Mic Breaks Only discussion

I continued with the audio version of witchy Diana and vampy Matthew in Shadow of Night. We pop back and forth between following Diana and Matthew in 1590 England and following Matthew's mother Ysabeau and Diana's aunts in the present day. There is a fair amount of drama in both timelines.

Diana is still in search of a witch tutor since she kind of sucks at spells and harnessing magic. As if that wasn't enough to contend with she finds herself impregnated with Matthew's child. Her life basically becomes a game of Zobmondo. It is hard to decide what is more worrisome: having a child in the 1590's or trying to figure how to time travel back to the present day with Matthew and fetus in tow when you are not that good at magic. Don't forget that the real reason for traveling back in time was to locate that elusive book Ashmole 782 and there have been no substantial leads thus far.

Diana is introduced, with the help of noble Henry Percy, to a bad ass female alchemist - the Countess of Pembroke aka Mary Sidney. They become friends and their hang-out sessions are some of my favorite parts in this section of the book. Girl empowerment through fantastical science experiments? Yes, please.

The plot really takes an upturn in both complexity of the narrative and the number of characters that are introduced. There are villains: creepy vampire Father Andrew Hubbard who is bossy-pants of all of the vampires, witches, and daemons in London. There are children that Diana and Matthew add to their entourage: Jack the ragamuffin pickpocket and Annie a teenage witch. There are witchy tutors: Goody Alsop a spell weaver like Diana and all of Goody Alsop's coven. There are familiars: Diana's is a fire-drake, Goody's is a fetch.

The story gets a bit depressive when Diana has a miscarriage. Matthew goes off the deep end and engages in some questionable behavior during twilight hours. Our primary characters receive a much needed distraction when one of Matthew's friends finds credible intel about the location of Ashmole 782. After a somewhat tense interaction with Queen Elizabeth, our duo is off to Prague on a book hunt.

In Prague we meet predatory King of Bohemia Rudolf II who has eyes for Diana. There is some odd sexy-time between Diana and Matthew. Apparently vampires aren't fans of smelling other men on their mate and this results in some awkward supernatural exchanges. Rudolf FINALLY consents to allow Diana to see Ashmole 782 and they discover that the book is made from the DNA of vampires, witches, and daemons.

We close this section with Matthew stealing Ashmole 782 which has been damaged in the process. Matthew has concerns that the book could be used against supernatural creatures. We find that Diana is pregnant once more.

I violated a very old adage with the The Birdwoman's Palate. Something about the combination of the cover and the title of the book mistakenly led me to believe I would be reading about vegetarians and/or vegans eating their way through Indonesia (not that there is anything wrong with that). I actually quite like the artsy cover and kept contemplating starting it, but unfortunately this book lingered on my shelf lonely and unread for at least half a year. If I would have completed even a cursory investigation into what the book was actually about, I would have started it much sooner.

I was pleasantly surprised to find that the novel's star is an avian flu epidemiologist. We follow her investigative work travels which she uses as an opportunity to indulge in all kinds of amazing local cuisine. Her traveling companions include a coworker and two foodie friends. They make a hodge-podge troupe that are equal parts drama and comedy. There is witty repartee, bubbling tensions between long-time friends, and hook-ups on the down low after raucous shared meals. Laksmi Pamuntjak does an amazing job of describing the food eaten by our travelers along their journey, Pete Wells would be proud of her efforts.

My favorite part of this novel was the main character's internal journey. She went from having a fair amount of self-disdain and a crush on the wrong sort of guy to finding a real connection with someone she had previously overlooked as a love interest. She started making different decisions because ultimately the biggest change was finding self confidence, embracing being comfortable in her own skin, and learning how to live in the moment.