As the weeks before a trip approach, I assemble piles of books on the dining room table. Each pile is constructed with care. There is a travel guide pile, a fiction pile, a "needed for work" pile, and a "maybe I won’t take this one at all" pile. The most important is the "I’ll probably read this one before the trip comes along" pile.
The books take on a life of their own. At times I lose track of the planned trip and I think of it as little more than a chance to read, free of the usual interruptions.
The excitement mounts. I frequently visit the piles and think about how it will be to experience those books.
But the day or two before the trip, panic sets in. The piles seem totally inadequate. Totally inadequate for my reading. Totally inadequate for my development as a human being. Most of all, totally inadequate for the trip.
I rush to Borders and buy a whole new set of books.
Hrak!
I Just finished these.
“The Real Lincoln: A New Look at Abraham Lincoln, His Agenda, and an Unnecessary War ”
http://www.amazon.com/Real-Lincoln-Abraham-Agenda-Unnecessary/dp/0761526463/ref=pd_bbs_1/002-5091701-2945623?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1178390756&sr=1-1
“The Undercover Economist: Exposing Why the Rich Are Rich, the Poor Are Poor–and Why You Can Never Buy a Decent Used Car!”
http://www.amazon.com/Undercover-Economist-Exposing-Poor-Decent/dp/0195189779/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/002-5091701-2945623?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1178390521&sr=8-1
Reading this now
“Washington’s Spies: The Story of America’s First Spy Ring”
http://www.amazon.com/Washingtons-Spies-Story-Americas-First/dp/0553383299/ref=pd_bbs_1/002-5091701-2945623?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1178390534&sr=8-1
This may be next.
“Sherman’s March: The First Full-Length Narrative of General William T. Sherman’s Devastating March through Georgia and the Carolinas”
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0394757637/ref=wl_it_dp/002-5091701-2945623?ie=UTF8&coliid=I1PZBMKAYBF3UQ&colid=2B47YO7JX62IH
Where ya headed if I may ask?
HA HA HA HA I love you.
having to help haul my books around airports
Books are heavy! Individually they don’t strain you at all, but pack a suitcase full of books and you need to be Ahnold to lift it.
TC, how many books do you read a year? For that matter, how many do you start and not finish, and of those, what percent per book do you read?
Happyjuggler:
http://www.marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2006/12/how_to_read_fas.html
http://www.marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/books/index.html
They say half the population never reads another book after high school. Apparently, TC is trying to bring up the national average single-handedly. Well, he and my wife.
I almost always finish books on a theory that mixes the aphorisms about blind pigs and broken clocks.
Also, I carry only one difficult book to read (so I am sure I won’t finish prematurely) and travel guides when traveling; there is always the possibility of picking up more enroute.
We (readers) shall all take very good stories to our graves. Not stories of our own lives, but of others’. We travelers will take a few of our own, too. Traveling writers leave a few.
Thanks Jacqueline. I miss a lot of his book posts in my blog travels with some days having a lot less time to go through everything than other days, and therefore I get more selective about what I read.
One thing I’ve been doing recently is buying a book at my travel destination to read on the way back. This isn’t always optimal (and is particularly dependent on where you are going), but it is a lot of fun. Fortunately, my next trip is to England. I plan on buying the new McEwan novel, which doesn’t come out stateside until June.
(By the way, if anyone can explain the bizarre delay for the US release date, I’d appreciate it.)
Are you panicking because you sense that there is less margin for error when selecting a book for travel? Your ability to select a good book is more critical now. You can’t just abandon a book and pick a new one from your library while on an airplane. If this is the case, shouldn’t you bring books that you’ve already started reading? Or even books that you’ve already read? That way, you have some assurance that you’ll like the book. Or would this ruin the magic?
i do carry a lot of books with me while traveling.
Books are the best things you have with you while traveling.You can have your own space and time with your books having nobody else arround to disturb you.
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