Diana Gabaldon's Drums of Autumn (Outlander Book 4)

This was definitely my favorite installment so far. 

As always, don't read unless you've finished the book or want to be slightly spoiled (I'll try to keep it to a minimum).

Here continues the story of Claire and Jamie Fraser, tossed into the wilds of 1760s America. As a parallel story, we also hear from Brianna, Claire and Jamie's grown daughter living in late 1960s Boston, and her bashful beau Roger Wakefield. Normally I don't like the addition of more points of view in a series that was originally from a single viewpoint, but I feel that expanding this universe was worth any confusion. Gabaldon is very clear at the start of the chapter whose viewpoint we're following, and since most of what Jamie and Claire are doing is less than exciting (e.g. travel, building a house, waiting...) it provides a pleasant interlude to follow Brianna and Roger for a while. 

Like the books before, there are sensual moments interrupted by volatile circumstances, misunderstandings resolved in touching sentimental scenes, violence that, I believe, realistically portrays what our characters would be going through in this time frame. This book, more than the previous installments of the series, led us through the continuation of the story smoothly and seamlessly, without any of the slapstick (and somewhat insulting) comedic happenings of the previous book. 

• Series: Book 4 of 8 (so far)
• Number of pages: 1070 (Mass market paperback edition)
• Year published: 1997
• Days to read: 9 days (only because of a family trip during this time, lol)