Outlander (PRODUCT/BOOK REVIEW)

How’s everyone’s week going? Last Wednesday I finished listening to Diana Gabaldon’s Outlander on auidiobook CD. PHRC (PotterHead Running Club) Book Club is an online Facebook group that I am an admin of and this was the book that was picked after three days of voting. It had been on my TBR list for over a year and it was a perfect book to start out the year!

Book Blurb

Upon a bit of research, I didn’t realize that the first book was published June 1st, 1991. Wow! Below is a summary of the plot, provided by Good Reads:

“The year is 1945. Claire Randall, a former combat nurse, is just back from the war and reunited with her husband on a second honeymoon when she walks through a standing stone in one of the ancient circles that dot the British Isles. Suddenly she is a Sassenach—an “outlander”—in a Scotland torn by war and raiding border clans in the year of Our Lord…1743.

“Hurled back in time by forces she cannot understand, Claire is catapulted into the intrigues of lairds and spies that may threaten her life, and shatter her heart. For here James Fraser, a gallant young Scots warrior, shows her a love so absolute that Claire becomes a woman torn between fidelity and desire—and between two vastly different men in two irreconcilable lives.” -Good Reads

Review

If you know me, writing about major plot summaries and such isn’t the best writing trait I have. I tend to get lost in subplots and other reading things, besides descriptions and such. Since I was listening to this on CD (a loan from the library) was 6 discs and sometimes I’d loose focus since I was commuting two hours each day via noisy highway driving and such.

BUT this book was right on the line of how much romance I can take in a book. For me, less is more. Romance is one of the few genres I read but I have started reading more books that has more romance in it. I’d consider this my romantic book for the year. I might’ve enjoyed the romance (and possibly the book) even more, if I had been reading it. Time wise, I knew that I wouldn’t have been able to read it with my schedule as is.

This book is highly entertaining and also has a TV to go with it as well. I’m 100% going to read more of the series later and then go and watch the television show.

My only concern? Length of the stories. In the Facebook group, someone posed the question about the length of the books and series. Is it necessary for everything to be stretched out to eight books? What would the book series look like if the “excess” of romance was filtered throughout and the plot moved at a quicker pace?

For a counter argument, the way the first book is structured definitely makes it easier to transition to television. And, if you are a fan of this writing style and historical novel genre, you’d enjoy this book as well.

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If you would like to join this Facebook group, click on the link below to join. I’ll add you to the 700 readers. If you’d like to check out what we are reading in February, it’s A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness. I just picked up my audiobook CD loan for this book at the Norman public library.

I’m an avid reader and writer, amidst being a commuting university student. I have created a consistent blog post schedule for Monday, Wednesday, and Fridays. Always check back here for latest updates, as well as the multitude of social media accounts.

What book are you looking forward to reading in February? I’d love to add more titles to my TBR list and so feel free to comment below. Hoping you all have a beautiful month!
Happy Reading,
Danielle