The Lost Book of the White (The Eldest Curses #2) by Cassandra Clare

 The Lost Book of the White (The Eldest Curses #2) by Cassandra Clare -- 400 pages

Life is good for Magnus Bane and Alec Lightwood. They’re living together in a fabulous loft, their warlock son, Max, has started learning to walk, and the streets of New York are peaceful and quiet—as peaceful and quiet as they ever are, anyway.

Until the night that two old acquaintances break into Magnus’s apartment and steal the powerful Book of the White. Now Magnus and Alec will have to drop everything to get it back. They need to follow the thieves to Shanghai, they need to call some backup to accompany them, and they need a babysitter.

Also, someone has stabbed Magnus with a strange magical weapon and the wound is glowing, so they have that to worry about too.

Fortunately, their backup consists of Clary, Jace, Isabelle, and newly minted Shadowhunter Simon. In Shanghai, they learn that a much darker threat awaits them. Magnus’s magic is growing unstable, and if they can’t stop the demons flooding into the city, they might have to follow them all the way back to the source—to the very realm of the dead. Can they stop the threat to the world? Will they make it back home before their kid completely wears out Alec’s mom? 

The Witch's Daughter by Paula Brackston; narrated by Marisa Calin, 305 p.

We meet Bess in 1628, running in terror from the witch hunters of Wessex. They do find a witch, and Bess watches as her mother swings from the Hanging Tree. The only person that can help Bess now is the warlock Gideon Masters. But does he have good intentions?

We follow Bess, now Elizabeth, to present-day England, where she has made a quiet life for herself. Will Tegan, a teenager that has taken a liking to Elizabeth, learn the ways of the witch? Will Gideon Masters, ever searching for "his Bess" find Elizabeth through the ages? 

Strange Brew edited by P.N. Elrod

Strange Brew edited by P.N. Elrod, 371 pages

Since these are all short stories, to say anything would give too much away. So I'm just giving my impression of each:

Seeing Eye by Patricia Briggs -- excellent story and unusual twist. Loved the most with a witch and werewolf as the main characters.

Last Call by Jim Butcher --  completely lost.

Death Warmed Over  by Rachel Caine-- a whole new look at "raising the dead."

Vegas Odds by Karen Chance - my second favorite story in the book. Well written with a shock a the beginning, middle and the end.

Hectate's Golden Eye by P.N. Elrod - There is more than meets the "eye" in this story. It's up to a vampire to figure it out.

Bacon by Charlaine Harris - the title had  me curious until the end. Then it made perfect (and hilarious) sense.

Signatures of the Dead by Faith Hunter - lulled me to sleep.

Ginger by Caitlin Kittredge -- if you haven't read her stories, this is apparently a novella of one and you'd be completely lost like I was.

Dark Sins by  Jenna Maclaine -- A vampire witch but then something more.