Reading Challenges
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Review: Voyager (Outlander #3) 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,…
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Review: Dragonfly in Amber (Outlander #2) by Diana Gabaldon
On Saturday I finished the second book in the Outlander Series, Dragonfly in Amber by Diana Gabaldon which is of course part of the Outlander Series Reading Challenge hosted by moi. As I mention earlier, with Book I, I could hardly put it down from the moment I picked it up and not much has changed between Book I and Book II. Book II picks up where Book I ended naturally, and follows the life of husband and wife, Claire and Jamie. For those of you who haven’t read the series, I will try to not ruin it for you but I make no promises so be warned this post…
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Review: Outlander (Outlander #1) by Diana Gabaldon
As soon as I started this book I should have known that I would never put it down again. My life has literally come to a stand still because of this book, it is that magical and spell binding! All I can think of is getting home from work so I could escape into the Highlands of Scotland every night. This book is the first in the Outlander series and part of the Outlander Series Reading Challenge hosted by yours truly. The book follows heroine Claire Beauchamp Randall Fraser who is a WII nurse living in the 1940’s with her husband Frank Randall. After returning from war, Claire and Frank…
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Review: Blameless (Parasol Protectorate #3) by Gail Carriger
Well everyone I am sad to say I just finished my last Alexia Tarabotti novel until July 2011. Blameless by Gail Carriger is the third book in the Parasol Protectorate series. I don’t know that I am going to be able to wait that long! I have become so enthralled with the series over the last week that I have managed to devour the entire series in a matter of eight days…that’s how you know a series is good, when you think of nothing else but getting home and reading that next book! I love all the characters in this series–Alexia is a kick. She is witty, smart, independent, and it…
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Review: Changeless (Parasol Protectorate #2) by Gail Carriger
I am happy to report that I am making good progress with the 2011 Steampunk Reading Challenge. I just completed the second book for the challenge last night and yes it was another sleepless night–well late anyway–I just couldn’t unwind! I finished reading Changeless by Gail Carriger, most of my time at my ‘day job’ was spent longing to go home and keep reading Changeless so I of course picked it up the minute I walked in the door. As I mentioned review of Soulless, I was hooked before you could say ‘Parasol Protectorate’! The first book was a great mixture of humor, supernaturalism, romance, and mystery. Besides the aesthetically pleasing cover, the…
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2011 Historic Fiction Challenge
Alright Dear Reader this is the LAST ‘mini’ reading challenge for me this year….as I said before there are just so many various challenges that have peaked my interest this year and I discovered without the convenient planning of my teachers at college I am sad to say I was at a loss as to what to read! So here we are, this is the Historic Fiction reading challenge hosted by Historical Tapestry. This challenge has a couple of different levels and I have decided on the “Out of My Comfort Zone: 2 books”. I think I can manage this with NO PROBLEM as most of the books I read…
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2011 Jewish Literature Challenge
In for a penny, in for a pound! In my random blog searching I managed to find another book challenge that perked my interest. Since one of my New Years resolutions was to broaden my literary horizons I thought about participating in some challenges which included books I would not normally pick up. The end result….millions of books to read for 2011 LOL. I hesitate to commit myself to the larger book lists as the goal for many of these challenges is just to get outside my ‘comfort zone’ which is what I have done! For instance, I picked one book for the Haruki Murakami reading challenge and so I…
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Review: Soulless (Parasol Protectorate #1) by Gail Carriger
I am pleased to say that I have finished my first book for one of my reading challenges and the first day of 2011 is barely over! The 2011 Steampunk Reading Challenge hosted by Bookish Ardour kicked off 1/1/11 and I started reading Soulless by Gail Carriger in the wee hours of 2011 simply because I was not tired and thought there is no time like the present when it comes to New Years resolutions! The 2011 Steampunk Challenge intrigued me because of course I am a huge fan of all things Victorian and Gothic but had never really gotten into the other sub-genres such as Steampunk. For those of you who don’t…
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Review: Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell
I went out on a high note when I finished my last book of 2010 last night and so I now write my last book review of 2010. The timeless novel Gone with the Wind was written by Margret Mitchell in 1936 and won the Pulitzer Prize for the novel in 1937. In 1939 the epic romantic was made into a film, one of the first in color if I recall. GWTW maintains its appeal even in today’s society, at my ‘day job’ one of the history teachers shows this film to her class when they are done studying the period and the kids are all TOTALLY into and don’t talk…
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2011 Steampunk Reading Challenge
Another book category which is slowly growing on me is the Steampunk reading genre. Steampunk is a genre similar to my Victorian/Gothic favorites but with an emphasis on machinery and steam driving technology. Popular at the turn of the century this literary device has developed into a whole sub-culture. There are people who have Steampunk meet up groups and there are all kinds of Steampunk fashion lines among many other things. I personally am not all into the fashion part of it, but I love the books. I would love to be able to wear all the Victorian clothing and jewerly and do all that other fun stuff that these…