reading – Britt Skrabanek

Goodbye, Kindle

Those of you who know me are used to this. I get attached to things—like, REALLY attached.

The time I tried to pretend that I was a real adult, somewhere around the age of 25, I declared to Mr. H that it was time to get rid of Ken the cow.

ken the cow on the road — (If you haven’t met him, this is Ken and he’s awesome.)

I made him put Ken in a duffel bag so I couldn’t see his face as he went out the front door, out of my life forever.

As you can imagine, that made it even worse. It was like my favorite stuffed animal friend was being carried off in a body bag.

Mr. H hesitated by the door, took one look at me, and brought Ken safely back inside. He knew.

I still have Ken the cow to this day. I’m in my thirties, I sleep with a stuffed animal—and dammit—I don’t care.

Today this post is about letting go of another friend, who simply goes by the name of Kindle.

My mom asked me if I wanted the new Kindle for my birthday next week, which is the sweetest gift she could ever offer me. Naturally, I hesitated before saying yes.

Me and Kindle go WAY back. My mom passed him on to me back in 2012 when she got an iPad.

It was a life-changing moment for me, when I finally decided to give ebooks a chance after being such a paperback purist.

But I wanted to read ebooks by other indie authors, to support them in the same way that some of them have supported me.

Kindle was the way to do it.

Me and Kindle got off to a rocky start. I was reluctant to give up real books in any way. Kindle knew our relationship would take some time and he was very patient with me.

But then, tragedy struck.

Hazel the cat murdered him, knocked him right off the top of our built-in cabinet. I found Kindle’s lifeless body on the floor. I pressed his power button repeatedly, trying to resuscitate him…but there was nothing.

Until that moment, I didn’t realize how close I had become to Kindle and I was very sad. I went back to regular books for a while, then months later—for shits and giggles—I tried turning Kindle back on.

And he was alive. Back from the dead!

After that we were inseparable, and I rarely left the house without Kindle by my side.

He showed me many wonderful novels on his little screen. He didn’t mind when I spilled beer on him and he never judged me when I was too tired to spend quality time with him in bed.

Kindle didn’t complain once during our cross-country move from Milwaukee to Portland. He was a real trooper and a stand-up guy.

New Kindle arrived on Thursday. It’s lightweight, tech savvy, and shiny.

The transition has been made. My library is now on New Kindle, but I haven’t read anything just yet. I needed to give Original Kindle a proper goodbye with this tribute.

Though I only captured a few moments, here are some of our fondest memories together…

Thanks for everything, Kindle. You will be missed!

P.S. In case you missed grabbing the Everything’s Not Bigger freebie last weekend, if you have Amazon prime, you can borrow two of my books completely free from the Owner’s Library—Everything’s Not Bigger and I just added Nola Fran Evie. Enjoy!

Remembering Reading

Reading…remember that?

That gorgeously uninterrupted time when you snuggle with your imagination. When you travel to a faraway place you’ve never been to before, but you get to wear your most ridiculous jammies. When you experience life from another person’s eyes, but you’re still you…only a little better.

When I took my social media and blogging hiatus in September, I knew exactly how I was going to fuel my less technology driven world. With books.

Rather than scanning my Facebook feed while drinking my coffee in the morning, I read a chapter. Rather than coming up with 140 characters of sensational wit for a tweet, I read a few paragraphs. Rather than speeding on the social media freeway, I slowed down, pulled over even, and finished a great story.

Four great stories, actually.

At first I wasn’t sure what I was going to read during my month of remembering reading. My to-read list is substantial and there is plenty to choose from, but what I challenged myself to do is this…

Read the classics that slipped through my fingers.

You know the ones, right?

It’s that book that everybody hated in high school, but you read something else that everyone hated. It’s that book that’s always referenced in a discussion, joke, or film and you’re totally clueless. It’s that infuriating quote everybody likes to say. It’s that cool, infamous character you never got a chance to meet.

It’s that book.

Don’t ask me how, but these are the stories I missed out on over the years…

That’s right, Kiddos. I missed The Catcher in the (freaking) Rye!

Although it took my American ass fifty or so pages to understand the language, Pride and Prejudice was my favorite of the four. But, I surprisingly ended up loving Salinger’s gritty little number for very different reasons.

I’ve decided to continue my classics tackling book project in October.

See that picture of me and Aphrodite the cat up there? Besides my bird-covered pajama pants matching her pink nose, the book we’re finally reading on my Kindle is—wait for it—Jane (freaking) Eyre.

Wow! You missed that one too, Britt?!

Damn skippy!

You know something? I always hear people say they don’t have time to read. Always.

Naturally, as a writer this scares the crap out of me. It appears there are still a few of us out there squeezing in quality time with books, so I’m gonna keep writing some.

We can blame our jobs, obligations, and to-do lists. That’s the easy thing to do. But I think if we all really look at how we’re spending our spare time, we can make more room for reading.

Is that TV show really better than the incredible book collecting dust on your shelf? Is everybody’s business on social media honestly more entertaining than a story an author took years to create?

I think you know what the answer is. Remember reading…it’s good stuff.

So, I have to know. Which classics did you guys miss out on that you either read in recent years, or are going to grab and read right now?

Books Were There to Protect Me

No matter how many times I got lost in life, books were there to protect me.

Through my childhood years when my parents abruptly parted ways. Through my overly dramatic teen years when the world seemed against me. Through my self-destructive young adult years when I was trying to find my way.

More than anything I associate books with my beautiful mom, who I will always imagine with her nose happily stuck in one—exuding warmth, comfort, and love.

When my lovely friend Letizia at Reading Interrupted asked me to share a special reading memory with her, I felt privileged to write at her beautiful blog. I follow it religiously and it never fails to inspire me.

Any bookish memory I reached for, there was my mom.

As most of you know, my mom has been on my mind a lot this year after battling her second stint with breast cancer. And when I was by her side to find out the test results, a magical memory helped me get through it all.

Read “A Castle Filled with Stories” over at Reading Interrupted…

Challenge Accepted: Show us your shelves

“There is no friend as loyal as a book.” – Ernest Hemingway

Oh, Ernest. You were a feisty son of a gun, but you said some mighty things.

So, my rad blogger pal Letizia over at Reading Interrupted posted something super fun last week, a “Show us your shelves” challenge that’s been traipsing around the blogosphere.

I just couldn’t resist unveiling my dusty ass shelves.

Like many of you, most of my current reading is of the ebook variety. Obviously that would be the most anticlimactic picture ever.

Hey, look at my Kindle bookshelf screen, everyone! (And, cue crickets.)

Please excuse the insanely crooked pics. When you live in a shoebox apartment, you literally squeeze your belongings into every nook and cranny. Taking straight pictures when the corner of your desk is jamming you in the arse is impossible.

OK, Britt. Enough with the disclaimers already.

OK…

These classics are so cool, they always accessorize…

You might be wondering if that is a giraffe’s butt in front of the Hitler biography…

Indeed, it is a giraffe’s butt.

Meet Henri, our guardian of the ratty books and keeper of the giant headphones. Originally from France, Henri enjoys reading Ken Follett books, practicing Yoga, and listening to excellent tunes.

You didn’t think there would be a book shot without a cat around here, did you?

Aww…

Alrighty, folks. It’s your turn. Let’s see those dusty ass shelves!

Goodreads…damn, it’s good!

baby britt — Hmm, I wonder which book I’m going to check out today…

When I was a little girl, one of my favorite places to hang out was the library. To be surrounded by words, bound together by musty covers and food-stained pages, is a joy like no other.

As a child, the library seemed even more magnificent because I happened to be much shorter back then. Books hovered high above me, suspended in the air and out of my reach, teasing me with unattainable stories and characters I would never get to know.

Despite my lifelong love affair with books, I never got into the book club thing. Reading has honestly always been a private activity for me, just like writing.

Until I started this blog that is.

So, I heard about Goodreads a while ago, but was hesitant to join. Because I decided to pursue this indie author thing, all of my marketing/social media research kept pointing me in that direction.

Makes sense…it’s where all the bookworms hang out!

But, this isn’t a story about a desperate, unknown author skulking around Goodreads, forcing free books upon everyone and killing a potential career by lashing out after a bad review.

This is a story about how Goodreads helped me rediscover my love for reading. It is a gorgeous community of thousands of others doing just the same.

And, damn….it’s good!

For a lengthy period of time, I found I wasn’t reading as much as I wanted to. Reading right before bed just wasn’t working for me anymore because I kept falling asleep! I felt so disrespectful to my book. But, when you’re a hard-working “adult” that comfy mattress sucks you right in. Seriously, my mattress is like laying on a blanket of clouds.

Since then, I’ve changed my reading schedule and stick to sitting up. Problem solved!

Another thing that turned me off from books was writing them myself. During my second book I realized when the issue reared its ugly head….during the dreaded editing stage. The second-guessing myself accompanied by picking apart sentence structure drove me mad.

I’ll just stick to meditation, music, and movies next time. Another problem solved!

I could gush about Goodreads forever, but I’m sure most of you already enjoy the ability to organize your reading wish lists, and if you’re the self-competitive type like me, you’re probably loving the satisfaction that comes with tracking your book goals with the yearly reading challenge.

Another thing I find useful are the reviews.

I’ve written a smattering of reviews if you feel so inclined…

Even today, our world scrambles to unite…to be kind, to be color blind. Yet even so, we have changed and I believe we will continue to change as long as we keep on trying. Read more…

Ian’s words mimic those of a relentless poet, driving emotions deep into the bottomless layers of the imagination, making the reader vulnerable and sympathetic–even those who are not prone to such sensitivity. Read more…

These books inspired me to write honestly, to emphasize a brash idea to make a point, to never fear the taboo or uncomfortable. Stieg had a reckless cowboy quality, a rarity in the world of words. He didn’t write to sell…he told for the sake of telling. Read more…

Just like when I was a kid in the library, I like to stop by Goodreads often…to marvel, to cherish, and to be in good company.

Hey, are we friends on Goodreads? If not, get your little butt over here!

ONLY TWO DAYS LEFT FOR YOU TO…

Vote for two of my characters’ names (it’s fun!)

CHARACTER #1

In a Nutshell: Feisty Italian-American Tomboy
Classic Movie Star Twin: Audrey Hepburn
Baseball Position: Catcher, Bunter-Stealer
Occupation: Photographer

CHARACTER #2

In a Nutshell: Busty Polish-American Sex Kitten
Classic Movie Star Twin: Marilyn Monroe
Baseball Position: Left Fielder, Left-handed Batter
Occupation: Housewife/Socialite

*Stay tuned for the big character reveal this Thursday…see if your names win!

AND…

Score $1 off both of my books on Smashwords! (Ends Thursday)