Current reading: A DNF, a Cornish short story collection, and an imminent new book

[vivdunstan]

I have just DNF'd My Best Friend's Exorcism by Grady Hendrix. It should have appealed a lot, with lots of 80s pop culture references. But I didn't find the writing style worked for me, nor were the voices of the young girls convincing. I see it was made into a movie a couple of years ago. Happy to pass on both.

Alongside other non fiction books on the go I've now started a short story fiction collection, gathering together classic spooky stories about Cornwall. Cornish Horrors is another in the British Library Tales of the Weird series. And should fill a nice slot for me.

I am leaving my fiction reading slate free after that for the middle of July, when another in Deborah Harkness's A Discovery of Witches fantasy series is published. I particularly enjoyed the original trilogy, and am keen to read this upcoming 5th book, The Black Bird Oracle. I have it preordered on Kindle, and intend to read it right away on publication. And I also have a signed hardback copy on preorder.

Comments

[a_cubed]

What's the DH book's relationship to the rest? I liked the trilogy, which I read after watching the first season of the TV adaptation. I looked at the spin-off but it seemed too much a romance book for me. While the main trilogy was a fantasy/historical/romance mix, the romance didn't interfere with the plot for me. The spin-off book didn't seem to have a plot but seemed like a romance-forward addition to the series so I passed. I could look it up rather than relying on you, of course, but you've clearly already looked at it, so I'll pick your brain :-).

[vivdunstan]

DH book 5 follows on from DH book 4 re Diana and Matthew and their young twins. I think DH 5 sees Diana investigate the Proctor side of her family, and explore dark magic. I don't think it's going to be so much romance at all.

To be honest the blurbs/synopsis for DH 4 were very misleading. It's not really romance at all. Nowhere near as much as the trilogy before. There are 3 parallel storylines in DH 4: (1) Diana, Matthew and the young twins - more of a framing narrative; (2) Phoebe becoming a vampire with help from Matthew's sister and others - Marcus is barely in this at all; and (3) exploring the past history of Marcus, his life before he was a vampire, how he was sired, and his later life including in Paris and New Orleans. I found that 3rd one most interesting. It's a real history lesson, especially about American War of Independence history. Some readers even read each of the storylines separately, marking up their books with loads of coloured postit notes! They are not very interlinked.

[a_cubed]

That's definitely a marketing failure. The blurb and descriptions suggest it's all about Marcus/Phoebe. Thanks for the explanation of the previous book as well as this new one. I'll consider adding them to the to-read pile now.