wednesday, February 3, 2021

Happy Blogoversary Month

Happy Blogoversary Month
the big 13

Celebrating my book blogging years by reflecting on 13 books that stood out.

*+* 2009 *+*

Flowers in the Attic
by V.C. Andrews | Goodreads
the book that triggered the creation of this blog
*+* 2010 *+*

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
by Stieg Larsson | Goodreads
blew my mind in regards to the mystery thriller genre
*+* 2011 *+*

Random Magic
by Sasha Soren | Goodreads
sparked a bunch of whimsy with author and virtual events on the blog
*+* 2012 *+*

Fifty Shades of Grey
by E.L. James | Goodreads
fun hype and hullabaloo
*+* 2013 *+*

A Spear of Summer Grass
by Deanna Raybourn | Goodreads
for the ambiance
*+* 2014 *+*

A Discovery of Witches
by Deborah Harkness | Goodreads
discovered and fell for this paranormal crew
*+* 2015 *+*

All the Light We Cannot See
by Anthony Doerr | Goodreads
beautiful ugly
*+* 2016 *+*

A Little Life
by Hanya Yanagihara | Goodreads
emotional punches
*+* 2017 *+*

Eileen
by Ottessa Moshfegh | Goodreads
wow!
*+* 2018 *+*

Crazy Rich Asians
by Kevin Kwan | Goodreads
escape into a world of wealth with all its complications and drama
*+* 2019 *+*

Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead
by Olga Tokarczuk | Goodreads
championing the horrors of our world
*+* 2020 *+*

The Snow Leopard
by Peter Matthiessen | Goodreads
first co-read with fellow book blogger, Naida at the bookworm
*+* Honorable Mention *+*

On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous
by Ocean Vuong | Goodreads
beautiful and moving passages of painful memories
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* image header source: cover for The Widow Cliquot by Tilar J. Mazzeo

Saturday, November 1, 2014

Stacking the Shelves - 11.1.14

Stacking the Shelves
hosted by Tynga's Reviews (details)
Stacking The Shelves is all about sharing the books you are adding to your shelves, may it be physical or virtual. This means you can include books you buy in physical store or online, books you borrow from friends or the library, review books, gifts and of course ebooks!

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Bought:

Etiquette & Espionage
(Finishing School book 1)
by Gail Carrier
Amazon | Goodreads
-----> for Finishing School Read Along

What I Know For Sure
by Oprah Winfrey
-inspirational, memoir
Amazon | Goodreads
-----> for some positive inspiration and feel good moments

Station Eleven
by Emily St. John Mandel
-dystopia
Amazon | Goodreads
-----> the hype and good reviews for this made this irresistible

Doon
by Carey Corp and Lorie Langdon
-fantasy, YA
Amazon | Goodreads
-----> after reading book 2, i just HAD to read this one too ;-)

For Review:

Lies We Tell Ourselves
by Robin Talley
-LGBTQ, YA
courtesy of Media Masters Publicity
Thanks Casey!
Amazon | Goodreads

Hunting in Bruges
(Hunters' Guild #1)
by E.J. Stevens
-paranormal, urban fantasy
courtesy of author
Thanks E.J.!
Amazon | Goodreads

Hit
by Lorie Ann Grover
-YA
courtesy of BookSparks Fall Reading Challenge 2014
Thanks Janay!
Amazon | Goodreads
Library:

Shadow of Night
(All Souls Trilogy #2)
by Deborah Harkness
-demons, vampires, witches
Amazon | Goodreads

Book of Life
(All Souls Trilogy #3)
by Deborah Harkness
-demons, vampires, witches
Amazon | Goodreads
-----> HAD to pick up the rest of this trilogy after experiencing A Discovery of Witches which I really loved, listening to the audio versions

Dreaming about getting soon:

Neil Patrick Harris:
Choose Your Own Autobiography
by Neil Patrick Harris
Amazon | Goodreads
Tired of memoirs that only tell you what really happened?

Sick of deeply personal accounts written in the first person? Seeking an exciting, interactive read that puts the “u” back in “aUtobiography”? Then look no further than Neil Patrick Harris: Choose Your Own Autobiography! In this revolutionary, Joycean experiment in light celebrity narrative, actor/personality/carbon-based-life-form Neil Patrick Harris lets you, the reader, live his life. You will be born to New Mexico. You will get your big break at an acting camp. You will get into a bizarre confrontation outside a nightclub with actor Scott Caan. Even better, at each critical juncture of your life you will choose how to proceed. You will decide whether to try out for Doogie Howser, M.D. You will decide whether to spend years struggling with your sexuality. You will decide what kind of caviar you want to eat on board Elton John’s yacht.

Choose correctly and you’ll find fame, fortune, and true love. Choose incorrectly and you’ll find misery, heartbreak, and a hideous death by piranhas. All this, plus magic tricks, cocktail recipes, embarrassing pictures from your time as a child actor, and even a closing song. Yes, if you buy one book this year, congratulations on being above the American average, and make that book Neil Patrick Harris: Choose Your Own Autobiography!

-----> really curious to read this format for an autobiography AND really fell for NHP's character, Barney in How I Met Your Mother tv series

OTHER things on my shelf: kinda book-related

Started listening to another book podcast...

I got turned on to this U.K. duo, Adventure With Words, after listening their Gone Girl episode where Simon from The Readers is a guest.

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* some of these may be offered as giveaways within the next two months

* comment and TELL me what you have acquired for your shelves recently

* per usual, check out the sidebar for my current giveaways offers

Sunday, October 19, 2014

A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness

A Discovery of Witches
by Deborah Harkness

Find out more about this book and author:
Amazon
Goodreads
BookExcerpt
Website
Music
Facebook
Instagram
Pinterest
Tumblr
Twitter @DebHarkness

Published: 2011
Publisher: Penguin Books
Genre: Romance, Vampires, Witches
Paperback: 592 pages
Rating: 5

All Souls series:
A Discovery of Witches
Shadow of Night
The Book of Life

Deborah Harkness’s sparkling debut, A Discovery of Witches, has brought her into the spotlight and galvanized fans around the world. In this tale of passion and obsession, Diana Bishop, a young scholar and a descendant of witches, discovers a long-lost and enchanted alchemical manuscript, Ashmole 782, deep in Oxford's Bodleian Library. Its reappearance summons a fantastical underworld, which she navigates with her leading man, vampire geneticist Matthew Clairmont.

Harkness has created a universe to rival those of Anne Rice, Diana Gabaldon, and Elizabeth Kostova, and she adds a scholar's depth to this riveting tale of magic and suspense. The story continues in book two, Shadow of Night, and concludes with The Book of Life, coming from Viking in July 2014.

My two-bits:

I have not read very many witch-based stories and was very impressed with this one.

The world-building has just the right blend of magic and lore to make it "real". Along with witches, vampire and daemon presence and history are introduced.

A romantic/love relationship between a witch and vampire drives most of this read along with alliances made to setup for the rest of this trilogy.

No gory scenes despite action scenes. So, curious to see if that will come in the next two books.

Loved how the witch house was incorporated into the story as a character. Like Hogwarts in J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter series, the Bishop home had it mysteries, quirks and ghosts.

--~ Book Giveaway ~--
signup to win this book
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* added this to my Bookish Bingo challenge - square: Witches

Tuesday, October 14, 2014

Spooktacular Book Giveaway HOP

Spooktacular Book Giveaway HOP
hosted by I Am A Reader Not a Writer
Oct 15-31, 2014

see the complete blog hop list
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WANT ghosts ???

Horrorstor: A Novel
by Grady Hendrix
-horror, art, unique
Amazon | Goodreads
Something strange is happening at the Orsk furniture superstore in Cleveland, Ohio. Every morning, employees arrive to find broken Kjerring bookshelves, shattered Glans water goblets, and smashed Liripip wardrobes. Sales are down, security cameras reveal nothing, and store managers are panicking.

To unravel the mystery, three employees volunteer to work a nine-hour, dusk-till-dawn shift. In the dead of the night, they’ll patrol the empty showroom floor, investigate strange sights and sounds, and encounter horrors that defy the imagination.

A traditional haunted house story in a thoroughly contemporary setting, Horrorstör comes packaged in the form of a glossy mail order catalog, complete with product illustrations, a home delivery order form, and a map of Orsk’s labyrinthine showroom. It’s “a treat for fans of The Evil Dead or Zombieland, complete with affordable solutions for better living.”—Kirkus Reviews.

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OR do you want witches ???

A Discovery of Witches: A Novel
(All Souls Trilogy)
by Deborah Harkness
-vampires, witches
Amazon | Goodreads
Deborah Harkness’s sparkling debut, A Discovery of Witches, has brought her into the spotlight and galvanized fans around the world. In this tale of passion and obsession, Diana Bishop, a young scholar and a descendant of witches, discovers a long-lost and enchanted alchemical manuscript, Ashmole 782, deep in Oxford's Bodleian Library. Its reappearance summons a fantastical underworld, which she navigates with her leading man, vampire geneticist Matthew Clairmont.

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For 2 winners.

WIN one of these books!

Open to US only.

Offer ends: October 31, 2014

TO DO: (3 parts)

1. GO to my sidebar and do at least ONE of the following:

FOLLOW me on BlogLovin.

FOLLOW me on Twitter.

FOLLOW me on GFC.

FRIEND me on Goodreads.

SUBSCRIBE via email to my blog.

2. TELL me what you did in comments.

3. TELL me which book you would like to have.

AND, leave your email OR make sure I have a way to contact you (twitter link, clickable profile, etc).

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NOW, hop-along to these other sites for more goodies…

see the complete blog hop list

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Contest has ended - winner is here

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Sunday, October 5, 2014

Bookish Bingo Challenge: Fall

Bookish Bingo Challenge
Fall: October to December 2014
hosted by Great Imaginations
details here
Just joined the next edition of this book challenge!

The Rules:

Sign-ups close on October 15 here

Read read read! You have all of October, November and December to cover as many squares as possible.

One book per square. So while Shutter has a creature on the cover and is a autumn release, it can only count for one square

There will be a giveaway at the end of December. Each bingo earned gets you extra points! To enter, write up a wrap up post with links to your books read and plug it into the Rafflecopter.

*Books do not have to be reviewed*

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