NERDY BOOK TIME 2021
Hi BUTTBOMBS, how are ya? Personally I’m doing HORRIBLY, but let’s not talk about that. Instead, let’s talk about books!
BOOKS BOOKS BOOKS BOOKS BOOKS BOOKS BOOKS
Anyway, if you take a look at the little buttons at the top of my blog, you’ll notice that the “200 Books” one no longer says “200 Books” but rather “250 Books.” That’s because I’ve added an additional 50 “classics” to the list.
Why?
KONDLE, that’s why.
I feel like I have such better access to books with the Kindle than I ever did when having to rely on a library (except for maybe the U of I library, that thing was dope), so I figured why not expand the list a bit?
Plus I know I’ll get a lot more reading done now that I’ve got both Kondle AND the treadmill to get me through days when the weather outside is not conducive to walking/running.
YAY!
It’s Gonna be Brrrr Time
So just a fair warning: Calgary is headed into a deep freeze soon, so I suspect there will be a lot of book reviews on here.
I’m SO GLAD I bought that treadmill last year and I’m SO GLAD I closely followed up that purchase with the purchase of a Kindle. My daily walking is a necessity for me, but doing it inside is so freaking boring. The Kindle really, really helps with that.
Plus I finally get to read again. And reading + exercise? What more could you want?
Bought Bits
So the year’s not quite over yet and I’m sure I’ll be making one or two more nonsense purchases before the end of next month because pandemic panic shopping is a thing and I hate that I’m that type of person though I’m trying to be better, BUT I think I can safely list my top three purchases of the year. They are as follows:
1. The treadmill
Definitely the most expensive thing I’ve bought in a while (apart from the new rocking chair), but totally worth it. It already made my life better on those days during the summer where I would have been walking in torrential downpours or on those days in the past few months where it’s been -15 with snow. I can still get my walk without having to dread horrible weather. This will also make me less dependent on Anytime Fitness once it opens back up, though I still might have to go there for early morning treadmilling if I ever need to do so. I suspect treadmilling at 4 AM would be too loud for my husband and the downstairs neighbors.
2. The Kindle
OH MY GOD this thing has made those 4-hour indoor treadmill walks so much more bearable. And it’s gotten me back into reading, which is fantastic. I’ve read around 17 books since I’ve gotten it, which is more than I’ve read in like the past five years (tragic). Also, like I mentioned in a previous blog, there are Kindle versions of a good amount of books on my list that I haven’t been able to find in libraries. So that’s a plus, too!
3. The Wacom tablet
This is definitely a work purchase rather than a personal purchase, but it has made online lecturing so much easier than it would have been if I had to do everything on my laptop. Yes, my laptop can fold over and act like a tablet to write on, but recording my 50-minute lectures for the winter semester made the laptop really hot; I can’t imagine how bad it would have gotten for the 2-hour lectures (back to back, so I guess four hours total) in the summer. Plus, it’s super smooth and snazzy and I could use him for digital art if I ever got into that sort of thing.
Woo!
Two Things Today!
1. I did my longest run ever today: 15 miles. That’s no marathon or anything (obviously), but that is my standard daily walking distance…a distance I never thought I could run. So that’s kinda cool.
2. The case for Kondle came today! Check it:
Now he’s pretty AND protected!
Re-KINDLING my love of reading
This Kindle is one of the best things I’ve bought in years, guys. I love it. I wasn’t expecting to enjoy it so much, especially since I’ve always been wary of e-readers and figured that I would prefer a physical book to an e-reader, but now that I have one, I am not ashamed to say that I am an e-reader convert.
There’s something very cool about having immediate access to almost any book you’d want. Obviously you can get that through libraries as well, but with the Kindle:
a) I can find books that I’ve had trouble finding in libraries, or at least at libraries that aren’t the UI library. You’d be surprised how hard it is to find copies of some of the books on my list.
b) COVID, so I don’t think I’d want to go into a library right now regardless.
c) I am notorious for checking out a library book and then keeping it for like a decade. Not ideal for anyone involved.
d) The Kindle is small and light, which would make it easy to carry around once, you know, it’s safe to freaking travel again. Some of the books on my list are like 600+ pages, which make the physical books a bit more difficult to cart around.
e) Going back to the original reason why I bought the Kindle, I don’t have to worry about balancing a book on my treadmill’s little shelf while I walk. The Kindle fits there perfectly and I can increase the font size to whatever size I need to comfortably read while walking.
The Kindle has made me super enthusiastic about reading again. I don’t know if it’s because I feel like I have access to any book on my list now (not just the limited subset that I can find in the U of C library) or what, but hot damn I just want to read.
That’s a good feeling. I’ve missed that.
Kindle!
So I got distracted by the redwoods yesterday and forgot to mention that my Kindle came! Check it out:
(Yes, that’s Jazzy in the background of that second pic, haha)
It’s a lot smaller than I thought it would be, but it’s super light and, now that I think about it, it’s about the size of a typical paperback. You can adjust the font size and everything, too, so if I want to read it while I use the treadmill, it should be fine if I make the font big enough.
Supa cool!
Edit: his name is “Kondle” now. He’s my son.
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