December 2018 Reading Round Up
Posted 2nd January 2019
Category: Round-Ups Genres: N/A
7 Comments
Christmas flew by so quickly that it’s all a bit confusing here at the moment. It was a lovely time in general, but there was a lot of coming and going. There were several families to consider, which I expect many of you can relate to!
The Book
Diana Gabaldon: Outlander – A woman from 1940s London visits Scotland and is whisked two hundred years in the past, a time when the Highlands was a dangerous place to be, especially if you had an English accent. A historical fantasy romance, leaning heavily on the side of the third genre.
One book is a 100% improvement on November, and I’m considering it a fair feat in other ways: 1) Outlander is 851 pages, and thus equal to a couple of regular novels in length; 2) although I didn’t love it, it was the right choice for the time. Once finished I immediately started the TV adaptation, which I’m enjoying a lot more. I’ve not yet decided whether to continue reading the books or to just keep watching the adaptation – finding out about the way the second book begins has given me pause in terms of the text. (It’s a huge spoiler so I won’t include it here – it’s on the Wikipedia page for Dragonfly In Amber.
Quotation Report
If you travel to 1740s Scotland, as one does, remember that disinfectant doesn’t yet exist. Failure to remember may result in a humorous exchange not unlike that experienced by one Claire Randall, an Outlander, whose requests for various disinfectants to clansmen resulted in blank stares until she asked for alcohol and received a jovial response.
At the time of writing this I’m not sure exactly what I’ll be reading next, but the Gabaldon has made me want to return to Du Maurier’s The House On The Strand. I may well proceed along the lines of the Long-Awaited Reads Month concept of a few years ago; the Du Maurier would meet the conditions.
I missed Christmas, but I wish you a very happy New Year! Let me know what you’re reading!
Off topic, for those asking about What’s In A Name: I’m unable to host the challenge this year and haven’t yet found someone to take it over. If you are interested please get in touch with me via email (on the Contact page). Hosting the challenge requires an initial block of time to set up one post, a second block of time to set up eight more, and all but one post require a linking system (Mr Linky is recommended and costs US $5 per year). You’ll then want a bit of time each week/fortnight to comment on posts and you may, every now and then, need to add people’s reviews to the lists yourself. The challenge sees up to 150 people signing up, so do bear that in mind if you pay for website hosting – you’ll want to either disable hotlinking or upload your challenge logo to a separate image site.
January 3, 2019, 12:28 am
Thanks for the info on WIAN. Even though I wasn’t planning to sign up this year (since I’m curtailing my blogging drastically), I was still interested in knowing the topics.
I’ve not read (or watched) the Outlander series, but I’ve heard a lot about it (and not all good, actually).
My first book for the year is The Grave’s a Fine and Private Place – book #9 in Alan Bradley’s Flavia de Luce series.
January 3, 2019, 3:47 pm
I’d love to host the challenge this year. I emailed you a couple of weeks ago about it, but I’ll send you another. Thanks for the update!
January 4, 2019, 2:43 am
Thanks for hosting the What’s in a Name! I see you have a volunteer, which makes me glad. I’m not able to commit but it is a favorite and I will help if needed, if I can.
Happy New Year!
January 4, 2019, 11:24 pm
Happy New Year, Charlie! It’s been a while. I agree that the Outlander doorstopper is equivalent to two moderate-length novels, so you did great. I averaged less than that. I haven’t read the Outlander series but I have watched three seasons of it–soon to watch the fourth–and I can tell you it is very, very good. People who have read the books say that the TV series adheres to the source material quite well. You be the judge. :-)
January 5, 2019, 5:31 pm
And a happy New Year to you too Charlie! I haven’t read the Outlander books, but my interest has been piqued by seeing adverts for the TV series. I am currently reading Bellewether by Susanna Kearsley. Happy reading in January and for the rest of 2019!
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January 2, 2019, 9:30 pm
Happy New Year! I love the Outlander series and Dragonfly in Amber is my favourite, so I hope you enjoy it if you do decide to continue. I’ve only seen the adaptation of the first book so far, though.