Outlander again! Finally!

I put the latest in Diana Gabaldon's Outlander series Go Tell the Bees That I Am Gone on a library request list as soon as I saw there was an actual publication date. I'd heard it was coming... and it was coming... but had no idea when. The wait felt so long!

I think that this might have been my least favorite of the Outlander books. There were many references to characters or events in earlier books with very little context. I found those frustrating at times, especially since I know that I will never go back to read the earlier books. While it was very interesting to read about battles of the American Revolution, sometimes the military stuff got a bit too much for me and slowed down the pace of my reading.

I thought this was going to be the final book in the series. If that is so, the ending was terrible. It just kind of dropped off. There has to be more!
 

I married a guy who doesn't like to read

I mean. Really. Right?

Not only does he not like to read, he doesn't understand my need to read. All the time. He just doesn't get it. (Plus... he doesn't like watching TV in bed.)

Then again, he's happy enough to be puttering out in the yard for hours on end. I enjoy documenting his gardening efforts with my photographs. But I have a tremendous dislike for getting my hands dirty. In the literal sense. I'm sure he doesn't understand that!

He can sit and watch hours of Food TV, HGTV, DIY, or any one of a number of history channels. I can be a big couch potato, too, but at a point it becomes... well, pointless... and I'd rather be reading.

A few months into reading Outlander and hearing everyone who loved the books rave about the Starz TV series, I decided to check out the TV series. The book is always better than the movie. What about the TV show? And what did Claire and Jamie look like?

I thought I'd be able to get it for free with my Amazon Prime subscription. But nope, there was still a charge to view it there. As curious as I was, I wasn't that curious.

Visiting my son, I learned that he had access to Starz. BINGO! It was through his cell phone, but he could send it to the TV and we could watch it on the big screen. He, my husband and I sat down to watch Episode 1, Season 1 of Outlander. By the end of the episode, my husband was hooked. It was after midnight and I think if my son didn't need his cell phone, we probably would have watched another episode or two.

Everyone so often, my husband will ask, "Have you figured out a way that we can watch Outlander? Can't we just buy the series?" Yes, one can. But I can't. Yes, I'm that cheap. (I keep meaning to look to see if the library has the series for loan on DVD.)

Another difference between my husband and me is that I can watch the news endlessly. I particularly like learning the details of bad news stories. I try to figure out how bad things happen. Like this year's Presidential race. Seriously. How did we end this way? This morning, I started with Meet the Press, then caught the end of Face the Nation. I hadn't yet had enough. Rather than turning to some 24-hour news channel, I switched to the Sunday more political show on our local news channel. "Haven't you had enough of this garbage?" he wanted to know. "Isn't there anything else on TV?" The answer to the first question was a resounding no. The answer to the second question was qualified. "We can watch something else - but it has to be something good." I checked for movies On Demand. I don't even remember what movie I selected... but after about 2 minutes I realized that the Starz logo was on the bottom of the screen. Starz? We can get Starz On Demand? It must be a Starz Free Preview Weekend! I once again hit the On Demand button, but this time I did a search for Original Starz TV shows. And there it was. The entire first season of Outlander.

We both happily sat down and watched Episode 2. He gave a running commentary, complete with predictions... and I had to just sit there silently. Knowing what I know, I didn't want to ruin the series for him. (I also find that watching the TV show while I'm a hiatus from reading is really ideal. No way to go into Outlander overload!)


After an hour went by, I suggested we watch Episode 3. But no... the guy who can happily binge watch Mysteries of the Bible on the History Channel had plans for the day. "If it's a free weekend, can't we watch this tonight?" Sure... but we certainly can't binge watch another 14 hours of Outlander tonight. Now maybe if he enjoyed watching TV in bed, we'd have a cable box in the bedroom and could watch well into the night. But no... We have to do all our watching in the family room.

I did a little research to see when this free weekend ends. Boy, is the information sketchy! Confusing! I think I read that the second series starts on April 4th... and that the whole series will be available to watch in the week prior. Does that mean another free Starz weekend?

Okay... if we sit down to watch Outlander now, we can probably get in another 6 episodes before it's time for bed.

What am I reading now?

I'm sure you're curious as to what I'm reading now.

I'm reading The Outlander Series by Diana Gabaldon from a 7-Book Bundle that I found in Overdrive. (It's been easier to renew than any of the individual books.) I'm in the very middle of the fifth book of the series, The Fiery Cross. I started the series last July, when one of my book clubs decided to read the first book over a 2-month period. I haven't stopped. I guess that's another reason why I feel like I'm not reading as many books as I used to read. These books are l-o-n-g!

I'm not sure why I avoided the series for so long. "Oh, time travel? I'm not really into that." And for some reason I thought religion played a focal role in the stories. Yes, religion does play a role. But not at all in the way that I thought. And while it is a time travel book, there's probably less comparison between "then" and "now" than I would have included had I attempted to write a similar story.

After completing the first book for book club and summarizing it by writing, "This is the kind of book I would have loved in college..." implying that I wouldn't like it now, I've been stuck into the series for months!

At the same time, I've got  A Child Called "It" by Dave Pelzer (1995) checked out of the library and waiting for me on Overdrive. Like the Outlander bundle, it's also due in 10 more days. At some point in the next day or two, I'm going to have to stop reading Outlander and start reading "It."