yonuh and Anne,
I started reading Galbaldon's, "An Echo In The Bone" but got sidetracked by Krauthhammer's, "Things That Matter." I'll have to get that 7th book back again. yonuh, Did you like "Echo"? What's Diana's 8th book? I started reading "Treasure Island" but the beginning seems slow, to me. Agatha got right into the interesting stuff. I like that. Maya's depth intrigues me. The pain in her spirit surfaces through her writing.

I loved all of Gabaldon's books. The 8th is Written in my Own Heart's Blood. I have also read the Lord John series that she wrote. Jamie and Claire sometimes show up in those but the focus is on Lord John; interesting stories.

I've read some Lord John books, too. And I agree they're good.

"The Art of Deception" by Nora Roberts is an excellent read.
It was published in 1986 but I finished reading it today and loved, loved, loved it. If you haven't read it, it's something you might enjoy.

I'm also reading "Treasure Island"; am up to Chapter 8. But am not so thrilled with it as other recently read books. Perhaps it'll get better. I hope so.

I'm reading Diana Gabaldon's "Written in my Own Heart's Blood", which is Book 8 in the Outlander series. I've been waiting a year or more for this book and just found out there will be a Book 9. I guess I'll have to wait another couple of years for it to come out. I have read a couple of books by Nora Roberts, but I much prefer the J D Robb novels.

I know. I'm thinking Diana isn't as well known, because her books are so huge. It takes some time just to get through one of hers. Diana's writing is very impressive. She's as talented as can be. But that "Art of Deception" was excellent, too. The overall play on words is interesting. I started reading book 7 of Diana's and need to go back and finish it.

I just finished Book 8 and did not like the ending. I don't know how it was accomplished, but I hate having to wait another couple of years before I find out. :-(

That Diana Gabaldon has some imagination. It's unreal how she can write so much.

Have any of you read "Treasure Island"? I'm still wading through it; but don't understand why they consider it a classic...perhaps I'm missing something???

Hi Jabber,

I'm not sure if I've read all of Treasure Island, I think I read parts of it in junior high.

But I know what you mean about wondering why it's a classic. My Dad gave me a beautifully bound copy of "Moby D-ick" for Christmas.

(Not sure why he did this, but he gave large hard bound books to everyone, and I sort of have the feeling he was actually giving away parts of his personal library.)

Anyway, I recalled that he'd always opined that Moby D ick was a wonderful classic -- one of the best books about the sea ever written.

So I started to dig into it early in January. At this point, I haven't removed it from my reading pile, but I am totally underwhelmed, and I probably haven't read any of it since February.

I'm well over 200 pages into it, I'd guess, and they've just -- finally -- boarded the stupid boat. They haven't yet left port.

It's clear to me that in the 150+ years since this book was written, writing styles have evolved significantly. It's probably due to the "advent" of radio, TV and film, but I'm looking for things to happen a lot faster...

As for Treasure Island, of course, it's also considered a timeless classic. I did some research on it, too and learned that Stevenson was Scottish, and the book was written in 1883. So it was written 30-some years AFTER "The White Whale"... yet it still deals with ships, pirates, and the men involved with them.

I was intrigued to read that it was originally serialized in a children's magazine, as I don't really think of it as a book for children, by today's standards.

I'll be curious to find out if anyone else here has read eitehr or both books and has thoughts to share.