I'm reading Diana Gabaldon's 'A Breath of Snow and Ashes' from her Outlander series right now. I've been working on this series for a long time, mainly because I have to be in the right frame of mind to read her work (and will go a couple months in between reading the next book in the series). She's one of those writers that goes into tons of detail and has all these little subplots with supporting characters going on. And the main plot kind of crawls along at a snail's pace.
That said, I do like the series. For those who don't know what it's about, in a very tiny nutshell: Claire, a 20th century nurse, accidentally travels back in time to 18th century Scotland where she meets Highander Jamie Frasier. The two are married for convenience, but eventually do fall in love, and the series chronicles their lives and adventures. I've enjoyed it for many reasons: 1) the main characters are so well drawn she could be talking about real people. For me, characters that are engaging is a must. 2) Historical setting. She's created a believable world. I like how she wove actual historical events into her story, and has her characters live through them. 3) Strong love story. This is where I usually get hung up--I like a good love story, but I dislike 'love at first sight and we're soulmates and ready to be married after knowing each other for a week' type stories. It's so CHEESY when that happens!!!! So yeah.
I admit I took a brief (two day) break from this book and read Halfway to the Grave by Jeaniene Frost. That was pretty much the literary equivalent to a candy bar or a bag of chips...ZERO nutritional value, but then again, you don't eat it for your health, do you?
