In Which We Discuss My Unread Pile Again

Well, it's been five days since I vowed to get fifty books off my unread pile.  I've read these;

 

...so that's 8 out of 204 gone.  I'm halfway through another, and I've donated six or seven.  But (confession time) I managed to pick up a few more.  So I have 194 left all together.  My goal was to get rid of 50, but I want to rephrase that as getting the pile down to 150.  So I have 44 to donate or read in the next 26 days - wish me luck!

In Which We Discuss $5000 Canadian

Kobo are currently running (yet another) competition. In this one, you read three short stories, which are released as free ebooks on the 25th April and the 2nd and 9th of May. You must use the clues in the text and images of each story to find a URL, and then use information on the three pages to locate the entry form. Full rules are here. Remember that you must have all three books in your Kobo library to qualify for entry, so don't go deleting them once you've read them.  You don't, however, actually need to own a Kobo; reading the books on the desktop or smartphone app works too.  Entries need to be in by the 14th of May, and prizes will go to the first five qualifying entries; winner gets $5000 Canadian and a Black Kobo Glo signed by Dan Brown; four runners up get the signed Black Kobo Glo and $100 credit to their Kobo accounts.  Oh, and before I forget; you need to live in the US, UK, or Canadia, and be an adult in your country of residence, ie, over eighteen.  Possibly sixteen in the UK, I'm not sure.  I'm 24, that sort of thing hasn't mattered to me in a while.

Remember that you can always see Kobo Competitions advertised on their website, near the top, underneath the bar with 'Top 50 eBooks' in it.  In my experience, they generally run at least one a month.  My favourites are the ones where you answer questions and win percentage off codes (generally anywhere between 10% and 75%) with anyone who correctly answers all ten entered into a prize draw.  You can't use the codes on every book, but there are quite a few good ones that you can use them on.

In Which We Discuss Kobo Achievements

This post originally appeared on my games blog, Deis' Discs.

The Kobo is an ereader, created by a Canadian company and affiliated with WHSmith.  I have a Kobo Mini which is adorably tiny and fits in my jeans pocket.  I bought my Kobo just before Christmas, since I was going to stay in London in order to work in a homeless shelter.  In 2011 I took a pile of books which were heavy, awkward, and finished before I came home.  The Kobo was a LOT easier.  I wasn't sure about eReaders before I got one, but I love it.  I'll write a full review at some point, but, for now, I just want to talk about the achievements.  I'm planning on getting a Kindle as well, so maybe I'll just write a comparison.  If you're thinking of getting an eReader, and you have a smartphone, I highly recommend starting with the various free apps.  They work in much the same way as the eReaders do, and should give you an idea.  I wish I'd done that.

Anyway.  Kobo has a 'reading life' section which lists various statistics, like how much of your library you've read, and how long it's taken you.  It also has various awards or achievements that you can earn for completing various tasks (like X-Box achievements).  As well as the eReader, I have the Kobo app on my phone, and there are some achievements unique to the iOS.  There's also at least one unique to the Kobo Vox, which I don't have, and have no intention of buying.  There are several which are only available with newspaper or magazine subscriptions, and I've not intention of moving out of the UK to take advantage of those, either.

The table below is not a comprehensive list, but it will be as complete as I can make it.  You can have a look at some of the awards here, although I'm fairly sure that's not a comprehensive list either.  I don't have an android, and I gather that there are a few different achievements on there, and a few are time specific and have since been discontinued, so I've not heard of most of them. Unfortunately, Kobo seems to have lost interest in the awards system, as they've not added any new ones in some time.

When you first open your kobo, you'll see many of these awards greyed out.  I think a few of them only appear once you've got them, but don't ask me which ones.

Achievement	System	How-To
Afternoon Rush Hour	Kobo, iOS	Read five times between 4pm and 6pm.  Open any book between those hours, on five different days.
All You Can Eat	Kobo, iOS	Fill your eReader with books.  I think I had somewhere between 50-100 on mine when I got this (I've since cleaned off a lot of the free ebooks, on the grounds that the paperback versions of Austen, Dickens, et al sat on my bookcases for years and I never read those either.  Can't abide Austen).
Author-ized Reader	iOS	I believe this has to do with the 'author notes' feature mentioned here.  I'm planning on reading Me Before You anyway; will update when I can. I've just discovered that you can't get it from reading the preview, even if you look at 'all notes' and click on the threads started by the author.
Better in Bed	Kobo, iOS	Read five times between 10pm and 12am.  Open any book between those hours, on five different days.
BookLover	Kobo, iOS	Link your Kobo account to your eReader.  Although this is theoretically available on the Kobo, a glitch means it doesn't work.  However, if you unlock it on the iOS (by downloading the free app and logging in), it will sync across systems.
Breakfast of Champions/Eat It	Kobo, iOS	Read five times between 5am and 7am.  Open any book between those hours, on five different days.
Classic Attack	iOS	Read the five classic novels that come with your Kobo.  If, like me, you deleted the stupid things, these are the editions in question; Alice's Adventures in Wonderland The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn Dracula Grimms' Fairy Tales Pride and Prejudice Since I've read all but the Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, I feel no guilt whatsoever about cheating.  Just spend ten minutes flicking through the books while watching TV. Note:  You can't get this by flicking to the start of each chapter, then through all the pages of the last one.  Do one book per day, and then do the Lost in Austen award in the same way, and you'll be most of the way through the Twain award by the end.
Deep Thinker	iOS	Make a note in any book.  Long press to highlight a word, then click 'add note' when the menu comes up.
Facebook	Kobo, iOS	Connect your Kobo account to Facebook.  This should be straightforward.  I did it fairly early on, in a 'gotta catch 'em all' spirit, so I can't quite recall how to.
Fanatic	iOS	Own more than five ebooks by one author.  Mine was Sheri Tepper.  You could probably get it with Dickens, since all of his are out of copyright now, if you don't fancy buying five books by any author.
Freeloader	iOS	Add ten free eBooks to your library.  If you're stuck for ideas, try here.
Fully Loaded	iOS	Add items from outside Kobo to your library.  I highly recommend Alicorn's Luminosity and the sequel, Radiance, but it's up to you. Go to the app screen in itunes, scroll right down, and click on the Kobo icon (incidentally, I had no idea you even could scroll down that far).  Add a document or two (PDF or ePub) then sync.
Graveyard Shift	Kobo, iOS	Read five times between 1am and 5am.  Open any book between those hours, on five different days.
Happy Hour	Kobo, iOS	Read five times between 6pm and 8pm.  Open any book between those hours, on five different days.
Highly Decorated	Kobo, iOS	Unlock twenty other achievements.
I ❤ My Library	Kobo, iOS	Add a book to your library.
I Eat Books for Lunch	Kobo, iOS	Read five times between 12pm and 2pm.  Open any book between those hours, on five different days.
Inverted Comma	Kobo, iOS	Highlight something.  Press and hold on a word to highlight, tap to make the dictionary definition go away, wiggle the little end markers if you like (this is a total pain to get right without lots of practice) then hit highlight down in the bottom left.
Juggernaut	Kobo, iOS	Turn 10,000 pages.  It took me about two months to get this.  Keep reading, you'll make it.  This is probably easier to get on the iOS due to the smaller screen.  You lightweight.
Just the Highlights	iOS	Highlight twenty different passages.  These can be single words.  Personally, I just picked random words in Grimms' Fairy Tales.  Made some very odd sentences.  It took a few minutes for my awards to catch up with my highlighting, so don't worry if it doesn't pop up immediately.
Kill the Commute	Kobo, iOS	Read five times between 7am and 9am.  Open any book between those hours, on five different days.
LOLZ	iOS	Write a note with the word 'lol' in it.
Night Rider	Kobo, iOS	I have this award, but I'm not totally sure how I got it.  The description congratulations me on reading all night long, and I know I got it early on.  I typically read at night, but I'm not sure for how long, or which specific times.
Not an Open Book	Kobo, iOS	Finish a book.  This doesn't work if you open the mini-menu for a book (press and hold on book's name in library) and 'mark as finished'.  You need to go to the last page and close it by tapping right.
Off the Wall	iOS	This one drove me absolutely mental.  You need to share what you're reading in a very specific way, which took me a great deal of googling and experimentation to figure out. Step 1:  Press and hold on the cover of a book in your library.  You will be taken to the overview screen. Step 2:  Press the very rightmost button at the top of your screen in order to see a menu that includes 'share to facebook'.  Share this way, and it will count towards the award. Step 3:  Repeat for a total of five times.
Once Upon a Time	Kobo, iOS	Open a book for the first time.
Page Turner	Kobo, iOS	Read for two hours straight.  I did this during a very boring shift at the homeless shelter.  I was in clothing, which is where we have piles of donated clothes for people to sift through.  Even if no one wants to come down and shop, there still has to be someone sitting there.  That was my job.  Mine and Opal Kobo's (that's her name).
Papillon	Kobo, iOS	Share on facebook ten times.  I found the easiest way to do this was to share my highlighted passages.  My friends list got very sick of my Jinian Footseer quotes.  Tough, they should have fucking read it.  It's a good book.  My favourite.  And considering I've read over a hundred books so far this year alone, that's saying quite a lot.
Playing Hooky	Kobo, iOS	Read five times between 2pm and 4pm.  Open any book between those hours, on five different days.
Pressed for Details	Kobo, iOS	Press and hold on the title of a book in your library.
Primetime	Kobo, iOS	Read five times between 8pm and 10pm.  Open any book between those hours, on five different days.
Quoth the Maven	iOS	Highlight ten different things and post them to facebook by clicking and holding until the option comes up.  Easy peasy.
Reading Life	Kobo, iOS	Set up your ereader. Impossible not to get.
Scout Leader	Kobo, iOS	Unlock ten other achievements.
Sleeping In	Kobo, iOS	Read five times between 9am and 12pm.  Open any book between those hours, on five different days.
Total Recall	iOS	Reread any book.  I did this accidentally, with Francesca Lia Block's The Rose and the Beast.  There are plenty of short stories you could read through twice with ease.  If you get the PDF of The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas, then that'll help with the Freeloader, too.
Total Closer	iOS	Finish ten books.  If you can't do this, I feel bad for you, son.  I got ninety-nine problems, but not-reading ain't one.
The Twain Award	iOS	Open any book in the Kobo app once a day for two weeks.  Doesn't have to be the same book.
Lost in Austen	iOS	I believe you need to read five different Austen novels.  Bloody Austen.  Can't abide her.  There's something direful in the sound.
Witching Hour	Kobo, iOS	Read five times between 12am and 1am.  Open any book between those hours, on five different days.
Word Up!	Kobo, iOS	Use the Kobo dictionary to look up ten words.  Simply press and hold on a word in any book and it'll come up.
-	iOS	-

In Which We Discuss eBooks

I've never really understood the romanticism of physical books. I've heard people go on about the pleasure of cracking a spine, or the smell and feel of the pages, and it just doesn't really do anything for me.

I put off getting an ereader because...well, I don't know why.  The cost, partly.  The fact that I'd have to buy all new books for it, and couldn't just magically import my huge collection (in the thousands).  I was a little squicked out by reading that you don't really own ebooks, and they can be edited at the publisher's discretion.  I like owning things, and having them in my control.  I also like sorting them.  I like being able to put an author's books together on a shelf, and to make piles of unread books, and so on.

I bought my Kobo (her name is Opal) last December.  I went away for Christmas, to work in a homeless shelter as I do every year.  In 2011, I took a bunch of point horrors.  I was able to finish one a day (actually, I can easily finish three point horrors in a day, but working in the shelter limited my time) so I had to take a lot.   It was a nightmare carrying that giant bag down to London (on a train, obviously, I didn't walk), and I worried about running out of books.  I think I also read Lorna Doone on my phone that week, but don't quote me on that.

Anyway, a week or so before I went, I was walking past a WHSmiths and saw that they had a sale on Kobos.  I don't think I'd ever heard of a Kobo before, but I went in and played around, and saw that the mini-Kobos were only £50, which was the cheapest price I'd ever seen for an eReader.  So I bought one, on a whim.

I love her.  I love that she fits in my pocket.  I like how she looks and feels.  I love the menu screen, which lets me indulge my love of organising things.  My brain doesn't work when things aren't organised, and a cluttered or badly designed menu screen would really put me off and ruin my enjoyment.  I like the Kobo Awards (post about that coming soon) though it annoys me that they're not as supported as they should be.  I like the Kobo website.  I absolutely adore the way that I can see exactly how many pages are left in a chapter; it splits books into little popcorn sized pieces, something I do with physical books by working out which percentage I'm at, and how long to the next third/quarter etc.  I like that I can put any kind of file on there (though it won't show the page count properly, so I prefer to read Kobo Epubs).

I'm planning to get a Kindle Paperwhite once I start work.  On that note, new job are now saying June.  This is my life right now.

...so I'll read a book, or maybe two or three, I'll add a few new paintings to my gallery, I'll play guitar and knit and cook and basically just wonder, when will my life begin?

The appeal of the Kindle Paperwhite is as follows; it has a bigger screen than Opal Kobo, and I think I'll like that, having a tiny eReader for ease of transport, and a bigger one so books seems like they have less pages.  It lights up, so I can read in the dark.  It works out how long it will take me to finish a chapter, and my brain likes the idea of this new data.  It'll show the page numbers in Kindle books properly.  And the menu seems less brain-irritating than in the normal Kindle (which I bought and returned; could not get on with that menu screen).  At some point I do intend to write a full review of the Kobo, so I might wait till I have both and compare. 

 This then gave me the incentive to start getting rid of my books.  That hurt at first.  I used to hoard books.  I'd read them once then keep them just in case I ever wanted to read them again.  When I moved here, I had something like twenty-five boxes of books.  It was a nightmare. 

From now on, I only want one bookcase of physical books, and that's mostly books that look pretty as a set, like the sci-fi fantasy masterworks and Series of Unfortunate Events, and books which are simply not available as eBooks.

As I said, decluttering hurt at first, but once I'd got rid of a few, it got easier.  I eventually reduced my books by two thirds.  Of those I kept, as you saw in a previous post, a good two hundred were unread.  I have my one bookcase, and the rest I intend to buy eBook versions of as soon as possible.  I don't ever want to have to carry around piles of books again.

I also intend to keep my unread piles more manageable in future.  I'm thinking something like only ten to fifteen unread books on any system (not combined, that's crazy talk).

On another note, I'd love to get a copy of Kim Newman's Life's Lottery.  It's a Choose-Your-Own-Adventure story, essentially, but with a few interesting twists.  It's also aimed at adults, as opposed to the actual Choose-Your-Own-Adventure series for children, or the gamebooks, of which I have several (the latter, not the former).  I've borrowed it from the library several times.  Thinking about that book prompted this post; I was wondering if it would be possible for that sort of book to be on an eReader.  It might be, but I think this is one of the few books that I really prefer as a physical object.  I have a bad habit of folding pages over and marking choices with pencil just to make sure I don't miss anything.

In Which We Discuss My Unread Pile

This is my unread pile, in piles of twenty-five. Please note that this does not include unread books on my Kobo (nineteen) or Kindle (not sure how many; I don't even own a Kindle yet, just the app and some books for it).

Yep, that's two hundred and four books. And this is ridiculous. Some of them have been then for years. As much as a decade, in some cases.

So, my goal for May is to get rid of fifty of them; donate them to a charity shop, or read them and move them to another pile, it doesn't matter which.

So far, I've made a good start.  I've picked out five to donate, and read three.  I'm partway through another two.  Wish me luck!

In Which We Discuss People Who Confuse Me and the Ice Cream Girls

I've been reading a lot over the past few days. I've received the offer of a new job, but haven't been given a start date. The interview was about a month ago. I'd be more worried, but last Friday they invited everyone in my position to a coffee morning where we were able to ask questions and get to know each other a little. They told us they'd call this week; it's now 9pm on Thursday, and they've not, so I'm getting a little concerned again.

Anyway, to distract myself, I've been reading, and you can see what I've read in the image above.  That's from the 26th, with the top left being most recent and the bottom right being least. It's still a little too cold to laze about in the garden, but my room (I live in a shared house) has french doors opening on to it, which face west. I get all the afternoon sunlight. I also have a large window which faces east, so I should get the morning sunlight too. Unfortunately, that window also happens to face a busy road, so I never open the curtains.  Anyway, instead of lying in the garden reading, I've been building a nest of pillows at the end of my bed and lying there and reading instead.  All the sunlight and an electric blanket.  Genius.

Anyway.

 Elizabeth Buchan's Daughters had a lot of characters who really confused me.

Warning: Text Below Contains Spoilers for Daughters.

One character is a woman who married a widower with two children.  They have another child together, and, when they split up, she keeps them all.  That's the first thing that baffled me.  That makes no sense to me.  Why would she keep his children?  Would she have kept them if they'd not had a daughter together?  That's bizarre, surely?

I was going to say that I don't mean to belittle the bond between stepparents and children, but I guess I am.  I accept that adopted parents are just as true as birth parents, so why not stepparents?  If he'd died, they'd probably have stayed with her, after all. 

Thinking about it, I guess the thing that bugs me is; why didn't he want them?  Why would he marry someone, and then leave his children with her?

I have to wonder how much this has to do with stereotypical ideas of women as natural caregivers, and the whole myth of the mothering instinct.

This also reminded me of a similar event in Billie Letts Where the Heart Is, one of my favourite books.  One male character is hailed as a hero when he realises that his soon-to-be ex-wife doesn't want her daughter, and he trades his car for her, so the little girl doesn't have to live with a mother who doesn't want her.

The second thing that confused me; the middle daughter is planning a wedding, and chooses a date in the first week of September.  The youngest daughter has applied to Harvard, and, since she is British, will have to move to America.  If accepted, university will start, as it normally does, in the first week of September.  And the middle sister keeps going on about how utterly selfish it is that the younger sister will miss her wedding for the first week of university.  That seems like an insane overreaction to me.  It was an invitation, not a summons.  Secondly, I'm with the youngest daughter, Maudie; it's the marriage that's important, more than the wedding day itself.  It seems insane for her sister to want her to put herself at a disadvantage for one ludicrously overpriced day.  That said, my idea of the perfect wedding day costs less than £200, is in the clothes we wore on our first date, or some other sentimental item, and has only witnesses, no guests.  So there are many things about the wedding industry that baffle me.  Like wedding dresses.  Why on earth would you spend thousands of pounds - or even hundreds - on a dress that you will only wear once?  It's a bizarre thing to do!  If you want to look like a princess, get into Disney Cosplay, you can dress up all the time then!

Blaaaaaaaaah.

Anyway; third thing that confused me.  Several characters become aware that middle sister - Eve's - fiance is cheating on her.  And they debate with themselves about whether or not to tell her!

I've been in a similar situation before, but, in that case, the person I witnessed cheating was a very close friend of mine while her partner was a stranger.  I can understand reluctance in that case, from loyalty.  But, if you're the bride's sister, or (step)mother, then why would that be an issue?  Why would you debate with yourself for even a second on whether or not to tell her?  She has a right to make her own decisions on the matter, while in full possession of the facts.

And then, when they do tell her, she acts like they've done something wrong!  And they internalise this and apologise!  Someone telling you the truth about your partner cheating on you is not doing anything wrong, for god's sake!

Sigh.  I'm not saying that the book is unrealistic; I'm sure there are many people like that in the world, and they are equally bizarre to me.  But, rarr, these crazy illogical people.

Moving on.  I read The Ice Cream Girls, mostly because I didn't want to wait until the third episode of the televisation is shown next week to find out how it ends.  Incidentally, if you do want to watch the TV show (and you live in the UK), you can see the episodes here.  The first episode will be available for another 16 days.  The third and final episode will be shown on ITV tomorrow (Friday 3rd May) at 9pm.  I usually watch live TV here.

Warning: Text Below Contains Spoilers for The Ice Cream Girls.  

Warning:  Text Below May be Triggering re; Rape/Abuse

There's a lot more in the book than in the TV series.  Some characters are merged into one - Serena's two sisters become one, for instance, and so do her two children - and the plot moves a little faster.  One changed which improved the story was the idea that all of the past events had happened in Brighton, rather than in London.  In the book, it's coincidence that Serena and Poppy both end up in Brighton, having both moved from London.  It seems a little forced.  It's a lot more natural - and, I think, helps with the idea of them being linked to each other through the past events - if they end up back at the place where they grew up, where everything happened.

Earlier today, I was embroiled in quite an interesting conversation about domestic abuse, and here's a repeat of your trigger warning.  Someone posted the idea that domestic abuse is intrinsically linked to monogamy.  It's an interesting thought.  All of the details of domestic abuse that I know do require that people be cut off from family and friends, and from help.  Abusers typically tell their victims that what's happening to them is normal, that they deserve it, etc, and then cut them off from anyone who'd offer a reference point for how un-normal it is.  This also has the effect of cutting them off from anyone who can help.  Although this can and does happen in a relationship in which the abuser is polyamorous but the victims are not - like the relationships in The Ice Cream Girls, or as sometimes happens in marriages where, for example, one man has multiple wives.  It doesn't seem like that kind of abuse can happen in polyamorous relationships in which both partners have multiple secondaries.  However, it doesn't necessarily follow that another kind of domestic abuse can't occur, even if this particular kind can't.  I tried a few thought experiments, and the only one I could think of that would work was the idea of an abuser who was motivated by voyeuristic/'being caught' tendencies rather than jealousy/neediness.  For example, the abuser could be aroused or otherwise consider an unknowing third party to be an essential part of the abuse, and threaten the victim to stay quiet or otherwise hide the abuse.  It was an interesting conversation.  I will continue musing on it.

In Which We Discuss TV Adaptations

Recently, I've been watching ITVs adaptation of Dorothy Koomson's Ice Cream Girls.  I've embedded a TV spot which includes clips and interviews below.

I like Dorothy Koomson's books, though I've not actually read this one before.  I am enjoying the show, though. 

One thing I like about Koomson's work is that I can always rely on her to have a woman of colour in the lead role.  There's nothing wrong with white people, my mother was one, but it's nice to get away from constantly reading about them.

I have a shelf on Goodreads for books with non-white protagonists.  Yes, I know that I have full autonomy in what to read.  But you'd still expect more than nineteen books out of almost a thousand.  I'm quite strict with it, too; I only count it if the one main character is non-white, not if there's one non-white character in a quartet or something.

Another book I liked that was adapted to TV was Sophie Hannah's Point of Rescue (published as The Wrong Mother in the US) and The Other Half Lives, both from her Spilling CID series.  I have it on DVD.  I've had it for a while, in fact, but it took me several months to watch it.  Why?  I was scared.  I love those books.  I didn't want the tv series to suck.

Well, it didn't suck, but it wasn't all that great either, not compared to the books.  The adaptation of Point of Rescue was more faithful than that of The Other Half Lives, but both cut out a lot of the complications and twists of the books.  I did like Olivia Williams and Darren Boyd as Charlie and Simon, though.