Amazon
Barnes & Noble
Goodreads
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.
AmazonBarnes & NobleGoodreads
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. :)
AmazonBarnes & NobleGoodreads
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)
AmazonBarnes & NobleGoodreads
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.
Amazon
Barnes & Noble
Goodreads
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.
AmazonBarnes & NobleGoodreads
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.
Amazon
Barnes & Noble
Goodreads
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.
Amazon
Barnes & Noble
Goodreads
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.
