Also, I know how many teenagers are Really Not Readers, and there's a lot to be said for it on that front (that is, easy and not complex).

There's a lot to be said for it encouraging them to go out and find more books, too. When I briefly worked at a bookstore two years ago, the teen girls who came in couldn't get enough -- Twilight had whetted their appetite, and they were eager for anything even remotely like it.

See, I absolutely adored Roger but conversely, loathed Bree. Don't know why, except it was as if Gabaldon took the worst aspects of Jamie and Claire's personalities and put them in Bree, making her a difficult character for me to like. But I loved seeing another male character stand up to Jamie at that point in the series—he'd become so Super Jamie that he needed a counter who was as strong as he was, but in a different way.

I also confess my unabashed love for the beta hero over the alpha every single time, so there's that, too.

I am glad Roger and Bree and mostly gone; I agree that I read for Jamie and Claire, and it got a little sidetracked.

I am oh-so-happy when students read anything; if they are reading Twilight, I am down with that, but I always talk about the issues I have with Bella and recommend similar books with stronger female protags.

unabashed love for the beta hero over the alpha every single time

F'nor not F'lar
Boromir not Aragorn
Shaggy not Fr--no, never mind.

But yes, I usually share your preference. And Jamie's super-ness may have been a contributing factor to my falling out of love with the series. I just...the reading of it became too hard work for the reward of pleasure gained. Too many books, too little time.

Shaggy not Fr--no, never mind.

that should read, "Velma, not Daphne"

Boromir not Aragorn

Cranky Elf (can never, ever remember his name) not Legolas
Chuck not Casey
Edward not Brandon

There's a lot to be said for it encouraging them to go out and find more books, too. When I briefly worked at a bookstore two years ago, the teen girls who came in couldn't get enough -- Twilight had whetted their appetite, and they were eager for anything even remotely like it.

When I worked at the bookstore it was the Harry Potter series that was doing this. The kids had read everything that had been written in the series up to that point, and they wanted anything they could get that was similar.

I think Harry Potter was responsible for a broader sample of people of all ages reading again, though. Twilight was pretty strictly teen girls (and their moms, although I think those moms were probably already romance readers).

Anything that gets anyone to read more is a good thing, which is why I hate when I hear parents in a bookstore telling their kids they can only read "good books", they should be working with their kid's interests, not against them.

I have never read any Gabaldon, but I may have to look into downloading one to my kindle. Is Outlander the first book in the series?

Has anyone read Masques or Wolfsbane by Patricia Briggs? Masques is her first published book that has recently been reprinted after being out of print for a while and Wolfsbane is the sequel that was just published for the first time. I recently finished the first and I am currently reading the second. I love them. I think I like Aralorn (the main character) as much as Mercy.