Flip through the latest issue of Gulf Weekly.
When my husband gave me a Kindle, I thought he was losing his touch. Over the course of the many years we’ve been together, he has honed his gift-giving skills.
I have to take most of the credit for that, having discovered early in our relationship that subtle hints are no substitute for careful repetition, preferably when he’s both awake and listening.
The Kindle e-reader was a surprise and I love a surprise – as long as it’s the one I’m expecting. I definitely wasn’t anticipating this and I searched my memory for clues as to why I was opening an Amazon box on Christmas morning.
I could vaguely remember mumbling some positive things about my son’s Kindle but I’ve also expressed admiration for his turntable; that doesn’t mean I want one.
I can spend hours in a bookshop but I’ve also perfected the rapid assault. Once, on a brief visit home from Romania, starved of English-language reading material and overcome by the glut available, my son and I bought 20 books in as many minutes. We could have shaved five minutes off our time but for a conscientious shop assistant who followed us around, picking up the books we’d left piled on the floor and replacing them on the shelves. When we started to rebuild our stacks, he retreated behind the counter and avoided all eye contact.
For a self-confessed real book addict a Kindle was a bewildering gift, but it proved to be truly inspired. It’s the best of presents; that thing you never realised you wanted or needed until you had one.
Maybe Iain has made so much progress he does better without guidance. It’s risky but I think the time has come to take a chance. And, there’s always a fallback. If he can’t think of anything else … I’ll accept diamonds.
