Books released into the wild today.....

Well I have released some more books into the wild again today with bookcrossing. It's such a fun thing to do, leaving them in all sorts of places for people to find them, pick them up and take them home, then journal them. For those who don't know bookcrossing, these are classed as "wild releases" as you are releasing them into the wild.

Today I released, Silver Linings Play Book.

This one was left in a Riekers shoe store on one of the seats, so when someone tries some shoes on they will get a book as a bonus!

I also released, A Compromising Position, by Carole Matthews.

I left this one in The Three Swans Hotel, Market Harborough in the hotel seating area.

I made friends with a lady from The Netherlands, who had on her wishlist a book called "Oranges are Not the Only Fruit". She had been very helpful to me, when setting up my BookCrossing account, so I sent it to her as a gift.

Then I offered what BookCrossing call a BookRing, where you send a book on to one person, and they send it to another and so on, until it comes back to you. I put a little note book in with it, so people can add their thoughts about the book, and this will travel with the book. It is going all around the UK, to France, Netherlands, USA and Canada, so will be well travelled. The book I offered was called Hunting Unicorns.

Quite a different genre of books, all now going to good homes.

If you're not a member have a look at BookCrossing, as I think it's great! Some great giveaways on there too.

Kindle v Paperback

For ages my husband kept going on about wanting to buy me a Kindle for Christmas, but I kept saying that I loved the feel of having a book in my hand. One of the girls at work had a Kindle and she showed me how it worked and talked through the advantages of having a kindle especially when it comes to holidays!
I wasn't initially convinced, but when she said about holidays I thought that it would be better than carrying 6 or so paperbacks on holiday with me.

So in the end I relented and Santa bought me one. I must admit I am very pleased with it. It's easier to carry it in my handbag and take on holiday. I download all the books I want on it before I go. I have found access to numerous sites like Smashwords and NetGalley where I can pick up free books. They are usually from new or just unknown authors and I have read some better books on there than from well known authors.

I still buy paperbacks/hardbacks though, and when recently in London I visited Waterstones in Picadilly which is on 5 floors and I was in heaven! I could have spent all day there. I did purchase 3 books, so my Kindle hasn't killed my love of "real books". One of them being "The Rivers of London by Ben Aaronovitch". This book is a mixture of a crime book with modern day policing, versus a Harry Potter type book with Wizards. It looks fun and quirky.

Now I have both paperbacks/hardbacks and my kindle. I have managed to get so many free books or books under £1 for my kindle, and have built my collection up quite quickly. Most of the older books, like Jane Austen, Dickens etc, and now out of copyright, so they are all free.

So I'm still addicted to books but instead of being addicted to two types, I'm now addicted to three! The third also having music on it so I can read and listen to music at the same time!


http://www.amazon.co.uk/Rivers-London-Ben-Aaronovitch/dp/0575097566/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1300403111&sr=1-1

Due out 21st April 2011
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Moon-Over-Soho-Ben-Aaronovitch/dp/0575097604/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1300403111&sr=1-4

Pre order from Amazon -- currently only £6.49! Bargain.

If you have any questions about the Kindle please feel free to ask me.

Blogging about bloggers!

Wow. I have discovered what a lovely group of people bloggers are! I joined as a member of Book Blogs. See my link at the side of my blog.

They are a great bunch of people and I have learnt alot in the short time I have been blogging.

If you're having a bad day then look at the inspirational messages on http://www.thewritetomakealiving.com. This is a great blog. A mixture of books, life and motivational messages. I love it.

So thank you to everyone so far who is helping my blog to grow. I promise to keep it clean; keep it friendly; and keep it fun.

Thanks for looking. xx

Eating out and Dog Racing

Well I feel really bad, because yet again I am not cooking.

Last night, we met up with the lady who we are renting our apartment from in Crete and she was telling us about the village, and the typical Greek tavernas, and the colourful locals. It has made us even more excited about it, to be living in a typical Greek village and not in a place full of tourists. Apparantly the tourists turn up in the daytime as it was the birthplace of El Greco, the painter & sculptor (Δομήνικος Θεοτοκόπουλος)  Thats his full name in Greek,Doménikos Theotokópoulos. He was born in Fodele, Crete at the time it was part of the Republic of Venice. Therefore we are going to be out during the day, and go back to the village when all the tourists have gone home and mix with all the locals. My Greek isn't very good though!

Back to the subject of not cooking. We met her in the pub and stayed for the carvery, which at £5.99 is a bargain.

Tonight we are going Greyhound Racing in Peterborough with a gang from work, and we are eating there as well. I could get used to not cooking! I only bet £1 a race, not being a gambler, and always go for the dog with the nicest name. Its a great night out for a gang of friends. So no more booking reading for me tonight, although I am really getting into my book now and am about 60% of the way through it.

Will update with my winnings, or more likely my losses tomorrow.

Now Reading

I am now reading Child Taker, by Conrad Jones. I'm only about 4 chapters in, and it's quite interesting. The 1st and 3rd chapters are about The Child Taker himself, and the 2nd and 4th chapters are about a female in the forces on an undercover assignment. I am sure they will meet somewhere and I'm intrigued to find out where. So far it's like I'm reading two separate books, but it intrigues me.

Will update more when I've finished reading it.

http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/j/conrad-jones/child-taker.htm

Just finished reading

Just finished reading a Quick Reads book by Ian Rankin called "A Cool Head". If you haven't read it I wouldn't bother. I have always struggled with his books and his style of writing.

I found this book very disjointed, and kept moving around a lot. I ended up forgetting who was related to who, and who fit in where and it was only a "Quick Read". I have read books from relatively unknown authors like Simon Gould, and their books were 10x better than this one.

http://www.bookcrossing.com/title/44186

Its funny as I loved the Rebus series on TV but just can't get into his books. I wont try again.

Books and Beaches

My blogging is quite new. I did make an attempt at doing one before but I got too busy and stopped doing it. My renewed interest in pursuing all things book like, and my many travel plans for 2011 have made me want to do a new blog about the two loves in my life (apart from my husband and my cats of course). BOOKS & BEACHES!

Not just beaches though, I love all holidays, and have made plans so far for 3 this year, not counting my weekends away in London and wherever else takes our fancy. Hoping to fit in a visit to our friends in Northern Ireland and Devon & Cornwall too.

So this blog will be all things travel and all things books and anything else that takes my fancy.
I hope you enjoy reading it, but if you dont I will enjoy doing it. I do welcome comments good and bad!

WORLD BOOK NIGHT 2011

Well there's no better time to start my blog than around the time of World Book Night 2011.

What a fabulous night we had, my husband and I, in Trafalgar Square, London. I was fortunate enough to be chosen as a "book giver", and gave away "Fingersmith, by Sarah Waters", being a book I myself, really enjoyed. It was great to hear so many famous authors, actors and the Mayor of London reading from either their own or their favourite books. With the addition of the hilarious Graham Norton as the evenings host, despite it being very cold outside, the evening was great.

I gave my first book to another book giver at the event, and then my second to another lady who was visiting the event, but not a book giver herself.
We then went to the Strada Italian Restaurant just around the corner and gave a copy to our waitress who was really helpful. She seemed really pleased to receive a copy and went off to show her colleagues. My next copy of the night was given to an American Tourist from New York, who we met whilst in Covent Garden in a small pub up a little side street.

That was all stage one of my book giving.... More was to come.