BootsnAll Travel Community

i'm a librarian, and always have a book on me: when i'm in the bathtub, when i'm on the train, when i'm waiting for a bus--i love reading. i'm taking a 3-month trip around Europe this summer, and have been wondering: what will i read?

i thought of finally reading war & peace, but that's pretty heavy (and i'll also have my lonely planet europe on a shoestring which is 40lbs or something). any idea of how i can feed my addiction while abroad? i hate throwing books away.

i plan on saving my magazine subscriptions for april and may and reading those on the plane there, but what after that?

i'm also an incredibly fast reader; i read a couple of books a week. i know i'll have to cut back, but what can i do?

help!

If you have a PDA or something like that you can read eBooks, Project Gutenburg has literally thousands of thousands of books for download for free, basically anything that the copyright has run out on. Most of the popular literary canon is available.

YOu seem to have missed the fact that you'll find books everywhere WHILE you're abroad! that's part of the fun. There are book exchanges at every hostel....you finish one, leave it, pick up a new one. And that adds to the variety. You'll see things you never heard of, might not otherwise be exposed to, or gather new recommendations from your fellow travellers.

I had fun "donating" my finished books in odd spots .....I"d scribble my web URL in the cover, and leave a book in an airport seat, at a restaurant, etc......a little gift for someone not expecting to find one.

I think you should start looking forward to all the similar little prezzies you'll be finding along teh way.

Sounds good...looks like I'll be trying some new reading!

And that's what makes reading so much fun.

Have you looked at BookCrossing?

I'd reccomend cuttig out sections of your Europe Shoestring guide...you won't nee the whole thing.

Also, tough call on the books -I read a ton myself. Thing is, when you're travelling, there's a MILLION other things to do, so I'd say you'll have a natural tendency to read less.
I'm bringing Robinson Crusoe (which I oddly haven't read) and Bhagavad Gita...figure this combo will keep me occupied awhie...then I'll pass them along.

I agree with Justine, btw...I've had many books passed on to me on the road...then I pass them along. Great stuff

For those who want yet another thing to add to your summer reading list, Paris to the Moon has been around long enough that Amazon has used copies for as little as 49 cents.

Adam Gopnick is a writer from the New Yorker, and this is a delightful read.

quote:

Originally posted by Taylor:
If you have a PDA or something like that you can read eBooks, Project Gutenburg has literally thousands of thousands of books for download for free, basically anything that the copyright has run out on. Most of the popular literary canon is available.

Holy smokes!

That is a very cool website!

Thanks!

One thing I might caution about Project Gutenberg is that for works in translation, there's often a reason the copyrights on the translation s they offer weren't renewed. I got a kick out of reading a 19th century translation of Knut Hamsun's Hunger, with all of the references to sex and prostitutes just cut out.

Well, I have a similar problem as cherie - and book swaps just don't do it for me: 1) I want the books I've read in my library (and this means that particular physical book - I know, it's odd. But a book has been on a journey with you for a while and having it also reminds you of moments, as sounds, smells and tastes do.) and 2) I just can't only read the stuff that you usually find in book swaps. It's ok, once in a while, to read trivial literature - but not all the time.

But obviously, there are book stores all over the planet and in some countries, you still find some excellent used books stores, where you find unbelievable deals (example: Buenos Aires: A leather bound 3-volume travel edition of Edgar A. Poe's works - from 189X - for a buck. lol).

So, have fund searching for your books.
Adrian

Have you thought about keeping a diary on your travels? That way you always have something to read!