BTT: The Best and the Worst

I didn't do last week's BTT, so I'm going to combine both last week's and this week's into one since they are so closely related.

8/13/09: What’s the worst book you’ve read recently? (I figure it’s easier than asking your all-time worst, because, well, it’s recent!)

This would probably have to be The Mist by Stephen King. It was cheesy and kind of dumb and really, just like any other lame "monsters are taking over the world!" story. It was way too predictable, the characters were the same ones that you expect in any story like this (the hero, the nonbeliever, the child, the "I told you so!" person...), and the ending didn't give any resolution. Not Mr. King's best and even the prospect of seeing Mark Wahlberg makes me want to see the movie.

8/20/09: What’s the best book you’ve read recently? (Tell me you didn’t see this one coming?)

Now this question is TOUGH. I feel like I've read a ton of really great books lately! Although, a lot of them are a part of a series. I finished the Jessica Darling series recently and that was witty and hilarious, especially the fifth book. And, I also just recently finished the fourth book in the Outlander series, Drums of Autumn which, of course, was wonderful. The only non-series book that sticks out to me lately would be Without You: a memoir of love, loss and the musical RENT by Anthony Rapp. That book just really struck my heartstrings, it was so well excuted. I know that that might by an odd way to describe a book, but the use of the lines and lyrics from Rent in relation to the different points in his life really made the book stick out to me.

What about you? What are your recent bests and worsts??

Review: Drums of Autumn

Drums of Autumn

by Diana Gabaldon

880 pages

4th book in the Outlander series

First off, if you haven't read this series yet then read my initial review of the first book in this series, Outlander, and then GO READ IT. NOW! I really can't say enough good things about these books. They are action packed and romantic and funny...I just really enjoy them (and they are LONG so at least you know that the fun will last for a while!).

In DoA, Jamie (*drool*) and Claire are in the 1770's, living in the colonies. Jamie gets a land grant and begins building the Fraser's Ridge community. Claire is with him, of course, and spending her time healing, mid-wifing, ect. Meanwhile, back in USA circa 1970's, Claire and Jamie's daughter is developing a plan to head back to the stones in Iverness to meet her real dad. Roger (the Scotsman who helped Claire find Jamie again) figures this out after the fact and goes after her. They both cross the ocean from Scotland to the colonies (separately), Roger finds her, they separate again, HUGE mistakes are made and a LOT of drama ensues. And it's all very exciting and I could sit here and tell you all about it, but really, you should just go read it.

9 out of 10 stars. I just love me some James Alexander Malcolm Mackenzie Fraser. Oh, and reading about the interaction between Jamie and Brianna just warms my heart (or makes me crack up laughing!)

Bad Blogger Reading Recap

Hey! I'm alive!!! I haven't posted reviews in SO long and have been a bad, bad book blogger, but I hope to get back on track this week with these two catch-up reviews today, a catch-up Musing Mondays in a few minutes, and another review (and giveaway!) later this week! So, watch out for that, since it's my first. :) ooooh, I'm a giveaway virgin! Anyways, on to the reviewin'.




A Wrinkle in Time
by Madeleine L'Engle
203 pages
Juvenile Fiction

I first read this book when I was in 6th grade and I HATED it. Ugh, I can still remember the angst of having to talk about this book and right a report on it when I just loathed it. I don't remember what I was interested in reading at that time in my life, but this book definitely wasn't it. So, when the challenge category of reading a book with The Nest Book Club and participate in the monthly discussion came up, and this was the chosen April book, I for some reason decided that it would be a good idea to read it again because there's a chance that I was just an angst-filled 6th grader who didn't see the wonderful qualities in this book...but then again, it really could just not be my cup of tea.

Unfortunately, it ended up being the latter. I guess that I didn't really hate it as much as my 6th grade self did, but I definitely didn't enjoy it. And, if I would have remembered the ending more clearly, I probably wouldn't have finished it this time around. But, I stuck with it, and was still pretty unimpressed.

The story begins with Meg, a typical, awkward 14 year old girl whose parents are scientists and little brother is "weird" but really is some ahead-of-our-time genius. Meg does poorly in school, even though she's really quite bright, and basically complains a lot about how she's a misfit, awkward, etc. Meg's father has been gone for a few years now doing some top-secret science thing and Meg complains about missing him a lot too. One night, her little brother meets a weird lady named Mrs. Whatsit, and her friends Mrs. Who and Mrs. Which. The three Mrs. tesser (AKA travel through physical space very quickly) Meg and her brother to another planet which is being overrun with evil (a dark cloud around the planet) to find and save her father. Evil-ness occurs, Meg whines, Father is saved, and everyone arrives back at home without making a very big impact on the huge evil.

The one good part about reading this as an adult would be that now I know why I don't care for it. First, I just wasn't interested in Meg figuring things out and defeating evil. I was annoyed by her character's seemingly constant whining and complaining about things that she could change if she just put a little work and effort into it. The other thing that kind of bothered me was that this was a very sci-fi themed book with references to mind reading and control, time and space warping, and rearranging particles yet there were several references to God not just by the Earth people, but by the creatures from other planets. To me, this just didn't really fit because it was basically insinuating that everyone has the same God, when even solely here on Earth, that isn't necessarily the case. The religious God references just didn't quite seem to fit into the theme of the book, in my opinion. I would read a line mentioning religion or God and just think to myself, "huh, that seemed a little out of left field..."

So, I have to give A Wrinkle in Time redo a 4 out of 10. I didn't like it (again) but I'm pretty sure that my sixth grade self would have given it a 0 or 1, so it's a slight improvement over that. I just hope that my someday children won't have to read it...there's definitely better things out there.







Voyager
Book 3 of the Outlander Series
by Diana Gabaldon
870 pages



Ahhhhh, now THIS is more like it!!! After dragging myself through A Wrinkle in Time, a bit of time with Claire and Jamie was JUST what I needed. Voyager picks up where Dragonfly In Amber leaves off. Claire is in Scotland with her daughter, Brianna, and has just discovered that Jamie did not die in the battle at Culloden. She decides that she will find where he ended up with the help of Bree and Roger, and may be able to return to him. The first part of the book alternates between Claire talking about their research to find Jamie's whereabouts after the battle and Jamie actually getting away from the battle alive and what all he is going through. I loved this part because I just ACHED for the both of them. I mean, Jamie knew that Claire was gone and really, he wanted to die at that battle, he really was planning on dying! So they are both just going through life knowing that they will never see their true love again. So. Sad.

Anyways, Claire finally finds where Jamie is at approximately 1768 (since the rocks took her back almost 200 years exactly) and decides to go and find him. I stayed up until well past my bedtime reading this section because I just had to see them reunited!!! And, I almost squee'd out loud when Claire walked into his printing shop and he FAINTED at the sight of her (and I would have squee'd had my husband not been next to me sleeping). Ah, true love! Reunited! And it feels SO good! but of course, the good cannot last because Jamie is always into something not-quite-legal...and this causes Claire to accept Jamie as the man he is now, for the sake of the man she once knew and they embark on a crazy adventure from Scotland all the way to West Indies.

Throughout it all there's love, passion, adventure, and a bit of humor and I just can't get enough! 10 out of 10 stars. Better than Dragonfly in Amber by a smidgen since the newlywed type passion was back.

BTT: Book into movie?

This week's Booking Through Thursday question is:

What book do you think should be made into a movie? And do you have any suggestions for the producers?

Or, What book do you think should NEVER be made into a movie?

The book that I really think should be made into a movie is Outlander. Throughout the whole thing I was sitting there going "Oh my gosh! This would be SUCH a good movie!" And, it turns out that they are making it into a movie!! I think that it's going to be great (hopefully). The Thirteenth Tale could make a good movie too, as long as it was done well. Although, all the people who had read the book would know the surprise ending. Middlesex might be good as a movie also. But, it'd be tough to do a smooth transition from the present time to the flashbacks of family history.

Of books I've read this year, The White Tiger should definitely NEVER be made into a movie. The letter format that it's written in is part of what makes the book so good, and that just couldn't be transferred to the big screen. Oh, and the book that was made into a movie that shouldn't have would be Love in the Time of Cholera. I thought that that was a really great book with a great message about love and fate, but all the internal dialog in the book was lost when it was made into a movie and it turned out just boring and awful.

I love watching movies that are based on books in general, even though the book is almost always better, if for nothing else than to just see how someone else imagined it.

Book Review: Dragonfly in Amber

Dragonfly In Amber (Book 2 of Outlander Series)

by Diana Gabaldon

747 pages

Wow oh wow. I love this series. LOVE it. (see Outlander review here) Alright, here's the jist of this one:

At the beginning of the book, Claire is in 1968 and has lived in her correct time for 20 years, none of those years being in Scotland. Frank has died. She has a daughter, the spitting image of Jamie, with whom she finally returns to Scotland with to reveal her true, yet bizarre, time travel story. Of course her daughter doesn't believe her and is all upset and angst-y. So *flashback* while Claire tells the story of how she came to be back in present time, pregnant with Jamie's child.

Claire is back in 1744 and is married to Jamie. Jamie has survived some serious injuries (thanks to Claire) and they've now decided that they must try to stop the Rising of '45 (with Bonnie Prince Charlie and all that) and the battle of Culloden from happening. So, they head on over to France, Jamie takes over his cousin's merchant business while he's away, and they make nice with members of High Society. Jamie makes friends with Prince Charlie to become closer to him and hires a boy, affectionately renamed Fergus, to pickpocket letters to Prince Charlie and other influential people from mail carriers. Through the pick-pocketed letters and their correspondences with people, Claire and Jamie think that they've prevented Prince Charlie from coming to Scotland and initiating the Rising. While all this is happening, Claire is pregnant and a very bad person from the first book comes back into their lives.

Through a series of unfortunate events, Claire loses the baby and Jamie is put into prison (again). Claire manages to get him out but they must go back to Scotland, not really knowing if they'd accomplished their task or not. Once back in Scotland, life at Lallybroch goes on quite nicely for a while until a letter is received saying that Prince Charlie is coming over to Scotland to take over the thrown and it is signed by several clan leaders, including Jamie. Outraged by the Prince forging his signature, Jamie really has no choice but to join in the battle and back the Prince and help him win. Once again, Jamie and Claire are thrown back into a life of traveling, outlaw, battles, and injuries.

In the end, the Battle of Culloden is inevitable but Jamie knows that if he's going to die, then Claire must go back through the stones so she will be safe. Also, they discover that she is pregnant again. Yet another reason for her to go back. Their goodbye is heart wrenching, especially when Jamie tells her that he knows that she has the worse end of the bargain since he will go on to the battle and die, yet she will be the one living with her heart broken. Oh, this definitely brought on my tears! Finally, Claire goes back through the stones. Frank is still there, after three years of her being missing, and continues to be with her even after discovering that she's pregnant.

Come back to current time (1968) and Claire is finishing her story to her daughter, Brianna, and a historian, Roger. Roger believes her and has been helping her find out what happened to the Lallybroch men after Culloden. Claire has been sure this whole time that Jamie died at Culloden but Roger discovers a piece of text indicating otherwise. Pseudo-spoiler alert! (or maybe not since there are several more books in this series...) Jamie didn't die. Somewhere back in the 18th century, he is still alive. Will Claire risk going back again to find Jamie?!?! Duh duhn duhnnnnnnn....

9.5 out of 10 stars. Outlander was slightly better because this one did have some slow parts. Still, it took all of my willpower not to pick up Voyager (the next in the series) when I returned this one to the library. I have to read other books for the WBC!!

Tuesday Teaser: Dragonfly In Amber

As always, sponsored by MizB.

TEASER TUESDAYS asks you to:

• Grab your current read.
• let the book fall open to a random page.
• Share with us two (2) “teaser” sentences from that page, somewhere between lines 7 and 12.
• You also need to share the title of the book that you’re getting your “teaser” from … that way people can have some great book recommendations if they like the teaser you’ve given!
• Please avoid spoilers!

My teaser:

"I suppose we could go to Rome, or to Germany," I suggested, tentatively. I wanted nothing more than to go home to Lallybroch, and heal in the quiet peace of the Scottish Highlands. My heart sank at the thought of royal courts and intrigue, the constant press of danger and insecurity. But if Jamie felt we must...

~Dragonfly in Amber by Diana Gabaldon (Outlander Series #2) pg. 405

Not really a teaser for me since I've already read this part (I'm only 60 pages or so away from finishing this book...review coming tomorrow) but, it's a good one! I'm definitely loving this series. Although, I think that I will take a break from it for a bit after this one to read other things for the WBC.

I made a wordle with my blog :)



Pretty sweet huh? You can make one too at www.wordle.net

I like that mine proudly features Jamie and Claire from Outlander!

Review: Outlander!

Outlander (1st in series)

by Diana Gabaldon

627 pages

The ladies on The Nest Book Club board have been RAVING about this book since I've been frequenting over there (and I'm sure longer than that). The WBC was definitely a good excuse to finally read it! And wow, I'm just so in love with this book, I can hardly stand it. (although I'm not so in love with the romance-ish cover art that my library copy had...)

The story begins in Iverness, Scotland in 1945. Claire and her husband, Frank Randall, are on a second honeymoon to revitalize their marriage since the were separated for most of the war. Frank, a historian, was some sort of officer for the British military and Claire was a military nurse. One day, Claire discovers a stone henge and upon walking through the stones, she is transported back some 200 years to Scotland circa 1743.

Claire doesn't know where (or when) she is at first and is discovered first by Jonathan "Black Jack" Randall, her husband's 6-times great grandfather. Turns out, he's really not so grand and actually a big perv. Then a band of Scottish thieves kidnap Claire and take her to a cottage where she first meets Jamie Fraser. She mends his dislocated shoulder (much to the shock of the Scots, I mean who IS this crazily dressed, odd Englishwoman!?) and they take her with them to the castle of their clan's Laird (er, Lord? in English...).

Well, Jack Randall is definitely NOT done with Claire, and it turns out that he has a wanting for Jamie (an outlaw with a price on his head) as well. This unfortunate series of events leads to Claire having to marry Jamie so she's safe from the English (since now she's a Scot). Anyways, things aren't really "happily ever after" for the Fraser's and Claire is almost persecuted as a witch and Jamie almost gets hanged and it's kind of a big mess. But a wonderful mess that made me want to hug them and cry for them, then hug them some more!! And Jamie, oh Jamie...I love this character. He's strong and brave, and handsome and loving and funny, yet pig-headed and stubborn. And did I mention handsome? and strong?? ummm yea, he's just an amazing character. While reading this, and after finishing it, I would find myself just daydreaming about Jamie and Claire. I loved them so much that I just didn't want to stop having them around yet. Which is probably why I've found a way to fit the next book in the series, Dragonfly In Amber, into my WBC even if it is reading a 700+ page book for only 5 points!

Now the question of the day, if I had my choice of literary crushes, who would I choose? Jamie or Edward (from Twilight)?? Hmmm...I think that Edward may eek this one out by just a smidgen only because Jamie seems to ALWAYS be getting gravely injured and it tears my heart out to read about that!

Rating: 10 out of 10! Go read this NOW! it's amazing and full of love, history, humor, action...it just has it all!!!

Outlander Teaser!!!

It's Teaser Tuesdays, so you know what that means!

• Grab your current read.
• Let the book fall open to a random page.
  
• Share with us two (2) “teaser” sentences from that page, somewhere between lines 7 and 12.
• You also need to share the title of the book that you’re getting your “teaser” from … that way people can have some great book recommendations if they like the teaser you’ve given!
• Please avoid spoilers!

Hearing her name spoken in that casual Highland lilt-"L'heer"-suddenly made me irrationally angry. "Oh, so you have been with her!" I snapped.

From Outlander by Diana Gabaldon (Hardcover), p. 313, lines 7-9. This is a teaser for me too since I haven't gotten this far yet. I *love* Jamie so far though and I had a hard time not reading more!!!