2025 Reading Challenge discussion

This thread is to discuss Diana Gabaldon‘s book, Dragonfly in Amber.

Pages: 743

Length: 2 months

Participants: Julia, Alexxy, Kristina, Kristin, MacKenzie, Amber, Blagica, Mikayla, Lindsay, Consuelo, Catka, Dlyn, Kate, Monica, Becka, Ana, Melissa, Allie, Lorraine

Everyone reads at their own pace during a Buddy Read. Because participants can be at different parts of the book at different times, it is extremely important to mark spoilers so that the book is not ruined for someone who is not as far along as others!!!

Mark spoilers by placing {spoiler} before the text and {/spoiler} after the text but use the < and > instead of the { and }.

Check out the introduction post (here) for more information about Buddy Reads!

You might also want to check out what other Buddy Reads are scheduled for 2018 here!.

Happy Buddy Reading!

Hey girls :)

Picked this up from the library this week after seeing that there was a buddy read. I needed to get back to it so I could continue on with watching the tv series!

I’m 80 pages in and not liking the direction so far...

Oh no! Hopefully you enjoy it more as the story goes on. I’m going to start the audiobook this weekend.

Thanks, Kristina.

I’ve heard many people say this series is fantastic on audio!

I’ve been on again off again reading this for 2 years! I’m currently on page 573. I really would like to finish so that I can continue to watch the series. I loved book 1 and season 1 of the series!

Do you need to have read first book to read this one, or can it be read alone?
I’ve had a copy left at my campsite so was going to try it.

Loraine wrote: "Do you need to have read first book to read this one, or can it be read alone?
I’ve had a copy left at my campsite so was going to try it."
The second book is a continuation of the first book story, with the same main characters. So, I don't recommend starting with this book.

I'm on page 100. (view spoiler)[ Somebody knows the scene in the first volume when Claire said that she's pregnant?, or this situation is totally new in the second book? (hide spoiler)]

Consuelo wrote: "I'm on page 100. [spoilers removed]"

(view spoiler)[Claire references it right at the very end of the first book, like within the last page or 2. (hide spoiler)]

Kristina wrote: "Consuelo wrote: "I'm on page 100. [spoilers removed]"

[spoilers removed]"

Thank you

I have a question. Is there a way to see the spoilers that someone else has indicated?

Allie wrote: "Hey girls :)

Picked this up from the library this week after seeing that there was a buddy read. I needed to get back to it so I could continue on with watching the tv series!

I’m 80 pages in a..."

I have added you to the list of participants!

Melissa wrote: "I have a question. Is there a way to see the spoilers that someone else has indicated?"

The answer to this is a resounding "depends"! If you are accessing Goodreads in the browser on your computer - and the spoiler has been entered correctly - you should be able to simply click "view spoiler" and you can see what is written.

However, if you are accessing Goodreads on your phone or mobile device, the behavior is very different and inconsistent. Usually, it will simply say "spoiler removed" and you won't be able to read it. Having said that, I just saw one where the spoiler was not hidden as it should be on my phone.

I will make sure Goodreads is aware of the problem on mobile devices. In the meantime, readers beware!

I've finished the first 10 chapters. (view spoiler)[Part I of the book (the present day section) was really slow/boring, with the exception of only a couple of interesting parts - Roger Wakefield being a MacKenzie descendant and the actual reveal of the truth to Brianna and Roger. I do like Roger as a character though and appreciate that he was receptive to Claire's explanation.

Part II is a little better, moving back to Claire and Jamie's story and reviving the familiar spirit of the first book, though I'm not really interested in the political details of the time period. But the story is definitely keeping my interest more than the earlier part of the book and hopefully will continue to do so since it's still pretty early in the story. (hide spoiler)]

I have decided to read this book after all. I’m on page 250.
I’ve never had a go at a buddy read before, so not sure what to expect.

Can I join in, or am I not allowed as my name isn’t at the top as participants? Loraine

You can join Loraine! Just be sure to mark any spoilers :). What do you think of the book so far?

I’m really enjoying it.
I struggled at first with working out who was ‘speaking ‘, but have worked it out now.

Loraine wrote: "I’m really enjoying it.
I struggled at first with working out who was ‘speaking ‘, but have worked it out now."

I had that issue in the beginning as well (In Part I). It didn't help that I was listening to the audiobook. (view spoiler)[I was glad when it went back to focusing just on Claire's narrative. (hide spoiler)]

Loraine wrote: "Can I join in, or am I not allowed as my name isn’t at the top as participants? Loraine"

Feel free! I think the names at the top are just a way for the moderators to keep track, it doesn’t really matter.

This book is so long!! Like, unnecessarily long. At least the first book kept flowing, there was stuff going on to justify the number of pages. Not the case here.

The first 300 pages: 😴😴😴😴😴
The next 100-150: 👍🏻
After page 500: uggghhhh

I’ve heard from numerous people that it picks back up and really whammies you at the end but all 900 of these pages were NOT needed! Some passages are so pointless!!

Allie wrote: "This book is so long!! Like, unnecessarily long. At least the first book kept flowing, there was stuff going on to justify the number of pages. Not the case here. ."

This is a big problem with Gabaldon's books and gets worse and worse with each following book. I think she badly needed a good editor who would have told her to cut everything by half, at least.

Agree completely and it does get worse. I'm determined to finish the series because of pure stubborness but honestly I left off at book 5 because they could be much, much shorter.

Kate wrote: "Agree completely and it does get worse. I'm determined to finish the series because of pure stubborness but honestly I left off at book 5 because they could be much, much shorter."
I did finish them all, but frankly, they are not worth it. I was enchanted by the whole thing at the time, so I kept going, but should have left off after the second, middle of the third at the latest. After that, they are just wordy, the plots keep repeating or there are none at all, the characters are just running around their new homes. I was listening to them and I probably missed a lot while doing other stuff never noticing.
I tried to listen again to this one for this discussion, but am just heartily bored.
I never thought it was a great literature, I took it as a nice fairy tale, cause we all know time travel is not real, and neither are men who are great warriors, wise and righteous landlords, great lovers and considerate husbands all in one. But it is nice to read about them for relax and pleasure. And the characters are quite likeable and the story, at least the first two books, takes place in an interesting setting and at interesting time period. So yes, I was enchanted, but the magic is not permanent, it seems.

That makes sense. I read the first 4, and then relistened to the first for the discussion. It was great for work since I could zone in and out and not miss anything. I haven't started the second yet but was going to after my current audiobook. (Honestly I fell asleep to the first one a few times and didn't feel the need to rewind it).

Allie wrote: "This book is so long!! Like, unnecessarily long. At least the first book kept flowing, there was stuff going on to justify the number of pages. Not the case here.

The first 300 pages: 😴😴😴😴😴
The ..."

I agree! I have a stubbornness where I need to finish a book before watching it. I read the first novel much quicker and then watched the first series. This 2nd novel is taking me a lot longer...years! I occasionally get into what is happening between Jamie and Claire, but then lose interest and put it down for a few weeks. I've made it to the final section though and am determined to finish!

I just picked this up completely forgot about it =)

I’m almost half way through and can relate to comments about it being ‘wordy’.
I am still enjoying it though.
Possibly because I’ve visited Culloden and been frozen there as wind howled around me, and because I’m living in France at the moment, so enjoy reading anything regarding this country.

I'm 60% done with the book and will continue for next month. Is anyone else still reading?

I FINALLY finished it. Such a chore!!! I’m seriously reconsidering this whole “I have to read the entire series” thing I usually do...

But I just love Jaime so much 😰

Kristina wrote: "I'm 60% done with the book and will continue for next month. Is anyone else still reading?"

Go Kristina, go!!

Hope my cheering helps lol. I could have used a cheerleader, getting thru this was torture!

I left off for a while as there were two thinner (and quicker) books needing to be read, before I left my campsite. I’m now travelling home, so will pick up again. I’m still about halfway through it.
Do you think that reducing the descriptions used would have made this book better? I’m wondering if they’re designed to enhance the reading by ensuring we all know exactly how streets were/people looked, etc.

Allie wrote: "Kristina wrote: "I'm 60% done with the book and will continue for next month. Is anyone else still reading?"

Go Kristina, go!!

Hope my cheering helps lol. I could have used a cheerleader, gettin..."

Haha, thank you!

Loraine wrote: "Do you think that reducing the descriptions used would have made this book better? I’m wondering if they’re designed to enhance the reading by ensuring we all know exactly how streets were/people looked, etc"

I think the story definitely could benefit with some editing down, whether it's shorting some of the scenes or just deleting entire passages. The first book was very detailed as well but I felt it contributed more to setting up the environment and the characters. It also had the benefit of novelty and I think the overall plot was just way more interesting in itself.

Another thing about this book is that, for me, (view spoiler)[because we learned immediately that Claire had been back in present time for 20 years, I'm was no longer as interested in what happened in the past and am much more interested in what happens next in the third book. I'll probably read at least one more book in the series before deciding if I continue or now. (hide spoiler)]

Greetings All! I am moving this thread to October as it is a two month read!

I have finished the book today. 3 stars for me. I ended up liking the story overall, and I like how some things came together in the end, but it was just too long, and it FELT too long. There was a lot to slog through to get to interesting parts. Some parts that interested me in the last quarter of the book:

(view spoiler)[- I liked the explanation/resolution of the Mary Hawkins/Alex Randall/Jack Randall scenario because I could not see before that how Mary Hawkins and Jack Randall would come to be together. So it makes more sense that Mary's child would be Alex's and not Jack's. I was expecting more of an acknowledgement about Frank's ancestor being Alex and not Jack and making some connection of it being more fitting between Alex's and Frank's personalities, but I don't think it came up (unless I missed it in the audio book).

- After all the trauma Jack Randall caused in the first book, I couldn't quite reconcile for myself Jack Randall becoming Claire's war confidante, even for the sake Alex and the war outcome. And then, when Alex Randall dies, JAMIE (!!) is the one who walks Randall to his room. I thought that was a bit too much, despite the sad situation.

- I'm really glad we learned more about Geillis Duncan. I thought she was really interesting in the first book, being a fellow time traveller. I thought in the first book that the reason why she seemed so uncaring about how her actions effected the people in the past was because she wasn't a part of it - which also contributed to her being thought a witch. I also thought that maybe she has passed through the stones in a similar fashion as Claire did, by accident. So it was really interesting to see that not only did she plan her passage, but that she was just as uncaring and murderous of her present husband as she was of her past husband for her own gains. I liked that consistency about her. I think she is a little crazy (burning her husband as a sacrifice!!) but she's still one of my favorite characters. (hide spoiler)]

I plan on reading the 3rd book eventually, probably early next year after attempting to complete my remaining reading challenges for this year.

I concur with your comments, Kristina.

And since this ended on a bloody cliffhanger, I guess I’ll be reading book #3 (although I really want to chuck the rest of the series out the window).

Kristina and Allie ! I’m happy I read these comments. It is very rare for me to stop reading a book (and I loved the first outlander!) but im only about 260 pages in and am losing interest. I love the characters and the dynamic between Claire and Jamie but I feel myself wanting to give up. Which I NEVER do! It just feels quite long. Advice? Worth persevering? :)

I'd like to join on this one if that's ok. I've read Outlander and kept wanting to continue with the series for a very long time. But I somehow ended up postponing. This BR provides the perfect excuse and motivation, especially as I see other people are also not thrilled with it.

Merette wrote: "Kristina and Allie ! I’m happy I read these comments. It is very rare for me to stop reading a book (and I loved the first outlander!) but im only about 260 pages in and am losing interest. I love ..."

Ugh, you’re gonna hate it lol.

As a whole, not much happened in this book. I’m still considering not continuing the series but I want to watch the tv show too much and I’m one of those that needs to read the books before seeing it on tv (most of the time). So I’ll probably read book #3....but I’ll probably complain the whole time lol.

So I guess it’s up to how important it is to you.

Side note: I loved the first book too. I’ve been told I’m a harsh “rater” and I gave Outlander 4 stars (rare for me). That’s how much I loved it. That probably made the hatred for this one that much more intense!!!

Laura wrote: "I'd like to join on this one if that's ok. I've read Outlander and kept wanting to continue with the series for a very long time. But I somehow ended up postponing. This BR provides the perfect exc..."

Welcome aboard! And good luck!

Can I still join? Or is it too late?

The buddy read goes thru October so anyone can join :)

Well I'm still reading this book - I've really slowed down since being back in the UK and having a lot of other things taking precedence over reading - sorry to say that!

I've now got to page 550. (view spoiler)[ whilst having read at the beginning that Claire was pregnant when returning to her own time, and presumably she wouldn't have been far gone, it didn't really surprise me that she lost the baby, as she was heavily pregnant and having to rest up, due to threatened miscarriage.
There seems to be a lot of mistrust, at this point, between Jamie and Claire, and to me, it felt as though this was being handled almost like a cheap romance novel (am I allowed to mention Mills & Boon?). (hide spoiler)]
I'm hoping to get a few more days to myself in which to continue reading this book. I hope I get to the end before the Buddy Read finishes!!

Allie lol thank you for your advice!!! I’m so glad I asked your opinion. Feels like we both had the same love for the first book (and I can’t help it I LOVE Jamie) but this book was just so..... drawn out? I am really hard on myself when I give up on books but I had to. I just couldn’t make myself continue. I’d settle in, big comfy blanket, glass of wine, open the book and then shut it again lol. I just couldn’t do it! 🙈

LOL, You’re welcome!!! I feel ya on that. It always felt “wrong” to not finish a book but I’ve tried to change that way of thinking this year in particular. I love Jaime too, he’s one of my “book boyfriends” lol, and really the only reason why I kept going (and wanting to see him in the tv series!) but it took me a month at least. That’s a whole month (or more!) of dreading to read! So I think you’ve made a wise choice. Check Wikipedia out for the summarized version because no joke, maybe 20 pages of this blasted book had actual action to them!!!