Thursday, August 11, 2011

Making a big commitment

No, I'm  not talking about a relationship or a diet (OK, so maybe I am secretly working on this last one). I'm referring to the all consuming, exclusive, time commitment of reading a book series. In a rather innocent conversation with a friend the other night she asked if I had read the Outlander series.

Long story short, ten minutes later I had the first book, OUTLANDER, loaded on my Kindle.


Later that night I started reading it. As I had been warned it started out a bit slow but then BAM. I was hooked. Nothing wrong with that is there? There are few things in life as rewarding as losing yourself in a great story. I live to read. But I'm also a writer, so when I have an extra 5 minutes in my day I ask myself, read or write?


The answer is easy...when I'm not deeply involved in someone else's book, that is. So this is where that whole commitment thing comes in. I'm VERY deeply involved in OUTLANDER. There's no turning back now. The problem is I had no idea what I was getting myself into when I started.


The paperback version of OUTLANDER is 600 pages long and that is the shortest of the bunch. The paperback of book 5 is a staggering 1008 pages! Can you see why I'm in trouble here? And (yes, there's more!) after visiting the author's site I see that there are 8 books. Disclaimer: I'm a total sucker for a series. I'm all about spending more time with characters I already love. But that usually means I get to hang out with them in 2 or 3, maybe 4 books.

I. Am. In. So. Much. Trouble. You see, I'm already committed, and I'm only halfway through book 1.


Becca, I don't know whether I should hug you or cry for telling me how much you loved OUTLANDER. Maybe a tearful hug? I can already tell it's going to be a long (expensive) journey, but I can't wait to see where the story takes me. My writing vs reading battle might have become a little more fierce, but I have a feeling it's going to be totally worth it.

Have you read the Outlander series? What you think? Have you loved a book then later discovered it was part of a long series?

6 comments:

JennM said...

I think Mare has been telling us about those books or maybe Bev.. maybe both LOL - if they're the ones I'm thinking about then one or both of them have all of them if you want to borrow :-)

Tere Kirkland said...

Ha! Slowly read them all except the last one, which I borrowed from a friend. But it is too big (unless I download it to my Nook, lol), and I read the last one years ago and can't remember everything that happened.

They're great though. I love them just for Claire's uses of medicinal herbs, but Jamie helps, too. ;)

Becca Fitzpatrick said...

HAHA! I won't apologize for this ;)
Ironically, I got my 20th anniversary edition of OUTLANDER today!

Martha Ramirez said...

Oh wow! 1000 pages. I have to admit. I've never heard of it but now you hooked me.

amanda31 said...

Yes, read them, they are amazing! I've definitely been telling you about them :) I thought the same thing about them being a HUGE time commitment - which they are - but they are so worth it.

Two words of advice:
1) Be be prepared for Dragonfly and Amber...it's the hardest book to make it through, but stick with it because Voyager is beyond fantastic.
2) Get them on audio book if you have time to listen to them because hearing all of the accents makes them a ton of fun.

Anonymous said...

I've committed to the Outlander books too! I read the first 4 books last year then had to take a long, long break. The versions I have are even longer. Book 1 was over 800 pages and I've started the 5th, but it's something like 1400 pages and I don't have the time to invest in it right now. But I love Jamie!