The student surpasses the teacher

Over the past few months, two books I've been eagerly awaiting were released.  The first was An Echo in the Bone, the seventh in Diana Gabaldon's Outlander series.  The second was Endless Forest, the fifth, and final, book in Sara Donati's Wilderness series.  I have mentioned both of these books before in anticipation of their publication, but just finished Endless Forest and have now had some time to process both. 


I first started reading the Wilderness series because it had been recommended to me as something I would like if I liked Outlander and I still make that recommendation if someone is looking for a book like Gabaldon's.  I read the Wilderness books because I liked the Outlander books.  In the latest installments, though, something switched.  I think the Wilderness series, on a whole, has surpassed the Outlander series.  (I will now pause as I duck all the objects being thrown at me by you Outlander fans, because I know that we are a loyal and devoted bunch -- bear with me as I try to explain.)  It seems to me that over the course of the Outlander series, the story has become too big.  There are too many characters Gabaldon wants to write about, there are too many historical events she wants to include, and there are too many times and places she wants her story to be.  Particularly with the last installment, I have had an increasingly hard time feeling emotionally vested in the characters.  She's still an incredibly gifted writer and story-teller but, from my perspective, the people are less important to the story now.  Donati's books, on the other hand, have gone in the opposite direction.  While there's still historical information, her books have become less about place and time and more about the people involved. 


Endless Forest is definitely the end of the Wilderness series, while An Echo in the Bone is definitely not the end of the Outlander series. Donati is actually a pen name for Rosina Lippi, a former linguistics professor who writes more literary novels under her own name, but she has opened the possibility of telling the stories of some of Wilderness's secondary characters as Donati.   Either way, I'm eager to see where each of these two authors go from here.

Endless Forest

Many years ago, my mother introduced me to the Outlander series by Diana Gabaldon.  I was instantly, and completely, hooked.  It had history, it had adventure, it had romance, it had characters who were compelling.  I loved it, and I continue to look forward to new books in this series.  The only problem is, Gabaldon only comes out with a new one every four to five years.  That's a long time to wait.

Not long after exhausting what was then the complete Outlander series, someone recommended I try Sara Donati's Into the Wilderness, a book about Elizabeth Middleton, a 29-year-old old maid from England, and her adjustment to life in the wilderness of western New York in 1792.  While it is missing the time travel aspects of Gabaldon's series, fans of Outlander will identify with Elizabeth's independence and determination, unusual for a woman of her day.  The Wilderness series is full of well-developed, interesting, and relatable characters, and provides a fascinating view of race relations at the cusp of the 18th century, as Elizabeth falls in love with a white man who lives with the Mohawks, and befriends Curiousity, a freed slave. 

The Endless Forest is scheduled for release in January 2010.  If you like the Outlander series, or if you've never tried either, but are just looking for a good historical fiction, check out Sara Donati's Wilderness  series.

Oh, the giddiness, the giddiness!

Oh boy, oh boy, oh boy...it's finally here -- the middle of September, my new favorite month! It's always been a great month (the beginning of fall, school, and the football/chili season are all big draws), but this year, a couple of books have put it over the top and I have been waiting for this for months.

First up is Dan Brown's highly anticipated The Lost Symbol, due out in just four days, on Tuesday, September 15. Now, I know that there's a lot of fuss about Dan Brown not being the greatest author to ever touch pen to paper and about his tendency to vicariously romanticize himself in his books through Robert Langdon, since many argue that Dan Brown sees Langdon as himself. I wouldn't put up an argument about that. Still, his stories are consistently interesting, entertaining, and have a fast pace that keep me hooked from the get-go.

I will definitely finish The Lost Symbol in less than a week. How can I say this for certain? Well, first of all, Brown's books are fast reads. More importantly, though, is that I need to be done because of the book that comes out one week after Brown's latest and which, I have to confess, has had me completely giddy since I heard about its release date last year: After four long years of waiting, Diana Gabaldon's seventh book in the Outlander series, An Echo in the Bone will be released. My mom got me hooked on this fascinating fantasy-romance-historical fiction series in the early 1990s. Since then, every four or five years has been punctuated for me with a burst of excitement as each new installment has been released. This book has been a long time coming. I've put my family and friends on notice that I will be taking myself out of commission for a few days so I can immerse myself in the world of Claire and Jamie. I love talking about all kinds of books with patrons who come through the library on a daily basis, but I have noticed a particular enthusiasm for this series by those who have read it. One gentleman even told me a few months ago that his wife and some of his friends were on a trip to Scotland to find Jamie! Since a trip to Scotland is not in my immediate future (it will probably have to wait until after my trip to Prince Edward Island with my daughters to find Anne), I'm going to travel through time and distance vicariously when this book comes out...soon!

A little reading, a little soap box

Pardon me while I step up on my soap box for a moment:

Really? A 50% cut to the public library fund? Back in January, we put a library value calculator on our home page. If you missed it then, you can still access it here. I calculated my library use and found that I get a little over $1700 a month in value from the library. That translates to a little over $20,000 a year. Admittedly, I get a lot of books because I am a voracious reader...but so are thousands of others in our community. I check out a lot of books for my kids...but so do thousands of others in our community. I check out the occasional movie...and so do thousands of others in our community. I would never (could never) spend $20,000 a year on these materials, so the library truly provides an opportunity for me and my family to experience things we otherwise wouldn't be able to. I recognize that my view might be perceived as biased because I work at the library, but I work at the library because I have always loved the library, not the other way around. I'm truly saddened (outraged, shocked, you name it) to think that my children might grow up in a state where the library and the myriad services it provides will be a shell of what I have always known. If you share my love for libraries (or even if you're a bit less fanatical than I admit I can be, but still have an appreciation for all the excitement, enrichment, enlightenment, and entertainment of the library), please share your view with the governor and state legislators. Today. Now. It's urgent. More information can be found here

Now, the part about what I've been reading: I've been reading a lot of varied books with subjects from Leondardo DaVinci's mother (Signora DaVinci) to a woman dealing with the mortality and humanity of her estranged, dying husband (My Husband's Sweethearts), to life for a strong, independent, single woman in 18th century America (Into the Wilderness). I've put the 7th book in a series on hold, even though it's not published until September (Diana Gabaldon's long-awaited An Echo in the Bone -- more on that in a future post). And I've been able to do it all because of the library.

I will now step off my soapbox...at least long enough to catch my breath.