Charlottes Collection | Leeds UK Blog : Fashion | Beauty

I've got a little something different for you today, I hope you like it! I wanted to do a quick review of my Kindle Fire HD because I've been pretty attached to it ever since I got it for Christmas!

I know Kindle's can be quite controversial, some people are very attached to their hard copy books. Don't get me wrong, I love paper books, especially when it comes to coffee table books and travel guides, but I was running out of places to put them! With the amount I read, I really don't need 'real' copies of every easy reading novel I pick up! I can honestly say that I've read more since owning Kindles, that's got to be a good thing right?... Though not always for the bank balance it's so easy to buy books now!

I love to read. When I first started this blog I even posted a few book reviews on my blog (let me know if you would to see more!) I'd owned the good old Kindle - 6" E Ink Display for a year before upgrading to the Kindle Fire HD. I loved it, with it being lightweight, more comfortable to hold and carry than real books, easy to use and just a pleasure read! I was completely happy with it - but since accessing all my already purchased books from the online cloud, I haven't looked back since getting the Fire HD.

One of my favourite features of the Kindle Fire HD is the light up screen. Something that I didn't even realise I was missing from my old Kindle! I love how I can now be even more antisocial and read in the car when it's dark! I was worried about not being comfortable with constantly reading from a lit screen, but there is absolutely no glare.

Unlike the traditional Kindle, the HD Fire is designed to be a tablet as well as an e-reader. I don't have an iPad of my own, and Chris doesn't regularly share his :) so it's great to be able to use my Kindle to catch up on the goings on online! Although the Kindle App Store isn't a patch on the Apple App Store, it's got all the usual suspects you could want: Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest and Flipboard (my favourite way to read blogs and catching up on various social networks at once), though I do prefer to watch YouTube via the webpage rather than the apps available. Watching YouTube, the BBC iPlayer or using Skype is pretty great, though the picture quality is no better than the iPad, the sound quality is amazing with the double Dolby speakers!

There are a few light annoyances. Sometimes the web pages can be a little slow to load, but it's no biggie. It's a little heavier than the Kindle E Ink, so I can't imagine being able to read for long holding it up whilst sunbathing - like I did while travelling last summer! The main gripe is that the battery only lasts around 10 hrs, this was a bit of a shock after being used to my last Kindle lasting absolutely ages before needing to be recharged - but I suppose the Kindle Fire HD has a lot going on!

Have you got a Kindle? Are you a forever fan or a traditionalist that give up paper book? Let me know what you think!

Twitter | facebook | bloglovin' | LOOKBOOK | Instagram

Never Let Me Go. Kazuo Ishiguro

I picked up this book in the airport on my recent trip out to Gozo. I chose it because I'd been desperate to see the film version at the cinema, but just hadn't got round to it. I'm sure whether you've seen the film, read the book, or not, most of you will know the basic plot from all the recent press surrounding the the movie. Well somehow, other than a few trailers, I'd managed to avoid hearing much about the story at all. And having now read the book, I'm very glad that I had been oblivious to it all!

A lot of this book seems to be the charming yet simple story of children who you know from the start are obviously different, growing up in an English boarding school in the 1990's. Again, there is something very different about England and the school as they are described by the main character, an ex-Hailsham student and now 'carer', Kathy. Told entirely from Kathy's view point, we are brought into her world as she relates her experiences to the reader as though we are already know her world and have had similar experiences ourselves, albeit not as a student of the prestigious Hailsham School. Kathy shares stories of her childhood, the love and strife in her relationships with friends Tommy and Ruth, and her ambiguous present job as a carer, but never quite gives us the full picture of her limited existence as she drops in terms such as donations, guardians, completing, carers and galleries.

Without saying much more, this book is definitely a page turner. Although you get an inkling as to the situation Kathy and her fellow students are in, you find yourself desperately seeking confirmation of theories and answers to the many questions both you and the characters are asking. What exactly are these donations? Where did these students come from? What are the 'guardians' preparing them for?

What is slowly revealed leads to a realisation of a situation that is in reality horrific and morally disturbing. The frustrating aspect, like with all great books, is that just as the story concludes, you have a full understanding and a ready to enjoy the story aware of all the facts, it ends.

Have you read Never Let Me Go? Seen the film?

What did you think?

twitter

we♥it.com

bloglovin'

Throughout the year I go through books at varying paces depending on how busy I am at work, what type of holiday I'm on and generally what's going on in my life, but I'm a massive fan of reading. I can read nearly any genre, but my fave's tend to be anything historical, dramas, thrillers and the odd bit of fantasy. I'm also seriously drawn in by anything set in Ancient Rome or any Mediterranean country!

I thought I'd share these brief reviews of the of the books I've read recently in 2011

Lustrum by Robert Harris

This historical novel is the sequel to Robert Harris' Imperium, which I read and loved last year - though Lustrum could easily can be read on it's own. The book follows the life and political career of one of Ancient Rome's greatest Republicans, Cicero, and is told from the point of view of his faithful and loveable slave, Tiro. Cicero lived through very turbulent times in the history of the Roman Republic, at it's fall just as Caesar inserted himself as the 'first among men' and set the precedent for Rome to be ruled by Emperors for centuries to come. I actually studied Ancient History at uni so had a good background knowledge of the various characters and events in the book, otherwise I suppose it could be a bit hard to follow if you are a newbie to the period. Don't let the fact that this book is based around history or politics put you off though, you don't have to have much knowledge of Ancient Rome to know who Caesar and Mark Anthony (of the Cleopatra fame) are - both feature heavily in the book. Nor do you have to have even the slightest interest in politics, as this book is very much about relationships the relationship between Cicero and Tiro, between the big men of Rome, their fight for power and the various dirty tricks they play in order to get it - including wars, murders and affairs with feisty and ambitious Roman. You can't help but let Robert Harris brilliantly transports you back 2000 years, this book actually makes you feel like your experiencing the life, grime and sleaze of the streets of Rome and the powerful people who ruled it. Think the HBO Rome series in book form! I can't wait for the third in the trilogy to be released later this year!

Room by Emma Donoghue

(I don't have a picture as I lent this book to my mum as soon as I finished it)

This book is a real tear jerker and probably not a read for someone prone to depression!! I picked up this book without having heard any of the recent hype so had no idea what to expect. Told in the voice and from the point of view of a just-turned five year old, the story explores the life of this young boy, Jack, and his mother. Their whole world is an 11ft by 11ft Room and like Jack, the readers understanding of Room, Jack's Ma and their world develops and unfolds with the plot. Ma starts explaining to her child that they are both prisoners in Room, how she, and ultimately he, came to be improsoned in Room and that there is in fact a very big world outside - very much to Jacks dismay. Obviously I don't want to say much more incase you want to read the book for yourself. This for me was a book that I couldn't put down and literally read in one weekend, however just bear in mind that this book has many parallels with recent and horrific case of Josef Fritzl. You have been warned.

I'm currently reading

Mussolini: A New Life by Nicholas Ferrell

I thought I'd briefly mention this book, despite having only just started it. This book is very heavy going, particularly for me as I very much enjoy a good novel - usually the more lighthearted the better - and I have pretty much no knowledge of Italy's recent history, leaders or involvement in either World War I or World War II. So far I've found this book to be a factual and fascinating biography of the Italian Fascist Dictator, Benito Mussolini, Il Duce. As a child he can really only be described as a swine and a bully, something that he carried into his young adult life. As an adult he was moody, prone to depression, violent, short tempered and a rather eccentric womaniser. However Mussolini certainly was intelligent, forging a career as a successful political journalist, newspaper editor and even founder of his own paper. I've also been shocked as to how much sympathy the author seems to have for the dictator, often claiming that in reality, in certain situations he got rather more bad press than was deserved. I've not read any further than his journalism career and military service in WWI but this book is definitely a page turner.

Let me know if you'd like to know my thoughts on Il Duce and this book when I'm done!

What I'll be reading next

The following books I'll be reading as soon as I've managed to drag myself through the Mussolini biography. Both of these were birthday presents from my boyfriend. Chris is not a reader whatsoever, only ever having read his favourite BMX-ers autobiography, so I thought it was really sweet that he had put so much effort in picking out books that I might like!

The Rome Prophecy by Jon Trace

The Hand That First Held Mine by Maggie O'Farrell

I'm really looking forward to reading these! Let me know if you'd be interested in hearing my thoughts on these, or any of the other books I read recently, throughout my tripping around New Zealand in December and over New Year...

The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown

Stolen by Lesley Pearce

- Charlotte