What I'm Binge-Watching - 10 April 2021

What I'm Binge-Watching is a weekly meme to document all of our favorite binging obsessions. Follow along and let me know what you've been binge-watching lately!

As new shows come on Discovery+ and I get back into watching some old favorites, I've had a really eclectic array of shows I've been binging lately...

Continuing

Current Episode: Season 6 Episode 15 - Fixer Upper

I love Murder, She Wrote. I watched it in reruns with my grandmother when I was a kid and I just never stopped. I stopped watching it for a while after my grandmother passed away in December but I recently dove back in where I left off. Season 6 isn't one of my favorites because this is the season where Jessica narrates some of the episodes, they're not really about her solving crimes and I find those episodes really boring, but I should be getting to season 7 soon!

 

New Obsessions & Recent Binges

Current Episode: Season 1, Episode 3 - Royal Beginnings

So... weird fact: my mom loves pigs. We have a pot-bellied pig along with the Saint Bernard and our four cats. So when we saw the ad for this show she definitely wanted to watch it. We've watched 2 out of 3 episodes and I really hope they make more episodes. It's kind of like Toddlers and Tiaras with pigs. 🤣

Current Episode: Season 1, Episode 11

Who doesn't love the 90 Day Fiancé world? When I saw this spin-off, The Single Life, I decided to check it out. Most of the cast are past people on the show I couldn't stand (Danielle, Colt, and Brittany I'm looking at you) but it's still interesting to watch. 

Just Added to My Watchlist/Waiting on Watching

Premieres: April 23, 2021

Only 2 weeks until Shadow and Bone premieres on Netflix! I've read the books and I'm nervous/excited to see them come to life on Netflix!

Season 4 Premiere Date: April 28, 2021

I have about 3 more episodes to catch up on before season 4 premieres on Hulu. I'm both looking forward to and kind of sick of this show. I wish we would be moving toward some kind of conclusion. 

What are you currently binge-watching? What are some of your latest obsessions that you couldn't get enough of? Let me know in the comments!

Happy binging!

I Can't Wait for... The Testaments

Can't-Wait Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Wishful Endings, to spotlight and discuss the books we're excited about that we have yet to read. Generally they're books that have yet to be released.

I'm obsessed with the Hulu show and I felt that the first book leaves the reader with such an ambiguous ending that I need more to see if Offred is ever going to get out of Gilead or whether her being placed in the van at the end of The Handmaid's Tale (book) is her end...

The Testaments

The Handmaid's Tale, Book 2
By Margaret Atwood
Dystopian
eBook, Hardcover, audiobook, 432 Pages
September 10, 2019 by Nan A. Talese 


Blurb

In this brilliant sequel to The Handmaid's Tale, acclaimed author Margaret Atwood answers the questions that have tantalized readers for decades.
When the van door slammed on Offred's future at the end of The Handmaid's Tale, readers had no way of telling what lay ahead for her—freedom, prison or death.

With The Testaments, the wait is over.

Margaret Atwood's sequel picks up the story fifteen years after Offred stepped into the unknown, with the explosive testaments of three female narrators from Gilead.

"Dear Readers: Everything you've ever asked me about Gilead and its inner workings is the inspiration for this book. Well, almost everything! The other inspiration is the world we've been living in." —Margaret Atwood

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What do you think? Will you be checking this one out? 

(Audio)Book Review: The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood

The Handmaid's Tale: Special Edition by Margaret Atwood

Narrated by Claire Danes

Blurb:

"Are there any questions?" The final line in Margaret Atwood's modern classic, The Handmaid's Tale, has teased and perplexed fans since the book's original release more than 30 years ago. Now, in this Audible Original production, listeners get some of the answers they've waited so long to hear.

Featuring an all-new interview with Professor Piexoto, written by Atwood and performed by a full cast, The Handmaid's Tale: Special Edition is a must-listen for both fans and newcomers alike. Emmy Award winner Claire Danes (Homeland, Temple Grandin) gives a stirring performance of this classic in speculative fiction, where the message (and the warning) is now more timely than ever. In addition to rich sound design that honors the audio origins of Atwood's classic, the special edition also includes a brand-new afterword from the author and an introduction written by author Valerie Martin (Mary Reilly, Property).

After a violent coup in the United States overthrows the Constitution and ushers in a new government regime, the Republic of Gilead imposes subservient roles on all women. Offred, now a Handmaid tasked with the singular role of procreation in the childless household of the enigmatic Commander and his bitter wife, can remember a time when she lived with her husband and daughter and had a job, before she lost everything, even her own name. Despite the danger, Offred learns to navigate the intimate secrets of those who control her every move, risking her life for mere glimpses of her former freedom, and records her story for future listeners.

Whether you're a fan of the original novel or someone who has recently discovered it, The Handmaid's Tale: Special Edition will shock, impress, and satisfy all those who listen.

My Review:

The Handmaid’s Tale is a powerful novel that, in my opinion, should be required reading for everyone. I’ll be honest, I’m not a fan of dystopian novels because I find them depressing. I tend to think we as a society stand on the verge of a dystopian society and the more unacceptable things we allow to carry on, the closer we get to living in a world like The Handmaid’s Tale, The Selection, or The Hunger Games. 

Even though I don’t generally like this genre of book and probably would not have enjoyed it when I was younger (and probably would not have read it now if I had not watched and become addicted to the Hulu show.. which admittedly I only started watching because I’d previously liked some of the actors/actresses in previous roles) I found the writing shined - horrifically describing a society and a new reality for Offred that the reader finds unfathomable as the narrator reminisces about the way her life was before Gilead. This book broke my heart while simultaneously scaring me far more than any horror novel could because the phrase in my mind while listening wasn’t “this couldn’t happen here” but instead, “oh my, what if this happened?” 

As I listened to the audiobook version of The Handmaid’s Tale instead of reading the book, I did enjoy Claire Danes’s narration as well as the other narration at the end of the audiobook. It was interesting to hear bits and pieces of what environments inspired the author to write this book and I found the essay to be spot on. It does feel as if the panel in the future was making light of Offred’s plight. On a side note, I hope that the end of Offred’s story is less vague when we get to that point on the Hulu show.

My Rating:

4 of 5 Stars!