Sunday 10 July 2011

Kindle, I heart you a lot

I tagged this post Kindle, birthday, anniversary, cake - so you can tell it's about all kinds of lovliness before I even start :D This week it's been boy number two's 10th birthday. I didn't have a great deal of time to make the cake this year (enter lego) but said child was happy. I found candles that employ some sort of magic to make the flames different colours as well, so it was smiles all round when I produced this:


Three days later it was my birthday. As I ran through the living room in my usual I-now-have-minus-four-minutes-to-leave-the-house-and-not-be-late-for-work frenzy, I stopped dead in my tracks at the sight of a sleek black package tied with black ribbon. A card with my name on it sat on top. I didn't have time to open it but it lured me anway, enticing me to reach out tentative fingers and actually shake the package. I couldn't resist. It was my birthday after all, and if I was late surely the kids in my class could amuse themselves for a short while - I mean most of them are six now, right? Reason went out of the window and it became of national importance to find out what was under the thick black paper.

I may have emitted a small squeak when I pulled out a plain brown box with Kindle written on it. I may have scrabbled at the aforementioned box in desperation to get to my new toy. I may even have let out an I-just saw-my-first-firework sigh. And there I stood, holding this in my hands:


So sleek, sooooo pretty, soooooooooooo against everything I thought I believed in when it comes to books. I distinctly remember a post-grad student taking one of my seminars when I was an undergraduate (circa '97, yes, I'm that old. Moving swiftly on.) We'd been reading The Name of the Rose - an excellent and rather lengthy tome by Umberto Eco. Post-grad boy assured us that e-books were the way of the future and that there would soon be no need for my oversized backpack carrying no less than two Norton Anthologies. I was affronted. I think (read know) that I actually clutched The Name of the Rose to my chest. How dare he? The very idea of it was sacrilege and the post-grad student should possibly die for daring to utter such blasphemy.

Yet there I stood in my living room, carefully peeling the protective film off my new baby.

Don't get me wrong, I own a lot of books. I have no intention of parting with them (try and take them from me at your own peril.) This is less than a third of the collection in my house:



I love books. I mean I reeaallllyyyy love books.

But my new Kindle? The tiny device that will let me own vast quantities of literature? I marvelled at the screen - the one that looks like paper. I downloaded two books in seconds. I fiddled with facebook on it. I commented to my ever-patient husband 'Look, look, it plays music too! And I can ask it to read to me!' I browsed the huge library of free classics. I even appreciated the new Kindle smell (it really does have one, I'm not making that up.) Yes, I heart my Kindle.

Two days after my birthday (today!) it's my twelfth wedding anniversary. Cake, birthday, Kindle, anniversary.


So how's your week been? :)

17 comments:

  1. I looooove your wedding picture! You look gorgeous. I especially like the tiara one on facebook. Mike looks twelve, lol. A handsome twelve, though!

    Glad you had a great week :D

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  2. On closer inspection, I see that is the picture I liked so much from facebook.

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  3. OMG, you look like a heroine from the pages of a Jane Austin novel. Happy Birthday and Happy Anniversary. What an amazing week you've had.

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  4. oh kindles are lovely.
    and your photo is brilliant. you're very preoccupied... :)

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  5. Thanks Ramona; there are two or three pics that are fairly similar. They were taken by one of our mates who happened to own a camera :P Mike does look very young. Worryingly so. I assure you, after fourteen years with me, he doesn't look like this now :D

    I wouldn't go that far Emma, but thank you :) I've had a lovely week.

    Joe - that look is supressed terror. I found it somewhat challenging to have to be the centre of attention and cameras cause me physical pain. I couldn't bring myself to look at the photographer and have a couple of very amusing pics as a result.

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  6. What a great week you've had. Yeah! for surprise gifts--especially when they come in the form of a kindle.
    Genious cake for your son--are those Fox's Glacier Mints I spy on it? :)
    And I agree with the others: you look darling in your wedding shot. Happy Anniversary (belated). :)

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  7. Um ... genius ... yeah, I'm pretty sure that's what I wrote before the internet gremlins attacked my spelling :P

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  8. Thanks Julie :) Yes, the cake was swathed in marshmallows, glacier mints and lego in an attempt for it to take less time than some of my other creations :P

    Minty sponge, mmmmm.

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  9. Congratulations!Happy Birthday and Happy Anniversary oh sorry too many greetings that's for this year and the next though ^_^

    That's really an awesome and very creative cake,I'm so happy you got a new kindle that quite intrigues me with its scent? hahaha!I love your couple pose it's lovely.

    Fantastic week I must say ^_~

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  10. Thanks kimyunalesca :) It really does have a kindle-smell, I promise!

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  11. I'm just a few days late ;) but happy birthday! Love the cake you did for your son. Back when dinosaurs roamed the earth, I tried one year for my son's birthday to do a Pokemon cake. It's something we don't speak of.

    I've gotten 3 Kindles now (each generation) and the thrill never, ever goes away. I get goose bumps every time I see the new kind of box they use with the lettering all over it and when you open it and see the Kindle cradled inside ...aaah. It really does have a smell! Have fun loading books on it - have you found the usual places that have links for freebies and stuff?

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  12. Thanks Barbara :) And no. Tell me more about these freebies!

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  13. One of my favorite free Kindle book sites is eReader IQ - you can subscribe to their e-mail and they send out a list, usually twice a day of the new free books (generally 4 or 5 at a time).

    There's also Books on the Knob - they keep a good list of free books, discounted books and good deals on pre-orders.

    Add All is sort of new to me, they're a meta search site, but they find books for all sorts of devices and have a good Kindle list.

    The Kindle Forum usually has a post each day by a member named Joyce that lists all of the day's freebies too.

    If you're on Twitter, there's an account that tweets them too but I'm drawing a blank right now on their name. If you're interested, I'll look at my timeline and get it to you. :)

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  14. Wow, thanks. I'll check those out this weekend. I don't use Twitter at the moment. I'm new to blogging and Goodreads and Book Blogs - not sure how much more I could fit in at the moment!

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  15. Congratulations on all of the above Ruth!! What a week you must have had! A beautiful wedding photo... but you ought to include a photo of the two of you now!
    I hope you're enjoying your Kindle... I was exactly like you before I bought my own and, man, I am seriously converted!!
    Best wishes
    Suzy
    http://suzyturner.blogspot.com

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  16. Thanks Suzy. I really do <3 my kindle - especially downloading samples to see if I like something or not :)

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  17. Kindle . . . uh . . . i dont know. Im Canadian so GO Kobos! yay

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