Kindle Break: Bridget Jones Omnibus and Lena Dunham

I adore my Kindle. I can get pretty much any book that I want with a tap of the screen, and it has allowed me to re-immerse myself into reading for pleasure after 4 years of studying boring old textbooks. But I must admit that I do miss real paper books. I love the smell (sad, I know) and feel of them, taking me right back to my childhood of drinking in the pages of Jacqueline Wilson and J.K Rowling on long summer days.

My last two reads allowed me to indulge my ‘real book’ love as I received Lena Dunham’s first novel ‘Not That Kind of Girl’ as a present from a friend for my birthday. It was already on my ‘to-read’ list, so I was very excited to crack it open (and smell the pages, obviously).  I’ve never seen Girls (on my ‘to-watch’ list!) so I wasn’t particularly familiar with Lena, but I had read a couple of her articles in magazines and knew she was a pretty funny girl. My opinion still hasn’t changed since reading the book, as Lena had me chuckling quite often with lines such as “your pants are so high-waisted I could cry” and anecdotes from her past that resonated very much with me. The fact that she moved back home with her parents after graduating has provided me with great comfort in my current situation. She’s probably rolling in it now, too, so I guess there’s still hope for me!

The book is set out pretty randomly in terms of its chapter topics, but I guess that’s synonymous with the random thoughts and experiences of a 20-something girl (or at least that’s how I saw it). I love how candid Lena is in her approach to pretty much anything, and her no-holds barred attitude to sharing is relatable and quite often hilarious. This girl has seriously seen and done an awful lot in her short life!

Another of my most recent reads was ‘The Bridget Jones Omnibus’ by Helen Fielding, including ‘Bridget Jones’ Diary’ and ‘The Edge of Reason’. I’ve seen the film adaptations so many times, so I was a bit apprehensive that I wouldn’t enjoy the books as much. But for £3, I couldn’t resist adding them to my bookshelf. And it was a 3 quid well spent! Bridget Jones is a character so likeable, so relatable and so bloody hilarious that I spent most of the time reading this smiling like an idiot and giggling to myself. I loved the relationship Bridget has with her friends and how it is documented, and her slightly manic and deluded diary entries were very entertaining to read. I did, however, want to give her a good shake from time to time, but her vulnerability just makes her all the more likeable.

Here’s a couple of my favourite lines:

“There’s nothing worse than people telling you you look tired. They might as well have done with it and say you look like five kinds of shit.”

“I remember when I first came to London I used to smile at everyone until a man on the tube escalator masturbated into the back of my coat.”

Hahaha oh I do love her. Something I did find quite ironic about the books is that Colin Firth is referenced a lot, as Bridget and her friends seem to be obsessed with him. And he plays Mark Darcy in the film. Coincidence?

It’s back to the Kindle for me now to read ‘Starter for Ten’ by David Nicholls, who I love. The Kindle doesn’t smell quite the same L .