For The Love Of Books....

Hi honeys

I'm sorry I've been missing for a few days. Work is keeping me really busy right now and I'm feeling exhausted by the time I get home.  I hate to sound like a Grinch but I'll be so happy when the Holidays are over for another year.  I'm just not a Winter person. I dislike the cold and the damp because they make my body ache terribly and make me afraid whenever I have to go outside in case I fall. 

Oddly enough the season of "goodwill to all men" tends (from the perspective of a person who works in retail) to make some (thankfully very few) people even more rude, impatient and bad tempered than they are throughout the rest of the year :/ Don't believe me? I was yelled at for saying "bless you" to a customer who had sneezed! What's to do honeys? I waited till he was finished yelling at me and said "you're welcome."  The man then swore at me and stormed off. Is it any wonder I want to hibernate every year? People get stressed and yell at wee Rosies!

So, what have being really busy, putting up with bad tempered gentlemen (!) and chilly weather got to do with books I hear you ask?  Well, they certainly all leave me in desperate need of smiles.  After a very busy weekend and feeling incredibly drained I decided to rest yesterday, hug our furbaby Jade on the sofa and catch up on reading my favourite blogs only to discover I had been tagged in a reading habits quiz by the lovely Heather from Icing On The Cake.  Thank you honey! I love this x  Thank you also to our lovely Helen of I Will Bloom for starting this fun tag, thank you honey xx  Let's get started then shall we? 

Reading Tag - The Questions  

Do you have a certain place at home to read?

Mostly on the sofa in our living room, sharing a blanket with our furbaby Jade.  Although we do have a book nook upstairs in our guest room which is super comfy and has lots of cushions.

Our book nook is a perfect corner of calm :) As you can see there is an Ikea photo/book ledge to hold current favourites and lots of room so Jade can snuggle with Mummy while I read and she naps :)  The framed photo on the book ledge (which the flash is annoyingly hiding) is a signed photo of my favourite author, the wonderful Colin Dexter, creator of Inspector Morse and of course his long suffering Sargent (and later Detective Inspector) Lewis. 

I was lucky enough to meet Mr Dexter when he launched the last Morse novel and asked him to sign the photo so I could hang it above my desk. He was so sweet and meeting him is one of my happiest memories :)      

Bookmark or random piece of paper?

I have some pretty bookmarks and a few super cool ones, mostly bought as gifts over the years by Hubby and my dear friend Miriam, and I have used them but I've also been known to use a post it note from my desk if I don't have one to hand, or a pretty postcard.  Hubby recently bought me the sweetest set of magnetic bookmarks which "fasten" either side of the page, I adore them! Thank you sweetheart x

Can you just stop reading or do you have to stop after a chapter or number of pages?

I'm slightly OCD (in soooo many ways) and I absolutely need to finish a chapter :) Of course, the cans in our larder are also stored in expiry date order with the labels all facing the same way too, and I lock our front door, unlock it and re-lock it every single time I leave the house too so... Don't judge me! It's my oddness that makes me adorable, Hubby says :)    

Do you eat or drink while reading?

I don't tend to eat but I adore sipping a lovely cup of tea, or if it's freezing cold outside maybe a lovely creamy mug of hot chocolate with mini marshmallows or chocolate sprinkles on top :) 

Do you watch TV or listen to music while reading?

I love to immerse myself in a good book and I'm most comfortable with silence really but I can usually fade out background noise such as the TV if I have to :) 

One book at a time or several at once?

I always used to read 2, 3 or 4 books at once and had no problem in going from one to the other until the fibro fog attacked :/ I wasn't going to give up on the love of my life that easily though (sorry Hubby sweetheart! you know I'd choose you over books... well.... you're in the top two! er three, I mean there's Jade...hee hee xx) It did look for a while like I was going to lose reading! I would read the same page more than once and it wasn't staying in my mind they way it should have, the most awful feeling :/ That's what fibro fog does.  

It was then that I made a discovery honeys. If I wanted to retain my love of books and all of the wonderful worlds they could take me to, I had to fight for it.  The brain is like any other muscle in the body, if you want to keep it strong you have to train it.  So if fibro makes reading a little more difficult, well then I have to read more not less. Concentrate as hard as I can on one book not three or four as I used to. On particularly "foggy" days I use my little ear buds and disappear into an audio book :)  I'll happily travel to Hogwarts with Stephen Fry or investigate another of Jackson Brodie's puzzling but thrilling cases accompanied by Jason Isaacs.  

Reading at home or everywhere?

There was a time when I'd have immediately said without a pause "everywhere!" but since I'm rarely outside our home anymore, I only go out to work or to dr or hospital appointments, I'd have to say home.  I do take my little ereader to hospital appointments with me to read in the waiting room. It passes the time and stops me from getting nervous. 

Reading aloud or silently in your head?

Just me and my thoughts, so silently I suppose but I did see a fabulous cartoon which sums up reading for me perfectly...

I saw this image on pinterest with no backlink so if this image is yours please tell me and I'll happily add credit or will instantly remove it, thank you x

Do you ever read ahead or skip pages?

If I'm reading a novel I never skip ahead. With textbooks, journals or other non fiction books, such as the blogging guides I have on my desk right now, I might skip to a specific chapter that interests me. Generally though I prefer to lose myself in every step of the stories journey just as the author meant me to.   

Do you ever write in books?

This question made me smile :) I still own so many books from my days at College/University and in so many of them there are countless little notes I made to myself while reading.  When I re-visit these books all of these little notes and scribbles make me smile and can almost take me back to the hours spent in the library or staying up late "burning the midnight oil."  So many memories and little bubbles of time trapped between pages :) 

This has been such fun!  Thank you to lovely Heather for tagging me and letting me join the fun, thank you angel xx  If you haven't visited Heather's fabulous blog you can find it here, do say hello when you visit, she is just the sweetest, loveliest lady.  Thank you too, to Helen for starting this reading tag. I desperately needed some fun this week and this so made me smile. Helen is a sweet, lovely lady and if you haven't visited I Will Bloom do go say hello honeys x

OK, my turn to tag some lovely friends to join in the fun :) So, without any heavy obligation or anything, it's just a little fun so please join in if you'd like to but don't feel as if you have to or anything x  Here I go......

• Leah at Just me Leah & Love Leah x
• Heidi at Heidi'n'Speak
• Lily at One Day At A Time 
• Rhonda at Ever Batiuk  
• Meagan at The Good Work In You
• Donna at Grace and Galoshes
• Pam and her beautiful furbabies at Doggone Healthy Choices
• and you dear ones! Want to join in? If you have a blog why not join in the tag then come back and leave your link in the comments section or if you don't blog why not just add your answers in the comments section below?  

Well honeys, this has been such fun and I can't wait to read what you all write. Till next time dear ones, stay warm and safe, hugs always xx