Tag Archives: Heather Fawcett

Find Sanctuary in these Fabulous Fantasies: Agnes Aubert’s Mystical Cat Shelter and The Astral Library

17 Feb

Agnes Aubert’s Mystical Cat Shelter
by Heather Fawcett
Fan’s of Heather Fawcett’s Emily Wilde Series are in for a treat in her newest cozy fantasy, Agnes Aubert’s Mystical Cat Shelter. The novel is set in a fantastic Montreal during the 1920’s, where wizards are real and cause havoc with their constant dueling. Agnes’s cat shelter has been partially destroyed by one of these duels, leading to her needing to find a new home for the many furry guests. The growing cold of Winter creates an ever pressing need to find homes for them. When a refusal comes with a warning about another location, Agnes finds herself with a mysterious new landlord, who brings her into the world of magic. Agnes and the romantic interest for the story have a similar dynamic as Emily and Bambleby, but there is added depth in that Agnes is a widow who lost her husband suddenly. Also unlike Emily, Agnes has a sister and assistant who help her with her cats and have her back. This novel satisfies as a stand-alone but leaves open avenues for exploration of more of the charming world. If you are a cat fan, like me, you’ll will especially enjoy the story, there are many adorable felines to fall in love with. Fawcett is definitely becoming one of my favorite authors!

The Astral Library
by Kate Quinn
Another Fantasy that I loved was Kate Quinn’s The Astral Library. Quinn has written a number of popular and bestselling historical novels, but this is her first (and hopefully not last) foray into fantasy. As a child Alix Watson bounced from foster home to foster home after being abandoned by her mother and now that she is an adult, she is still struggling with three low paying jobs in an attempt to keep a roof over her head. When she stumbles into the magical Astral Library, a sanctuary amongst the worlds found in books, she feels blessed to have finally been chosen. But when forces attempt to destroy the library, Alix will travel across works of great literature, art and even through video games in order to save her new sanctuary. Fantasy fans will love the creative adventure and magical setting, historic fiction fans will love the historic details especially fashion related ones, romance fans will enjoy the sweet romance that unfolds, and readers of all types will delight in the many literary Easter eggs that Quinn has hidden throughout the work. This was a page turner that is perfect to curl up with on the snowy days that we’ve been having this winter.

Written by:
Aimee Harris
Information and Digital Services Manager

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Valentine’s Day Picks: Emily Wilde’s Compendium of Lost Tales and Dead Until Dark

12 Feb

With Valentine’s Day right around the corner, here are two romantasies, one a classic and another brand new that I recommend checking out.

Emily Wilde’s Compendium of Lost Tales
by Heather Fawcett
Emily Wilde’s Compendium of Lost Tales is the third and supposedly final in Heather Fawcett’s series about a scholar studying fairies who becomes mixed up in their magic. The books are written as if fairies are a real scholarly subject and Emily is studying them as one would another culture; footnotes to various fairy stories are even included throughout to add to the seeming reality of the stories. However, fairies can be capricious and dangerous. In this novel Emily has the possibility of becoming the queen of a fairy realm if she marries its heir. She has some hesitation though that despite Wendell’s devotion that fairies have been known to tire of their mortal loves. The couple must also overcome a curse put upon the land by Wendell’s half fairy/half human step mother. Fawcett does a great job at creating a strange world that is both beautiful and yet spooky at the same time such as trees that have leaves with eyes and kind brownies with needles for fingers. Beauty can be monstrous and monsters can be kind in the story which also speaks to being aware of ones expectations and prejudices. You can also read my two previous reviews of Fawcett’s books. We are reading the first in the series for this month’s Science Fiction and Fantasy Book Club, if you would like to join us on February 24 at 6 PM at the Main Branch.

Dead Until Dark
by Charlaine Harris
It had been awhile since I had read the first in the Sookie Stackhouse series or watched the HBO show True Blood that it was based upon so I enjoyed rereading it along with the Science Fiction and Fantasy book club last October. This series starts with vampires being revealed to be real after Japanese scientist find a blood alternative that they can survive on. Slowly over the course of the series other supernatural creatures including weretigers, shifters, and fairies also are revealed. We know from the beginning that Sookie is special with her ability to read human’s minds and her irresistible scent when it comes to vampires. Much like with the fairies, vampires are both alluring and yet highly dangerous to people. Sookie struggles in this story to decide if Bill’s charm and the sense of peace she gets from not constantly having his thoughts enter her mind is enough to overlook the more deadly side. Craving more?; you can also read the review of the last book in the series, Dead Ever After, that I had written when it came out as well as a review of the True Blood Cookbook.

Love is in the air! According to the National Retail Federation’s survey those celebrating Valentine’s Day are up from last year with over half those in the US celebrating. Need to get statistics? Access Statista.com while in the library to get statistics and graphs on a variety of topics.

Share your favorite Valentine’s Day Read in our Comments!

Written by:
Aimee Harris
Information and Digital Services Manager

Tags: ,

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