Category: Gen Lit

I am JUST NOW getting around to blogging about the last book in the Outlander series, An Echo in the Bone by Diana Gabaldon. I completed the book on the way back from Aruba….surprisingly, I didn’t read much while I was on vacation. I was SURE that I would finish at least two books while there….I was lucky to finish the one we were so busy!

Then when we came back from vacation I was busy blogging about our trip so it’s taken me a few days to muster the energy to blog about AEITB :). But at any rate here you have it….I have finished the last book in the series and the Outlander Reading Challenge that I have been hosting.

When I started the Outlander Reading Challenge, I was sure it would take me the better part of a year to finish the series and then as I got into it I know that would not be the case….I KNEW I would finish them in relatively rapid succession.

Though after the first four books I felt like I needed a mental break from the emotional roller-coaster I couldn’t WAIT to know what happened next so I just pushed through the emotions and kept reading. I am so glad I did because the books just kept getting better and better but then again I was sad that I read them all back to back because now I have nothing to look forward to…..except the next book which I hear won’t be out until 2012 or 2013…..I don’t know what I am going to do between now and then. Continue reading “Review: An Echo in the Bone (Outlander #7) by Diana Gabaldon” →

Lots of things have happened over the last few weeks since I finished The Fiery Cross but I have now I finally finished Book VI in the Outlander Series, A Breath of Snow and Ashes by Diana Gabaldon!

I have to say, I am completely agog at how much happens in one single book!

I swear I have been reading the Outlander Series for about six or seven weeks now and everything seems to be running together.

I feel like all of the characters have come so far and changed so much since the first book, which I suppose is the concept of this really really really long story. I read somewhere Gabaldon plans at least two more novels….all I can say is WOW, she’s ambitious!

I am glad I bought The Outlandish Companion….I think I’m going to need it to keep everyone and all the sub-plots/characters straight!

ABOSAA picks up where the others left off (obviously) Brianna has finally adjusted to life in the 1700’s (more of less….) and life with Roger. Roger has found his calling–ministry which I found awfully ironic but rather fitting. Ian has returned form the Indians but he struggles to readjust to his ‘old life’ as he is rather changed by his various life experiences.

The Revolutionary War has begun with Jamie joining in the fight for freedom with Claire at his side. Claire is (as per usual) trying to save everyone with her medical knowledge. Stephen Bonnet, gets his ‘come-uppins’–along with his ‘man parts’–ultimately meeting their demise! Claire experiences every married woman’s worst nightmare–a young ‘jezebel’ who claims Jamie has fathered her baby. After said woman is murdered in Claire’s garden, Claire is promptly arrested, along with Jamie.

Between the murder accusations and arrest, tension in the colonies heats up to white hot temperatures forcing friends and families to declare their loyalty. While the political lines are being drawn for the Fraser family and friends of Fraser Ridge, Brianna and Roger are busy exercising their marital freedoms and soon there is another Fraser/MacKenzie baby in the making! However when the new edition arrives, she is born with a heart defect. Since Claire cannot fix it, even with her ether, Brianna and Roger are met with an unpresidented decision—stay and let her die or go back through the stones–I so didn’t see that one coming!  Continue reading “Review: A Breath of Snow and Ashes (Outlander #6) by Diana Gabaldon” →

I feel like it’s been forever since I posted last and I suppose it has, two weeks almost!

The last couple of weeks have been so crazy though, it’s a wonder I haven’t gone completely off the deep end yet! So I admit, I have been dragging my feet a little finishing up the latest Outlander installment, The Fiery Cross by Diana Gabaldon for the Outlander Series Reading Challenge.

I have been entirely consumed by Outlander drama. One of the things I loved about FC was that Claire finally reflected on her time with Jamie and likened their relationship to sponge which just sucked her in–Claire I know EXACTLY how you feel LOL.

For the last six weeks or so I have been sucked into the world that is Outlander the soap opera and I’ll admit, maybe I should have taken a break between books IV and V as there was just so much going on and so many stories happening that I could have used the mental break to sort out and appreciate all that were going on.

But of course I couldn’t help my self and just kept reading right after Book IV. I did feel like FC went a little faster than the others in some ways and I liked that the story alternated between Claire’s, to Roger’s, to Jamie’s, and Brianna’s perspective/voices. I felt like I got a more broad sense of what was going on and it made me want to keep reading, especially when something happened and the character perspective changed–I wanted to hurry up and find out what happened! Overall through–break or not–the book was worth every chapter–as usual. Continue reading “Review: The Fiery Cross (Outlander #5) by Diana Gabaldon” →

This morning I finished the third installment of the Outlander Series, Voyager by Diana Gabaldon.

There is so much that happens in this book it is hard to know where to begin!  Reader be warned, if you haven’t read the  books up until now this post might contain spoilers. So if you don’t want to know what’s going on then stop reading now.

So let’s start with the basics….Voyager picks up where Dragonfly in Amber (Book II) leaves off, with the realization that Jamie is not dead and Claire left with a big question mark….what to do next?

Voyager is a little slow going at first as with any epic tale, the writer has a duty of sorts to remind the loyal readers where the proceeding book left off and Gabaldon does that by slowly catching up with the lives (20 years later) of Claire, Jamie, Frank, Rodger and Brianna, and Lord Grey.

Some people argue that Book II was the least appealing in the series while others say Book III was…I can’t decided, both of these books were a struggle for me in some ways and for different reasons, though I favored Voyager more than DIA. I liked how the lives of the characters kind of culminated together by half way through. I thought Gabaldon did a great job merging all the lives and stories together and did so fairly quickly all things considering.

Here is the summary from Shelfari: Continue reading “Review: Voyager (Outlander #3) by Diana Gabaldon” →