Tag Archives: Outlander

April 30, 2013 · 8:31 am

Top Ten Tuesday: Topics in Books that Get Me Excited

the broke and the bookish

Good morning fellow bloggers! It’s Tuesday, and I am LE TIRED. I’m baby-sitting my almost 2 year-old nephew L and that kid has me so sleepy! Hopefully later he’ll want to take a nice nap with Aunt Sarah, cause a well-rested Aunt Sarah is a nicer Aunt Sarah. Anyyyyhoo, I still mustered up the energy to hop online and join in on Top Ten Tuesday, which is hosted by the lovely folks over at The Broke and The Bookish. The topic today is Top Ten Words/Topics That Instantly Make Me Buy/Pick Up A Book. Onwards!

 

 

stanley laughing

1. Humor – I like to laugh! And I love books that make me laugh, so if I hear that a book is funny or humorous, I instantly want to read it! And honestly, that’s worked out quite well for me in the past. So authors – be hilarious!

2. Comparisons to Outlander series – Is it ever AS good as the Outlander books? Of course not. But if I hear that something is similar to Outlander, I have to try it. I read The Bronze Horseman because someone compared the love story in that to the love story of Jamie & Claire, and that was a really good book! It’s also why I have The River of No Return waiting for me on hold at the library.

 

zombies and daryl

3. Zombies – Come on, zombies are so much fun! Ironically, I don’t think that the zombie trend is quite overdone yet. These fads usually come and go so quick, but I think zombies are such a fun scenario to play around with, and I’ve seen authors come up with VERY different and unique angles on it.

4. Childfree books – So, I don’t want kids. They’re just not my jam. But you would be AMAZED at the number of people who say “Oh you’ll change your mind” or  just generally demean your situation. It’s frustrating! So whenever I see a book that’s about being “childless by choice”, I always want to check it out. The Baby Boon is about how our society caters to parents so much and kind of ignores the childless, and I’m waiting for I Can Barely Take Care of Myself by Jen Kirkman at the library, which is a humor book on the topic. Sometimes it’s nice to read about people who go through the same stuff as you and make it funny, ya know?

5. Parallel worlds – This is one of my FAVORITE sci-fi topics! Well, sci-fi and non-fiction, since there’s a growing number of science books exploring the topic and likelihood of the multiverse. The Neanderthal Parallax series is what really piqued my interest in the idea of parallel worlds and it’s a topic I’ve been seeking out since then.

6. Good blurbs on the covers – This isn’t so much a “topic”, but when I see recommendations from authors I like printed on the front of a book, of course it makes me want to read it! It’s one of the reasons I read Ex-Heroes by Patrick Clines, and that was a fun book!

 

terra nova dino

7. Dinosaurs – This is a kind of new-ish topic that appeals to me. I already liked things like Jurassic Park and Terra Nova, but after reading My Beloved Brontosaurus recently I’m craving more dinos! So I might be seeking out some more dinosaur-related books soon, whether they be fiction or non-fiction.

8. Physics - This kind of relates to parallel worlds, but I’ve really enjoyed reading more about physics lately, in all it’s different forms. This mostly applies to non-fiction books, but it also means that if I hear that a novel’s main character is a physicist or something, I’m totally all over that.

 

lets me bad guys

9. Comparisons to Firefly – If I hear that a book is in anyway similar to the awesomeness that is Firefly, of course I’ll check it out! It’s what got me to check out the Tales of the Ketty Jay series by Chris Wooding and I LOVE IT.

10. Sci-fi and fantasy - You know what, let’s just make the last pick here a blanket topic – I really love sci-fi and fantasy. Anything that relates to weird science, space travel, alternate worlds, magic, the paranormal, etc and it instantly catches my attention.

 

Okay book-lovers! Those are mine, what are the words or topics that instantly make you want to read a book?

 

~Sarah

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March 23, 2013 · 6:00 am

The Space Between by Diana Gabaldon

 

Diana Gabaldon

 

Okay, let’s be honest – this review is only going to interest you if you’re an Outlander fan. Which you SHOULD be, because the Outlander series by Diana Gabaldon is probably one of the greatest things ever written in the history of the universe.

The Space Between is a novella / short story that was recently published in an anthology The Mad Scientist’s Guide to World Domination. I’m not a big one for short stories or anthologies, so I borrowed this book from the library just to read Gabaldon’s story. It’s also featured in A Trail of Fire (a book of four Outlander and Lord John related short stories), which hasn’t been released in the US yet but is available in the UK.

Anyways, The Space Between is about Michael Murray escorting Joan MacKenzie to Paris, where she plans to join a convent. This is taking place at the same time as the end of An Echo in the Bone, so you should probably only read it if you’re up-to-date on the Outlander series. Michael is grieving for his dead wife and another family member, and Joan is trying to escape some things she doesn’t understand. Events take place, which I can’t mention here (it’s surprising how many spoilers are in an 82-page story), but it DEFINITELY gives a lot of food for thought. I’m wondering now if we’ll see more of Michael and Joan’s stories in book #8 (hopefully to be out late this year) and if so, how much events there will affect Jamie and Claire’s main storyline. Just a hint - Master Raymond appears in this story. I find Raymond SOOOOO intriguing, so this was very exciting. I now have a million questions, but that’s to be expected from such a little teaser.

 Man I love this series.

Sarah Says: 4 stars

 

 

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February 5, 2013 · 6:00 am

Top Ten Tuesday: Favorite Bookish Memories

top ten tuesday

Good morning ladies and gents!

It’s Tuesday, which means time for Top Ten Tuesday hosted by the lovely gals over at The Broke and The Bookish. This week’s topic is a bit sappy, but I kind of love it – Top Ten Best Bookish Memories. Let’s take a walk down memory lane…

HIMYM

1. Reading the Outlander series for the first time - Of COURSE my first pick is Outlander-related! The honeyman convinced me to give Outlander by Diana Gabaldon a try during our first year of dating, and then bought me each book after that as I flew through them. I was completely sucked into it, and the honeyman witnessed me sobbing while reading the books a lot. It’s a miracle he stayed with me after seeing me ugly-cry over a book.

2. All my Outlander presents – Every Christmas since I read Outlander for the first time, the honeyman has gotten me a piece of Outlander jewelry, because he is the sweetest <3 And last year for my birthday, my sister Heather got me the 20th Anniversary edition of Outlander SIGNED by Diana Gabaldon!

3. Working at Waldenbooks - Well, this hardly needs explaining! I worked at Waldenbooks for almost two years before they closed, and I loved it there. Not only was I working with books, which was the BEST, I also really cared about all the people I worked with. I miss it.

4. Harry Potter releases with my sister - Oh, Harry Potter mania. I miss the days of anxiously awaiting for the newest Harry Potter to come out. I went to two midnight releases with Heather I think, and they were always fun.

5. Re-arranging all of my books - Umm basically, a part of me loves any chance or excuse I get to play with my books. Moving is always a little exciting because I spend so much time going through my books (logging them, purging a bit, re-arranging them on shelves), but now and then I get a new shelf or something that means I get to play with them a bit. Seriously, it’s like a little girl playing with her dolls.

6. Author tweets - One of the COOLEST things about living in the digital age is that Twitter exists, and because of it I occasionally get to talk to authors! The best was that last year, Diana Gabaldon tweeted to say happy birthday to me. I’ve also had authors contact me to say thanks for a positive review, and recently I had a big long debate with an author over gun laws. I love getting to converse with authors, without having to go somewhere far away to see them in person!

7. Getting coffee and books at Borders - Whenever me and Heather wanted to get to hang out, we usually ended up at the Borders near her house to get coffee and look at books. It was the best. Since Borders closed we don’t get to do that anymore :-(

8. All the blogging - What, book blogging counts as bookish memories, right? Seriously though, I can’t even pick just one blogging moment. I love interacting with other bloggers, I’m amazed every day at how awesome and lovely ya’ll are.

9. Annual library book sale - Every year my local library holds a giant book sale at the mall, and it’s FANTASTIC. This is the first year in a while that I didn’t get to go, because I couldn’t get out of work and was busy. But usually I take a half day at work so I can be there as SOON as the sale starts, and I spend an hour or two looking through all the books and taking home a big bag or two for so cheap. It’s really fun.

10. When I stopped being a book snob - Well, I’m still a teeny bit of a book snob, but back in the day when I first started working at Waldenbooks, I basically only read non-fiction and a little bit of literary fiction. Then a fellow co-worker (who is now and still my very good friend) suggested I get over myself and try a romance novel, and she suggested Bet Me. It’s still my favorite romance novel to this day, and I also read SO many different genres now – romance, sci-fi, fantasy, YA, westerns… pretty much anything.

Alrighty, so those are my ten! I’m sure most of you have much cooler things like meeting authors or going to big bookish events, but I haven’t done any of that stuff, so here are my humble little bookish memories. What are some of yours?

~Sarah

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December 17, 2012 · 5:10 pm

An Echo in the Bone by Diana Gabaldon

So many pretty covers... except for the green slime one.

So many pretty covers… except for the green slime one.

 

REMEMBER, THIS IS THE 7TH BOOK! IF YOU HAVEN’T READ THE FIRST 6 THERE WILL BE SPOILERS. YOU KNOW, YOU SHOULD REALLY GO READ THE REST OF THE SERIES AND THEN COME BACK HERE, KAY?

 

Alright, I’m finally done re-reading the Outlander series! Since I spread it out over the last 2 years, I feel like it was a nice and relaxing. Now all I have to do is wait for the 8th book to come out, hopefully sometime next fall!

I’ve only read An Echo in the Bone once before (I’ve read all of the others in the series like 3 or 4 times at least), so I was really excited to see if my opinion of it has changed. And it has! But in case you’re interested, here’s the link to the review from the last time I read it, about 3 years ago. I was actually kind of nice in that review, because I remember being pretty angry about it. I was actually tempted to THROW the book at one point – but I didn’t of course, because it was a big beautiful hardcover.

ANYWAYS. A Breath of Snow and Ashes ended with Jamie & Claire’s house on Fraser’s Ridge burning down, them planning on going to Scotland to get Jamie’s printing press, and Brianna, Roger, and their kids head back to the present. Lots of upheaval, and right on the brink of the Revolutionary War.

A whole lot of stuff happens in this book, because there are four storylines. This really irritated me back when I first read the book. I love these books because I love Jamie and Claire, and it sucked that there was so much time dedicated to Roger/Brianna, Young Ian, and William/Lord John. Having re-read it, and at a much more leisurely pace than last time, it didn’t bug me quite as much. I think maybe I could have done without so many William/Lord John chapters, but I have a better appreciation for them now and their role in the overall story.

So, stuff that happens… well, Young Ian is finally healing after the disaster of his marriage to Emily, and that made me happy. He’s SUCH an awesome character, I really wish that Diana Gabaldon would write a whole series just for him. Or at least a novella. Jamie and Claire go through hell trying to make it across the sea to Scotland, including two major Revolutionary War battles (Ticonderoga and Saratoga). William is getting his first taste of being a soldier, and Lord John is of course working on some kind of political mystery that involves Fergus.

I liked this book a lot better than last time. I took time to appreciate the writing and just enjoy being with the characters again. These are the only books in which I actually MISS the characters when I’m not reading the books. They’re just so real. I’m already looking forward to my next big re-read in another year or two.

That being said, I have two main issues with this book:

1. That it ends on SO many cliffhangers. Diana doesn’t usually do that - all of the other books end on a solid note, with you looking forward to the next book but things more or less wrapped up for the moment. This one literally ends in the middle of a ton of action, confusion, and a ton of stuff happening. It feels… sloppy.

2. This is a big spoiler, but it’s the thing I dislike most in this book. Highlight if you want to read it… Claire heads back to America from Scotland, and Jamie follows later. Except Claire hears that the ship he was on went down and there were no survivors, so she thinks he’s dead. Soooo… she marries Lord John to protect herself and Fergus and his family, which I can understand. But… then her and Lord John sleep together, out of grief or whatever. WHAT. THE. FUCK. This whole situation makes no sense – Claire’s not stupid, she knows that in this day and age plans change and that even though that the ship he was SUPPOSED to be on, it doesn’t mean that he actually was on it. I guess it just bothers me that she so blindly accepts that he died, and she doesn’t even attempt to find out for sure. And then to go and sleep with Lord John, one of his good friends… just what the hell. This was totally unnecessary. UGH.

 

So yeah. I still have some complaints, but overall this book wasn’t as bad as I remember it being. With the exception of how rushed the ending was and that other thing that happens, I really enjoyed it. I can’t wait for Written in My Own Heart’s Blood to come out! I’m sure it’ll be the highlight of 2013.

 

Sarah Says: 4 stars

 

 

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September 18, 2012 · 4:39 pm

A Breath of Snow and Ashes by Diana Gabaldon

Even though I own 3 copies of this book, I don’t have that pretty UK cover yet… sigh.

 

Yayyyy, another Outlander review! REMEMBER, THIS IS THE 6TH BOOK! IF YOU HAVEN’T READ THE FIRST 5 THERE WILL BE SPOILERS. AND REALLY, WHAT ARE YOU DOING WITH YOUR LIFE? GO READ THESE BOOKS!

And, in case you’re interested here are my reviews for the first five books:

Outlander, Dragonfly in Amber, Voyager, Drums of Autumn, The Fiery Cross

 

So. At the end of The Fiery Cross, stuff was happening. The Frasers were settling down on the Ridge, and there was basically a lot of set-up waiting for the American Revolution to get closer. A Breath of Snow and Ashes starts off pretty much the same, with about 3 years to go until the start of the American Revolution. There are worrisome murders happening throughout the countryside… houses burned down and families being hung. Roger and Brianna have decided to stay, even though they know war is coming. Roger finally decides what he wants to do, as a calling or career. Brianna keeps making and building stuff, usually at the risk of something blowing up. We learn what happened to Young Ian when he was away and why he came back. Claire and Jamie have a really rough time of things in this book – not relationship troubles, but tragedy definitely strikes. There’s plots, intrigue, murder, deception, romance, and action abound in this one.

I flew through this in about a week. Of course, it’s a re-read, but still. That’s impressive for a 950-ish page trade paperback. I forgot how much I like this one. SO much good stuff happens. It rarely gets dull – there’s always something happening. And there are a couple big mysteries in this one, and happily I forgot how they ended up so when I re-read it, it was a surprise :-) Also, I like Brianna a lot more in this book than in the others. She’s so inventive, and the times she did get a little rage-y it was understandable.

And of course, I just love love love Jamie and Claire. I teared up at a couple parts. And, (not that this really spoils anything) the book ends with basically the start of the war. I think that makes me treasure this book a little more… I like seeing the Frasers at home and whatnot, and knowing that they’re about to be thrown into the chaos of war and battles makes me appreciate the more domestic scenes in this book.

I really want to go ahead and re-read #7, An Echo in the Bone now. I’m trying to make myself wait until November, because the 8th book won’t be out until early 2013 (I HOPE) and I want it to stay fresh in my mind before the new release. But since I’ve only read AEITB once before, I’m really, really looking forward to the re-read – even if I remember it being my least favorite.

 

Sarah Says: 5 stars :-)

 

 

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May 27, 2012 · 8:36 am

Sarah Sunday!

Men's Rules for Women

The honeyman thought this was funny. I disagree on some points but overall, yeah it made me laugh.

Good morning people!

Sarah update: SO. My few days off earlier this week were pretty laid back – I cleaned, read a little bit, caught up on some Cougar Town and Glee episodes, took naps with the kitty, etc. Finally got my brakes done, so yay no more grinding as I drive. Of course as soon as work started on Thursday, it was a horrible day. My mp3 player stopped working, work was insanely busy and I was really tired, and I stubbed my toe on a stupid cart at the grocery store and it started bleeding. It was a really rough day.

Thursday night we went over to my sister’s house so that her husband could do my brakes, and after dinner we ended up hanging out for a bit and we watched the first two episodes of The Big Bang Theory and yeah I totally fell in love. I’ve had the first season for over a month but was trying to catch up on other tv-watching before starting it, but I brought it to work with me this weekend and already finished it. Love it! Especially Leonard and Sheldon :-) I was surprised that Penny wasn’t around that much, but from what I understand she’s more of a main character in the later seasons. I need to go buy season 2 ASAP.

What else… I finally scheduled my vacation days for July, and taking 4 days off from work will give me an 11-day long vacation. I cannot wait, for serious. I’m also taking a random Sunday off in July because me and my friend are going to have a girl’s night the night before, which will be fun and full of drinking.

This week coming up should be quite nice. I’ll have 4 days off. My little brother’s birthday is on Tuesday, he’s turning 19. Holy crap. Not so little anymore. I am kind of excited about the present I got him though. So I expect at some point we’ll be doing something to celebrate that, and I have to go to the library this week… and that’s about it. OH and True Blood season 4 comes out on Tuesday which means the honeyman and I will be spending LOTS of time watching that.

Tonight is date night, but I think we might be staying in. Well, we might go out for food, but otherwise our plan is to watch some of the first seasons of Archer and The Big Bang Theory. I’ve only seen one episode of Archer before and it was pretty funny, so I’m looking forward to that too.

Oh and we got Gabby one of those cardboard scratching-board things and she loves it. Mainly cause there’s a little butterfly on a spring attached to it and she goes nuts attacking it. Cutest thing ever, I swear.

Bookish update: I haven’t finished any books since the readathon. I did start one romance novel, but I’m DNF-ing it and I’ll probably write about that tomorrow or something. I’ve started reading Visions of the Multiverse by Steven Manly and that’s pretty good so far. And I should be finishing American Gods today, as it’s the last week for the readalong.

In other much more exciting news, there are two readalongs coming up in June that you guys NEED to know about and should probably join…

Outlander Read-a-long

Married With Zombies SCAVENGER HUNT Read-a-long

You know how much I love Outlander, and if you’ve ever considered reading it then June would be the perfect time! I won’t be reading along because I’ve read it like 3 or 4 times already, but I’m definitely going to be following the discussions and probably chiming in here and there.

The Married With Zombies readalong sounds amazing. I’m going to be doing a sign-up post later to help spread the word, but in the meantime just click the link. MWZ is SUCH a fun zombie book- possibly the best of its kind, because it’s really funny too. It’s a short, easy read too. And I have never heard of a Scavenger Hunt readalong before, but it sounds like SO. MUCH. FUN. I literally cannot wait to participate.

Also, I’m thinking I might do an In-My-Mailbox type of post later this week… I’m not doing the actual meme anymore, but screw it I don’t need a meme to share the awesome books that I’ve accrued with all of you, right? Right.

So, I think that’s all my updating for today. I hope everyone has a great  week!!!

~Sarah

 

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April 25, 2012 · 9:41 am

The Fiery Cross by Diana Gabaldon

The Fiery Cross covers

Hey guys! So I’ve been very slowly re-reading the Outlander series since 2011, and now it’s time to review book #5, The Fiery Cross. SO REMEMBER THIS WILL BE ALL SPOILER-Y IF YOU HAVEN’T READ THE FIRST FOUR BOOKS. IF YOU DON’T CARE ABOUT THAT SORT OF THING THEN PLEASE, READ ON.

Also, here are my reviews for the first four books:

Outlander, Dragonfly in Amber, Voyager, Drums of Autumn

At the end of Drums of Autumn, everything was pretty hunky-dory. The Frasers are happily setting up their settlement known as Fraser’s Ridge. Brianna had the baby (Jemmy) and Roger gets rescued and decides to stay in the past, even though the baby might not be his, and they agree to get married. Jamie and Claire know that the American Revolution is coming and that they’re likely going to get swept up in it. The book ends with them all at The Gathering, that annual get-together of just about every Scot in the New World.

The Fiery Cross is probably the slowest-paced of all of the books, and it’s the first one in the series that doesn’t make me tear up at some point. That being said, it’s still a great book – you get to see a lot of Jamie and Claire being all domestic and that makes me happy. Also, there’s still a lot of action. There’s both attempted and actual murder, there’s battle, there’s tragedy, there’s romance, etc. Brianna and Roger are trying to get used to married life and get over the scars that Stephen Bonnett left. Roger has to deal with a serious injury that makes him question his purpose. Jamie and Claire are getting new tenants to settle down and are preparing for the revolution coming, only about 3 years away. There’s weddings, gold, snake bites, bears, ghosts, and a favorite character makes a welcome return.

Also, this book has one of my favorite quotes in the series:

“When the day shall come, that we do part,” he said softly, and turned to look at me, “if my last words are not ‘I love you’ – ye’ll ken it was because I didna have time.”

Awww. So even though the plot is a little slower than the other books, this is still a fantastic book and a great addition to the series. It also sets up a lot of important events to come in book #6, A Breath of Snow and Ashes.

 

Sarah Says: 5 stars

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February 26, 2012 · 2:30 am

Sarah Sunday!

Hi there ya’ll…

Sarah update: So, as some of you may know my birthday is tomorrow! Yup, Monday, I will be the big 2-5! Woo-hoo! I love birthdays, and I’m looking forward to having a nice, relaxing one this year. I have Monday through Wednesday off this week, so I should have lots of downtime.

Anyways, my sister’s birthday was last Monday, so this week we went out for our annual birthday dinner together. For the past few years we’ve gone out sometime around our birthdays, just the two of us, and we order drinks, food, desserts, etc. It’s SO MUCH FUN. And Heather totally WINS at birthday presents, because what she got me is AMAZING!!!

OH YES!!!! The 20th Anniversary edition of Outlander, signed by Diana Gabaldon herself, to me! Holy crap, it was totally unexpected and definitely the best birthday present. I mean, it’s not even my birthday yet, but what could top that??? And Heather also made me a bookmark to go with the book, with a charm that says “je suis prest” – Jamie’s clan motto.

And so then, when I tweeted about how awesome this gift was, THIS happened:

Can you believe it??? Diana herself TWEETED Happy Birthday to me!!! She is amazing. Seriously, signing up for Twitter is the best thing I’ve ever done online.

Okay, so enough gushing. But that was awesome. Ummm oh yeah, and the rest of the week before that happened, lol. I was super busy all week long, including taking a trip 1.5 hrs away to see my sister Amanda and baby L. It was a fun day, and I wish I could have stayed longer. Especially because at one point all three of up fell asleep and took a nap, lol. You can tell we’re family.

As for the work drama that’s been happening, it seems to be settled. The co-worker that’s been out because his car was messed up in an accident says he bought a new car and that he’ll be back to work on Monday. YAY! Which means I won’t have to deal with more crappy hours. I DO have to work 16 hours today, but whatever. Because it’s such a long day, I’m thinking about doing my own little readathon today. And I’ll be home early enough to catch up on last week’s episode of The Walking Dead before the new one comes on.

Also, we’ve decided not to move, so we’re re-signing our lease on Tuesday. This has been a long, super hectic month, but it looks like things are finally settling down. No move, work at my main job has settled, and I’ve decided that by this time next month I will quit at Second Job. March should be a much more enjoyable month.

Bookish update: Well, besides the Outlander-wonderfulness? I finished two books this week - Good Omens, and a re-read of The Other Boleyn Girl. Like I said above, I’m going to try to read A LOT at work today. But how successful that is really depends on how good the books are, because if I start to get bored or tired I’ll probably just watch more Charmed. I couldn’t really think of much that I wanted for my bday, so I gave the honeyman a list of books I’ve been wanting and I’m excited to see if he gets them or not.

Also, I found this quiz over on Wildly Read and it was super fun- Name the Titles Based on Their Covers. I got 22 out of 24 – I’m awesome! How many can you get?

Also, I’m sure many of you heard the Big News – J.K. Rowling is writing an adult novel. I’m not posting a link because really, all the news sites say the same thing. I’m absolutely looking forward to it – she’s a fantastic author, and I can’t imagine that her next novel won’t be fabulous. I heard some people say that she won’t be able make the transition from YA to adult fiction, but I think she proved with the Harry Potter series that she can absolutely handle serious topics and adult emotions – and above all, it just has to be a good story with good writing and I’m sure she’ll be able to deliver there. Can’t wait to learn more about it!

OK that’s it for me folks! Going to try to come up with a plan for my reading today.

L at 7 months now! What a cute, funny, little face :)

~Sarah

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February 21, 2012 · 8:30 am

Top Ten Tuesday: Books I’d Save if My Apartment Was on Fire

Because, living in an apartment complex that really seems like the biggest danger to my books. So it’s time for Top Ten Tuesday, hosted by The Broke and The Bookish! This is going to be a super-short one for me, for a couple reasons including the fact that I’m insanely busy today. This week’s topic is Top Ten Books I’d Save If My House Was Going to Be Abducted by Aliens... I see no reason why aliens should want to keep me from reading, which is why I went with a slightly less weird natural disaster…

So, in all honesty, as much as I love my books… most of them are easily replaceable. Sure, it’d be expensive, but who doesn’t love book shopping? So, this list is really only three items long…

1. My mass market collection of the Outlander series by Diana Gabaldon - Yes, yes, I have an Outlander obsession. However, I specifically would want to save the mass markets because the honeyman bought books 2-7 for me as I read them. I already owned the first book, but he’s the one that finally convinced me to get around to reading it, and then he bought me each book as I read them. So, this pick is really 7 books long, but it seemed silly to list each one individually…

2. My Bibles - So, I’m an athiest, more or less. However, I have numerous religious texts because I like to have them around in case I need to look up a reference or something, and this includes two Bibles – a small brown leather one that was my dad’s when he was a kid, and a multi-colored one from my mom. She gave my siblings and I each a copy when we were kids and she was sick and we didn’t get to see her a lot. Funny enough, my mother isn’t really even remotely religious though she was raised Protestant, and my father was raised as a Christian but… well, he is the epitome of everything NOT-Christian. However, the fact that both parents gave them to me makes them kind of special, and I’m sure was a small way of them trying to look out for me when I was a kid. Or they thought something was seriously wrong with me and only religion could be the answer.

3. The laptop - Yeah, I know, this isn’t a book. But the honeyman’s laptop has my Microsoft Database file on it that contains the info for EVERY BOOK I OWN – title, author, ISBN, publisher, where I bought it, how much I paid, the list price, etc… When we eventually get renter’s insurance, this thing is going to come VERY in proving the value of my books, plus I’ll be able to know exactly what I owned and need to replace.

Also, I know it’d be easier to just save the file on a flashdrive and put it in the little safe we have, but with how often I add books to it, there’d be little point. I’d have to get my safe key, open the safe, take out the flash drive, put it in the computer, update it, take it out, put it back in the safe, lock it up again… see, it’s even too much trouble just writing it out. I couldn’t do that crap on a semi-weekly basis.

So, that’s my list! Of course there are hundreds of other books that I own and love dearly, but those are really the ones that seem most important and irreplaceable. I would have thought my list would be a mile long, but it appears that just the thought of re-buying all of those books is enough to make me okay with potentially losing them. Easy-peasy.

What books would you save from aliens / fire / flood / stampede /etc ?

~Sarah

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December 31, 2011 · 11:11 am

The Scottish Prisoner: A Lord John Novel by Diana Gabaldon

 

Yay yay yay!!!! OKAY so for those of you who aren’t familiar with Diana Gabaldon’s books, she’s the author of the Outlander series, AKA the best series EVER. The Outlander series is about the epic awesomeness that is Jamie and Claire Fraser. In that series is a secondary character named Lord John – an Englishman, and a friend of Jamie’s.

Diana Gabaldon also has another series, The Lord John series, that is based on him. They’re much shorter books than the Outlander novels, and they’re written as mysteries – basically little stories that give us glimpses into Lord John’s life when he’s not around in the Outlander series.

THIS book, The Scottish Prisoner, is the latest Lord John novel, but it’s different because it’s the only one that features so much of Jamie Fraser in it as well. The story takes place in 1760, so between the events of the second and third Outlander novels (Dragonfly in Amber and Voyager). Because this is written half in the voice of Lord John and half in the voice of Jamie, I definitely recommend reading the first three books of the Outlander series before reading this book. Most of the Lord John novels are written so that you can just kind of dive in anywhere, but not this one.

So anyways, Jamie is living as a paroled prisoner at Helwater – 14 years after The Rising – thanks to Lord John finding him the position as groomsman in the stables. His daily life is getting on fine until an old-time friend of his, Tobias Quinn, shows up wanting Jamie’s help in a new Jacobite plot. Lord John is in London and brings a packet of papers to his brother Hal - a packet of papers incriminating a member of the army of numerous serious crimes. Within that packet is a poem or verse in a language that they can’t quite make out until they learn that it is Erse – or basically, Irish. Knowing no one else that they can ask without drawing unwanted attention, Hal has Jamie dragged to London from Helwater to try to translate it.

A series of events leads to Jamie and Lord John being forced to travel to Ireland together, to bring justice upon a villainous man and to possibly prevent another doomed Jacobite rising.

So, for reasons that I won’t go into in case people haven’t read the books already, Jamie and Lord John are seriously pissed off at each other in the beginning of this book, and friendship seems impossible. Of course being thrown together against your will has a way of making people get along, and this book is really about how Jamie and Lord John start their friendship after such a rough and almost unforgiveable beginning.

This is definitely my favorite Lord John book, but that probably goes without saying since Jamie is in it so much. While I really like Lord John and think he’s a really fun character in the Outlander series, he actually comes off a little two-dimensional in his own series. We aren’t given enough glimpses into his past personal life, and they’re usually focused more on the mystery at hand that himself. Here, he definitely shines; he’s emotional and passionate and all action-y.

So, basically this is an awesome addition to both the Outlander series, and the Lord John series. PLUS it comes with a sneak peek preview to the next Outlander book, Written in My Own Heart’s Blood, which will hopefully be out sometime in the next two years.

 

Sarah Says: 5 out of 5 stars and READ THE DARN SERIES!

 

 

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