Fifty Shades of Pink

I love a bonkbuster as much as the next woman but I won’t be adding Fifty Shades of Grey to my summer reading list. Or my autumn, winter or spring lists either.

From Judy Blume through Jackie Collins and Louise Bagshawe, up to my latest discovery Lulu Taylor, I’ve thumbed my way through plenty of racy pages. But I’ve always speeded up my reading at those points, skim-reading at best. I’m usually reading the book because I actually just like the story and find myself squirming a bit when it comes to the sex scenes!

Didn’t everyone I used to think. Apparently not if the roaring success of Fifty Shades is anything to go by. Apparently we’re gagging for literary porn. And apparently the reason Fifty Shades has been such a hit is because women can read it without anyone realising they’re reading filth! Clearly the hordes of women I’ve now seen reading the paperback on the tube don’t give a hoot about that! But why would you want to read that kind of book on the tube, or anywhere in public, regardless of whether you’re brazen or coy about it? If it’s turning you on, isn’t that better done in the privacy of your bedroom? Maybe I’m a prude (and I swear I’d never put myself in that category) but I’d just be turning fifty shades of pink!

I do get the fact that erotic literature can be a turn-on and while I hate to allude to stereotypes, perhaps women prefer to conjure up images in their own minds. But again, isn’t there a time and a place? Maybe it’s just me. Maybe I’m missing out on a more interesting commute into work. Maybe I should give it a go! Anyone out there who has actually read it and willing to recommend it??

Book Review - You Can't Scare a Princess

Last weekend I had a blissful weekend away with my hubby to celebrate our 5th wedding anniversary! We went to Cambridge and I popped into local bookshop Heffers (a division of Blackwells) to pick up some books to take back to the girls.

It had a lovely children's section at the back, and after much perusal one of the books I chose was You Can't Scare a Princess by Gillian Rogerson and illustrated by Sarah McIntyre. We already own and love  You Can't Eat a Princess by the same team and have enjoyed some of the related activities on Sarah McIntyre's website (see earlier blog post).

So what did we think about You Can't Scare a Princess? Well, S has asked me to read it at least three times since last Sunday so that's a good sign! It's a fun tale about a band of pirates who arrive at Cupcake Palace in search of buried treasure. At first they tie up the hapless King Cupcake but of course Princess Spaghetti eventually rescues him! She then helps the pirates find their treasure... except it has already been discovered by Captain Nastybeard! In an attempt to distract the pirates (and get her father untied) Princess Spaghetti teaches them how to rollerskate.

If you've read any of my other blog posts you'll know I do love a book with great voice-ability (I don't think that's a real word by the way but hopefully it describes what I mean!) - featuring characters that lend themselves to funny/dramatic voices. Princess Spaghetti is definitely one of those characters and I love to put on a posh, princessy voice to read her lines.For Captain Waffle I have my pirate voice which for some reason is a bit west country!

The illustrations are fantastically detailed so there's more to discover with each read. S loves the bit where the pirates and Princess Spaghetti dig for the buried treasure and traces her finger along the tunnel saying 'dig dig dig'. Another favourite spread is where all the pirates are wearing rollerskates and she likes to point out each pair and tell me what colour they are.

Princess Spaghetti is a feisty, brave character and even though she's bedecked in the predictable princess pink, she is a good role model for little girls. The other thing I like about both books is that they involve stereotypical boy topics - aliens and pirates. But I do have one minor annoyance about You Can't Scare a Princess and that is the fact there is only one token female pirate and she is also dressed predictably in pink. I do think it would be more in keeping with the spirit of Princess Spaghetti if the pirate crew had been more mixed gender-wise.

Still, it's a good read and I hope we see more of Princess Spaghetti in the future.

Kindle - A Love-Hate Relationship

Despite my protestations that I didn’t want one, my husband bought me a Kindle for Christmas. He – gadget-obsessed – thought that I – book-obsessed – would love it. In many ways he was right, but it’s been a turbulent, love-hate relationship.

Things I love about my Kindle:

1.       You only need one hand to hold it and turn the ‘pages’ so it’s ideal for reading:

a.       on the tube (avoiding the embarrassment of falling onto a fellow commuter as you let go of the hand rail to turn the page of a ‘real’ book)

b.      while holding a baby on your lap (on a plane journey for example).

c.       while lying down (in bed or on a sun lounger for example).

2.       It’s so easy to buy books – one click and you’re away – and you can download sample chapters for free so you can try before you buy.

3.        I have definitely been reading more since I got it, probably as a combination of both points above.

Things I hate about my Kindle

1.       The perpetual guilt about contributing to the demise of real books and bookshops.

2.       The poor shopping experience. Yes it’s great to buy with one click but the actual experience of browsing for a great new book to read isn’t great. I’m not a big fan of the Amazon website for buying books anyway, it’s ok if you know what you’re looking for and yes sometimes it can offer decent recommendations, but nothing beats browsing in an actual bookshop, looking at the front covers (because yes you can judge a book by its cover), reading the back covers and flicking through the content.  Points 1 + 2 = vicious circle. Also, not everything is available as an ebook yet so you aren’t even able to browse the full

3.       It’s flimsy as f**k! Despite having a protective cover and treating it with reasonable care, my Kindle has already broken once (admittedly it was swiftly replaced by Amazon) and I thought it had broken a second time while we were on the outward plane journey for our recent holiday. I had nothing to read for the latter part of the journey and had to wait until we got internet access in the hotel where my husband accessed the manual online. (Thankfully he got it going again after doing an elaborate version of the failsafe IT advice of switching it off and turning it back on again!).

 On reflection I think the answer is balance. While the Kindle has its benefits I don’t think it will or should ever replace my real bookshelf, nor the Kindle store my local bookshop and library.