Book Club Friday + a tiny update

Hello, hello!

It is an icy Friday here in central Iowa and shockingly, school is delayed two hours! I have grown up in this area and have NEVER seen a two hour delay! Everyone is pretty surprised, but I am proud of that decision. Better safe than sorry!

This week has been the loooongest week eeeevvver. Maybe the fourth graders are rubbing off on me? I don't think so though, because usually the weeks fly by and by the time it is Thursday, I am scratching my head in awe that the week is already almost over. This week, however, that did not happen. I think I am just overly excited about the long break.

I will be doing a lot of work over the break though... My to do list is pretty lengthy with things I want to get graded, lessons I want to differentiate, and junk I need to get organized.

We leave for Spencer tonight, which is a 3 hour drive to NW Iowa, and we will be there until Christmas Day. I haven't packed yet, and I have some cleaning I need to do, but laying in bed a little while longer and blogging beat out all of that stuff. :)

Today I am going to link up with Heather for Book Club Friday and tell you about an AMAZING book that has been on my radar for awhile that I read over the Thanksgiving break.

The book is A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness.

This book, oh my, this book... I cannot even begin... I loved it so much. I heard someone else compare it to Twilight, but I just .... cannot .... even do that...

ADOW is so much smarter than Twilight, and much sexier in a very subtle and classy way. This book has a similar plot to Twilight, but the plot is developed further and an example of writing that just leaves me in awe of the stories that phenomenal writers have floating in their heads and their ability to take those stories and put them on paper for others to enjoy.

This book wasn't historical fiction, but it wasn't just fantasy either. There was some European history weaved into this story that made it so interesting and magical. I was impressed with the the research that Harkenss must have put into this and/or the knowledge she possesses of a continent so old and rich in history. 

Here is the blurb from Goodreads:

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.

See? You have to read this. The recommendation for this book came from my Dad, and I resisted for awhile because it is a very large book (over 500 pages) but once I got started, the pages flew for me. It read very quickly and is one of those books that is on your mind when you're not reading, and all you can think about is when you can go settle in again with Diana and Matthew. 

I need to start listening to my Dad more. He is the one that pushed me to read Harry Potter and now this ... I think he knows what he's talking about. ;) 

ADOW is a trilogy, and the first and second books have been out for awhile now. The third book comes out in July. I picked up a copy of the second book at Half Price Books the same week I was reading the first one, but I am actually considering waiting until closer to July to read it... I am worried I will be impatient and want the third NOW if I read the second too soon.... 

We'll see if I can resist reading it. It's been on my nightstand since the day I purchased it so I look at it everyday. ;) 

What have you read lately that has blown you away?