A Discovery of Witches, by Deborah Harkness

Wow. While not the best amalgam of history, fantasy, and romantic suspense, it's a pretty good story. We have a powerful witch who refuses to use her power, preferring to blend in with the human world, but that all ends when she 'draws' a coveted manuscript to her by accident. We have a powerful vampire who at first only wants the manuscript, then wants the witch herself. We have daemons--they are the eccentrics of the world, the savants.

And this is only the first book in a series. Wish I'd've known that when I picked it up.

An Instance of the Fingerpost, by Iain Pears

This took me almost three months to finish. Sounds like a book I'd normally give up on, doesn't it? But I forged on and I'm glad I did--it's a great historical novel set in the years between the Restoration and the Great Fire primarily in London. Many historical personages are in this book; in fact, most of the 'characters' were real people. The story is told four times, from four different vantage points, and until the last version none of the narrators is very likeable.

Great book. I will be looking for a copy of this to own so that I can reread it. By the end, it's impossible to resist flipping back through the other 'versions' to see what other people saw going on.