I love reading, and I constantly see the argument that people make that there are other distractions that stop people reading now. I admit that the pull of Game of Thrones, or my own personal addiction: Outlander, is a tough one to resist. But invariably I notice that once I've actually picked up a book, I can kill hours!
The quality of the book definitely effects how likely I am to spend my time reading it. I proudly say at parties that I have a 50 page rule. But in truth, I do try to finish books once I start them, which often means that I take up far too long trying to get into the story and listlessly reading a few pages on the tube.
One reason I try to finish bad books is that I want to be able to review them, and what if they get good?! NEW RULE: Stick the the first 50 pages. If my reviews include: Didn't even finish it then we can assume that it failed in the first 50 pages. I hope that this will lead to me reading MORE because I will read better books.
I read for work constantly and at work I ruthlessly employ a first paragraph rule, if I'm not caught yet the story won't make the cut. Hopefully I can use the same rule with my personal reading and try to enjoy more of my books in a shorter time frame.
Reading for work vs reading for pleasure are two completely different things I think. At work it is almost exclusively on a screen, and the feel of a real book is completely different. There ought to be a scientific study done on people's brains when they're reading analytically vs for pleasure, I'm sure it lights up differently.
A question I get quite frequently is: if you read all day do you really want to read in your spare time?
On the one hand, if I had to continue to sit at a desk with a pencil and read, then NO. But a cosy chapter on the tube home and possibly another one tucked up in bed? Yes please. There ARE a lot of distractions which weren't there so much when I was at school, music, podcasts, tv, movies, netflix, twitter and facebook. But nothing beats curling up with a book and beverage surrounded by books, and empty mugs to read long into the night... or the first 50 pages, which ever comes first.
Thursday, 30 April 2015
Thursday, 23 April 2015
Mad March Reviews
Diana Gabaldon
Orion 30/9/10 Hardback
5/5
Christmas Present
5/5
Christmas Present
I always enjoy reading Diana's books. I'm invested, I can't look away. With the new series of Outlander out now, it is impossible to read her work without enthusiasm. I still see the original characters that my mind has built and the series hasn't ruined that at all. I am absolutely loving the show and can't wait to see more.
I loved this book because for the first time in a while I really thought that Claire and Jamie were in serious trouble. I love that Jenny has come back into the story line, I often thought of her hanging out in Scotland and wondered how that character was.
The young and the older generation of love was beautifully even and appropriate. Diana has a knack for capturing the individuality of relationships and character so well.
While reading, I also heard her on Woman's Hour promoting the Amazon Video deal for the Outlander series. with the radio, TV and shelves telling you these books are brilliant (side effects include extreme addiction) you don't need me to tell you to pick up the first one and give it a read. But I will. Buy it, Borrow it, Steal it; Love it.
Neil Gaiman
Headline 19/09/2005
5/5
Mummy's Library
This collection of short stories delighted me. I devoured this book in days! Usually a book of short stories is a book for train journey's and trips to the loo. But in this case I couldnt help just reading each one one after the other. Each story was different, and the tone rose and feel like a good DJ set.
The stories have stayed with me and I can remember a number of them even now. The mark of an excellent writer, I wish I had read more Gaiman before.
I am becoming a distinct fan of Neil Gaiman and look forward to picking up the next one.
Robert Alexander
Penguin 19/01/2006
3/5
Mummy's Library
This short book was an easy read and perfect for the plane ride home from Istanbul. This piece of historical fiction was a interesting, but only because I am already interested in this period of history. The little nuggets of interest were mostly already known, and there wasn't anything particularly ground breaking in terms of the story line.
A sweet book, It had some adult themes but I felt that the writing style was slightly too young for me, aimed more at a young adult audience then me. If you're into historical fiction from this time, then it's a good one, but it's not the best and is particularly simple.
Tuesday, 31 March 2015
A Change in Perspective - Blackout
On the 31st of March 2015 Turkey had the most extensive black out I have ever seen. 81 provinces were affected, including the largest city Istanbul. Ankara, the capital had a flicker but soon restored it's power. The only place untouched was Van (in the East of Turkey) because it imports it's electricity from Iran.
It cut out at 10am, coming on briefly at 4pm before going off again at 7:30pm. The power is now back and looking like it might stay, just in time for us all to go to bed.
The Metros and trains were at standstill under and over ground across Istanbul and the rest of Turkey. Many people were trapped in lifts for over 5 hours. No traffic lights, no ATM, no card machines to pay for anything. Hospitals, and airports kicked in with emergency generators. But with no warning when the power might be off or on, apparently the city was in a muddle all day.
People in town mostly have new electric kitchens and cookers because it is more reliable. With many people dependent on central heating, this grey and chilly spring day must have been particularly glum.
We are all feeling quite chipper here, almost smug. With two wood stoves to warm the house, insulated walls and double curtains it was quite warm inside. I lit the fires at about 2pm and then went out into the garden to warm up. I sawed up wood to dry for next year's fires and brought in some logs from the wood pile (heavy and hot work). Then I mixed up a batch of Banana muffins and put them in the oven. There is always plenty to do.
Meanwhile the cockerel I killed on Friday has been slowly processed and made into soup which has bubbled away on the stove all day.
When Mummy came home I had candles lit, supper ready, with hot water for tea.
If this was a cyber attack/sabotage it barely touched us up in the mountains. Everyone has a soba (wood stove) in at least one room of the house. When we all thought the world might end in 2012 many thought a technological failure would be how our civilisation would fail, plunging us back into the dark ages.
Much of our work is dependent on the wifi, so clever Alan has rigged a car battery to power the router if it's a real emergency. There is a real argument for living in the sustainable way that we live here.
It often takes a change of scenes or shift in circumstances to see things clearly. With the moon nearly full tonight and all the stars coming out I thought: "you don't know what you've got, till the lights have gone out."
It cut out at 10am, coming on briefly at 4pm before going off again at 7:30pm. The power is now back and looking like it might stay, just in time for us all to go to bed.
The Metros and trains were at standstill under and over ground across Istanbul and the rest of Turkey. Many people were trapped in lifts for over 5 hours. No traffic lights, no ATM, no card machines to pay for anything. Hospitals, and airports kicked in with emergency generators. But with no warning when the power might be off or on, apparently the city was in a muddle all day.
People in town mostly have new electric kitchens and cookers because it is more reliable. With many people dependent on central heating, this grey and chilly spring day must have been particularly glum.
We are all feeling quite chipper here, almost smug. With two wood stoves to warm the house, insulated walls and double curtains it was quite warm inside. I lit the fires at about 2pm and then went out into the garden to warm up. I sawed up wood to dry for next year's fires and brought in some logs from the wood pile (heavy and hot work). Then I mixed up a batch of Banana muffins and put them in the oven. There is always plenty to do.
Meanwhile the cockerel I killed on Friday has been slowly processed and made into soup which has bubbled away on the stove all day.
When Mummy came home I had candles lit, supper ready, with hot water for tea.
If this was a cyber attack/sabotage it barely touched us up in the mountains. Everyone has a soba (wood stove) in at least one room of the house. When we all thought the world might end in 2012 many thought a technological failure would be how our civilisation would fail, plunging us back into the dark ages.
Much of our work is dependent on the wifi, so clever Alan has rigged a car battery to power the router if it's a real emergency. There is a real argument for living in the sustainable way that we live here.
It often takes a change of scenes or shift in circumstances to see things clearly. With the moon nearly full tonight and all the stars coming out I thought: "you don't know what you've got, till the lights have gone out."
Friday, 27 March 2015
Travelling
I'm away from London at the moment, at my mum's house in the mountains in Turkey. My days are so different from what they are in London.
I play with dogs and chickens and cats and cook and make build fires. I'm still working. Because I can work from home, I really can work from anywhere with Wifi so I decided to work from this gorgeous and idilic place.
The fact that I'm in a different country has reminded me of something I wrote. So here is my poem.
I’ll dance at night through the market
And pluck up jade from the stalls.
I’m summer burnt and sand blasted,
My skin peeling off my neon back
In sheets.
I’ll trip tip toe on the coastal rocks
And dip my fingers into white crab houses.
Their blinking eyes pop through the windows
And the old ones twitch their curtains.
I’ll be full of native lingo
And I’ll teach you how to sing.
I’ll be barefoot and black soled
Hearing lady-talk and
Knotting orange feathers to my ear.
Wet bodies thump their scales against my toes
While I dangle a foot in the sea.
I’ll tickle the bellies of sharks
And they’ll smile at me with their goofy
overbite grins.
I play with dogs and chickens and cats and cook and make build fires. I'm still working. Because I can work from home, I really can work from anywhere with Wifi so I decided to work from this gorgeous and idilic place.
The fact that I'm in a different country has reminded me of something I wrote. So here is my poem.
Wanderlust
And pluck up jade from the stalls.
I’m summer burnt and sand blasted,
My skin peeling off my neon back
In sheets.
I’ll trip tip toe on the coastal rocks
And dip my fingers into white crab houses.
Their blinking eyes pop through the windows
And the old ones twitch their curtains.
I’ll be full of native lingo
And I’ll teach you how to sing.
I’ll be barefoot and black soled
Hearing lady-talk and
Knotting orange feathers to my ear.
Wet bodies thump their scales against my toes
While I dangle a foot in the sea.
I’ll tickle the bellies of sharks
And they’ll smile at me with their goofy
overbite grins.
Thursday, 12 March 2015
#DearMe
Dear Georgia,
Well, it doesn't work out with X. I can tell you that, but you do still end up friends, so that's really good news. You take each other out for lunch every year to catch up.
What advice can I give you... Everyone who you do fall in love with is worth it. Except XXX, he's not worth it, but is still lovely.
You break two hearts. You b*tch. They both break yours too.
Make your mistakes, you're going to have the best gap year you can imagine. You will travel, but not too much. Make the most out of London, it's the best place in the whole world.
Experiment as much as you can in that year. It's going to be incredible and you can enjoy every thing at the time. You'll regret some of it, but the experience will change you forever and for the better, don't be scared to try everything you want to. I know you'll be sensible with what you choose to try and what you politely decline.
Listen to your sister, she's always right and she cares about you, she doesn't mean to hurt your feelings. Yes it still hurts when she says things to you, even now. Try to listen without being offended.
Hang on to dancing. Get good, really good. Compete if you can.
You are in the best shape of your life right now, and the next few years, remember how good it feels to be this strong and keep it up. Dancing will help with that, but it's an expensive gym so you might as well stay in as good shape as you can. Stop being lazy.
Spend your time READING you can't imagine how much time you have right now, stop day dreaming and trying to impress your best friend. You will impress everyone much more if you have actually read all the books you want to. Book people are sexy, really sexy.
Try to get jobs that involve books, every little helps for your CV and you'll appreciate the experience later.
I can't really remember what you were into back then...So I guess it's not that important.
Read. Dance. Love
In that order.
Georgia
Well, it doesn't work out with X. I can tell you that, but you do still end up friends, so that's really good news. You take each other out for lunch every year to catch up.
What advice can I give you... Everyone who you do fall in love with is worth it. Except XXX, he's not worth it, but is still lovely.
You break two hearts. You b*tch. They both break yours too.
Make your mistakes, you're going to have the best gap year you can imagine. You will travel, but not too much. Make the most out of London, it's the best place in the whole world.
Experiment as much as you can in that year. It's going to be incredible and you can enjoy every thing at the time. You'll regret some of it, but the experience will change you forever and for the better, don't be scared to try everything you want to. I know you'll be sensible with what you choose to try and what you politely decline.
Listen to your sister, she's always right and she cares about you, she doesn't mean to hurt your feelings. Yes it still hurts when she says things to you, even now. Try to listen without being offended.
Hang on to dancing. Get good, really good. Compete if you can.
You are in the best shape of your life right now, and the next few years, remember how good it feels to be this strong and keep it up. Dancing will help with that, but it's an expensive gym so you might as well stay in as good shape as you can. Stop being lazy.
Spend your time READING you can't imagine how much time you have right now, stop day dreaming and trying to impress your best friend. You will impress everyone much more if you have actually read all the books you want to. Book people are sexy, really sexy.
Try to get jobs that involve books, every little helps for your CV and you'll appreciate the experience later.
I can't really remember what you were into back then...So I guess it's not that important.
Read. Dance. Love
In that order.
Georgia
Thursday, 5 March 2015
My Dog Buddy
Since January I've been doing something which I've really been enjoying. I've joined MyDogBuddy. Since my office closed and I've been working from home I've discovered a new freedom. My hours now vary depending on what I am up to, and as long as I am on top of things I'm allowed to do what ever I want.
Another thing about working from home is that it can get a little lonely at times in the house all by my self. The constant pull of the fridge and my recipe books are making it increasingly difficult to keep up my 'New Year New Me' resolution. It is surprising how easily you can call just biting a chunk off of a lump of cheddar "Lunch"
I've hit two birds with one stone and joined MyDogBuddy.
How it works
If you have a dog, but worry that it spends a lot of time alone in the house while you and your family are at work you can find a dog sitter in your local area.
If you're like me and you have the room and the time to look after and walk a dog, you can sign up to MyDogBuddy and create a profile.
Why I love it
I have the joy of keeping a dog during the day, feeding them and taking them for a walk or two while they are with me.
I can set my own rates, which means depending on the dog and the amount of care/how long I have them I can charge accordingly.
I've got a regular dog who I look after during the day and make sure she has all the walks she needs and she is an absolute dream.
If you have the time to do it I cannot recommend enough. Join MyDogBuddy.
Another thing about working from home is that it can get a little lonely at times in the house all by my self. The constant pull of the fridge and my recipe books are making it increasingly difficult to keep up my 'New Year New Me' resolution. It is surprising how easily you can call just biting a chunk off of a lump of cheddar "Lunch"
I've hit two birds with one stone and joined MyDogBuddy.
How it works
If you have a dog, but worry that it spends a lot of time alone in the house while you and your family are at work you can find a dog sitter in your local area.
If you're like me and you have the room and the time to look after and walk a dog, you can sign up to MyDogBuddy and create a profile.
Why I love it
I have the joy of keeping a dog during the day, feeding them and taking them for a walk or two while they are with me.
I can set my own rates, which means depending on the dog and the amount of care/how long I have them I can charge accordingly.
I've got a regular dog who I look after during the day and make sure she has all the walks she needs and she is an absolute dream.
If you have the time to do it I cannot recommend enough. Join MyDogBuddy.
Saturday, 28 February 2015
Fabulous February Reviews
Diana Gabaldon
Orion 30/9/10 Paperback
4/5
Christmas Present
Another book in the brilliant series. This time I had the added enthusiasm that a new TV series has started following the story from the beginning. I love these books. As a hooked reader, anything that Diana writes will be eagerly lapped up. AND she appeared in the TV series with a little cameo role, which tickled me into a fan-girlish frenzy.
The book is another fantastic epic with as many twists and turns as I always expect. I had less patience for the history in this book than earlier ones. I was drawn to the mystical hills of Scotland and although we got a little it was twenty first century following Bree, Roger and their children.
I struggled with the age of the characters as well. It is just as well the Bree and Roger are involved in this story, plus Will and his story line because Claire and Jamie are becoming distinctly aged.
They are my romantic powerhouse, and they are increasingly closer to death which just depresses me. However the descriptions and the writing are powerful enough to make me believe the development of the characters I love so much. Either way. Fascinating, Brilliant and I look forward to the next one.
Maggot MoonSally Gardner
Hot Key Books 3/8/12 Hardback
2/5
Book Haul
Well. I never finished it, I got pretty close, but eventually the lure of other, better books made me put it down. It's redeeming qualities came from the almost clockwork orange style of writing, and the premise of a different world.
I don't have much else to say on this one. I didn't love it, I wouldn't pick it up again. But I would recommend it to children, 12+.
The Secret GardenFrances Hodgson Burnett
Scholastic 21/11/13 Paperback
4/5
Book Haul
I have seen the film, and listened to the audio tape of this book many times. I am so pleased to read it with those Yorkshire voices in my head. I might not have enjoyed reading the dialectic style so much with out it.
The story is incredible, obviously. And the earliest book that I've read that is aimed at children, there is such a joyfully simple story and writing style that I cannot help but enjoy it. I could read this allowed to children and feel just as disappointed when it was time to stop at the next chapter and go to sleep.
I know it is wrong to compare books, but this is a fantastic children's book. Maggot Moon is nothing on this one. Yes it's a children's book, but I FEEL too adult. Where as The Secret Garden has swept me up in it's magic. A brilliant book and a great end to Feb.
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