Thursday, 22 April 2010

Piles of books and some disappointments



I've had lots of books reserved at the library and typically it seems that all of them have become available at once.

Luckily the housework is pretty much up-to-date (don't faint mum!) and the weather is nice enough that I can spend my days off in the garden reading.

We've recently discovered the Lake Woebegone podcast and have had great fun listening to these, so I decided to try some of the books. As luck would have it there is a new one just out, Pilgrims. This one is set in Rome, a city I have visited so I thought I'd really enjoy it. Being a new book there was a bit of a wait on this title so while I was waiting I read Pontoon.

This was a book that made me laugh out loud a couple of times. I wouldn't say that it was a great book but it was a pleasant interlude and really made me want to read Pilgrims. Sadly it didn't live up to my hopes, I knew I wasn't going to enjoy it as soon as I realised the author had written himself into the book and as a serious character not a cameo. The plot was a farce too far for my taste too. The Telegraph reviewed the book a couple of months ago and this is a pretty good summary of the book although I enjoyed it less than the reviewer I feel!

I shall have to listen to a few more podcast episodes to rid myself of the after-taste left by the book. There is the saying "he has a face for radio" personally I think that Garrison Keillor has plots that are best suited to the radio.

Now back to that stack of new books. How can I chose which to read first - the new book by a local author, the new travel biog, something topical like Eating Animals or a nice comforting old favourite....

Friday, 2 April 2010

Oh Dear

Oh dear, it has been over a month since my last post and the lack of updates really haven't been because I haven't been reading. In fact in March I read more than 20 books, most of them good or excellent.

The problem is my eReader.

I love it. I can now dip in and out of all those classic children's books that I love but don't own, as well as slowly making my way through some of the great adult classics of all time.
Then there are the collections of myths and legends...I say "oh I'll just read one" and before I know it an hour has passed. Ooops.

Now I'll be honest here. I really didn't expect to have this reaction to the eReader. We treated ourselves to the BeBook mini last autumn and while I have downloaded some books on to it during the winter I haven't really played with it at all.

Then we went on holiday and had a very small luggage allowance. I cut down to the bare minimum on clothes (and I really do mean this it doesn't mean I only took 5 pairs of shoes rather than the usual 10 etc.) but when the books were added in - one a day each plus spares - we were well over the limit. I panicked.

Then I remembered the BeBook.

It was great. It took a while to work out just how far down the page I should be before I 'turned over' as there is a delay but once that was sorted I flew through the books an didn't event notice the slight flash as it went. I read books that I wouldn't normally take (short books and kidlit) and thoroughly enjoyed the variety.

I did read quite a few paper books too but this was a wonderful addition to the case and only needed charging once in the week. I was pleasantly surprised how I took to eInk and the reader in general and now I am not so bothered by the iPad when it finally comes despite being an Apple geek.
Roll on the next holiday so I can do it all over again!


For those interested we went to Lanzarote and I read 14 books in 8 days!