A Mountain of Superstition and Witches (Apache Junction, AZ)

We moved to Usery Mountain Regional Park.  Less than 15 miles from our last location, but what a difference!  We and the cats are enjoying the wide open spaces and all the critters.  I woke up to coyotes yapping right behind our motorhome.  Max was looking very alert out the window.  I looked but no such luck of seeing the two daybreakers.

Superstition Mountain

Some of the cactus are starting to bloom, but I can see that there are many with buds just starting.  I have taken a lot of photos and I'll post more in April.  Due to downloads to my new computer, we are almost at our broadband limit for this month.  We have almost another week and of course, I don't want to go over our limit.  I posted our site on our travel blog Too2ManyCats.

We move to Cottonwood, AZ on Monday.  

A Discovery of Witches (All Souls Trilogy) by Deborah Harkness


This is the offical description of this book:
The All Souls Trilogy follows the story of Diana Bishop, a historian and reluctant witch, as she solves the mystery of Ashmole 782, falls in love with a mysterious vampire named Matthew Clairmont, and learns how powerful it can be to accept who you are.

Sounds intriguing!  I haven't read too many witch or vampire books.  As a matter of fact, I haven't read any since Anne Rice's Lestat and the Mayfair Witches were published.  So, this is my first witch/vampire story in quite a long time and I enjoyed Deborah's concept of a world filled with four creatures: humans, witches, vampires and demons.

Actually, I listened to this book on my iPod.  The story starts out slow and I was a little worried that this 24-hour long story was going to feel more like a 48-hour drag.  Soon, I found myself not wanting to turn off my iPod because I wanted to know what would happen next to the main characters Diana and Matthew.

Born a witch, but refusing to practice, Diana has a Ph.D. in history and researches alchemical texts.  While doing research, her power pulls up a missing spellbound manuscript that holds secrets about demons, vampires, and witches only to put it back before reading it.  Soon, Diana is being hounded by three of the creatures.  Demons and vampires want to read the contents while the witches want to keep it hidden.

Enter Matthew Clairmont, many centuries old vampire and a genetic scientist.  An unusual wine-connoisseur vampire that rarely feeds on warm bloods and walks around in the daylight.  Romance soon follows, but wait...a vampire and a witch in love?  It's bad enough that Diana has produced a lost text, but now she is involved with a vampire which is frowned upon by both sides.

As Diana's powers improve and her love for Matthew grows, the story becomes more interesting.  I like the concept of this new world of creatures that includes a little history, science, alchemy, and magic.

My favorite part was the house owned by Diana's aunt.  It had a mind of its own with closing doors, producing items that had been gone for years, throwing temper tantrums, or building rooms for unexpected guests.  Not to mention, it is filled with ancestral ghosts that only the witches can see.

There are sex scenes and no swearing.

Oh, and if you do decide to read this book, buy Shadow of Night.  The first one really leaves you hanging at the end.  As a matter of fact, I was a little put out with the ending and I was happy to see the second book has already been published.  But, I have been left hanging at the end of the second book too.  The third in the series has not been written yet and has no publishing date as of today.  You can bet I'll be on the lookout for it!

Happy Trails!