I'm sure that all of you book lovers out there would agree that there is no better way to spend a rainy day than getting all nice and cosy with a good book and a very large cup of tea. Indeed, books are often used by many people as a way of escaping the stressful realities of every day life or even as way to learn about new places and experience new things. My love of books was inevitable growing up in the environment I did, and I owe it all to one woman. My mother, who told every story with such passion and enthusiasm that would make anyone believe that the story was not of the authors telling but hers. From a very young age, a newborn in fact, my mother would sit me down and read to me whenever she had a spare minute. Favorite's of ours were "When I was very young" and " Now we are six" by A.A. Milne, both of had to be replaced around 6 times due to the fact they fell apart from overuse. Of course, even though I still hold these books dear to my heart, my tastes have evolved and changed and I am always trying to find new material to read. Books are an escape for me, a way to travel to distant lands, experience unknown cultures and meet fantastical creatures and characters without leaving the comfort and safety of your own little hideaway.
A rare photo of me and the mother
Once a book is finished, I am often left with a feeling of loss. What do I read next? That is always the question that springs to mind. This is where the website Goodreads has been a life saver. True, a part of the excitement of finding a new book is to hunt through bookstores and libraries to find those hidden gems. Trust me I know, I can spend up to 4 hours in a bookshop some trips. However for those of you who just want to quickly find the next book to read without trawling through a mountain of books, it is perfect. Here are some reasons why...
- Its completely free to sign up and create a profile
- By rating books you have already read, it can find personalised recommendations as to what you might like to read next
- You can bookmark the books you want to read next and form a list
- You can sort all of your books into different shelves i.e. read, want to read, recommended and can also sort them by Genre
- You can also add friends and have discussions on the books you have read and what you thought of them
There are so many other good things that I could say about this website, but I think I will let all of my fellow book lovers find out for themselves.
Have you read any interesting books recently?
Annie xx
