Before I got my Kindle, I used to love nothing more than wandering around the local charity shops looking for new (to me) books to read. I’d read them and then hang on to the books I loved because I would often re-read favourite books. The problem was that my favourite books pile ended up overtaking the bookshelf and eventually a big corner of the garage too.
So when Mr Frugal presented me with a Kindle as a gift one day, I was a little bit disappointed that he’d wasted his money as I knew I’d never be able to enjoy reading a book on it. He’d bought me it almost as soon as it came out, more in the hope it would encourage me to get rid of my piles of books than as a thoughtful gift for me I suspect, and I had no idea why people would want to download a book from a bookstore online rather than browse through the shelves at their local bookshop or enjoy mooching around charity shops like I did.
At first, I didn’t like that my favourite authors books were quite expensive in the Kindle bookshop although I suppose expensive is relative to what you’re used to paying as I always used to wait until books appeared in the charity shops so anything more than a few pounds was expensive to me.
But then I found out how to source free books on Kindle and from then on, I was a fan and within months my whole book collection had been donated to the local charity shops. The fact it was so lightweight meant I could lay in bed comfortably and read on a night which meant that I started reading more and more and because I’m quite a fast reader, I can now easily get through a couple of books a week.
I ended up joining Kindle Unlimited because of the number of books I read, It costs me £7.99 a month and there are literally thousands and thousands of books to choose from that are absolutely free to me. I think if you have Amazon Prime then you get something similar too.
If you don’t have a Kindle then I can’t recommend it enough!
But in the last few months, I’ve actually read two actual books – one’s with real pages that you turn. 😉
They were The Pursuit of Happiness by Ruth Whippman which I was sent to review and The Life Changing Magic of Tidying by Marie Kondo which I really wanted to read but didn’t want to pay £7.99 for it on Kindle so I bought a paperback from Tesco for £6.00.
The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying by Marie Kondo.
The reason I wanted to read this was because a few other lovely bloggers had been raving about it online and it sounded like a book I needed in my life to help me de-clutter the house and keep it decluttered rather than my usual cycle of having a giant declutter and then filling the space with more clutter. I found the style of Marie’s writing to be really friendly, almost as if she was talking just to me which kept me really engaged throughout and although I haven’t had as much time to devote to putting the words into practice, it’s definitely had an impact on me and I’ve made a good start. I’m at the point now where I’m re-reading the book and starting to go through the actions bit by bit which is working well for me and the time I have available. It’s certainly clearing space in my house and making me think about the things I keep and the things that I’ve been hanging on to but really don’t need anymore.
There are a few bits that have made me smile (the chapter on the sock drawer had me in stitches although I’m pretty sure it wasn’t meant to) and a couple of bits that I felt were a step too far for me personally but on the whole, I loved the book and the concept behind it and it has changed my thought process about how I keep my house tidy which is what it says it will do.
Has it changed my life?
Well, a tidy house makes me feel happier and this book is definitely helping me to achieve that.
The Pursuit of Happiness by Ruth Whippman
I’ve really enjoyed reading this book which is all about what happened when Ruth moved from the UK to sunny California and discovered just how far people in the US were willing to go to achieve their goal of ultimate happiness. With a bit of ‘If you can’t beat them, join them’ mentality, Ruth joins them in their pursuit of happiness with some hilarious (for us, probably not for her) results.
I read this book alternating between laughing out loud and being amazed at the length some people would go to in their pursuit of happiness and the amount of money that they’ll spend to achieve it.
The stand out part for me was the Landmark conference where the extremely questionable methods used to help people achieve their happiness goals seemed to me to be cruel and wrong seemed to be acceptable to most people. It astounds me that people would spend good money on this all in the name of happiness.
The book was witty and well written which made it hard to put down but it was also very well researched and had some really interesting facts and research intertwined with the anecdotes.
Has it changed my life?
I’m a pretty positive person in general so I’ve never been one to spend much time trying to find happiness but I did delete a few apps from my phone that I was planning to use to learn to meditate simply because I felt it would make me happier based on other people’s experience. It’s made me more aware and above all else, it was a great read so I’d recommend it based on that alone.
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Image credit: Shutterstock, AnjelikaGr
