Tuesday, September 25, 2012

Drums of Autumn (Outlander #4), by Diana Gabaldon



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It began at an ancient Scottish stone circle. There, a doorway, open to a select few, leads into the past--or the grave. Dr. Claire Randall survived the extraordinary passage, not once but twice. Her first trip swept her into the arms of Jamie Fraser, an eighteenth-century Scot whose love for her became a legend--a tale of tragic passion that ended with her return to the present to bear his child. Her second journey, two decades later, brought them together again in the American colonies. But Claire had left someone behind in the twentieth century. Their daughter, Brianna...

Now Brianna has made a disturbing discovery that sends her to the circle of stones and terrifying leap into the unknown. In search of her mother and father she has never met, she is risking her own future to try to change history...and to save their lives. But as Brianna plunges into an uncharted wilderness, a heartbreaking encounter may strand her forever in the past...or root her in the place she should be, where her heart and soul belong...




An excellent next book in the Outlander series. I love Jamie & Claire; Gabaldon writes them with such witty repartee that it's hard not to see them as people I would love to hang out with, flaws and all.

Speaking of flaws... I couldn't give this book five stars for one reason: Roger. 


Spoilers after the jump.

Mrs. Webster's Dictionary, by Lisa Cofield



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Mrs. Webster has broken her silence and updated her husband's dictionary. This best-seller now gives women the final word.


Very cute book. I found it at the beach house we're renting and the extended family thought it was pretty funny. I usually roll my eyes at books like this, but I quite enjoyed this one. :)

Friday, September 21, 2012

How to Save a Life, by Sara Zarr



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Jill MacSweeney just wishes everything could go back to normal. But ever since her dad died, she’s been isolating herself from her boyfriend, her best friends—everyone who wants to support her. And when her mom decides to adopt a baby, it feels like she’s somehow trying to replace a lost family member with a new one.

Mandy Kalinowski understands what it’s like to grow up unwanted—to be raised by a mother who never intended to have a child. So when Mandy becomes pregnant, one thing she’s sure of is that she wants a better life for her baby. It’s harder to be sure of herself. Will she ever find someone to care for her, too?

As their worlds change around them, Jill and Mandy must learn to both let go and hold on, and that nothing is as easy—or as difficult—as it seems.



I love this book. The characters are so real and conflicted. They do shitty things to themselves and to others. But when things start coming together, it's beautiful. They grow up: not in age, but in character. I was sobbing with a huge smile on my face near the very end.

Highly recommended!


4.5 stars. I would have rounded it up to 5 if it hadn't been for the fact that...

(Spoilers after the jump)

Saturday, September 15, 2012

The Astonishing Adventures of Fanboy and Goth Girl (The Astonishing Adventures of Fanboy and Goth Girl #1), by Barry Lyga



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Fanboy has never had it good, but lately his sophomore year is turning out to be its own special hell. The bullies have made him their favorite target, his best (and only) friend seems headed for the dark side (sports and popularity), and his pregnant mother and the step-fascist are eagerly awaiting the birth of the alien life form known as Fanboy’s new little brother or sister.

Fanboy, though, has a secret: a graphic novel he’s been working on without telling anyone, a graphic novel that he is convinced will lead to publication, fame, and—most important of all—a way out of the crappy little town he lives in and all the people that make it hell for him.

When Fanboy meets Kyra, a.k.a. Goth Girl, he finds an outrageous, cynical girl who shares his love of comics as well as his hatred for jocks and bullies. Fanboy can’t resist someone who actually seems to understand him, and soon he finds himself willing to heed her advice—to ignore or crush anyone who stands in his way.



4.5 stars.

I started this book thinking that it would be a light read, but I didn't think that it would "wow" me. Boy, was I wrong!

I really connected with Fanboy, and I loved seeing him grow and mature. I felt his emotions as though they were my own: heartbreak; self-hate; amusement; arousal. I giggled like a teenager every time he spoke of an erection.

If you liked The Perks of Being a Wallflower, you'll like this book, too.

I'm looking forward to reading the sequel, Goth Girl Rising.

Thursday, September 13, 2012

Lord John and the Hellfire Club (Lord John Grey 0.5), by Diana Gabaldon



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Outlander character Lord John Grey finds himself in 19th-century London investigating the death of a red-haired man. Soon he is mixed up in the affairs of Sir Francis Dashwood and his notorious Hellfire Club.


Decent short story. I'm too wrapped up in Jamie and Claire to really think about another character right now; I'm putting the Lord John Grey series aside until I finish the Outlander series.

Tuesday, September 11, 2012

Love Is the Higher Law, by David Levithan



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The lives of three teens—Claire, Jasper, and Peter—are altered forever on September 11, 2001. Claire, a high school junior, has to get to her younger brother in his classroom. Jasper, a college sophomore from Brooklyn, wakes to his parents’ frantic calls from Korea, wondering if he’s okay. Peter, a classmate of Claire’s, has to make his way back to school as everything happens around him.

Here are three teens whose intertwining lives are reshaped by this catastrophic event. As each gets to know the other, their moments become wound around each other’s in a way that leads to new understandings, new friendships, and new levels of awareness for the world around them and the people close by.

David Levithan has written a novel of loss and grief, but also one of hope and redemption as his characters slowly learn to move forward in their lives, despite being changed forever.


 
I read this book with my book club in honor of the anniversary of the September 11th attacks.  Like the rest of the world, I remember exactly what I was doing when the first plane hit; then the second; the crash into the Pentagon, two miles from where I worked; and the final plane exploding in a field in Pennsylvania.

I can't even begin to imagine how events played out near the Twin Towers.  No matter how many news reports I see, or articles I read, I will never know just how awful and devastating things were in New York City.  And that's okay.  It's a painful subject and not an event that people need to relive over and over.

Powerful though this book was, I kept my distance from the characters because I didn't want to remember the absolute horror of that day. 

Sunday, September 9, 2012

Voyager (Outlander #3), by Diana Gabaldon



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Their passionate encounter happened long ago by whatever measurement Claire Randall took. Two decades before, she had traveled back in time and into the arms of a gallant eighteenth-century Scot named Jamie Fraser. Then she returned to her own century to bear his child, believing him dead in the tragic battle of Culloden. Yet his memory has never lessened its hold on her... and her body still cries out for him in her dreams.

Then Claire discovers that Jamie survived. Torn between returning to him and staying with their daughter in her own era, Claire must choose her destiny. And as time and space come full circle, she must find the courage to face the passion and pain awaiting her...the deadly intrigues raging in a divided Scotland... and the daring voyage into the dark unknown that can reunite—or forever doom—her timeless love.


I must have read this one too quickly because I had all sorts of "wait, what just happened?" moments. I was so keyed up and wanted to know exactly what happened next that I didn't let everything sink in. Big mistake. I'll need to do a re-read of this book at some point. Assuming I ever get through my TBR list, of course!

I do need to take a break before delving into Drums of Autumn. I love the world that Gabaldon has created, but I need to read something short before I read another of her tomes.

Monday, September 3, 2012

Dragonfly in Amber (Outlander #2), by Diana Gabaldon



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For twenty years Claire Randall has kept her secrets. But now she is returning with her grown daughter to Scotland’s majestic mist-shrouded hills. Here Claire plans to reveal a truth as stunning as the events that gave it birth: about the mystery of an ancient circle of standing stones ... about a love that transcends the boundaries of time ... and about James Fraser, a Scottish warrior whose gallantry once drew a young Claire from the security of her century to the dangers of his....

Now a legacy of blood and desire will test her beautiful copper-haired daughter, Brianna, as Claire’s spellbinding journey of self-discovery continues in the intrigue-ridden Paris court of Charles Stuart ... in a race to thwart a doomed Highlands uprising ... and in a desperate fight to save both the child and the man she loves....



Oh my holy hell.

I hated how this book started. As soon as I finished Outlander, I opened the next in the series. Imagine my surprise when I learned that Claire was back in the present time and no longer with Jamie. WTF, Diana Gabaldon?!?!?

I'm a bit irked at the heartfail this caused; Pepcid, however, received a great boost in sales. And my kids learned some new words.

Thankfully, I have book #3 ready to go on my Kindle. I NEED to know where the story goes from here.