Book Haul - #LibraryHaul

I went to the library this morning (Yay!) and picked up this awesome haul, some fiction, some non-fiction, some graphic novels...all combine to make a happy reading addict!

I hauled the following:
Prince of Shadows; Rachel Caine
The Shape Stealer; Lee Carroll
Mr Briggs' Hat; Kate Colquhoun
The Witch's Daughter; Paula Brackston
Traitors of the Tower; Alison Weir
Under the Never Sky; Veronica Rossi

Graphic Novels:
Wolverine: Hunting Season
Genju no Seiza vol. 1
Vermonia 1 Quest for the Silver Tiger

I'm hoping to review some soon - espec. Traitors of the Tower, since it's a Quick Read and I think that that's such a very awesome scheme/series! Happy reading everyone!

Gotta build myself an audience!

Hey guys! I hope you enjoying my weird and wonderful musings on all things reading and book-related, but my mission is to spread the book love as far as I can!!! Watch this space, and if anyone has any ideas then let me know!

Magazines, magazines, magazines!!!

You may not have guessed, but this post is about magazines :P . Yep, magazines - I'm a big fan and my current magazine tbr pile is pretty impressive. This is on account of the fact that a) I'm a reading addict, I have a tendency to buy reading materials; and b) I do magazine swaps.

Magazine swaps, in case you weren't aware, is where you swap your old magazines with someone else's old magazines - it pretty much does what it says on the tin. It's also an eco-friendly way to re-use old magazines before they go to that great big printing house in the sky. You end up with a pretty eclectic mix - I have New Scientist magazine alongside Marie Claire, for example, but that's half the fun! The only problem is, as I tend to buy more magazines than anyone else, I don't tend to get so much in return; still, what I do get I'm thankful for as it spreads my money out a bit more.

My magazines tbr list currently consists of:

• 10-15 issues of New Scientist
• 3 issues of Marie Claire (UK)
• 3-5 issues of BBC Wildlife
• 1 issue of Glamour (UK)
• 1 issue of the Big Issue (well worth buying!)
• 4-5 issues of Vogue (UK)
• 1 issue of Look
• 4-5 issues of Papercraft Essentials
• 3 issues of Empire

Quite enough for me to be getting along with! Be thankful I don't have the time or patience to type out my main tbr list!

Reading addict struck by flu!

Argh, I hate the flu. There's just no relief. It's horrible, and you end up taking painkillers and making very little sense in general. Not that I usually make all that much sense, but yesterday I caught myself thinking "He was always so good at that," with absolutely no idea where that came from or what it was about.

On the plus side, been burying myself in books. I'm reading more slowly than normal though so that I understand what's going on! My brain is all fuzzily!!!

Access to free e-reading

If you've read this blog before, you're probably surprised at the title of this post. E-reading? I thought out friendly neighbourhood Book Lover hated that stuff? It's true that I'm not a fan, but I know that a lot of people are, so I thought I'd clue them in on a couple of my recent discoveries.

If you live in Wales in the UK, then you can have access to free library e-books via the welsh libraries e-books website - if your local library is participating (so that's Bridgend, Caerphilly, Cardiff, Carmarthenshire, Ceredigion, Swansea, Denbighshire, Flintshire, Conwy, Gwynedd, Ynys Mon, Merthyr Tydfil, Monmouthshire, Neath Port Talbot, Pembrokeshire, Powys, RCT, Torfaen, Vale of Glamorgan and Wrexham libraries) and you have your library card and pin number, you can login. The e-books aren't compatible with K-devices which are sold by Amazon (cannot bring myself to even type that word *shudder*) and they will be automatically returned at the end of your loan period; you can't return them early.

Most libraries in the UK have a similar scheme, so I suggest checking your local library website for availability in your area. Many libraries worldwide, particularly in the USA, also use the OverDrive website, from which you can borrow e-books.

Back to Wales, digital additions of magazines are available via the Welsh libraries' Zinio collection .

I do ask that you try to keep print copies of both books and magazines in mind, there's nothing quite like the magic of the printed word. But I understand the use of digital media to access materials you maybe wouldn't be able to view otherwise - this includes international publications, Welsh language material (which can be more difficult to track down) and textbooks which may be needed for education, college, university, whatever. This way you can borrow it, read the part that is useful to you, and return it automatically, without having to pay out huge sums on a book you may only need once. If you're going to be using the book often, you still may want to invest in a physical copy.

A note on the Goodreads challenge

OK, I'm sure you're all aware of goodreads - and possibly aware of their yearly reading challenge also. This can be a fab way of keeping track of how much you're reading - this year, I've set myself 50 books, and have completed three already (woo! :P ). Please do avoid setting yourself an unrealistically high challenge - you can always go back and put the number up later.

I openly admit to a touch of cheating - well, if Goodreads counts a one page poem as a book who am I to argue? I read it after all. But remember, the point isn't really the number - the point is to read more, enjoy the hell out of it and (hopefully) read a nice wide range of books. Good luck everyone!

Oh crud!

I'm sorry guys, had to deal with a lot lately and got totally distracted and forgot how freaking long its been since I posted - will hopefully change this asap! :)