Books for vacation

Let’s talk books some more… (I’m almost finished with The Ocean at the End of the Lane and I’m taking a little break to make it last longer…)

Question of the day: How many books is too many books to take on vacation?

I’m going to take some paper books (mostly for the plane, and so I can “free” them when I’m done…) and I’m going to take my Kindle.

Paper books from my pile of unread books that I was thinking of bringing (these were all sent to me by my mom after she was done reading them and I’ve had them forever…):

• Island of the Sequined Love Nun by Christopher Moore
• The Billionaire’s Vinegar by Benjamin Wallace
• Unfamiliar Fishes by Sarah Vowell

These are all short and/or light reads that shouldn’t take long to finish, and I can “free” them into the wild once I’m done…

But these aren’t what I really want to read on vacation. So, I just combed through my “someday/maybe fiction” and “someday/maybe non-fiction” wish lists that I keep on Amazon and came up with the following possibilities for vacation reads…

Non-fiction:

• In Other Worlds: SF and the Imagination by Margaret Atwood (sparked a ton of controversy in the SF community…)
• The Feminine Mystique by Betty Friedan (this has been on the list forever… it’s about time I finally read it…)
• Swim: why we love the water by Lynn Sherr (swimming… was reviewed in my swimming magazine…)
• The Alphabet and the Goddess by Leonard Shlain (added this to the list after his daughter screened her documentary about social media at Twitter…)

Fiction:

• Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel (been on the list a long time…)
• Pure by Julianna Baggott (recommended by Peggy from my writing class…)
• Grave Mercy: his fair assassin by Robin LaFevers (recommended by Book Nut)
• Where’d You Go Bernadette by Maria Semple (Seattle… also recommended by everyone…)
• Flat Water Tuesday by Ron Irwin (rowing… just saw this today on Twitter…)

I’m not sure if I’ll have dependable wireless connectivity for most of the vacation, so I want to pre-buy whatever I want to have on hand to read. At the same time, I hate buying books on the Kindle and then having them sit there. I probably have at least 5 -10 books I’ve purchased in the past year on my Kindle that I meant to read, and then didn’t read and now am not all that interested in reading. Some Greg has read, so that makes me feel a bit better about it. Still, I don’t want to buy too many books to take with me.

I’d ask which of the above would you recommend I read, but reading is a very personal thing. Different books appeal to different people at different points in their lives. I have a definite idea of the types of books I want to read on this vacation. Most of the above choices fit that mood. But, if you want to vote for any of the above, I will take your opinions into consideration.

What I really want to know is, how many books should I take with me? Keep in mind, I am vacationing with a family of voracious readers. Reading by the lake will likely be one of the main vacation activities.

At the same time, the other thing I was thinking I would do on this vacation is spend some time writing. I’m not sure if I’m more in need of a reading and “filling the tanks” vacation, or a writing and “draining the tanks” vacation. If it’s the later, I shouldn’t bring too many books to distract me. Given the logistics of this vacation, I have a feeling there will be more reading time available than writing time available. So I’ll probably go prepared for either scenario.

Which brings us back to the original question… how many books should I bring with me on vacation?