Series and Our Need for Familiarity

I read Outlander by Diana Gabaldon when Maddie was a baby because I heard so much about the series. After finishing it, I walked away. I don't know why I wasn't immediately drawn into the lives of Claire Randall and James Fraser. I thought it was a good read, but my first reaction was it felt like I was reading smut. At the time, I was in a snobbery literary phase and only wanted impressive literature.

Fast forward to 2010. My book club had read several very heavy books and I've been knee-deep in finishing my own, so I needed some levity. I had bought the second in the Outlander series, Dragonfly in Amber, when I bought the first novel and it was collecting dust. I was heading to a romantic 15th wedding anniversary trip with my husband to Costa Rica. The idea of picking back up Outlander was two-fold... spice up our second honeymoon with ideas (okay, TMI!) and a lighter read.

I must admit... I really enjoyed Dragonfly in Amber and have now purchased books 3 & 4 (Voyager and Drums of Autumn respecitively). It was amazing how much detail I remembered from the original and how quickly I immersed myself into the characters' lives again. I originally considered the first book a failure, because I did not immediately rush to read book 2. With Twilight, I read the first three books in one week after being very late to the bandwagon. When the fourth book in that series, Breaking Dawn, came out, I bought it the day it was released and read it in a weekend (thanks for your understanding on that one Sweetie). With Outlander it was one and out.

I think all this proves how important your mindset is when reading a book. I don't remember what was going on when I read the first Outlander, mainly because I was in the phase of having three kids under five with a newborn and NO kids in school at the time. Now I consider the book a great success because of how quickly (after a five-year hiatus) I jumped into the second book and remembered and cared about its characters. I am salivating to find out what happens to Claire and Jamie's daughter and how the time travel will affect all of them.

This book is not for the faint of heart. Not only does it have sex scenes (GASP!) with elicit detail at times, it also has some very disturbing issues from Scotland's "Braveheart" days. There were times I would have looked away if it were simply a movie and not words I was reading.

There is quite a bit of rumor to a movie being made, but nothing definite although the rights have been purchased. Mel Gibson being well past his prime, I'll be interested to see how they cast Jamie in particular. It can be hard to make a red-headed man sexy. But that's just my opinion, because Lord knows he burned it up pretty good in the book (I must admit he is a brunette in my mind).

As far as reading smut as I suggested before, I must admit there were times as I read this second book on the plane that I know my face was red and I was VERY glad people didn't know what I was reading.