My night time life…

“Oooooh! Bed time!” I say, to my husband

“Ooooh, I will be right up!” he replies, with a knowing wink.

I slide under the duvet, excited and wondering what adventures will befall me tonight. Smudge walks in to the bedroom…

With two cups of decaf tea.

“Thanks! Oh nice!” *nods towards his current read* “You will LOVE that one, it’s fab!”.

And we settle down to read. At 9pm.

(this post was never going to be about bumping uglies)

This is my bedside cabinate

 

This is my husband’s bedside cabinate

 

We like books. A lot.

I went to the bank 3 weeks ago and it was the best trip to the bank I had ever had in my LIFE (mortgage approval appointment included). I hadn’t just paid in the euro millions big fat giant cheque. The cash machine had not just spat out fifties instead of fivers. What had just happened was, whilst waiting in the queue, I got out my smartphone and found out I had received an email from my favourite author.

Say what?!

Saying he wanted to send me a signed copy of his book.

Say whaaaaaaaaat?!

And asking after my family.

Say WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT?!

I gasped and sort of gagged. I managed to dial the emergency number in my phone…

“Oh my bloody hell!” I said “Chris Mooney has emailed me and wants to send me a signed copy of his book!”

And my emergency contact (Smudge) went;

“Oh my bloody hell!”,

Who then told his boss who went…

“Cool”.

(something Smudge and I are evidently not).

I am a massive bookworm. I love books. I get sad when I finish a book I have really enjoyed reading and for me, it can pretty much feel to me like saying goodbye to a good friend. I love the feel of the paper and the smell of the print. I like getting cramp in my hands from holding a book open for too long as I read it. I like waking up in the middle of night with the book splatted on my face after I fall asleep reading it. I will never go over to the darkside (Kindle).

A friend’s husband went to an awards show (fancy). He came back with a goody bag (even fancier). Inside the goody bag was a book. It had a scary suggestive picture on the front and the blurb promised a lot of death and horror. Not his cup of tea, so he gave it to his wife who gave it to me. I had nothing else to read that night so I shrugged, picked it up half heartedly and thought, fine, ok, let’s give it a go I suppose.

2 days later on a Thursday night, I closed this book, feeling gutted that I had finished it. I went straight downstairs to where my husband was sitting, stood in front of him and held out this book and said

“Read this. You HAVE to read this. You have to. And start tonight”

It isn’t often you find a book that does this to you. It’s like finding a rogue caramel hidden amongst all the naff strawberry creams in the Roses tin on Boxing Day (or a rogue strawberry cream hidden amongst all the naff caramels, if you’re my husband). I am a fussy reader. I like certain authors and tend to stick with them, checking Amazon again and again and again for any hints about previews of future books and release dates. John Connolly. Mo Hayder. Mark Billingham. These authors are not for the faint hearted or easily creeped out. Finding a new book, from a new author and falling in love with the work of that author is a real rush for me.

Through the power/ 100% invasive and stalkerish aspect of social media I have managed to let the author of “The Dead Room” know how much I think his work is aces. It is pretty darn coolio to be able to let someone know you think what they do is whack and how much you appreciate it. I never in a million years expected a response. The authors of the kinds of books I read have, lets say, an awareness of nutters (as their book content suggests…) so their radar must be set to red alert. We have all seen Misery…there must be an element of

“Who the hell is my biggest fan?”

Well. It is ME. Big old ginger stay at home mum ME.

But I did get a response.

*puts away sledgehammer…cancels reservation for creepy mountain cabin*

JOKE.

He interacted and turns out he massively appreciates his readers. To take the time to email a fan, to chat with that fan and then send that fan (ME) a signed book is pretty cool. Again, I am not cool because I have written a whole blog post about this, proving my lack of coolness.

Do you have any books you would recommend? Any books you have read that make you want to run downstairs and say to your loved one READ THIS NOW? (And any tips on making me cooler in any way whatsoever?)

 

 

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21 Responses to My night time life…

  1. Am SO impressed! Obviously as am fellow ginger and fellow reader. All I have done is have a few tweets back and forth with an author I like .Has your OH finished The Slap yet? Would love to know hs opinion as we had massive controversy about it in my book club.

    • Hannah says:

      Thanks! Who was the author?
      No he hasn’t yet – I loved it. Thought it was brilliant. My opinions swayed massively through reading the book – back, forwards, back, forwards…brilliantly written

  2. Sarah Wood says:

    So many books, that’s why I review them on my blog – totally unsponsored. Your bedside cabinet looks like mine. My husband doesn’t read, he doesn’t get it.

  3. My bedside cabinet looks like yours too, and my bookshelves are brimming with more to read. That’s the way I like it! That’s such a brilliant story. I really must try something by Mooney as I remember you mentioned him to me.

  4. Aubrey says:

    I love them too!! The scarier and creepier the better, In high school i was addicted to Stephen King. 😉 I like Ann Rice a lot, but I don’t know if that’s you style. All I have been reading lately is books on Aspergers…

  5. Kath Parkinson says:

    I also love reading and…………I really love my KINDLE. I guess I have moved with the times, even at my age. XX

  6. bonniecroft says:

    I LOVE books .when I get engrossed in one I am so anti social . Can’t read them in the bath though !!!! I often fall asleep in the bath and end up with a soggy unreadable book . So its magazines for the bath, that my lovely sister passes over when she has read them .
    I’ve just joined a book club with a group of friends ( a bit reluctant at first as i love to read what i love to read ) but it has been so good .
    Im now reading a book that I NEVER would have given a chance before .. The Welsh Girl by Peter Ho Davies and it captured me from the first chapter .
    Im reading it at every given opportunity and then I’ll be cross with myself because I read it and finished it so quickly !
    And of course our monthly meets sort of end up as a girlie night at one the houses with a social bottle of wine with a ten minute chat about the book then a good old natter.
    Then at the end we all remember what we were there for and someone makes out they are all serious about this club and chooses another book to read . So win win situation .

  7. stefanie says:

    I love books also, and will not go to the dark side. you cant share a kindle the way you share books. and you will ruin them once they are dropped in the bath.

  8. Julia goolia says:

    Love this blog. And Btw you are COOL! Back in august I was photographing in Tenerife and literally bumped into the author of the book I had been reading that day! (joe Cawley) – sadly I only had my electronic-e-reader-with-brand-name-mentioned-in-above-blog with me so he couldnt sign it! Damn you technology!!!! XX

  9. bonniecroft says:

    you all have to read Wonder. it is the best book I have ever read . I read it in 2 days. It will make you laugh and make you cry and make you think !

  10. Rachel Haines says:

    Ooh Hannah I’m starting to think you and I were separated at birth…and then you were cryogenically frozen for 8 years and then…anyway, I also absolutely love reading! I too ‘mourn’ for a finished book BUT then rush to my special bookcase (special because it’s for UNread – about 70- books only) for the buzz of choosing my next one.
    I also cried at and loved Wonder.
    Only last week I had to stuff a tissue into my mouth to muffle my sobs as I finished My Sister’s Keeper- my husband had already put his book down & was almost asleep so I had to keep the crying down to a dull bawl- I’ve never had THAT violent a reaction to a book before!
    I couldn’t have married Mr Haines if he wasn’t such an avid reader. True! He’s a huge Dickens fan, in case you’re interested.
    I used to be in a book group (wine group as my husband called it) but eventually grew tired of reading books I wasn’t really interested in when I had so many of my own waiting.
    And finally, Bonnie thanks for the top tip- The Welsh Girl is one of the 70-odd books waiting on my ‘special’ bookcase and after reading your comment it is now next on my list!
    Great blog as always! x

    • Hannah says:

      MY DARLING TWIN! How I MISSED YOU!
      We are freakishly similar…
      I have not read The Welsh Girl – will check that bad boy (girl) out now. I LOVE book recommendations.
      x

  11. Steve says:

    Sorry chaps, but I love my Kindle. As many books as I want in a small light package with a battery life of, well, months. And what’s more, if I forget my book (kindle) and fancy picking up where I left off, the free Kindle app on my phone knows where I got to on my Kindle and lets me carry on reading.

    I have never understood these complaints. Who cares if it doesn’t smell or feel like a book. I want to read it, not make love to it. Times change. I’m pretty sure that when the Guttenberg Press first started churning out copies of the King James Bible, people complained about missing the smell of scrolls and writing ink; missing the need to unfurl a length of parchment. These new fangled book things, god damn them!

  12. Em says:

    Real paper books ALL THE WAY. My room is FULL of books. Charity shops were my best friend at college, a 50p find could have me up all night finish it. If I get a good book, I read it until it’s finished. Usually around 5 am. I have been known to sit and read until the sun comes up, and then realise I have to stop reading to go to work!
    If anyone likes chick lit, ‘Me Before You’ by Jojo Moyes is fab. That was a 5am jobbie, and I shoved it into mother’s hand the next morning! I think it was passed round the aunties too! (and Jojo ALWAYS replies on Twitter, she is lovely. So gracious).
    x

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