Leaving the books at home

When I was 20 I started seeing an ex boyfriend again for the third time. I was convinced once and for all we were going to make it work because to me he was this wonderful perfect boy and we were made for each other. One day I returned home and my house mates announced a gift wrapped packaged had arrived while I was in my lesson. I very excited opened it and discovered this guy had sent me a Kindle. 

Kindles were brand new at the time and cost about £119, and I had mentioned in passing that I would like one as I had to carry a lot of books around, what with doing an English course. And suddenly a week later I had been sent one, and I was shocked and touched by this gesture. That evening I downloaded some books onto it and in my next seminar when I whipped out my flash new toy the whole class wanted to have a look and my lecturer asked what I thought of it and I sang its praises how the books were so cheap and in some cases even free, and it was so light and the battery life seemed endless. 

A couple of months later unsurprisingly, the somewhat rocky and pretty unhealthy on off relationship with this boy came to an explosive end, though we were not officially together picture of him in bed with someone else while he was at his ex girlfriends wedding, and him not wishing me Happy Birthday on my 21st birthday which all happens to be Valentines day finally did it for me. We had a heated phone call and after I sent him a strongly worded text telling him to never contact me again culminating in my throwing my phone across the room. We haven't had any contact since, and neither has the Kindle and me.

Once I cut off ties with this guy I wanted to rid myself of everything that reminded me of him. I threw out stuff he had given, re arranged my room so it wouldn't remind me of him, I dyed my hair so I didn't look like the same girl who liked this guy, and because I couldn't bring myself to throw out a perfectly good working Kindle it went into the bottom of the wardrobe where it stayed until this September where it finally made its way into the bin. 

My feelings toward e-Books also changed. A Kindle was not practical for a Uni student, I couldn't highlight important parts of the text. You couldn't quickly flip to a page to refresh your memory on what had happened, You couldn't read it in bight lights and they Uni didn't have a format that allowed you to properly reference digital books. I honestly didn't like them, I only liked them because the boy I fancied had bought me one, and I didn't use another e-book format again. 

Until the latest iPhone update where they introduced a new app rather un-inspiringly named iBook. When ever my Phone updates I have a little tinker around with the new apps, and they never touch them again ( has any one every used the Pass Book app?). So I clicked on it and it is basically the same as the Newstand on the iPhone which allows you to down load Magazines but this one it for books. I saw they had a few books which you could download for free and I browsed through thinking they would all be rubbish books because why would an author of a good book allow their work to be given away for free and I came across a book I really like Starter For Ten by David Nicholls. Which made we think the other free books might not be that bad after all.

I decided to download two books, both genres that I normally wouldn't go for one was a crime book The Woods  by Harlan Coben  which is actually pretty good and would recommend you get if you have an iPhone, and the other was a Chick-Lit book called The One you Really Want by Jill Mansell which really isn't that great. I started reading The Woods  first and it is a genuinely interesting book about a man whose sister was killed when they were at a summer camp together as teenagers and her body was never found. The story had lots of twists and turns and suspense it was a good read. 

I found reading it on the iBook meant I was reading at times I wouldn't normally read. The Advert breaks on TV, while waiting for my Boyfriend to meet me in town, and on the bus to work which is only a ten minuet journey. Because the book is right there in my pocket and the pages are only the size of the screen I can whip it out read a few paragraphs and pop it away again. I also really liked that the screen alters is brightness depending on the room your in, If the room is well lit it will display traditional black text on white, but if you are reading in bed in low lighting it will display white text on black which is easier on the eye which reading off a screen. 

Also at the bottom of the page it tell you how many pages you have to go before the end of the chapter, which is handy because if you are reading on the go rather then trying to rush to the end of the chapter you can instead plan to stop at the next paragraph break because you know you just wont make it to the chapter end. 

How there are still thing I dislike. I will never get use to not being able to quickly flip back a few pages to re read a line with out loosing my place. And the other day while reading I accidentally flipped to the end of the book and it was very hard to find my place again. Also I just don't think I could ever bring myself to pay for a book on this app. Because in the back of my mind I will always be thinking "for a couple extra pound you could have a physical book" 

So as far as my relationship with e-books, I feel we can work it out, we will never be where we were but I feel we can be friends. As for that guy ... well that ship has well and truly sailed.

Rella

Xx

Let's Get Physical

GUESS WHO'S BACK ! 

A replacement charger arrived yesterday and I am back on-line. Which is nice, but i must say being off line was not as back as you might expect. Of course when I first found my charger broken and my Laptop dead i was annoyed, more so about the fact that I would have to shell out money for a new one, then anything else. Also when you loose anything you suddenly remember the 50,000 things you needed to do on-line, like I had to email a company about stuff that didn't arrive, I needed to change my ticket for travelling to Scotland, I had to order a birthday present for my Mum and I also had a post that I wanted to put on here as I had a pretty good stride going ( that post will be up soon) 

But by that evening once I had got those things sorted I sat down with a cup of tea and my book (A Storm of Swords Part 1) and I had a pretty good night, I read a good chunk of my book and enjoyed the lack of distractions. I should also point out that I don't have a television I use my laptop for that as well. 

However one thing I did discover was, I hate doing things on screens. I have always preferred writing my notes down on paper, and I use a real life calendar to keep track of my events rather then my phone. I feel like an old woman in my generation sometimes. I will be writing a note to someone or making plans on paper and some one will always say Why not use your iPhone ? or something along the lines of  It's quicker to do that on-line. Well I don't like do that.

When I was at Uni I would use my computer just to write essays, my research my book my class notes would be around me, and I would physically turn to the page I needed or highlight the information I wanted to use. If I could avoid on-line research I would, because I feel trapped by the screen, like my brain doesn't have enough room to think within these little squares, no matter how many new tabs I open.

When creativity is limited to keys and a screen I feel claustrophobic. I like making things with my hands not just the tips of my fingers, I feel like I have something to show my hard work if I fill a note book with my work rather then a Word Document. I like it when someone hands me something they have made rather then send me a link. 

In my ideal world this wouldn't be a on-line blog, but rather a mini flyer I could send everyone. Now I know this probably sounds like I am trying to be of niche and different but truly I have tried, I once had a Kindle, because what could be better then a library in my pocket, plus carrying a few novels to Uni every day was really heavy. I used my Kindle for one month then I shut it away in a drawer. I missed being able to flick through my book and highlight passages and quickly re-read a page, I missed cover art, and that feeling when you are approaching those last few pages, I missed my book mark I missed books. I remember when I was 12 my neighbour brought over a Digital Camera, It was the first one I had ever seen, and I remember thinking, That will never work, people like hold their photos, how wrong I was, and although I love always having a camera on me, I still print out physical photos in my local Boots and put them in frames or scrap books. 

My scrap book.

I always love it when my Mum gets out her photo albums from her younger years, and she has a huge chest in her room with a lock on it and that it where she keeps all her memories, things she has collected over the years letters and trinkets and when she lets me peek inside and pull a few bits out it is so exciting, we have spent hours travelling back into her memories like that, but I share my moments on a social media page, so she always knows what I've been up to. I just really like the idea of in my old age being surrounded by things that I have created or mementos that I have collected, rather then have to log into a Facebook account aged 75. 

I love technology I really do, I just wish we didn't all have to hide behind a screen to be creative.

Rella Xx