I know in our introduction you were promised more summer reading recommendations than you could possibly hope for…but I don’t do very well with seasonal reads! Usually there isn’t much difference in the books I read during the summer (even whilst on holiday) and the books I read in the winter. So me recommending you summer reading books would just morph into me recommending you all my favourite series (Kate Daniels by Ilona Andrews, Night Huntress by Jeaniene Frost, Black Dagger Brotherhood by J.R. Ward, Wallflowers by Lisa Kleypas, Guild Hunter by Nalini Singh etc) all of which I have posted and recommended to you before. So I have decided to go for a different approach. The essentials.
The essentials? I hear you ask, what could I possibly need apart from my favourite book and a deck chair? Well ladies, that’s where you are wrong. I am delving into the world of book gadgetry and all those small things that a body needs to sit back and chill out with its favourite read (or one of the recommendations Angela, Annie and Fran are going to be giving you!) to make the experience as relaxing and fun as possible.
Lets start at the beginning shall we? The book itself. How are you reading it? Paperback, hardback, ebook? In my professional opinion, hardbacks are the biggest pains in the arses. Cumbersome, heavy and awkward to hold, unpack any from your suitcase immediately. What you need is an eReader. I know lots of people love having a book in their had, the feel, the smell blah blah blah. Well, I disagree, I love my eReader more than I do some people. It’s compact so it fits in my handbag, it has a pretty cover so it looks nice and more importantly it can store 1000s of books. You no longer have to chose between two favourites as you’re afraid to tip you luggage weight allowance over the edge, or try and strain to fit all books into your handbag. You can just load all the books (and then some) to your eReader and BAM done for the entire trip. Personally I love my Kindle Paperwhite and I have heard great things about the Kindle Voyage, they both come highly recommended by UTC. The initial out lay for them is quite expensive, but for a book lover it is well worth it!Francesca here budding into Suzanne’s post, as I often like to do. I first got my Paperwhite because I was going away on a beach vacation and needed an eReader I could read while laying out in the sun. This worked wonderfully for me, and I was coming from my standard full color tablet so it was a big change. But I fell in love and never looked back. I’ve now had that Paperwhite for a few years and it’s still working perfectly fine, but my good friends decided for my birthday that I needed a back up. You know, in the disastrous event that one eReader goes down there’s no downtime in reading books. So they got me a Voyage. I wasn’t thinking I would see a difference, because quite frankly they look almost the same from what I had seen online.
Boy was I wrong! I am now a Voyage advocate for life! Here’s where the Voyage is different then the Paperwhite. It’s lighter! Considerably so. When I now pick up my Paperwhite I feel like it weighs a million pounds. It’s smaller! But ti doesn’t loose anything on actual screen size. It fits perfectly in my hand and it’s easy to hold while reading. It has side buttons to turn the page (up for back and down for forward). I didn’t realize how much I would come to rely on this feature until it was a thing. That touching the actual screen to turn the page is a thing of the past. I can now rest my finger right on the down button area while I’m holding my ereader, and never have to move my hand again! Now take it away Suz!Of course, if you insist in living in the stone age and toting around all your paperbacks with you, then lets do this stylishly! I found some beautiful tote bags, I like them so much, I may have to start reading paperbacks again to give myself an excuse to buy one! Whilst I am at it, why not let my poor book have a sit down allowing your self to have a hands free reading experience; all you need is this quirky little Bookchair.
 Me: Porn Star MartiniFun to order AND delicious! Click on the pic for the recipe! |
 Fran: Iced Cold BeerDon’t fancy a cocktail, Fran recommends sipping on an ice cold beer |
 Annie: Frozen Margarita A classic and perfect for a hot day! Click on the pic for the recipe! |
 Angela: Pina Colada‘Cos she likes to get drunk in the rain! Click on the pic for the recipe! |
Have I missed out anything? What essentials do you take?
Annnnnd I will stop myself there, before I start waxing lyrical about my love of historical romance and fantasy as well; no one needs to know about my elf fantasies. As you can tell, I adore and day dream about most romance genres, and my three big loves are 1) reading about romance 2) writing about romance and 3) talking about romance with my gals. Which, is why I love Under the Covers so much, I get all my bookish needs satisfied and don’t get judged when I talk about my favourite characters like they are real people. Which they are right?
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I think you covered everything…Great post btw
I bring my nook with me when I travel but I need some paperbacks as I just prefer them for reading and I have to go with angle and the frozen drink!!
I love my paperwhite but I might have to try the Voyager.