Reading is something I’ve loved from a very early age. After dance practice when I was younger more often than not I couldn’t head home until my best friend Eimhear and I had swapped books, mostly Jacqueline Wilson of course! To put it simply it’s something I enjoy, I find it is the perfect escape. After finishing a great book, I find myself thinking about the characters long after I turned the last page, wondering how their life planned out and placing them as people I know in real life. Books have the power to make us think! Everything we see now on social media is so visual, it’s incredible, but the reality is; we don’t get the chance to imagine as much as we used to.

Envisaging my house when I ‘grow up’, it’s got a gorgeous reading nook in the kitchen, a bay window with a timber seat, long enough to curl up on, small enough to feel cosy. It’s covered over by beautiful throws and pillows, it has the perfect ledge to sit a hot cup of tea to enjoy as the rain hits the window! I think of this space often but for now anywhere will do. A Sunday morning in bed, cosied up on the sofa, in a coffee shop and as of recent, my front doorstep, the perfect suntrap!

The smell of a new book is up there with one of my favourite scents, closely followed by freshly ground coffee and second to the smell of my home, home. Every home has a smell, right? A few years back my auntie got me a kindle before I set off inter-railing across Europe for 6 weeks and to my surprise I loved it, it became my best friend on some of the longest (and most dodgy) train journeys of my life!

University happened, the kindle fell to the way side and reading became a chore; something I had to force myself to do to get through another class and ultimately my degree. There was no fun in it!

After picking reading back up again in dribs and drabs over the years, lockdown happened. Everything stopped. Life slowed down. Gyms, coffee and bars closed. Next day delivery ultimately banished and being confined to the comfort of my own flat for the foreseeable I picked up a book and I literally haven’t stopped reading since. It’s only been a couple of weeks but it’s safe to say the bookworm in me is back and doesn’t look to be going anywhere soon. As I researched the best fiction books of the past year I started to compile a list and making use of Ryan’s Amazon prime I ordered a number of books totalling a nice round sum of £40. This had me questioning if this was the best option, I noticed that all the same books I was buying were 99p or thereabouts on kindle… an hour later I had ordered a Fire 7 Tablet and couldn’t wait for it to arrive.

I genuinely think it has been one of the best decisions I’ve made this year. The screen is so clear and easy to read, it doesn’t feel like a strain on my eyes, all my books are in one place and I can simultaneously search for books, read reviews and add them to a list I’ve created of books I may be interested in down the line! I think it has made me read more! I’m not waiting on the delivery man and im saving a lot of money (apart from the one slip up I had where I was sure a book was 99p and turned out to be £9.99)! The Fire boasts so many other features that I am yet to try but you can watch Netflix and even ask Alexa to play your favourite songs! If you have amazon prime, Kindle Unlimited allows you access to thousands of books for free! This is a great feature which may get you reading books which initially you may not have considered.

I would absolutely recommend it to anyone, just get into the habit of charging it at night time! Nothing worse than waking up on a Sunday morning, making a coffee ready for a slow morning in bed with your kindle to realise its dead. I can guarantee the first thought through your head will be – a trusty book would never betray me like this…

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying I’ll never buy a physical book again but for now, it works 😉

Chat soon, keels x