Drums of Autumn by Diana Gabaldon

'Drums of Autumn' by Diana Gabaldon

HOW FAR WILL A WOMAN TRAVEL TO FIND A FATHER - A LOVER - A DESTINY? ACROSS SEAS - ACROSS TIME - ACROSS THE GRAVE ITSELF

It began in Scotland, at an ancient stone circle. Claire Randall was swept through time into the arms of James Fraser whose love for her became legend - a tale of tragic passion that ended with her return to the present to bear his child. Two decades later, Claire travelled back again to reunite with Jamie, this time in frontier America. But Claire had left someone behind in her own time - their daughter Brianna.

Now Brianna has made a disturbing discovery that sends her to the stone circle and a terrifying leap into the unknown. In search of her mother and the father she has never met, she risks 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...

REVIEW

I am totally in love with the Outlander series. This the fourth book in the series, I have to say though I have mixed feelings about. It was my less favourite of the four books I've read so far, with some rather graphic violence scenes and misunderstandings that if only having an adult conversation would clear up!! But saying this, this book had some of my favourite scenes out of the four books. One of my favourites was when Jamie and Ian realise they have met Brianna's Roger before (can't say anymore as I don't want to ruin it - but i loved this scene and laughed so hard!!). And it also had one of the saddest scenes too out of the four book - Ian and the Mohawk's (I cried loads!! Will miss him loads as he has been one of my favourite characters). I did enjoy getting to know other characters that play a large part in this story and about Jamie and Claire's new life in the Americas.

Would recommend (but as I said not my overall favourite out of the first four - looking forward to starting book five 'The Fiery Cross')

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The Silent Girl by Tess Gerritsen

Every crime scene tells a story. Some keep you awake at night. Others haunt your dreams. The grisly display homicide cop Jane Rizzoli finds in Boston’s Chinatown will do both.

In the murky shadows of an alley lies a female’s severed hand. On the tenement rooftop above is the corpse belonging to that hand, a red-haired woman dressed all in black, her head nearly severed. Two strands of silver hair—not human—cling to her body. They are Rizzoli’s only clues, but they’re enough for her and medical examiner Maura Isles to make the startling discovery: that this violent death had a chilling prequel.

Nineteen years earlier, a horrifying murder-suicide in a Chinatown restaurant left five people dead. But one woman connected to that massacre is still alive: a mysterious martial arts master who knows a secret she dares not tell, a secret that lives and breathes in the shadows of Chinatown. A secret that may not even be human. Now she’s the target of someone, or something, deeply and relentlessly evil.

Cracking a crime resonating with bone-chilling echoes of an ancient Chinese legend, Rizzoli and Isles must outwit an unseen enemy with centuries of cunning—and a swift, avenging blade.

REVIEW

This is the first of Tess Gerritsen books that I've read. The book was last months camp bookclub book, I didn't realise at the time that it was the ninth in a series of books (Rizzoli and Isles). But saying that you wouldn't have known that from reading the book - you can read it as a book on it's own. I believe each of the books in the series has a stand-alone story, but I have been advised by a friend who has read all the books in order, that I would get more from following the main characters' - Rizzoli and Isles experiences chronologically.

I really enjoyed this book. I was gripped all the way through, reading about Boston's Chinatown and the cultural heritage of the Chinatown community, which provided the background to the story of deaths and disappearances. I found that the author gave me the right amount of information for the main characters', not over-burdening me with their personal life's, this allowing the story to keep on track at a good pace, keeping me hooked wanting to know what was going to happen next. Had me guessing to the end.

An excellent book. if you like crime fiction I would recommend, you will enjoy.

(I have just picked up the first three in the series - looking forward to starting them)

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One for the Money by Janet Evanovich

'One for the Money' by Janet Evanovich

Stephanie Plum is down on her luck. She's lost her job, her car's on the brink of repossession, and her apartment is fast becoming furniture-free.

Enter Cousin Vinnie, a low-life who runs a bail-bond company. If Stephanie can bring in vice cop turned outlaw Joe Morelli, she stands to pick up $10,000. But tracking down a cop wanted for murder isn't easy . . .

And when Benito Ramirez, a prize-fighter with more menace than mentality, wants to be her friend Stephanie soon knows what it's like to be pursued. Unfortunately the best person to protect her just happens to be on the run . . .

Review

My friend Jen (her blog http://www.jenthousandwords.com/ ) recommended this book to me about 6 months ago (I think at that point she had read the series up to book 14), but I just haven't had time to read it as there has been so many other books on my read list first. But a few weeks ago I had just finished reading voyager and instead of reading the next big book on my list, I felt I needed to read a quick lightheaded book and remember this one.

I am so pleased I took the time to read this now, it was just what I needed.

I really liked all the characters, Stephanie Plum being this twenty-something divorcee, down on her luck, she has lost her job, got a car that is so old and leaking oil and needs money fast after selling what items in her home of any value. She thinks that taking a job as a bounty hunter for her cousin Vinnie will be kind of easy - she has a lot to learn! This is were we meant the next two main characters - Ranger, a very secretive bounty hunter who is more than willing to help Stephanie out (I am hoping I get to know him more in the next books); and Joe Morelli, who is a cop on the run trying to clear his name - this is the person who she is hunting! A blast from her past!!!! Joe is this sexy, funny, annoying person - I can't wait to see if she falls in love with either Joe or Ranger.

I also loved the character Grandma Mazur, every time she was in a scene, I just laughed, she is hysterical.

I found this a funny, lighthearted read. I can't wait to read Two for the Dough!

Would recommend.

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Voyager by Diana Gabaldon

'Voyager' by Diana Gabaldon

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.

Review

This is the third book of the Outlander series, and what a great third book. I just loved how Diana Gabaldon takes Claire on the next stage of her journey to find her true love Jamie. This story follows the two finding each other again and the next stage in the lives - being together.

The beginning of the book switches back and forth between 1746 in Scotland with Jamie Fraser's post-war life and 1968 in Scotland with Claire, Brianna and Roger Wakefield undertaking the historical search for traces of Jamie Fraser and what might have become of him after the war. I know this style of writing moving from one time to another irritates some but for me, I think it is what helps makes the book so good, we are not left feeling we are missing what is happening in both times - we get the whole story. We learn through Brianna, Jamie's daughter when she finds proof of Jamie's life as a printer in Edinburgh years after the battle at Culloden. Knowing this Claire makes a hard decision to step back through the stone circle of Craigh na Dun, going back into the 18th century to find Jamie.

I loved the reunion between Claire and Jamie, finding each other again. They have little time together before being thrown back into the life of danger, mystery and mayhem! The story follows their journey back to Jamie's childhood home, which has a few shocks in store for Claire, their journey to West Indies in a rescue attempt meeting a few old characters and making new friends along their way to their new life in Colonies.

I have not tired so far of the story of Claire and Jamie. I love how Diana Gabaldon has brought back characters throughout the books and helped me understand why/what and how, she hasn't left me wondering, she talks through all the details which I have really enjoyed. This book is my favourite of the three so far, the first two had me laughing and crying throughout, gripped all the way through, this was the same, I just couldn't put the book down (probably good job I was in hospital while reading Voyager and had nothing to do but read - if not I think no one in my house would have been feed!!). Can't wait to start Drums of Autumn.

I most certainly recommend this series. Its full of adventure, time-travel and romance. A must read!

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If I Stay by Gayle Forman

'If I Stay' by Gayle Forman

 

In a single moment, everything changes. Seventeen-year-old Mia has no memory of the accident; she can only recall riding along the snow-wet Oregon road with her family. Then, in a blink, she finds herself watching as her own damaged body is taken from the wreck...

 

'If I Stay' was a mixed bag for me. It was certainly a quick read and I enjoyed reading it, but I wasn't blown away by it as many of my bookclub's members were. I found the overall story of seventeen year old Mia who is severely injured in a car accident that kills her parents and younger brother heartfelt, and yes I did cry in a few places reading about Mia whose body is comatose. We follow Mia's spirit as it watches her friends and family rallying in support of her while recalling moments in her life as she decides whether or not to live or die. As I said I did enjoy overall the story but it wont make my favourite book for this year, and it may even be a book that I will forget that I've read in the future!!! Sorry to all those in my bookclub who loved this book!

 

An OK quick read (for young adults) but not that memorable.  

Dragonfly in Amber by Diana Gabaldon

'Dragonfly in Amber' by Diana Gabaldon



For twenty years Claire Randall has kept her secrets. But now she is returning with her grown daughter to the majesty of Scotland's 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 warrior whose gallantry once drew the young Claire from the security of her century to the dangers of his.

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

This is the second of Diana Gabaldon books that I have read and the second one in this series 'Outlander'. I really do think Diana is an excellent writer. This book starts in the 20th century with the story of Claire and her beautiful 20-year-old daughter, Brianna. Brianna is the daughter of Jamie Frazer who looks just looks like him - tall, red hair, high cheekbones and blue cat-like eyes. The story then moves on with the continuing story of Jamie and Claire, in 1746, with a number of flashbacks, where we find Claire and Jamie once more trying to stop Bonnie Prince Charlie's revolutionary attempts to take the throne of England and Scotland. I enjoyed the new characters that is introduced in this book, many with a good sense humour!

I really liked this second book in the series, finding myself laughing out loud many times and at other times crying. Without trying to spoil the story, I will warn you though that the chapters that are written around the approach to Culloden (about 50 pages) I cried my eyes out!!!

I am really enjoying the 'Outlander' series, great storytelling, with historically contents & lots of romance. Looking forward to starting the 3rd book. Would defiantly recommend book two!

Sister by Rosamund

'Sister' by Rosamund

 

Nothing can break the bond between sisters ...

When Beatrice gets a frantic call in the middle of Sunday lunch to say that her younger sister, Tess, is missing, she boards the first flight home to London. But as she learns about the circumstances surrounding her sister's disappearance, she is stunned to discover how little she actually knows of her sister's life - and unprepared for the terrifying truths she must now face.

The police, Beatrice's fiance and even their mother accept they have lost Tess but Beatrice refuses to give up on her. So she embarks on a dangerous journey to discover the truth, no matter the cost.

This book was recommended to my by my friend Frances for my bookclub choice. This is Rosamund Lupton's debut novel and for a first novel I thought overall it was a good read. The novel flicks between Beatrice (Bee) having a conversation and re-telling her story to a lawyer, and a letter she is writing to her sister Tess. I didn't mind the writing style that the athour uses, but a few at bookclub didn't like this style and found it very irritating, going between a conversation/letter writing/emails.

I did enjoy how the story moved along with Bee, with her telling the story on how she carried out her own detective work, to discover what really happened to her sister. I enjoyed how the athour looked into Tess's life and included a number of characters who Bee believed could have been the possible murder of Tess. There was a number of unexpected twists and turns that had me second guessing all the way the book (until I realised who the murder was). There is one scene in the park, that had me; shouting at the book/going, whats going on/giving Bee advice, before I realised actually what was going on.

It is hard to say too much about the book without giving things away, as I really don't like spoiling story lines for others but I do want to say something about the ending without telling you the story. For a few in bookclub they hated the ending as it does leave you going 'WHAT!' 'SO IS SHE OR ISN'T SHE!'. I myself found this a little, NO I WANT TO KNOW!. So to help with this, the athour says that she 'leaves it up to the reader to decide whether she suruives, but her own personal opinion is that she does!'. I didn't like this twist at the end as I felt a little disappointed by it, but overall the book kept me reading with the want to know 'Who did it!!'.

An easy read, overall enjoyable and would recommend but wont be my number one book for this year!