Thursday, September 02, 2010

Kindles and Christmases

Book News:

Yes, sorry about the title but someone has to mention the Dreaded Christmas Word first and it might as well be me. The big news of this week has been the long-awaited arrival of my new Kindle. Or Katy, as I'm calling her. She is totally wonderful and I love her - so far. The screen is clearer than the Sony ereader and I particularly enjoy the way that when you switch her off, a different writing-related picture comes up each time. So far I've had (as it were) Virginia Woolf, Charles Dickens and the front cover of a medieval-style manuscript. Lovely. The only problem is that you don't see the covers of the books you buy, which is a shame. I do like covers. Still, Katy is great and I have no real complaints at the moment.

Talking of the Kindle,  I'm pleased to say that my poetry collection, Sunday Haiku, managed the dizzy heights of No 8 in the Amazon Kindle Poetry charts, though it's now fallen to No 29, but it was a real boost. And if you now have or are expecting your UK Kindle, don't forget that there's a whole wealth of shopping fun here - enjoy!

Meanwhile, publication day for Tommy's Blind Date will soon be upon us, and I have accordingly returned the final galleys. You can also now find further information plus a short & spicy extract at the publisher's website - just to whet your appetite, don't you know.

Not to be outdone, The Delaneys and Me made a brief appearance at No 44 in the Amazon Gay Fiction charts but has now, sadly, slipped away again. This week I have also been heartened that Two Christmases gained a very positive 4-star review at Goodreads - many thanks indeed, Aredhel.

And, at The Bemused Gardener, I have been mulling over mint, figs and the strangeness of sticks, which might - just! - be coming to life again. You never know.

This week's meditations are:


Meditation 415
Never trust an old prophet.
They are like
false smiles
at the meal-table

and ravenous lions
on your path:
avoid them.


Meditation 416
The ancient, well thought-of
and venerable role of priest

is, in these dangerous days, the career
we recommend the least.


Life News:

There's still no definite news on any exchange date for our potential new flat - I had so hoped it would be today, but obviously ... um ... not. It's rather disappointing, not to mention frustrating - even though I do quite understand that the vendors need to get things signed in different parts of the country and then back to their solicitors and then back to our conveyancers, and the bank holiday has slowed everything down and it's a bother for them too, etc etc. It's just that we were aiming to exchange at the end of August, and we'd done everything in our power to make it happen. Yes, I understand that - with a bit of luck and the wind in the right direction - everything will hopefully happen very suddenly and then we'll be there, but until it does I'm feeling hugely twitchy and unsettled. Ah, it's the waiting which kills you, Carruthers, don't you know. Watch this space though ... We live in hope!

Popped in to see the ground floor neighbour today in order to thank him for signing all the documents we need to help the sale go through - he and his family have been total stars throughout all this and we are very grateful to them indeed. Thank you to the M Family! Also lovely to catch up with what's been going on - we chatted for ages which was great.

Other good news is that the very irritating car that was abandoned outside the house during the summer has now finally been removed by the council, so thank you, Mr Council, for that. It's a good job it's gone as my plan this weekend was to beat it to death with sticks, which would have been quite a frightening sight really.

All of which takes my mind off the fact that this week I've had my work review - well, most of it, as David and I chatted for so long that we ran out of time and we must needs finish it off next week sometime. Looks like I'm not too bad after all and he has decided not to sack me yet - hurrah!

Anne Brooke
The Bemused Gardener

2 comments:

Jilly said...

I'm glad you're enjoying your Kindle, Anne. It's interesting you say the screen is clearer than the Sony because I debated for ages whether to get a Sony and finally went for the Kindle partly because I've always had good service from Amazon.

Screen clarity was always going to be an important issue for me and I read recently that the latest Sony had a shiny screen - which meant lots of reflections - something I didn't want as I find it difficult to read from shiny paper. Then Amazon released the Kindle in the UK without a shiny screen and that tipped the balance for me. Enjoy!

Anne Brooke said...

I think we can safely say we're both enjoying the Kindle, Jilly! :))