Outlander By Diana Gabaldon

Images from Chapters.Indigo.caAfter reading The Time Traveller's Wife I went online to read what other people had said about it and came across a recommendation for Outlander, which was first published in 1991.

The story starts in 1945, the war has ended and nurse Claire Randall is enjoying a second honeymoon of sorts in Scotland with her husband Frank, whom she hasn't seen in over seven years.

A series of events lead Claire to revisit the stone circle of Craigh Na Dun alone. On this visit she touches the stones only to be transported back about 200 years to the highlander times of Scotland.

Almost immediately she gets kidnapped by a Scottish clan and sets off on a wild adventure all the while trying to find her way back to the circle of stones and Frank.

Claire is a great heroine, smart and plucky in a very believable way. Her observations and comparisons of life in 20th century versus life in the 18th century are always interesting and keep you wanting to learn more.

She strikes up a friendship with Jamie, the young man she helps heal on her first night and after a series of events is forced to marry him for her own safety...in the same church she marries her husband Frank 200 years later. The arranged marriage ends up being more than she bargained for when she finds herself falling deeply in love with Jamie. She's in a constant struggle with her feelings for her new life and the one she left behind.

If you've ever read The Mists of Avalon (one of my favourite books) you'll enjoy reading Outlander, for the detail with which Diana Gabaldon writes about life in 18th century Scotland.

It's a highly absorbing book, although halfway through reading it I was shocked to find out there were SEVEN more books in the series. Outlander in paperback is over 800 pages long, long enough for you to fully immerse yourself in Claire's life and long enough for most of a good story to be told. I could understand if it was a trilogy (actually a trilogy would have been amazing!), but seven books?

By the end of the first book it did feel like the story was already being stretched out. Claire's been kidnapped a couple of times, Jamie's been kidnapped (and horrifically tortured, in ways I found completely unnecessary) a couple of times. Enough with the kidnapping, what's next?!

Was it worth the read?

I loved the first two thirds of the book, enough that I've already told my sister she has to read it. But by the time I finished the book I was not in any mood to read the next one. Though for the sake of a great heroine like Claire I will...but I can't promise I'll read all seven!

Nanny Returns By Emma McLaughlin and Nicola Kraus

Images from Chapters.Indigo.caSomeone at my work was sent a copy of Nanny Returns in advanced and I luckily got my hands on it. I hadn't seen any press for it and had no idea a sequel was being written.

I loved The Nanny Diaries and remembered how emotionally invested I felt in the relationship between Nan and Grayer. It was one of my favourite books at the time...but I don't think I ever wished for a sequel.

And that was my major problem with this book...but I'll get to that!

So Nan is now ten years older and married to "Harvard hottie" Ryan (a relationship I always found a little hollow). For the past ten years they've been travelling all over Africa with his UN job while she's been finishing her masters. The story picks up when they move back to New York, buy a dilapidated brownstone in Harlem and start having issues over whether or not to procreate.

How do Nan and the X family reunite? A 16 year old Grayer knocks on her door one night, drunk, upset and asking her why she left her job babysitting him ten years ago. This was the first moment of...hmmm that I had reading the book. What 16 year old boy would ever, EVER do something like that?

At least it kick starts the series of events that lead Nan to:
1) get a job at Grayer's school,
2) become a non-paid nanny for Grayer's younger brother Stilton and
3) have several encounters with Mrs.X, the woman of her nightmares.

All the other storylines that don't involve the X family stuff feel an awful lot like filler–Nan fighting to save a teacher from being fired and Nan getting in a fight with a recently found old friend are two to name a few.

Even though Nan seemed to constantly refer to how much older/wiser/mature she was now, nothing she did or said seemed to imply that anything had changed.

The book was a bit long and definitely hollow in places, but the magic that made Nan and Grayer's relationship so truthful could definitely still be found in some places. The problem was, it wasn't enough to fill an entire book.

Was it worth the read?

For someone who loved the first book, wanted a little extra closure and doesn't mind wading through all the other stuff, YES!

For everyone else, I would borrow it from the library...it can wait.

Guilty Pleasures, The Laughing Corpse, and Circus of the Damned by Laurell K. Hamilton

Images from Chapters.Indigo.caI thoroughly enjoy a good supernatural themed book, so I finally decided to take the plunge and have now read the first three Anita Blake novels from Laurell K. Hamilton.

I've heard a lot of mixed things about her books that were what put me off till now, but I was in need of something new to read and I love when I have a whole series lying out in front of me (there are 17 Anita Blake books to read!).

My verdict about the series? I'm still undecided!

I know that's not a very good review, but this is how my reading went:

Book 1 (Guilty Pleasures): A little boring at times, but that could be because it was written in 1991 and (I'm guessing) was one of the first books made for this genre...almost twenty years later having grown up on Buffy and Kelley Armstrong, none of this seems new to me. I was feeling really blah about it until the end, where I got sucked in and wanted to know what happened next.

Book 2 (The Laughing corpse): Best book so far. Really creepy. Went to creepy levels that shocked me because the books I read usually don't go that far, but it was very effective and kept me in suspense. Great ending, I had to read the next book.

Book 3 (Circus of the Damned): I really didn't enjoy this book. Sometimes Anita feels too remote for me to relate to and her situation seems so implausible. I like supernatural books where everything makes sense for the world in which they live. I was about to give up on the series (at least for awhile) when the ending of the story started to pick up and things started to fall into place. Things were more believable and also got so much more interesting.

Were they worth the read?

Yes. Anita's life does seem like it could span out over seventeen books (unlike Claire's life in the Outlander series). I heard it starts to get pretty ridiculous at some point, but I don't think I'm there yet so I'll keep enjoying the books while I can!

My favourite books of 2009

Images from Chapters.Indigo.ca

As the first post of this blog and the first week of the new year I thought it would make sense to name the books I enjoyed most in 2009.

5. Men of the Otherworld by Kelley Armstrong

I've loved Kelley Armstrong since her first (amazing) book Bitten. I don't know how she came out with so many books this year, but I'm so glad she did! I wasn't particularly interested in this topic, but I read everything she writes. Most of her Otherworld books are written from the female's perspective, so this was the first book focused solely on the men. It was surprisingly really rich in content and offered up a lot of new and interesting info on beloved characters. I'm hoping for a sequel!

4. The Accidental Mother by Rowan Coleman

Someone very close to me passed away this year and this was the book I read right after everything happened. It's a chic lit book, but the best of its kind...a fairy tale full of love and laughter. The sequel, The Accidental Family, literally just appeared on my desk at work one day when I really needed it. Rowan Coleman's writing has been my medicine for the year.

3. The Summoning by Kelley Armstrong

Another Kelley book...this was her first foray into the young adult genre. The book felt fresh with the right amount of spookiness mixed with teen spunk. I've already read the second book in this trilogy and I can't wait for the third one which comes out in May!

2. The Sookie Stackhouse Collection by Charlaine Harris

My sister and I were going to Japan and needed something to read on the 17 hour flight. I bought the collection (at full price!) because I thought the show was fun and was curious to see how it came about. In the end it was 100% worth it. We devoured the books. Pure campy, delicious, fictional fun. The next book comes out in May!

1. The Time Traveller's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger

I'd heard about this book, but it never caught my interest until I saw it recommended in the Bakka Phoenix Bookstore (an amazing sci-fi bookshop in Toronto). I ordered it through the library (I like to borrow books before I decide to buy them) and was surprised at the 100+ waiting list...for a book published in 2003? Anyways, when I finally got it I couldn't put it down. It was the a love story so classic, I couldn't believe I had only just read it.

I've always loved reading and am always looking for new great books.
Cheers to a 2010 full of wonderful reading!