Read, relax, repeat

Sunday morning again and I am feeling so much better than I did last weekend. My Sunday long lie in today is being spent reading. There is something amazing about being taken away to the place an author created. I go through phases of reading a lot and reading a little; but I have always got a book to hand. Sometimes I have a couple on the go.

Actual paper vs Gadgets

To be fair I like both. The book books I keep are ones I love and feel like I could read again. For example I started last year (yep late to the party) Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials. Then the Book of Dust . Getting that wee link has meant I now know there is a second Book of Dust coming out in October. Yay. So, anyway, I bought the paper versions of most of them because, after the first, I knew I wanted to have these books to keep (and not just keep on a device). I didn’t even care really that they weighed down my weekend bag. Its just nice to sit in the sun and have the weight of a book to both use as a shade and to drift off into a world not my own. Paper is also my favourite option for reading in bed. I think. Unless the book is too heavy for lying flat and reading. Actually I am not sure about this preference nowadays as I am just as happy this morning reading from my tablet. But book books are great. When I want to pass on the ones I don’t need to keep (you know the ones; the quick reads you picked up in the airport) there are good options in Edinburgh. Stockbridge has a book sharing cabinet in one of the quiet colony streets so I just pop my excesses in there. Even in my local Tesco you can donate a book to the reading shelf for someone else to pop in and purchase (for charity) it for 50p.

I do also like my Kindle books. I came late to this party too having been committed to all things Apple until I started with Amazon Prime. I did this purely to get the TV thingy so I could watch Outlander (it wasn’t on anything else at the time). I ignored the books part until Kindle did an app that even I could download so I jumped on it. It seemed a waste not to get free books. The app is definitely my favourite for coffee shop loiterings. If I nip along the road I have a good three options for sitting and watching the world go by with a decent size cappuccino. So lugging a book along is not always the go-to option. My tablet or phone however will do just the job. I don’t have an actual kindle so I may be cheating…but I do have the app. I probably should buy one and would appreciate any advice on this as so far it has just felt like I would be adding to a long list of gadgets when my phone will do the same job.

The point of this blatant namedropping (honestly though, for me as long as people are reading; how they are reading isn’t the issue) is that with my app thingy I get and read new books I would never pick up in the airport or in Tesco. My subscription (currently on the Unlimited trial having been a general Prime member) means that books are suggested. This, for me, makes everything easy. Something pops up on email or as a suggestion; I give it a go. My current book is like that. It may turn out rubbish but you could also be reading something that enthrals, excites or entertains you (or an encapsulation of all three).

My current book

What the Wind Knows by Amy Harmon

This was a recommendation by email. Brilliant. But…This doesn’t always go well as books are a very personal thing and one book doesn’t appeal to everyone. Anyhoo having just read the reviews they are pretty good (apart from the odd one) and even though I am now only 2 chapters in I am already hooked. Im not keen on political backdrops (the reference in this book being Ireland) but it already seems like it is being used as a reference point to a love story. Who doesn’t like a love story? Even books that aren’t about love often have something in them about love. It also starts with a grandfather / granddaughter relationship which sets a tone which is, well which is comforting. Eoin the grandfather has just passed away so off Annie is going (she is a writer) to the place he was born and raised in. Don’t worry this isn’t really a spoiler. Like I said I am only 2 chapters in but so far the author’s writing has me gripped. She writes wonderfully well (apparently a few New York Times bestsellers also agree with me in their reviews) and the book is flowing. It really does just flow and is perfect for relaxing with. Some books feel like hard work, tense, unexpected; this one doesn’t. This blog and paragraph is short because of that. Because I am just about to dump the laptop for my phone. I may even get up (in a bit) and take this one along to the coffee shop.

The link to her book is here: What the Wind Knows.

I think I am going to bookmark her name somewhere if this one ends up being brilliant. P.s. the link below is marketing. I am doing this subscription as its free for a bit before I go back to my normal Prime subscription (waiting on the next season of Outlander obviously!).

Kindle Unlimited

Long lie in

I’ve had a hectic two weekends. So today I just wanted to lie in bed until noon. That used to be a thing. In fact I used to find it overly rude if anyone even phoned before 12 on a Sunday.

Age, sleep, hangovers

I’m too old to be able to deal with a hangover. Yesterday (after what was only meant to be a couple with a friend) I woke up on my sofa with my pal having stayed over (I clearly offered up my bed). Sick is an understatement. Worse – I felt drained. That was not the plan, especially since I was meant to be in Glasgow for lunchtime to go on a big day out with a group of folk I know.

So having had a rubbish sleep and feeling like I needed to hide in a darkened room – I got up. I can’t now not get up. I’m sure I used to be able to sleep through things when younger. Like I say, sleeping in late used to be a thing. Now I can only manage to re-snooze after a 6am wake up to about 8.30am. Then I need to get up. I think this is an age thing. I also think feeling rough is something I can’t deal with as I get older. Maybe that means I should slow down. Maybe I’ll ignore that thought.

Back out: the challenge

Two days in a row out feels akin to enduring SAS training. Granted I have never, and would never, have endured this. In my head though that is what it is like. So having stuck my head under a cover for an hour at 10am, I then had to rush to get out and get the 12 o’clock train. It wasn’t easy. Even as I’m writing this I am giving myself a high five for managing it.

Glasgow is not the place to go with a hangover

Edinburgh and Glasgow differ. Not just in the architecture, people and layout but also in how people approach a day out on the town for drinks. In Edinburgh I could rock up in trainers and a hoody and still go anywhere on a Saturday afternoon. Cocktails in tiger lilly to a pint in Smithies. In Glasgow 10 inch heels seem like a minimum for a glass of wine. It’s not the place you want to go if you already feel hungover 🙂

That said I rebelliously shoved on my loafers, jeans and a T-shirt and got on the train. It was commented on. I was also a good 5 inches shorter than all the ladies who were out. The joy of not caring less due to the fog brain of hangoverdness (yes a made up word but reflective of how I felt) meant I breezed through the comments and odd looks. And despite being someone who therefore stood out, it was a fabulous day. I even managed to have a few drinks.

Thank Sunday for being Sunday

So the point of this was my long lie in. Clearly the build up of this weekend would lead you all to thinking I stayed in bed till 1pm before meandering across the road (it’s not far) to the coffee shop.

Nope. I woke up at 6am and struggled on and off for the next 5 hours in an annoyed way of obstinate thinking that “no way in hell I am getting up”. So I didn’t make it till noon and feel like I never will again. I did go and get coffee and I did then sit in the garden for a few hours to get some vitamin d. But it’s not the same as when I was young and able to sleep till all hours. I’m even booked into blooming yoga later. Yes I enjoy this lifestyle now. But things have definitely changed. Today I feel pretty old. Today I also think I will never have another glass of wine again.