Distraction from Chores: My Current Entertainment (Books & Shows)

If you are hand-making a lot of items, doing tons of laundry, or cleaning all the rooms this season, chances are you are diverting your “bored to tears” mind with media.

That’s how I keep a good-ish attitude with my never ending list of to-do’s. You will probably take notice from my list that I am a big fantasy and sci-fi fan. It’s not that I don’t love other genres, I just want my entertainment to take me as far away from the “ho hum” day to day tasks as I can get.

I often laugh when Billy or the kids play video games where they have to mine specific minerals. That seems way too similar to a job. I’d rather go fold laundry, and get something concrete done (while listening to wild stories) than mine ore on a game!

I really enjoy the historical fiction genre as well. I find that it is different enough to take me away from my world for awhile. This is the list of entertainment that is taking me into the Christmas holiday!

Archangel’s Resurection by Nalini Singh

I started Nalini Singh’s Guild Hunter Series several years ago. I have read, or listened on audiobook, to every new release since I read the 1st one probably sometime in 2018. The stories are fun and sexy, and have strong and complex characters.

The series has the political intrigue of some of my favorite historical fiction books, for example The Other Boleyn Sister. The Guild Hunter Series does a great job of bringing royal court antics to a supernatural world.

I read the 1st book about a human hunting vampires and was hooked. To my surprise most of the series had more to do with angels than vampires. It was a fun surprise though! I enjoy that the archangels live longer than vampires in most other stories. This means the storyline winds from ancient history to modern times. It makes for interesting subject matter between the characters, and it’s fun to take your imagination on that ride.

Archangel’s Ressurection came out in October of this year and is the latest in the series. It started out a little slower than some of the other books, as there was a ton of back story. It was a fun and fantastical love story, true to form. I decided to binge it really fast before starting the last Outlander book. I knew the Outlander story would take me a few weeks to get through.

Go Tell the Bees that I am Gone

I am listening to this audiobook while I work and do chores this week. I am excited, and terrified. I want the stories to go on forever, but I know they can’t. I know this is the last book, and I am scared I will hate the ending. So far I am really enjoying the story. The descriptions in these books are always just enough for me to imagine everything vividly, but not so much that it seems wordy and gets boring.

I have to learn how Diana Gabaldon writes such detailed stories without them becoming too heavy. I saw she has a book on how she writes the sex scenes. I was really just looking to learn how she writes the day to day life of the characters, and how she works rhythm into the words.

Davina Porter, the narrator of the audiobooks, is such a joy to listen to. She is lively and captures the essence of the characters, and delivers so much emotion it seems real. Listening to the audiobooks is one of my favorite ways to experience Outlander, and it’s one of the easiest ways to fit it in my schedule in any case.

Obi-Wan Kenobi TV Series Original Series from Disney

This show is part of the Star Wars Universe. It started a little slow for me, but had just enough sweeping images and fun creatures to keep me hooked while they set-up the story. Star Wars characters tend to take themselves a little seriously for my taste. I tend to lean toward movies with that Han Solo and C3PO humor more than others. I ended up getting hooked on Obi-Wan anyway. They had some super cute kiddos, and my heart was invested in the characters success.

I definitely recommend staying with the series until at least episode 3 to make a solid judgement call about whether you will enjoy it or not. Star Wars characters have a tendency to get melodramatic and stuck in their own head, not unlike regular people, but it tends to get me frustrated as I feel like I watch them whine for ages! I get really excited when the action starts.

It always takes some epic catalyst to break them free from their own moping. Funny, now that I think about it Star Wars may be the most realistic of the entertainment I’m enjoying this season! I certainly hope it doesn’t take an epic battle to get most people to be a catalyst for good in their own lives and others’.

All in all I do enjoy Star Wars for all it’s creativity and epic world building skills. The frustration with the characters is my own issue, and I wasn’t any less frustrated with Katniss Everdeen or Matthew Clairmont in other series.

I do enjoy an inner struggle as frustrating as it is. As much as I complain about how long it takes characters to come out of their brooding, I must like the journey on some level!

Wednesday TV Series from Netflix

Thank goodness we waited to start this series until the weekend. We ended up binging half the series! We haven’t finished it yet but everyone in the family really enjoys it. Even my 4 year old will watch some of it. I don’t mind if she doesn’t focus, because occasionally it gets pretty creepy or has a semi-graphic moment. Mostly it’s just really funny and fun!

I didn’t realize it was to be a mystery series, and a cliffhanger pulled us in. We ended up watching 2 more episodes than planned! I wasn’t sure if I’d like this show either. Reboots and spin-offs often fall short for me, but Wednesday did not disappoint!

Jenna Ortega does an incredible job never smiling, even in situations where smiling is almost a reflex. As a smiley person I am extremely impressed with her acting. Since I have a teen right now this series may be even funnier for my family.

I was pretty sure I was going to like this show, because it has Tim Burton and Danny Elfman together again, and that’s just the start. I had never heard of Ortega before, but she is great. Plus there is an amazing supporting cast of actors that I really enjoy. The production team and cast really came together to create a mood that is consistent with the original. I can’t wait to see the rest of the season, and I hope to see more seasons in the future!

Wrap Up

I hope everyone is having a great holiday season so far! What are you doing for entertainment this season? Do you use a specific media to distract yourself from a boring / repetitive task or two?

Thanks for reading with me today!

Kat @CraftingGlow