Current Obsession Wednesday: A Discovery of Witches (Book)

I was raised on Buffy and Charmed. In middle school, I read Sweep, Twilight, and The Dark Hunters. While my friends in elementary school were crushing on Aaron Carter I was obsessed with Spike. Give me witches and vampires and I am there. So a book that does both very well was destined to be my current obsession.  

Diana Bishop, descended from John Proctor and Bridget Bishop (people accused in the Salem witch trials), is a historian of science. Despite coming from a very long and powerful line of witches she refuses to use any of her magic, instead dedicating her life to researching alchemy. That is until she finds a bewitched manuscript that only opens at her touch. Soon all kinds of being are following her around trying to discover the secrets that she holds.  

The thing that I loved about this book, and hopefully the rest of the series (I'm still reading it) is that Diana isn't a moron. When vampires, daemons, and rival witches start fallowing her around she isn't like "What on earth is happening, who are these strange figures" she's more like "Hey jerk-wads stop filling up the Bodleian (the library where she does research)." She does of course fall in love with a mysterious, emotionally damaged, and overly protective vampire, Matthew Clairmont. But isn't that what we all want from a good book?

I love this book because it has so much of what I want from a good story. First and most importantly the author built a believable world. When she talks about Oxford and the various colleges, or wine, or anything in history I just find myself marveling at how much research she must have done to have these details that are important to building characters and worlds. Second, history is a huge thing in these books. The main character is a historian and her love interest is roughly 1,500 years old. That brings me to my third point. As a person who loves Buffy and Dark Hunters, I don't want any of this bullshit about a vampire being 107 years old (I'm looking at you, Edward). If you are old enough to still be alive as a human you are not old enough for me (as a vampire). And Finally, I love the witchcraft and the Bishop family. A matriarchal family that is in tune with nature and each other, using energy work, and doing yoga. Also, the head of the family is a lesbian in a committed healthy and widely accepted relationship. I don't know what there is not to love.