There doesn't seem to be enough time to read all the amazing books in the world.

Today I'm sharing my tips to help you read more books.

Read One Book at a Time

I hardly ever finish reading the books I'm reading if I try to work through two at the same time. I keep forgetting what happened in which book and who the characters are. Then when one book gets exciting I forget all about the other and most likely never finish it.

I find that reading one book at a time helps me understand the story line easier and I even finish my books faster which means I can read more of them!

Keep a Reading Notebook

I try to record almost all the books I read in an Evernote notebook. I write down the date I finished it, what I thought of it and my star rating (similar to what I do in my review posts). For more information please read my sister, Imogen's, blog post

Keeping a record like this inspires me to read more often. I love to see the amount of books I’ve read go up and to be able to look back at the books I've already read.

I think you can also do something similar on Goodreads, but I don’t know much about that.

Take Advantage of Spare Moments

There is so much time in a day which I could be reading in. I just wish that I used this time better than I do.

I chomp through my reading list a lot faster if I use the spare moments in my day. These times include when I’m waiting for something in the oven, when I can’t sleep or when I’m having my morning tea.

Read Kindle Books

There is nothing like the feeling of reading a ‘real’ book, but there are a lot of advantages to reading Kindles. Kindles are light (perfect for traveling), Kindle books are cheaper, and you can even change the font and size of the text you’re reading, just to mention a few.

I prefer bringing my Kindle with me when I go out places rather than lugging around a heavy book. I love reading while waiting outside piano lessons, on trains and in waiting rooms, so my Kindle is my best friend.

What are your tips? Do you agree with any of these?

This dragon belongs to my older sister, Imogen. When she received it in the mail from a friend, I couldn't resist taking some photos.

I've always wished I could create such cute toys, but I don't have the patience to learn. I'd much rather just take photos of them. 

Credit

Title: Faery Rebels #1: Knife

Author: R. J Anderson

Genre: Fantasy

Rating: 4 out of 5

Blurb: Once upon a time, a fairy is born. She lives in an old oak tree at the bottom of a garden with the rest of the fairy folk. Never has she known a time when life hasn’t been hard, with many dangers and much adversity. But when she becomes the Hunter of the group and learns to do battle in the outside world, her adventures really take off...

My Thoughts: I liked how this novel unfolded. The story kept me and Knife (the main character who is a faery) guessing what would happen next. It revealed the plot little by little so that things only came together at the end!

One of the things I loved in this book was the differences between the faeries and the humans. They lived completely different lives and didn't understand which other at all. It was exciting to read how Knife and a human got to know each other. They each had a lot of learn about the other.

I liked how every character ended up being important to the story. Even the characters who seemed unimportant at first had an role play.

In the novel, Knife tried to find out the faeries' unknown history. She hoped that it would explain why faeries are so afraid of humans. As the story progressed, she started guessing the reason of this fear. She guessed a lot of different explanations. So many that when the truth was at last explained I didn't quite believe it!

All in all I enjoyed reading Knife. I hope to find the next book (Rebel) in the library soon. With luck it will be just as good.

Have you read Knife? What did you think of it? What do you think I should read next?

 
So far the month of November has been quiet over here on The Techno Maid. Why is this? I've been participating in NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month), a challenge to write a 50k novel in a single month.

Every day since the first of November I've sat down at my computer and churned out as many words as I can.

On the eighteenth of November, I hit 50k words. I'm so proud of myself. This is a new record for me. Every other year I've done NaNoWriMo, it's taken me much longer to reach my goal.

So what did I write?

I decided that instead of writing a fantasy novel like I do most years, I'd like to try my hand at sci-fi (my second favourite genre).

Here is a summary I wrote for my novel:

Michael has a plan to free the world of pain. When the government refuses to allow him permission to let his research loose on the world, Michael becomes focused on getting the permission he needs. He soon forgets everything else, including the real purpose of what he is doing. Michael soon comes up with a plan to force the government to agree to his plans. But it is against all the good things his original purpose stood for.

Cassia is a test-subject of Michael's. She is also the first person affected by Michael's plan. After nearly being killed at Michael's hand, she knows that she has to do something to stop him.

With the help of a security guard, a half-mad chauffeur, a man with a cat and the daughter of a millionaire, she sets out to defeat Michael. The only problem... she has no idea what she has to do.

Would you like to read a bit of my novel?

Here are some of my favourite excerpts from my novel:


Are you doing NaNoWriMo? How are you going? What is your novel about? Do you have any excerpts to share? If you do please share them in a comment!