Sunday, July 13, 2008

#65 - Outlander


Wow! What a book! I've had it on my shelf forever and really kept putting it off because it's 850 pages. All I knew going in was that it had been highly recommended to me by a lot of my friends on Shelfari and FrugalReader and that it involved time travel. Because of the time travel aspect, I expected it to be really sci-fi and it wasn't. This book is probably the best love story I've ever read. The characters were absolutely amazing. The adventure and suspense were awesome. The detail in the writing was stunning. I just can't say enough good things about this book! I'm not a big fan of historical fiction or romance and I still loved this book! Highly recommended. Here's a synopsis copied from Amazon.com:

Absorbing and heartwarming, this first novel lavishly evokes the land and lore of Scotland, quickening both with realistic characters and a feisty, likable heroine. English nurse Claire Beauchamp Randall and husband Frank take a second honeymoon in the Scottish Highlands in 1945. When Claire walks through a cleft stone in an ancient henge, she's somehow transported to 1743. She encounters Frank's evil ancestor, British captain Jonathan "Black Jack" Randall, and is adopted by another clan. Claire nurses young soldier James Fraser, a gallant, merry redhead, and the two begin a romance, seeing each other through many perilous, swashbuckling adventures involving Black Jack. Scenes of the Highlanders' daily life blend poignant emotions with Scottish wit and humor. Eventually Sassenach (outlander) Claire finds a chance to return to 1945, and must choose between distant memories of Frnak and her happy, uncomplicated existence with Jamie. Claire's resourcefulness and intelligent sensitivity make the love-conquers-all, happily-ever-after ending seem a just reward.

My progress in the 100 Book Challenge so far:

1. An Idiot Girl's Christmas - Laurie Notaro - 142 pages
2. The Missing - Chris Mooney - 360 pages
3. All the Numbers - Judy Merrill Larsen - 269 pages
4. The Quickie - James Patterson & Michael Ledwidge - 274 pages
5. The Darkest Evening of the Year - Dean Koontz - 354 pages
6. Plea of Insanity - Jilliane Hoffman - 598 pages
7. When Madeline Was Young - Jane Hamilton - 274 pages
8. Sunshine - Robin McKinley - 405 pages
9. Spying in High Heels - Gemma Halliday - 318 pages
10. I Am Legend - Richard Matheson - 312 pages
11. New Moon - Stephenie Meyer - 563 pages
12. Kiki Strike: Inside the Shadow City - Kirsten Miller - 380 pages
13. The Husband - Dean Koontz - 415 pages
14. Kiki Strike: The Empress's Tomb - Kirsten Miller - 369 pages
15. Plum Lucky - Janet Evanovich - 166 pages
16. Blood Rites - Jim Butcher - 372 pages
17. The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox - 245 pages
18. Let the Right One In - John Ajvide Lindqvist - 513 pages
19. The Spellman Files - Lisa Lutz - 368 pages
20. Little Stalker - Jennifer Belle - 333 pages
21. Watchers - Dean Koontz - 352 pages
22. Lost and Found - Carolyn Parkhurst - 289 pages
23. Dead Beat - Jim Butcher - 396 pages
24. Steve & Me - Terri Irwin - 273 pages
25. Bright Lights, Big Ass - Jen Lancaster - 385 pages
26. Curse of the Spellmans - Lisa Lutz - 407 pages
27. Bleeding Kansas - Sara Paretsky - 431 pages
28. Dead Witch Walking - Kim Harrison - 416 pages
29. The Abstinence Teacher - Tom Perrotta - 358 pages
30. The Good Guy - Dean Koontz - 493 pages
31. The Double Bind - Chris Bohjalian - 368 pages
32. Dork Whore - Iris Bahr - 216 pages
33. Eclipse - Stephenie Meyer - 629 pages
34. Monkeewrench - P. J. Tracy - 404 pages
35. Diablerie - Walter Mosley - 180 pages
36. After Dark - Haruki Murakami - 191 pages
37. Remember Me? - Sophie Kinsella - 389 pages
38. The Haunting of Hill House - Shirley Jackson - 246 pages
39. Heart Sick - Chelsea Cain - 324 pages
40. Dearly Devoted Dexter - Jeff Lindsay - 292 pages
41. Ice Trap - Kitty Sewell - 340 pages
42. The Bad Place - Dean Koontz - 381 pages
43. All We Know of Heaven - Jacquelyn Mitchard - 310 pages
44. The Dollmaker - Amanda Stevens - 376 pages
45. Shakespeare's Landlord - Charlaine Harris - 214 pages
46. The Senator's Wife - Sue Miller - 306 pages
47. The Crimson Petal and the White - Michel Faber - 895 pages
48. Dexter in the Dark - Jeff Lindsay - 303 pages
49. Gods Behaving Badly - Marie Phillips - 293 pages
50. Earthly Pleasures - Karen Neches - 311 pages
51. Proven Guilty - Jim Butcher - 406 pages
52. Such a Pretty Fat - Jen Lancaster - 379 pages
53. Obedience - Will Lavender - 287 pages
54. The Fifth Vial - Michael Palmer - 372 pages
55. 2060:The Newton Prophecies - Keith Katsikas - 338 pages
56. The Lace Reader - Brunonia Barry - 392 pages
57. White Night - Jim Butcher - 407 pages
58. Mordred, Bastard Son - Douglas Clegg - 260 pages
59. A Thousand Splendid Suns - Khaled Hosseini - 372 pages
60. Good Omens - Terry Pratchett & Neil Gaiman - 412 pages
61. The Magician's Nephew - C. S. Lewis - 106 pages
62. The Gunslinger Born - Stephen King, Peter David, Robin Furth, Jae Lee, Richard Isanove - 240 pages
63. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone - J. K. Rowling - 312 pages
64. Curves - Gary Heavin & Carol Colman - 334 pages
65. Outlander - Diana Gabaldon - 850 pages

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