I’m rarely without a book at hand. I always have a CD in the car, CD player also in my studio. Libby on my laptop. Libby on my phone. STACKS of books in my bedroom (library books in one place, my unread titles in another). Even when traveling, books come with me; my packing list on the computer has books as a box to tick.
Even though I didn’t think I’d have any time for reading on this trip, I brought books. No books on CD in the car with YA but I had my laptop with Libby, had my phone. STILL brought books with me. I did make a conscious effort to bring things on the lighter side…
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- The Mysterious Affair at Styles (CD) by Agatha Christie. I’ve read this before but all my BritBox the past two months stirred up a desire to read a few of her early works again. I’m actually almost done with this. Maybe I can do an errand by myself today to finish it up!
- Serial Killer Support Group (Book) by Saratoga Schaefer. I haven’t started this yet but it’s called a “dark, witty debut” about a young woman trying to solve the mystery of her younger sister’s murder. Hopefully the “witty” is true.
- Family of Spies (Libby) by Christine Kuehn. This is non-fiction; written by the author when she discovered her dark family roots. I’m about half way through this one; although it’s not a feel-good subject (spies during WWII), it’s written pretty much as a straight-forward history. I think the author was putting some emotional distance between herself and the story.
- Dangerous Davies: The Last Detective (Book) by Leslie Thomas. I also haven’t started this one yet but I have seen the first three episode of the TV series thanks to BritBox. The TV series was a little on the lighter side so I suppose the book could swing either way.
- A History of the World in 12 Shipwrecks (Book) by David Gibbins. This is the last of the “listicles” books that I picked up for Blevins Book Club. I was trying to cram it in two weeks ago and then the snowstorm happened, so I haven’t picked it up since. I’m about 1/3 of the way through. It’s not nearly as good as I was hoping. Writing is a bit dry and I was hoping for much more interesting photographs.
Of course, the chances I’ll finish any of these (well, maybe the Christie) is pretty slim, but where reading is concerned, hope springs eternal. A bit like the cat and the grocery bag from Duck’s Breath Mystery Theater!
What do you like to read when you’re traveling?
Trail Baboon 
Next week (starting the 6th) I’ll be on the train from Chicago to Los Angeles. I’ve stopped carrying books in such situations. My local library will loan me a pre-loaded Kindle. I choose from what is on there. I did this on a similar trip to California in 2025, and for a Denver round trip at Christmas. It’s lightweight, and introduced me to stuff I wouldn’t otherwise pick up. A delightful project of serendipity.
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I don’t have travel in my foreseeable future, but audio books have become how I “travel” these days.
I recently got a message that Louise Penny I’ve had on hold for over two years was suddenly available on a special deal where I could have for only 6 days. Otherwise, I would have to keep waiting. Good grief! So I figured I’d go for it, as I have a machine knitting project that needs my concentration, and audiobooks are great for that.
Got it done and have now moved on to the next in the series, which I got within days of requesting it, 🤷.
Hoping this trend continues for a bit as having a “work” series really helps me stay on task.
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i always have a stash of books on libby and the flavor varies. recent ones are dashall hammet, bill bryson, ann patchett setg godin raymond chandler. mel robbins on self help stuff, amy tans bird book and paul simons biography by malcomb gladwell has been on replay for six or seven months some art stuff and some oddball stuff on hold that ill try when it shows up. i have stacks of stuff next to my bed but hard copies are not finding their way into my eyeballs these days.
i saw a blip somewhere recently that suggested the daydream portion of the day has become mia and left peoples brains in click and scroll mode instead. it suggested starting each day with 1 hour of silence (im gonna try to try but man thats hard…) and the meditation and goal setting i try is a quick scramble at inner peace that often makes me wonder what if….
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I believe them (about the 1 hour of silence first thing), but boy, that would be hard to do before checking emails.
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I don’t think there is a percentage in being ridged in the “first thing in the morning” part, but taking a designated hour is something I might give a try.
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“Rigid” ach.
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Many nights (most nights?) there is at least an hour where I lie in bed but I am not asleep. I make myself lie motionless as if I were asleep until I have been in bed about eight hours. I don’t turn on the light to read or pick up electronics. I try not to direct my mind toward any one topic but let it go where it will.
Personally, I think that’s plenty of daydreaming for any given 24 hours.
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Last time I looked I was not anonymous…
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i go through chunks of time when audio books dont take. my brain wont let them in. i hit the go button and 5 minutes later i register that my mental to do list has grabbed hold of me and sucked all my attention into a mental landscape that has successfully put the books that are playing off into the void playing for the aliens 9 million light years away that are tuned in on picking up radio waves and learning about earthlings from distant galaxies. i bet i confuse them and will have a hard time explaining when they beam me up.
then again maybe daydream mode can get you into some addictive holes too.
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This is my experience with audiobooks too. I listened to The Hidden Life of Trees recently, and I know I’m going to have to read the actual book because my ears and my brain just didn’t connect on that one.
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It’s a worthy book.
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I’ve read several Wohlleben books and found them all rewarding. That’s not, I suppose, the same as saying they were page-turners or that I couldn’t put them down and maybe that’s what one looks for in an audio book— more engagement and less information.
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I think I would take something by Elinor Lipman (who I just discovered from a write-up in The Week magazine). And maybe the next one in the Kat Holloway series by Jennifer Ashley. And I’d bring a current issue of The Week, lightweight and dense (no ads), good for a few hours’ reading (but depressing).
And it would have to be a real book – I have yet to try reading via Kindle or Libby… my eyes get tired with screen time, and there’s already too much.
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order blue blocker glasses on zenni online and if you just need them for reading not bifocal lens they are cheap. prescription lens and frame with blue blocker about $40
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or an anti-blue light screen protector for iPad for $10 to $15.
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I don’t, as a rule, do audiobooks. Unless I’m alone and in a constrained situation, as in driving long distance solo, I get distracted, my attention wanders and the narration continues on without me, never to be recovered. If one is traveling with a partner, audio books and possible conversation don’t mix.
These days I have an old Kindle I take when traveling. I have uploaded books I intend to read whenever they are presented (usually through BookBub, where they are offered at $1.99) and thus have a portable virtual TBR pile.
Our last notable travel was our trip to Japan. For that my Kindle was loaded with several light Japanese novels like We’ll Prescribe You a Cat and The Full Moon Coffee Shop. Somewhat serendipitously, both of those were set in Kyoto, where we were, the cat-prescribing clinic located on the same street as our hotel.
I also had a couple of Matt Haig novels, The Midnight Library and The Humans that I read sporadically on our thirteen hours of air travel each way.
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Audiobooks on Libby now (no CD player on main road car). To stay awake, i like a good mystery or thriller. (What a surprise!) In the hotel or campground or host’s guest room, it’s whatever I’m currently reading.
I kinda, sorta, not really, miss the good old days back in the 70s and 80s when we lugged a few dozen cassette tapes that held 3-4 ten-hour books we’d listen to while driving across country.
Chris in Owatonna
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Rise and Shine, BAboons,
I still use audiobooks to drive and listen, but they have to be compelling or it lulls me into sleepiness. Suspense novels are good on the road. Tear jerkers are no good either, because it is too dangerous to cry and drive.
I like to read on a plane while I listen to music. That makes the world go away. I am struggling to find things to read right now. Usually I have a list of things I anticipate.
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do you do libby? libby has a suggested list based on you history. often good suggestions
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I do a lot of Libby and I do use their suggestions at times. The thing about that is, though, that after I read a suspense novel, then I want a change. I don’t read only one kind of book.
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Yep, we once listened to Stephen King’s Cell on the way back from Georgia – could hardly take time for breakfast… wanted to get on the road for the ending!
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My mind focuses on music too much to be able to read and listen to music at the same time. I don’t know how anyone can do that!
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Ditto, unless I deliberately decide to tune out “noise.” During the years when I worked in an office environment that intermittently streamed Muzak, I was able to completely block it out if I was working on something that I needed to concentrate on. But I can’t listen to music and read. I can do both, separately, but not together. One tracked mind, I guess.
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On a different road trip to visit my family, when YA was still Child, I listened to something on CD in the car that completely gutted me at the end. I don’t even remember what the book was, but I cried like an idiot for a long time; I didn’t have any Kleenex in the car so I had to blow my nose a couple of times on some Post-it notes that I had stuck in my binder. When I got to my sister‘s house, I had to say to her right when she opened the door why my face was all puffy and red, and my nose was all stopped up. So yeah avoid those tearjerkers in the car if you can.
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OT: As I often do, I’ll post a Far Side cartoon perfect for yesterday’s post:
Caption: “Ha ha ha, Biff! Guess what? After we go to the drug store and the post office, I’m going to the vet’s to get tutored!”
https://images.search.yahoo.com/yhs/search;_ylt=AwrFSSvDIcxpVcsGXVg2nIlQ;_ylu=c2VjA3NlYXJjaARzbGsDYnV0dG9u;_ylc=X1MDMTM1MTE5NTcwMgRfcgMyBGZyA3locy10cnAtMDEyBGZyMgNwOnMsdjppLG06c2ItdG9wBGdwcmlkA0tLM3lzVHpGUloyQVRjTnZhMnlvdUEEbl9yc2x0AzAEbl9zdWdnAzIEb3JpZ2luA2ltYWdlcy5zZWFyY2gueWFob28uY29tBHBvcwMwBHBxc3RyAwRwcXN0cmwDMARxc3RybAMyNQRxdWVyeQN0byUyMHRoZSUyMHZldCUyMHRvJTIwZ2V0JTIwdHV0b3JlZAR0X3N0bXADMTc3NDk4NTc0NA–?p=to+the+vet+to+get+tutored&fr=yhs-trp-012&fr2=p%3As%2Cv%3Ai%2Cm%3Asb-top&ei=UTF-8&x=wrt&type=Y195_F163_226253_101623&hsimp=yhs-012&hspart=trp#id=7&iurl=https%3A%2F%2Fgo-doodles.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2020%2F03%2Fgary-larson-far-side-get-tutored-medium-size.jpg&action=click
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I don’t actually travel much. I go most places in the car. Like others, the book has to be really interesting or my mind leaves the audiobook behind. I no longer have amazon prime, so no new titles in my Audible app. I should use my kindle more. Sometimes I check out an e-book from the library and read it on my phone. My eyes aren’t crazy about that.
I’m up in Two Harbors now. It’s supposed to start snowing tomorrow and snow until Friday morning. There will be a short break between storms up here on Friday which will give me a window to leave and hopefully get home without too much trouble. They’re predicting 3-7” tomorrow night, then about 3” more on Thursday. There’s a lot of snow up here, but they keep saying they still need more to break the drought. Anyway, I’m still reading, “Daybreak Woman,” by Jane Lamm Carroll. It’s an interesting history of events in the 1800s when Minnesota was being settled. I’m also re-reading “Howard’s End,” but mostly I’m knitting.
I hope you find peace during this time, VS.
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No sisters harmed in today’s condo clean-up!
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Wonderful! May you have a peaceful day today too!
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I have a harder time speaking in the morning than I have with silence. Silence? No problem. Talk? Ugh.
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I spend a LOT of time driving between This House and That House — about 4 1/2 hours each way — so my Audible subscription has been getting a workout, as well as my Libby app. I recently finished “Dungeon Crawler Carl,” which was funny and light, even if a touch gory.
I was listening to “The Witch and the Tsar” on Libby, but it’s a bit slow going, so I don’t think I’ll finish it before my borrow time runs out.
My current listen is “Reynard the Fox” by Anne Louise Avery and I can’t recommend it enough. A fully enjoyable retelling of the medieval tale, with such beautiful and engaging prose and characters!
My Kindle comes with me on every trip, as well, for bedtime reading.
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Welcome to the trail. I loved the first Dungeon Crawler book, but I haven’t been able to pick up the second one yet. I’m worried that it will just be a continuation and there won’t actually ever be any serious closure at the end since there are so many books in the series! I have learned since I read the first one that it’s almost impossible to talk about them without major, serious spoiler alert alerts!
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I’m like tim when it comes to audiobooks. Maybe because I listen to music or radio when I work and my brain just treats audio as background. I’m also a visual learner so I retain better if I’m seeing it.
I don’t travel a lot, but my go-to travel companion is Armistead Maupin and his Tales of the City series. I’ve read most of the books but don’t mind re-reading if that’s all I can download at the time. The chapters are short, great for reading in small bites, the writing is witty (even if it touches on serious topics) and the characters are like old friends.
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I love that series.
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If I’m taking a book along somewhere, it is usually a book of short stories, because my attention will be too divided to focus properly on a novel. I might choose something I read a long time ago and liked. Lorrie Moore or Alice Munro or Raymond Carver, maybe.
I’ve always intended to read a few Kate diCamillo books. I read Because of Winn Dixie years ago, but haven’t picked up any others, and I really think I should. Maybe next time I’m going somewhere.
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On our last longer trip, we heard a Baldacci crime story in the car, on the trips before that, the “Stories of 1001 Night”.
Happy Easter
The Fab Four of Cley
🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂
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