New reads:

When I was preparing to go on maternity leave, I thought it would be three months of lounging around with a baby. I thought I'd get lots of reading done. I was looking forward to finally knocking out all the books in my "to read" queue. I was ready for a summer spent with my favorite characters. Silly me. There were a few months there that I didn't pick up a single book. Months, as in plural. Not that I didn't have some down time. Newborn babies sleep a lot. I was just so exhausted for the longest time that when he slept, so did I. But now that baby boy is almost three months old (unfathomable), I've actually had the time and energy to get some reading done. My most recent read: The Book of Life by Deborah Harkness.

The Book of Life is the last of the All Souls Trilogy. I first discovered these books three years ago and loved them. The first, A Discovery of Witches (see here), was deliciously exciting. I ate it up. The second, Shadow of Night (see here), was the same way. I took that book with me on a beach trip and spent most of the time curled up on the porch of our beach house reading. Needless to say I had been eagerly anticipating the third and last installment for over two years. It finally came out this summer and a few weeks ago, I managed to find the time to read it. 

It was good. I liked it. But it wasn't waiting-for-two-years kind of good. I felt like the author rushed through the story in order to wrap it up. I wish she had taken her time. I would have been okay with a longer book (obviously, considering I've been working through the Outlander series for over a year now). I also felt like she focused on some things but oddly enough, ignored other details that I considered pretty integral to the story. It felt strange. And there were times where I felt the writing and/or story line were pretty cheesy. But I'm happy with the way she ended things for all the characters and I felt like she wrapped the series up well, with no huge holes or missing resolution.

If you've been looking for a good read, I would recommend this series. I liked all of the books (but the first was probably my favorite). Give them a go.