Voyager (Outlander #3) by Diana Gabaldon

Goodreads Summary:

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.

My Thoughts:

I love these books. I am not normally into lady porn, historical fiction, or sci-fi. I guess when you put all of those things together with a strong female lead I totally love it. Claire is not your run of the mill leading lady. She swears like a sailor and doesn't put up shit from anyone, least of all Jamie (much to his displeasure and extreme pleasure).

I have heard other reviews had a hard time with some of the bits to this book that took the ridiculous to the next level from the previous books. I found the adventures and weird new characters a pleasure. This book takes you away from anything you expect and then keeps going. I can see why some people wouldn't love that, but I do.

Pirates, the high seas, and plot twists and turns that are all over the place and yet fluid. This is the first time I enjoyed reading a book that took place on ships. Poor sea sick Jamie. I can feel your pain man! I am hesitant to give too much detail because I don't want to give spoilers. 

I would recommend this to fans of the show Outlander, but please start with the first book. I don't recommend jumping into this series out of order. Diana Gabaldon is an amazing writer. She knows how to get your blood pumping in a variety of ways, meaning, she knows how to write a character you want to jump their bones and characters you want to jump with a knife. Damn that Laoghaire MacKenzie!

Lost Lake by Sarah Addison Allen

Goodreads Summary:
Now a New York Times bestseller.

From beloved bestselling author Sarah Addison Allen comes her long-awaited new novel, Lost Lake, about heartbroken people finding hope at a magical place in Georgia.

Suley, Georgia, is home to Lost Lake Cottages and not much else. Which is why it's the perfect place for newly-widowed Kate and her eccentric eight-year-old daughter Devin to heal. Kate spent one memorable childhood summer at Lost Lake, had her first almost-kiss at Lost Lake, and met a boy named Wes at Lost Lake. It was a place for dreaming. But Kate doesn't believe in dreams anymore, and her Aunt Eby, Lost Lake's owner, wants to sell the place and move on. Lost Lake's magic is gone. As Kate discovers that time has a way of standing still at Lost Lake can she bring the cottages—and her heart—back to life?

Sometimes lost loves aren't really lost. They're right where you left them, waiting for you to find them again.

My Thoughts:

Can I just say I love love love Sarah Addison Allen? She has never disappointed in enthralling me in her world for a few hundred pages and I am legitimately sad when I finish her books.

That being said, this book took me a beat to fall in love with, here you should read it took more than five pages but not more than 20. The writing was as beautiful as ever, but something felt different with this book. I couldn't put my finger on it at the time, just a shift of feeling. I got used to it, then loved it. I was going through some weird things in my own life while reading this book and I think in some ways it helped me work some shit out.

After reading this book I discovered that Sarah Addison Allen was going through cancerness while writing this book. That is to say she was either diagnosed or after her battle that she wrote this book. I intentionally didn't seek out the details because I didn't want that to taint my view of the book. As a writer I prefer when people take their own meaning from my work and don't focus too much on what I was going through. I don't pretend that all writer are like this but I want to respect the work as it is without a back story of the person writing it.

All of this being said, I still need to visit the South. I have always loved books with a southern flare, and these books help me get over some of my prejudice toward the south. I want to go visit a place like Lost Lake.

I would recommend this book to anyone who likes a little magic in their books and anyone needing a read they can connect with.

While writing this review I was listening to my dog sleep.

Blue Plate Special: An Autobiography of My Appetites by Kate Christensen

*****I received this book as an Advanced Reader Copy, this in no way impacted my review****

Goodreads Summary:

That the greatly admired novelist Kate Christensen has turned to the memoir form after six novels makes this book an event. Readers of memoirs of high literary quality, particularly those with food themes—most conspicuously Ruth Reichl's Comfort Me with Apples and Gabrielle Hamilton's Blood, Bones, and Butter—as well as admirers of M. F. K. Fisher and Laurie Colwin will be a large and eager audience.

This memoir derives from Kate's popular foodcentric blog (http://katechristensen.wordpress.com), in which she shares scenes from an unusual upbringing and an unusually happy present-day life, providing an audience for this book that is already primed. That it is written by Kate Christensen means it will be a delicious reading experience in every sense—a compulsively readable account of a knockabout life, full of sorrows and pleasures, many of the latter of the sensual, appetitive variety.




My Thoughts: ****I received this book as an ARC from the publisher, this had no impact on my review****

I know several fellow reviewers didn't connect with this read. That wasn't my experience. I found that I connected with each story on some level, some more than others but each story felt authentic and relate-able to me.

I have often linked my memories to food in the same ways that she has. I remember the breakfasts my Mother made on Saturday mornings and how they were sometimes very love filled and other times they were some of the most tense meals of my life.

I like that Kate included recipes and I have thought about trying some of them. Overall, I enjoyed this read. I don't think it will fit with everyone but I think it definitely has a place with readers like me. I would recommend this to people who view their memories with through food and their own relationship with food.


While writing this review I was listening to CBS This Morning. Oh man that Charlie Rose, I have such a crush on him.

Mr. Kiss and Tell (Veronica Mars #2) by Rob Thomas, Jennifer Graham

Goodreads Summary:

In the second book in the New York Times bestselling mystery series, Veronica Mars is back with a case that will expose the hidden workings of one of Neptune’s most murderous locations.

The Neptune Grand has always been the seaside town’s ritziest hotel, despite the shady dealings and high-profile scandals that seem to follow its elite guests. When a woman claims that she was brutally assaulted in one of its rooms and left for dead by a staff member, the owners know that they have a potential powder keg on their hands. They turn to Veronica to disprove—or prove—the woman's story.

The case is a complicated mix of hard facts, mysterious occurrences, and uncooperative witnesses. The hotel refuses to turn over its reservation list and the victim won’t divulge who she was meeting that night. Add in the facts that the attack happened months ago, the victim’s memory is fuzzy, and there are holes in the hotel’s surveillance system, and Veronica has a convoluted mess on her hands. As she works to fill in the missing pieces, it becomes clear that someone is lying—but who? And why?

My Thoughts:

I read the first Veronica Mars book, but it appears I never reviewed it, which is a damn shame because I really liked it. But since it has been some time since reading it I don't think it would be fair to review it more than to say I enjoyed it and you should read it, even if you aren't a fan of Veronica Mars but definitely read it if you are a fan.

In this second installment of the series we pick up about where we left off with the first book. Veronica and Logan are still together and trying to figure out what that means. He is still in the Navy which isn't easy, but her dedication to her own dangerous occupation doesn't ease things along either.

The main mystery in this book is about a girl who is attacked at a local high end hotel. The girl doesn't have much of a memory about what happened to her. Veronica takes the case initially for the hotel, but ends up finishing the case for the victim. Classic Veronica seeking out justice when no one else will.

I liked this book, yes, I am a Veronica Mars fan, but on its own I think this series is pretty good and got even better with the second installment. I would recommend this book to mystery lovers and of course fellow Marshmallows.

While writing this review I was listening to Damien Rice.

if I stay by Gayle Forman

Goodreads Summary:

Just listen, Adam says with a voice that sounds like shrapnel.

I open my eyes wide now.
I sit up as much as I can.
And I listen.

Stay, he says.

Choices. Seventeen-year-old Mia is faced with some tough ones: Stay true to her first love—music—even if it means losing her boyfriend and leaving her family and friends behind?

Then one February morning Mia goes for a drive with her family, and in an instant, everything changes. Suddenly, all the choices are gone, except one. And it's the only one that matters.

If I Stay is a heartachingly beautiful book about the power of love, the true meaning of family, and the choices we all make.


My Thoughts:
I read this book because I was interested in seeing the movie. I found it to be an interesting way to talk about being a teenager and everything that comes with that. Insecurities, figuring out who you are, and all of the other things that come along with being a teenager. 

Mia is that black sheep in her family by being into classical music and being overly responsible. I think at some point everyone feels like the odd man out in their own family. I certainly have more than once. It is hard sometimes to find your place in your family and the world. Mia tells her story from the bed of an ICU after the rest of her family is killed in a car crash. Mia is both ready to leave and wanting to stay to be with her friends, boyfriend, and remaining relatives. That struggle between fighting for your life and letting go isn't one that most of us really experience and then talk about.

The teen romance is a little over the top but I think that is accurate for teen romance. I know all of mine were ridiculously over the top. It is part of how we grow up and figure out what love actually is and isn't. I haven't decided if I am going to read the second book or not. I liked this one well enough but it wasn't amazing.

Overall I would recommend this book for those looking for an easy and fast read without a lot of expectation.

While writing this review I was listening to Yo-yo Ma. 

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

Goodreads Summary:

It is 1939. Nazi Germany. The country is holding its breath. Death has never been busier, and will be busier still.

By her brother's graveside, Liesel's life is changed when she picks up a single object, partially hidden in the snow. It is The Gravedigger's Handbook, left behind there by accident, and it is her first act of book thievery.

So begins a love affair with books and words, as Liesel, with the help of her accordian-playing foster father, learns to read. Soon she is stealing books from Nazi book-burnings, the mayor's wife's library, wherever there are books to be found.

But these are dangerous times. When Liesel's foster family hides a Jewish fist-fighter in their basement, Liesel's world is both opened up, and closed down.

In superbly crafted writing that burns with intensity, award-winning author Markus Zusak has given us one of the most enduring stories of our time.

My Thoughts:

This book wasn't really what I was expecting. Not that I am sure what I was expecting, I just know this wasn't it. I was pleasantly surprised. I knew enough about the book to know that it was a heavy read which is part  of why I held off on reading it until my book club picked it a couple months ago.

Yes this is a heavy read, but at times it is just a story about a little girl and sometimes it was touching and other times it is funny. The perspective of Death is interesting as he is mostly detached from humanity, and death is just what Death does. This little book thief was a bright spot, someone Death didn't want to detach from. The last line of this book was the most interesting and powerful to me. "I am haunted by humans."

Overall, I would recommend this book to anyone and everyone.

While writing this review I was listening to my coffee brew.

Stories I Only Tell My Friends by Rob Lowe

Goodreads Summary:

A teen idol at fifteen, an international icon and founder of the Brat Pack at twenty, and one of Hollywood's top stars to this day, Rob Lowe chronicles his experiences as a painfully misunderstood child actor in Ohio uprooted to the wild counterculture of mid-seventies Malibu, where he embarked on his unrelenting pursuit of a career in Hollywood.

The Outsiders placed Lowe at the birth of the modern youth movement in the entertainment industry. During his time on The West Wing, he witnessed the surreal nexus of show business and politics both on the set and in the actual White House. And in between are deft and humorous stories of the wild excesses that marked the eighties, leading to his quest for family and sobriety.

Never mean-spirited or salacious, Lowe delivers unexpected glimpses into his successes, disappointments, relationships, and one-of-a-kind encounters with people who shaped our world over the last twenty-five years. These stories are as entertaining as they are unforgettable.

My Thoughts:

I have a crush on Rob Lowe. Not the Brat Pack Rob Lowe but the West Wing Rob Lowe. Now I also have a little bit of a crush on the real Rob Lowe.

He is honest, and in some ways, raw in his telling of his stories. You really get a sense of the man while oddly you still feel like there is something more to learn about and from Rob Lowe. Well written, entertaining, and thought provoking. An all around good read, well done Rob Lowe.

At no point did I feel like his stories were name dropping stories so much as someone navigating a world that is both just like mine and entirely different than mine. Reading this book humanized Rob Lowe for me and made me respect him. I have always liked the way he looked and acted in the West Wing, but now I just like him as a person. I think that is actually quite hard for the celebrity folk to achieve, expression of being normal people while owning the ways that they are different and their experiences are rather rarefied.

Overall a great read. I would recommend this book to fans of Rob Lowe and fans of biography. 

While writing this review I was listening to Miles Davis.

Me Talk Pretty One Day by David Sedaris

Goodreads Summary:

David Sedaris' move to Paris from New York inspired these hilarious pieces, including the title essay, about his attempts to learn French from a sadistic teacher who declares that every day spent with you is like having a cesarean section. His family is another inspiration. You Can't Kill the Rooster is a portrait of his brother, who talks incessant hip-hop slang to his bewildered father. And no one hones a finer fury in response to such modern annoyances as restaurant meals presented in ludicrous towers of food and cashiers with six-inch fingernails.

My Thoughts:

I recently re-read this for my book club. I decided to listen to the audio-book, as read by the author, rather than read it again. In a lot of ways this made the book entirely new to me and I suggest fans of the book give it a listen. Hearing these stories from the author changed some of the take away for me from my first reading. I don't mean this in a bad way, but in a great way. I think so often a voice on the page can't quite hit the same spot in the heart as actually hearing someone talk about their lives.

A friend of mine gave me a hard time for rating this book a 4 out of 5 on goodreads. I would say it is a 4.5 and I only take that half a point off because occasionally David Sedaris is so honest that it was uncomfortable even for me. This book ran through a lot of emotions for me, some I am sure were intended while others may not have been. I was forced into some of my own nostalgia while listening to some of his stories.

Over all I would recommend this book to everyone, additionally, I think you should give the audio-book a listen if you haven't read it in a long time. You might find as I did something new in it.

While writing this review I was listening to a bastard stray cat meowing its face off in the hallway of my building.

A Girl Called Fearless By Catherine Linka

*****I received this book as an ARC about a year ago, it took me a while to get to it. In no way is my review influenced by the fact that I got this as an ARC****

Goodreads Summary:

Avie Reveare has the normal life of a privileged teen growing up in L.A., at least as normal as any girl’s life is these days. After a synthetic hormone in beef killed fifty million American women ten years ago, only young girls, old women, men, and boys are left to pick up the pieces. The death threat is past, but fathers still fear for their daughters’ safety, and the Paternalist Movement, begun to "protect" young women, is taking over the choices they make.Like all her friends, Avie still mourns the loss of her mother, but she’s also dreaming about college and love and what she’ll make of her life. When her dad "contracts" her to marry a rich, older man to raise money to save his struggling company, her life suddenly narrows to two choices: Be trapped in a marriage with a controlling politician, or run. Her lifelong friend, student revolutionary Yates, urges her to run to freedom across the border to Canada. As their friendship turns to passion, the decision to leave becomes harder and harder. Running away is incredibly dangerous, and it’s possible Avie will never see Yates again. But staying could mean death.From Catherine Linka comes this romantic, thought-provoking, and frighteningly real story, A Girl Called Fearless, about fighting for the most important things in life—freedom and love.


*****I received this book as an ARC about a year ago, it took me a while to get to it. In no way is my review influenced by the fact that I got this as an ARC****

(Advanced Reader Copy)

My Thoughts:

I was a serious slacker in that it took me forever to pick up this book. I admit I judged the book by the cover and honestly it turned me off. However, once I picked it up, I read this book in a day. Part of this is because I didn't want to put this book down. The other part was I was home sick and didn't feel like watching TV. 

This being said I liked the book but I didn't think it was the best thing ever. 

It follows the dystopian/post-apocalyptic formula, but I don't think that is a bad thing per se, just a little boring at this point. The plot point in this book that is different than others is that the majority of women have been killed off from ovarian cancer caused by hormones in our food. I actually think in a lot of ways this is more likely than a lot of possible end of the world scenarios. My point of view on that isn't really important to this review but I will say that this book gave me something to think about, which is always awesome.

Avie is a likable character, she is less annoying and whiny than some other female leads. I feel like she is more relate-able as a person. She is called fearless, but that doesn't mean she actually is. I think that people can force themselves to be fearless  when they are just trying to survive. And Avie is just trying to survive. I think this book is a bit more honest about the intentions of people. No one brave really intends to be that way, they just have to be.

Additionally, I felt the supporting characters were more believable. The intentions of all the characters were realistic and not overly complicated by plot twists that didn't feel natural which is often the case with the genre. Overall, I liked the book and I would recommend it to fans of the genre. I do intend on reading the second book in the series when it comes out later this year.  I could tell that this book was a first book for the author Linka. I think she has enough of a voice that she could really expand the ideas presented in the first book in a really smart way in the second. I hope she lives up to that potential and doesn't let anyone change her voice too much.

While writing this review I was listening to REM Losing My Religion.

Dragonfly In Amber by Diana Gabaldon

Goodreads Summary:

With her now-classic novel Outlander, Diana Gabaldon introduced two unforgettable characters — Claire Randall and Jamie Fraser—delighting readers with a story of adventure and love that spanned two centuries. Now Gabaldon returns to that extraordinary time and place in this vivid, powerful follow-up to Outlander....

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

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

My Thoughts:

The second installment in the Outlander Series definitely didn't grab me as quickly as the first. This isn't anything against the writing per se, mostly there just wasn't as much action as the first book. But the story telling was rich and we got to know our characters better while meeting new ones.

This book is definitely quite sad but that didn't make me want to stop reading it, but I did take it a bit slower than the first book. Jamie and Claire have some rocky times in this book, but they stay true to who they are.

Overall, I liked the book but it didn't hook me as fast and as hard as the first. I am also not running to read the third. I fully intend to read the next book but I think I need a break as these are seriously long and seriously serious books.

I would recommend the book to those who have read Outlander, just be ready for it to be a slower and different read than the first. I wouldn't recommend reading out of order, I am not sure it is a stand alone read.

While writing this review I was listening to my husband and dog snore.