Monday's Question of the Day - February 29, 2016

I'm reading the first Outlander book. The beginning of it is slow so I keep putting it down and then picking it back up. Frank is dull and pretty annoying. When @Winchester  gave use the synopsis of the book, I felt bad for the guy. Now that I'm reading the book, I wish someone would just push him out a window or something.   

There's an Outlander coloring book for adults in case anyone is into that

http://www.dianagabaldon.com/books/outlander-series/the-official-outlander-coloring-book/

Stewball said:

YAY FOR PURPLE.

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 Yes!

Kat0121 said:

 

Purple is the best!!  

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I like that case.  It looks sturdy but still slim!  That's similar to the color case I have now.  I'd like to re-purpose it for something.  They have that in a pretty shade of blue too!  I'm looking for a lighter purple one for the kindle though.  My favorite shade of purple is in the lilac family; probably on the darker to vibrant side of lilac.  My kitchen is half a darker purple.  I love it!  DH got me a KitchenAid mixer a couple years ago right before Black Friday.  It was an incredible deal from Kohls thanks to sales, a rebate and a percent off.  I chose a berry color.  So purple but it has some red in it.  I love WEARING that shade. 

This one is perfect color wise; but it doesn't have a magnetic closure.  I want something VERY streamlined so there is nothing to get in the way when I'm using it or say taking it in and out of my purse. It also doesn't "snap" in inside; but uses some elastic bands.  NuPro Paperwhite Case  

This one is probably what i will get.  The reviews say it's lighter in person; and it fits my other criteria. OMOTON Paperwhite Case.

Kat0121 said:

 
I'm reading the first Outlander book. The beginning of it is slow so I keep putting it down and then picking it back up. Frank is dull and pretty annoying. When @Winchester  gave use the synopsis of the book, I felt bad for the guy. Now that I'm reading the book, I wish someone would just push him out a window or something. 

 

There's an Outlander coloring book for adults in case anyone is into that

http://www.dianagabaldon.com/books/outlander-series/the-official-outlander-coloring-book/

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I looked at that series the other day.  I have a friend who is nuts for the tv series.  I'm not sure it's to my PG-13 level preference though.    But what girl doesn't love a good romance from time to time?   

MoochNNoodles said:

 

 Yes!

I like that case.  It looks sturdy but still slim!  That's similar to the color case I have now.  I'd like to re-purpose it for something.  They have that in a pretty shade of blue too!  I'm looking for a lighter purple one for the kindle though.  My favorite shade of purple is in the lilac family; probably on the darker to vibrant side of lilac.  My kitchen is half a darker purple.  I love it!  DH got me a KitchenAid mixer a couple years ago right before Black Friday.  It was an incredible deal from Kohls thanks to sales, a rebate and a percent off.  I chose a berry color.  So purple but it has some red in it.  I love WEARING that shade. 

This one is perfect color wise; but it doesn't have a magnetic closure.  I want something VERY streamlined so there is nothing to get in the way when I'm using it or say taking it in and out of my purse. It also doesn't "snap" in inside; but uses some elastic bands.  NuPro Paperwhite Case  

This one is probably what i will get.  The reviews say it's lighter in person; and it fits my other criteria. OMOTON Paperwhite Case.

I looked at that series the other day.  I have a friend who is nuts for the tv series.  I'm not sure it's to my PG-13 level preference though. 

  But what girl doesn't love a good romance from time to time? 

 

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I get Entertainment Weekly and they have the actors that play Claire and Jamie on the cover. That guy is hot.    I have never seen the show so I don't know what rating it would get. I'm not that far into the book yet either. 

Kat0121 said:

 
I get Entertainment Weekly and they have the actors that play Claire and Jamie on the cover. That guy is hot. 

  I have never seen the show so I don't know what rating it would get. I'm not that far into the book yet either. 

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Apparently there is a scene in the show that was so hot my friends husband asked if they could watch it again.    That makes me think the book may not be right for me either.   

MoochNNoodles said:

 
Apparently there is a scene in the show that was so hot my friends husband asked if they could watch it again. 

  That makes me think the book may not be right for me either. 

 

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It's on Starz so that very well could be the case. @Winchester  - can you give us a rating on the Outlander series? PG13? R? 

If you have Amazon Prime and decide to check it out, they are offering a free 30 day trial of Starz. 7 days for non Prime. After that , it's $99 a year (works out to $8.25/month) for Prime members or $8.99/month for non Prime members. I might go for the free trial since I don't have cable. 

Kat0121 said:

 
I'm reading the first Outlander book. The beginning of it is slow so I keep putting it down and then picking it back up. Frank is dull and pretty annoying. When @Winchester  gave use the synopsis of the book, I felt bad for the guy. Now that I'm reading the book, I wish someone would just push him out a window or something. 

 

There's an Outlander coloring book for adults in case anyone is into that

http://www.dianagabaldon.com/books/outlander-series/the-official-outlander-coloring-book/

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@Kat0121   I'm reading the series too, in part due to the synopsis from @Winchester    I'm about halfway through the 2nd book.  I agree that the first book was slow getting started.  I had to force myself to keep going, then once Claire met Jamie, things really picked up. 

MoochNNoodles said:

 
I looked at that series the other day.  I have a friend who is nuts for the tv series.  I'm not sure it's to my PG-13 level preference though. 

  But what girl doesn't love a good romance from time to time? 

 

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@MoochNNoodles   I haven't seen the TV series, so can't comment on its rating.

But the books so far (book 1 and 1st half of book 2) are not so much "romantically explicit" as violently explicit, including battle type violence and sexual violence.  In fact, one violent description in the 2nd book (description, didn't actually happen to a character) went on for several pages and I had to skip right over it as it was too disturbing for me to read.  That said, I am enjoying Claire's story and do recommend the books (so far) as long as you aren't too sensitive to violence. 

Kat0121 said:

 
I get Entertainment Weekly and they have the actors that play Claire and Jamie on the cover. That guy is hot. 

  I have never seen the show so I don't know what rating it would get. I'm not that far into the book yet either. 

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Hmmm... do I Google to see what the characters look like on the tv show?  Or will it ruin my mind's description of them as I read.

MoochNNoodles said:

 
Apparently there is a scene in the show that was so hot my friends husband asked if they could watch it again. 

  That makes me think the book may not be right for me either. 

 

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Maybe I'm just overly sensitive to violence, but the actual romantic love scenes (so far) are not as explicit as some Harlequin-y books I've read.  It's the depictions of sexual and battle violence that bother me.  But it's not like the entire books are violent, afterall there's 700-ish pages in each book, so there is a lot of interesting story too.  

rubysmama said:

Hmmm... do I Google to see what the characters look like on the tv show?  Or will it ruin my mind's description of them as I read.

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That always ruins things for me.  It's like...they got it wrong! 

 Maybe I'm just overly sensitive to violence, but the actual romantic love scenes (so far) are not as explicit as some Harlequin-y books I've read.  It's the depictions of sexual and battle violence that bother me.  But it's not like the entire books are violent, afterall there's 700-ish pages in each book, so there is a lot of interesting story too.  

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Maybe what I'll do is see if a friend has a copy I can borrow.  Because it's so long I'm hesitant to see if the library has a copy.  I'm not sure how I feel about that sort of violence myself.  I might have to be in the right frame of mind to read through it. 

MoochNNoodles said:

 
That always ruins things for me.  It's like...they got it wrong! 

Maybe what I'll do is see if a friend has a copy I can borrow.  Because it's so long I'm hesitant to see if the library has a copy.  I'm not sure how I feel about that sort of violence myself.  I might have to be in the right frame of mind to read through it. 

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If your friend has a copy, that would probably be best, as they are long books, so take a while to read.  My library, however, had more e-copies of the first book than the others, so your library might also have more hard copies of the first book, which would allow you to renew it, if they weren't all on the wait list.  However, if you like the books and wanted to continue with the series, it might be harder to get and finish each subsequent book before they were due back.

I'd like to see hear how others who've read the series feel about the violence.  Maybe my reactions are extreme.  But even with the hard to read scenes, I am enjoying the story and want to know what happens next to Claire and Jamie.

Kat0121 said:

 
I'm reading the first Outlander book. The beginning of it is slow so I keep putting it down and then picking it back up. Frank is dull and pretty annoying. When @Winchester  gave use the synopsis of the book, I felt bad for the guy. Now that I'm reading the book, I wish someone would just push him out a window or something. 

 

There's an Outlander coloring book for adults in case anyone is into that

http://www.dianagabaldon.com/books/outlander-series/the-official-outlander-coloring-book/

Click to expand...

MoochNNoodles said:

 
Apparently there is a scene in the show that was so hot my friends husband asked if they could watch it again. 

  That makes me think the book may not be right for me either. 

 

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rubysmama said:

 
@Kat0121   I'm reading the series too, in part due to the synopsis from @Winchester    I'm about halfway through the 2nd book.  I agree that the first book was slow getting started.  I had to force myself to keep going, then once Claire met Jamie, things really picked up. 

@MoochNNoodles   I haven't seen the TV series, so can't comment on its rating.

But the books so far (book 1 and 1st half of book 2) are not so much "romantically explicit" as violently explicit, including battle type violence and sexual violence.  In fact, one violent description in the 2nd book (description, didn't actually happen to a character) went on for several pages and I had to skip right over it as it was too disturbing for me to read.  That said, I am enjoying Claire's story and do recommend the books (so far) as long as you aren't too sensitive to violence. 

Hmmm... do I Google to see what the characters look like on the tv show?  Or will it ruin my mind's description of them as I read.

Maybe I'm just overly sensitive to violence, but the actual romantic love scenes (so far) are not as explicit as some Harlequin-y books I've read.  It's the depictions of sexual and battle violence that bother me.  But it's not like the entire books are violent, afterall there's 700-ish pages in each book, so there is a lot of interesting story too.  

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The books are violent and graphic in nature, especially toward women (there are rape scenes and such). But you also have to realize that this is Scotland in mid-1700s. Women were treated like chattel, like objects, although many men truly did worship their wives, too.

There were some episodes that bothered me to watch them; that might have been because I had read the books, I knew what was coming, what was going to happen and the fact that I knew made it that much worse, that it bothered me that much more....and I really do hope that sentence made sense! There is nudity, both female and male....I won't say more than that because I don't want to throw out spoilers, although I will say that the male frontal nudity is not Jamie (at least not yet). The scenes are graphic to the point where I turned my head, again that might have been more because I knew.

But it's so subjective. What doesn't really bother me might horrify somebody else or vice versa.  This show is certainly not X-rated, but I wouldn't want my smaller kids to watch the series. It's on Starz, so it's both graphic, violent, and sexual. So are her books.

As for Frank, the show treats him better than he deserves, IMO. There's something on the show between Frank and Claire that never happened in the book. I was not amused....it never happened and I hoped that the powers-that-be were not going to take liberties with the book. That never works. 

I will say that when I first saw the people who were to play the characters, I felt they would never work, esp Sam Heughan playing Jamie. But that was because I had preconceived ideas about the characters in my mind as I read the books (you have to understand that I read eight of the books long before Outlander ever came out on tv, so there was a whole Outlander world created in my mind). Now that I've seen the series, I can't read the books again without thinking of the actors. And they have done a truly excellent job thus far. There are a couple things about the way Caitriona Balfe plays Claire  that rub me the wrong way and, again, I can't go into detail, esp on the board as it has to do with her cursing, but some other things as well. I guess that it's minor though. Overall, everybody has done an excellent job. I love how the actors play Rupert and Angus; they are hiliarious! I almost fell in love with both of them, esp when they were trying to get Claire's engagement ring done. Tobias Menzies does a great job, playing both Frank and Black Jack; that man plays a  of a good sadist. I love Murtagh; the man is amazing.

I saw the Outlander coloring book, came "this close" to buying it. 

Am anxiously awaiting April for it to come back on Starz!

Thanks for your insight Pam!  It doesn't sound like the books are for me either. The basic story line seems intriguing; but I won't enjoy the graphic elements for sure.  

I think sometimes; with movies especially, I get overly absorbed and then I start dreaming about them.  That's the biggest reason I don't watch much in the sci-fi/action type categories.  I'll never forget the time DH and I got invited to one of his friends houses for dinner. I didn't know these people and they had some other friends there that I didn't know. After dinner they put the movie Aliens on.  We were just dating at this point; I think we got engaged about a month later.  We had just gone to the beach where DH bought me a cute little octopus stuffed animal.  After watching that movie...that cute little octopus had to find a home far from my bed because i was dreaming about it!

blueyedgirl5946 said:

I don't have a kindle and don't know how to use one. Do you buy the kindle and then buy a kindle version of the book online and download it to the kindle. Can you use them in the car at night to read, if you are a passenger of course? What are the advantages of a kindle? Sorry for the questions, but I really have never seen one, let alone know how to use one.

Can you use them reading outside in bright light. Most of my reading is done on my porch sofa with my cat.

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I actually got my Kindle Fire at Staples when they had an awesome Black Friday sale - several years ago. I wanted to look at it and hold it and not just buy it online from Amazon. I LOVE it, but it is a bit heavier than the smaller e-ink readers, but it's cool to be able to look stuff up, play a game or two when I get tired or reading, etc.  I'm not sure about reading it outside, but you can read it in the dark (I do all the time, in bed).

I never thought I'd want to give up real books, but I Pretty much have at this point. The advantage to a book, though, is when you are in a fast food restaurant reading to enjoy your lunch break with a good read and your battery is dead - you won't get that with paper    (Yes, it happened to me yesterday, I was VERY disappointed).

Misty8723 said:

 
I actually got my Kindle Fire at Staples when they had an awesome Black Friday sale - several years ago. I wanted to look at it and hold it and not just buy it online from Amazon. I LOVE it, but it is a bit heavier than the smaller e-ink readers, but it's cool to be able to look stuff up, play a game or two when I get tired or reading, etc.  I'm not sure about reading it outside, but you can read it in the dark (I do all the time, in bed).

I never thought I'd want to give up real books, but I Pretty much have at this point. The advantage to a book, though, is when you are in a fast food restaurant reading to enjoy your lunch break with a good read and your battery is dead - you won't get that with paper

   (Yes, it happened to me yesterday, I was VERY disappointed).

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I do bring my fire outside to read or play games.  I just turn the screen brightness up.  I generally sit in the shade anyway.  

I think my mother got her Fire at Best Buy.  i assume that's where they also got a Fire for DD.   They aren't big online shoppers.  

I went into the stores to look at ereaders at first.  Now I'm comfortable enough with the kindle options to just go ahead and order direct from Amazon.  

My new kindle came. Wow! :lol3:


So far its been a nice upgrade! Not needing a booklight is great! It's comfortable to hold too.

MoochNNoodles said:

So far its been a nice upgrade! Not needing a booklight is great! It's comfortable to hold too.

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yay!!!