Books and books and books

I have finally made a decision.

I was toing and froing for months – dancing between deciding getting an ipad, a netbook or an ereader. Then just last week, I bite the bullet and bought an ereader.

I’ve very much a tactile person. I was in a blissful haze when I worked in a fabric department - fingering fabrics, committing their unique thread counts and textures to memory. So when I read books I’m equally tactile (note: perhaps overzealously so) I pull them close, I thumb the pages, I crack their spines, I crease corners, carry coffee stains and continuously flick to gauge how far I have to go.

My eraeder is a compact gadget, unassumingly slight and quiet. I can’t tear into books with my fingers and thumbs, yet I love it, as I can tote around 100's of books in my shoulder bag, minus the risk of scoliosis and at the very least a shoulder ache.

[Booked]

I’ve been in a frenzy of downloading books, as my ereader (Sony PRS 350) doesn’t have Wi-Fi and requires a couple of computer programs to upload books – I need to decide what I want to read for the next eight months before I hit the road.

Travelling essentially equates to long hours of free time - waiting for trains, planes, boats and buses, then being in transit - so I need a glut of books to see me through.

So far I've downloaded a mix of genres thus far including a couple works by Bill Bryson, Kate Atkinson, Ken Follett, Alain de Botton, Barbara Kingsolver and Jan Morris.

[Sony PRS 350]

So if you have any suggestions, it'll be greatly appreciated.

Papercup

I want to become a school teacher!

Or a member of a typing pool!

Or a Librarian!

Basically I want an excuse to wear Papercup clothing. All. Day. Long.

Nip and tuck

I must confess when I stumbled across this gorgeous historical depiction of a “perfect nippy” (wait staff) I felt guilty. I am a workplace slob.

[image via: point of difference]

To be fair my work uniform was designed for practically – the white polo top and blue slacks are perfect for bending, twisting, lifting, reaching, carrying and leaning. An occupational, health and safety dream.

But for all the flexibility the uniform allows, I’ve stretched the guideline to the limit – I slouch around in my natty old running shoes, my hair is less fly-away and more of a bird’s nest & I never attempt to wear makeup as I doubt that anyone other than Cate Blanchett could make the polo/slacks combo look glamorous, so why make the attempt to.

While I’m not usually too fussed about my slapdash style, it would be the bee’s knees to wear these beautiful ensembles to work. I can picture myself as a librarian – delicately carrying one book at a time of course.

[Karen Walker]