Thursday, October 07, 2010

Booking Through Thursday: Travel

It's been a while since I've done Booking Through Thursday but this topic is dear to my heart:

When you travel, how many books do you bring with you?  Has this changed since the arrival of ebooks?

I can dispense with the ebook question right away:  we are still a paper and ink family.  I don't know that it will always be that way.  An ebook reader would make travel easier...

Because we always pack too many books.  "We" because the seminarian is the same way. That's one of the ways we knew we were made for each other:  when we are preparing for a trip, packing the right books (in the right numbers) is more important (and more difficult) than packing the right clothing.    

But I've said all this before.  I wrote this in 2005 as we were preparing to take a month-long trip to England and Scotland:

The clothing is all piled on the floor, ready to go in the suitcases... most of the housecleaning is done... laundry is under control...

Now, what should I take to read?

I think it's down to: Sense and Sensibility (Austen), Johnson and Boswell's Journey to the Western Islands of Scotland and Journal of a Tour to the Hebrides With Samuel Johnson, The Heart of Homeschooling (Klicka; a freebie from joining HSLDA) and of course my Bible and new study book Becoming a Woman of Prayer. Oh, a Tabletalk magazine, too. We've been getting it for a while, though I never read it. Now's the time. Maybe.

For the readalouds with the kids: Mr. Pipes and the British Hymn Makers (Bond; a re-read but we may get to visit the real city in which the fictional story takes place), Black Beauty (Sewell), and The Enchanted Castle (Nesbit). Wanted to take Duncan's War (Bond, story of Scottish Covenanters) but there don't appear to be any girls in it, so Eleanor would object.

Of course I suppose it's possible we might find a book or two to buy while we are there.  

Our kids were 6 and 8 then, so they weren't taking their own books. The 8-year-old wasn't really a reader yet. The 6-year-old taught herself to read on that trip, after discovering that if she could read for herself, she wouldn't have to rely on me to find the castle gift shops.

Visit Booking Through Thursday for more thoughts on books and travel.

2 comments:

Linda said...

We always take a book or two to read with us on travels...we like the feel and look of paper books as well, although I am sometimes tempted by the e-books!

Maria said...

I just can't appreciate the e-books...I like the feel, the smell of books. I like to turn the pages. I will never own a Kindle (I think that's what it's called).

I always take at least 2 books that I will read for sure and a book I might like to get to and I will usually take a book that I want to try and tackle but know that I probably won't.

My husband jokes it's all a psychological ruse to avoid the in laws that we vacation with....hmmm....