Written in My Own Heart's Blood

Written in My Own Heart's Blood by Diana Gabaldon
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

(you probably noticed all the non-fiction books I've been reviewing lately. It's because I've been reading this - I love her books, but they do take a while! And the non-fiction books are such quickies, sometimes I just need to finish a book!)

I love the Outlander series, and like everyone else, was eagerly waiting for this one to come out & as always, Gabaldon doesn't disappoint. As always, there are scenes I wish I had more of, and scenes I wish I had less of, but you just have to love Jamie & Claire's love affair, especially now that they are getting older. It's still unrealistic, this perfect love of theirs where one never really fights or gets mad, but that's why it's fiction. The last couple of books dragged for me a bit, but overall I liked the pacing and the plot of this book more.

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Under the Dome

Under the Dome by Stephen King
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I first read this book a few years ago, when it first came out. Hubby enjoyed the first season of the show so much he wanted to read the book - even though he isn't much of a reader. Well, needless to say, I ended up rereading it & hubby read 20 pages.

I'm a big King fan, though I probably have only read about 1/3 of his books. This one is no exception. Sure, it's long, sure there are sections that drag, and sure it's far-fetched, but that's why it's called fiction. Dale and Julia are two of the many, many, many characters in the book, and they are probably my favorites. Junior, Jim Rennie's Sr.'s crazed son, is also one of my favorites, in that "love to hate him" sort of way. This book, at its heart, is about ordinary people trying to survive and live another day.

My only gripe with the book is the exact same one as the first time I read it - you spend 1000 pages reading about what is happening Under the Dome, for it all to end in a small handful of pages, and without enough of an explanation to satisfy me. There's a lot of fore-shadowing throughout the book, which I noticed the first time but sort of ruined the book for me the second time (yes, I did know how it ended, but it still ruined the ending).

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Dragonfly in Amber

Dragonfly in Amber by Diana Gabaldon
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This has always been both my least favorite, and very favorite, of all the Outlander books. I loved the whole climatic ending with the final battle, but hated the fact that you start reading about present stuff and past stuff, and hated the whole living in France bit. Everything that happened in France just bored me silly, and everything was just way, way too neat/simple/polished/fell into place. Grr. I hate books like that. Yes, a lot of bad stuff happens, but in the end, Claire and Jaime love each other.

(own book)

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