Six months ago, I posted about vacation and what books to bring along. Since then, we’ve chosen a destination and leave in three days. I’ve been stacking up books for weeks. A few are the ones I thought of back in March, when we were debating Wyoming over Carmel (we decided on neither). A couple weeks ago, at a local bookstore—Alexander Book Company, one of the few, treasured indie bookstores still in S.F.—I found Diane Keaton’s memoir in paperback. Perfect! Sometime over the summer, I picked up my husband’s bedside reading and found myself immersed in details of the French Revolution. I’ll read more about Marie Antoinette in the Conciergerie while on the beach, I thought. And just last week, I started The Pickup by Nadine Gordimer. Not finished yet, so I’ll have to add it, too. Can’t forget the latest Donna Leon, which husband and I are reading aloud to each other.
So here’s my list, as of 10:40 a.m. Friday. We’ll see what it is by Monday morning, when we leave for the airport. And how many unread New Yorkers I add to the heap.
Why Religion Matters by Huston Smith
Wild by Cheryl Strayed
The Flight of Gemma Hardy by Margot Livesey
Fighting Fire by Caroline Paul
The Sense of an Ending by Julian Barnes
The Portrait of a Lady by Henry James
To the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf
Then Again by Diane Keaton
A House With No Roof by Rebecca Wilson
What I want to know is whether you packed all these in your suitcase, or if you’re taking a Nook or Cranny or whatever they’re called. I’m still reading from the paper kind of stories.
Whatever you’re reading from, I hope you have a lovely vacation.
Ten days later (11!), and we’re home. Yes, I packed them all… Got through WILD (loved it); FIGHTING FIRE; THEN AGAIN (the Diane Keaton memoir); various New Yorkers and some of a history book I’m reviewing for a talk I’m giving in February on Catherine the Great. No Nook or Kindle for us, though we saw plenty on the beach!