Saturday 30 July 2011

I've been reading...

The advent of my Kindle has done great things for my book consumption. Up until Christmas (when I got the Kindle) most of my books (apart from holiday reads) came from the Library - or Christmas and Birthday presents. The presents are great as they are always (unsurprisingly) the books I want to read. The library does its best... but Charlton House is a baby library (probably smaller than the downstairs of my house) and it doesn't have many books and even fewer that I want to read. Yes, I could go to other branches in the borough, but then I have to travel and that is just a nuisance.

So, enter the Kindle. First great thing, loads of free (or very cheap) books. Not just classics but contemporary stuff too. Second great thing, you have your whole library with you wherever you go. I like to read more than one book at once (usually at least two or three) now I never have to choose which to take, they're all there.

Here are a few of the books I have finished recently:

What Amazon says: "Do parallel worlds exist? Searching for proof, Professors Rodger & Cassie Swift vanish. Kestrelle, a spirit girl claiming to know their fate, tells their son Braden he must brave a whitewater, tooth-sprouting river into a land where wise vultures predict the future and blue minds inhabit lava caves. Only two powers can help: Kestrelle's Blood Thorn and Braden's vine-painted guitar."

Although on first glance it seems a fairy story the focus is on Braden and Kestrelle and the difficult choices they have to make. I gave it 4 out of 5.

Wrongful Death: The AIDS TrialWrongful Death: The AIDS Trial
The first of two books by Stephen Davis I actually read them the wrong way round. These books challenge everything that anyone of my age has been brought up to think about HIV and AIDS. the books might be fiction but the science behind them is real; it certainly makes you think. See also "Are You Positive by Stephen Davis".




Both of these books are currently free from various places on the internet for you Kindle (or other e-reader).