Catching up on Classics (and lots more!) discussion

This is the discussion thread for the January 2017 buddy read of Outlander by Diana Gabaldon. It's a long one, so I don't know how long it will take, nor have I made a plan of which chapters to read when. When I get a moment, I'll have a look at how the book is split up, and update this thread accordingly.

Hi Ellen, got the thread :)

Yeah so have I :-)

yay! :)

Glad to see you've set this up okay. Hope you all enjoy the book!

Thanks, Pink. I'm looking forward to it.

You all are going to have fun with this one :)

I recently read this for the second time, Cant wait to see others opinion on it!

:) i've heard so many mixed reviews, I'm not sure what to expect.

Well, in my attempt to download the book from my Audible library I've started this tome. I understand if it's still early for the rest of you...

Quick question, are spoilers ok on this thread? I'm still kind of new to the app and am not sure how to tag spoilers and can't seem to open the spoilers on the comments of others. I promise I will enter a comment pertinent to the book, but it is somewhat spoiler-ish and I don't want to accidentally ruin it for others. Thanks!

I don't think the spoiler feature works on the app, you have to view Goodreads as a normal web page for this.

Normally for group reads we have a spoiler and non-spoiler thread, but for buddy reads it's really up to the people reading how they want to tackle schedules and spoilers.

Ok, thanks Pink!

To the group at large, how do you feel about possible spoilers? I will do my best to not input them, but sometimes goofs happen. Thanks again! :)

Hmm, good question. Let me get back to you on that, sometime within the next 24 hours.

Ellen wrote: "Well, in my attempt to download the book from my Audible library I've started this tome. I understand if it's still early for the rest of you..."

Well was already 73 pages in before the buddy read was arranged so I'm happy to start reading it again - in between all the other books I'm committed to read in January :-)

Just for information - other buddy reads I have been part of put spoilers in tags with a comment on what chapter they have reached so that people know whether it is safe for them to open that particular spoiler.

OK, here's a tentative schedule. Since the book is so long, I think tackling it over two months might be a good idea (depending on how fast a read it is, of course)
The book is broken up into 7 parts and 41 chapters. However, the parts aren't of equal length (one appears to be only a single chapter).

Jan 1-7: Part 1 (CH 1-5)
Jan 8-14: Part 2 (ch 6-10)
Jan 15-21: First half of Part 3 (Ch 11-16)
Jan 22-28: Second half of Part 3 (Ch 17-23)
Jan 29-Feb 4: Part 4 and the start of Part 5 (Ch 24-30)
Feb 5-11: rest of Part 5 and Part 6 (Ch 31-34)
Feb 12-18: Part 7 (Ch 35-41)

This feels doable for me, roughly a chapter a day with some wiggle room in case we miss a day. And there's the light week toward the end in the case that major catching up needs to be done.

As for spoilers, we can work on the honor system and not look at the thread until we've finished that week's section.

Let me know what you think of all this. :)

Hi, I was hoping to read it in a month but reading over two months gives me more freedom. I'll see how I get on. I'll definitely mark spoilers with the chapters or parts that I've read. I'm hoping to start it tomorrow. Happy reading!

Well, I've read the first chapter and like Clare and Frank. (view spoiler)[I know a teensy bit about the plot, and imagine that we don't have a lot of Frank for much longer...*sigh* (hide spoiler)]

Just over halfway through the second chapter and I'm already making predictions about some plot points.
(view spoiler)[I'm assuming that somehow, Clare ends up being part of Roger's family tree. (hide spoiler)]

And oh, the family planning discussion...

Did I mention I'm really unsure about finishing this?

Ellen wrote: "Just over halfway through the second chapter and I'm already making predictions about some plot points.
[spoilers removed]

And oh, the family planning discussion...

Did I mention I'm really unsure about finishing this?"

I'm uncertain about the book myself that why I put it on hold after finishing part one but I am determined to read more of it so that I can say I gave it a fair chance. And from what I've heard I'm more likely to enjoy the series from book two onwards. I just have to get through book one first.

I decided to join this discussion and Buddy read because I've heard VERY mixed things about this book. Some people LOVE it and others say it's rather rape-y (as in married MC says 'no' which her husband ignores every time and blaming the victim) which infuriates me. It'll be good to read in real time the thoughts and opinions of others as I read it too. I want to see for myself if it's as bad as some have said or if my boss is right and it's better than sliced bread. :)

Well, I moved on to Chapter 3 because Chapter 2 ended on a cliffhanger, and (view spoiler)[we've met Great-great-great-grandad Jonathan Randall. (hide spoiler)]

Well, I surprised myself and actually finished this week's chunk of reading today.

Good for you Ellen! I'm reading on an eReader and don't know where 8% falls re: parts/chapters. I'll have to go back. I was reading without paying attention to where I was. :/

Ellen wrote: "Well, I surprised myself and actually finished this week's chunk of reading today."

Does that mean you're enjoying more than you thought you would?

I'm just finishing chapter seven.

Certain parts are holding my interest. This week's section stops at Part II, but if you're enjoying it, no problem about reading ahead.

I'm definately enjoying the bit I'm reading at the moment as it isn't too angsty or disturbing.

I know that some parts ahead touch on disturbing subjuct matter, so I wanted to be a bit ahead of the schedule so that if I need to gather some courage to get through those bits I'll have a bit of time to play with so that I won't fall behind everyone else :-)

Ah. Gotcha. :)

I've finished Chapter 3. My first impression is that it reads a bit like a romance novel which is not my normal type of book. The writing is not the best thing out there but I'm willing to give it a chance. Having said all that, I've managed to read quite a bit so the story is keeping me hooked. There are 6 books in the series and a TV series made on the back of it so it can't be that bad. Has anyone seen the TV series? I haven't. I wanted to read the book first. A few people have recommended it to me. I'm Scottish so it figures that I would like to enjoy this series. I had to cringe at the parts where she said the Scottish like to gossip and stay indoors a lot :)

Amanda wrote: "I've finished Chapter 3. My first impression is that it reads a bit like a romance novel which is not my normal type of book. The writing is not the best thing out there but I'm willing to give it ..."

I haven't seen the TV series either. Like you I wanted to read the book first. The books are so chunky that I was worried that if I watched the TV show first I'd know too much of the plot so I wouldn't find the enthusiam to actually read the book as well.

There are actually 8 books out so far (with no end in sight), plus novellas and a few spin off books called the Lord John series. So if we end up liking the series they are quite a commitment ;-)

Hailee wrote: "Amanda wrote: "I've finished Chapter 3. My first impression is that it reads a bit like a romance novel which is not my normal type of book. The writing is not the best thing out there but I'm will..."

More books than I thought haha!

I've read six of the main 8 books. 10 is supposed to be the last one. I haven't read her spin offs. I didn't like the show. I love the books. However I did read them in my early 20's and my bookstore definitely files them under romance. They get more historical with time.

Finished part 2 today :-). How are other people getting on?

Hi Hailee, I haven't got much further forward. I had another buddy read and the mystery book I'm reading at the moment has sucked me in. I'll try to get back on track. Why don't you mark spoilers for the parts you've read and I'll read them when I get there?

Same here. I'm on chapter 7.

I'm in part 2, chapter nine maybe? I'm reading it on an eReader, so I'm having difficulties keeping the chapters straight. I'm really enjoying it so far, which kind of surprised me. I hope it continues in this vein.

To be fair I don't think a lot of things I happened that need a spoiler tag at the moment. I'm enjoying it more than I was expecting, so far. One thing that has pleasantly surprised me is (view spoiler)[that nothing sexual has happened yet between Claire and Jamie. The way people have talked about the book they made it sound like they were "at it" within an hour of meeting LOL :-). So far it really just been about Claire settling into this "new" world (hide spoiler)]. I expect this will change in part three.

This is my favorite book series. It only gets better. I hate how some people just write this off as just a romance. Yes there is romance but this is historical fiction plain and simple. It has elements of so much more too, romance of course, some supernatural things. It gets raw and gritty. As you read the series it becomes much more family oriented.

Hey guys, I'm on Chapter 7, so I guess a bit behind the schedule if I don't finish a couple more chapters by Saturday. My reading experience may be slightly hampered by the fact that I've seen the tv series, but I really enjoyed it, hence picking up the series.

So far: I like the chapters I've read. I believe the happenings are slower, as in the tv series gave more depth to certain characters and storylines that obviously still need time to develop in the novel.

I've read up to chapter 12 today and may continue...it is really surprisingly good. An I agree with Hailee about how that certain aspects of the book have been...overly advertised.

Did anyone notice (view spoiler)[a ... change in Jamie's behavior toward Clare in these chapters? They seemed pretty friendly for a while, then he seemed to act like he barely knew her a couple chapters later. (hide spoiler)]

I finished chapter 16 last night and thing have definitely speeded up.

Melisha - Since I have started reading this it has made me glad that I held off watching the series before I read the books but I had this series on my TBR radar for years before they made it a TV series so it was an easy decision to make. I expect a lot of people like you picked the book up because of the TV show. It'll be interesting to see how our reading experience differs.

Ellen wrote: "I've read up to chapter 12 today and may continue...it is really surprisingly good. An I agree with Hailee about how that certain aspects of the book have been...overly advertised.

Did anyone notice..."

I did notice that as well Ellen (view spoiler)[it has been hinted at that Jamie has a few secrets of his own so maybe once those are revealed... (hide spoiler)]

I've finally gotten to part 3 and a few chapters in already. The pace has definitely picked up and it's much easier to read now.
Hailee: I hadn't heard of the book series before, but I'm Glad I'm reading it now. So far, I've found the TV series has kept quite faithful to the book. Though, I'm really enjoying the atmosphere that Diana is creating for me through her writing.

I just finished Chapter 14. (view spoiler)[I knew that Jamie and Clare would be ... together eventually, but how it happened was a surprise to me. (hide spoiler)] The plot has picked up, for sure. I'm starting to think I may abandon my planned-out schedule, since I'm already through most of this week's reading. We'll see how busy my week is. :)

I've gotten to Chapter 16 now, and starting to doubt my interest in the book again. (view spoiler)[I don't care for/tend to get lost in political intrigue. (hide spoiler)]

I'm way ahead of schedule now, despite starting off behind. I'm up to chapter 23. The faster pace helped.
(view spoiler)[
I am not liking Claire's personality. She is like a teenage girl what with all the "don't leave me, I wanna come with you" part, and "I gotta make sure he doesn't fall in love with me for when I leave, but I'm gonna snap at him for talking to another girl" jealousy. I was hoping that is not how a mature woman in her 30s would be depicted.
(hide spoiler)]

I think I just needed a pause; I'll get back to it soon. :)

I've finished chapter 7. I'm behind on schedule but I'm enjoying it more now. Hang in there Ellen.