BootsnAll Travel Community

So, do people take a non fiction novel to read when they go away? Which is the best one to take in your opinion (not a travel book)? A long book, or a book that is very wordy so you have to concentrate to read it therefore it takes you a long time? A book you don't like very much so you can throw it away and get a new book at a second hand bookshop when you're there, if possible? a book that you can read over and over again? Any one book you prefer?

I've taken the Red Dwarf omnibus to a few shorter holidays, and i'm still not bored with it.

I prefer a long book, in trade paperback or mass market, that isn't too wordy. Something I can pick up and put down easily without having to reread the last six pages to figure out what's going on.

I find that the really wordy stuff is hard to read 'on the fly'... you need to sit down and make actual effort to read it. Something I breeze through is preferable.

I like to take something that has at least a little bit to do with wherever I am heading. A local author, something historical, etc. When I went to London this summer, I picked up David Starkey's Six Wives. It was fitting because I am a Tudor fanatic, it's a much better cover than the US edition, and I got to see & hear Starkey speak in Hay-on-Wye.

I also like to take along a writing book, or perhaps something vaguely related to a bestseller.

Nomad-
You got to go to the Hay festival? That's great. I was actually in the UK at that time and was planning to be there, too. Our flight from New York got delayed, though, and I didn't really want to cut our time in London short, so we skipped out on the festival. I was really looking forward to going, though, and seeing either Azar Nafisi or Jeanette Winterson. I did end up going to Hay, though--such a wonderful place. I definitely bought way too many books and had a heavy backpack for the rest of the trip.

Yup, I went. My lovely friends and I did what we call the Snob's Tour: literary haunts all over London & the area, then a weekend in Hay for the Festival. I, being a book person, set the schedule.

And I tried to warn them. But they were still keen on the idea, so away we went.

It turned out to be fabulous, and we DID see Azar Nafisi, whose talk changed the whole world outlook for one of my compatriots. And Lynne Truss & my goofy little hero David Starkey, as well as Germaine Greer (Mum was so impressed that her little girl went to hear a Feminist speak.) and others I don't recall just now.

We were only there for the weekend, and there were a few people I wanted to see but couldn't, but I think I'll go back next year. Or, more likely, the year after.

Hay is one of my very favourite places ever (did you read Sixpence House?), and the best part is that it's all-but-impossible to get to.

I mean, what's to dislike about a town of bookstores?

When I went to Mexico earlier this year, I took Stiff by Mary Roach and while reading about cadavers, while broiling under a glorious sun was not the obvious beach read, I found it totally compelling and she's so funny that I kept bugging my traveling companion to let me read her a paragraph aloud.

FemaleNomad-
I haven't read Sixpence House. Is it about Hay?

It is, indeed. Here's a link for you: Sixpence House

If you look for it in a bookstore, it'll probably be in the Lit-Crit section, but whatever. It's great fun.

ps - Ayun, I've been wanting to read Stiff for ages. Now it's definitely going on my list.

big thumbs up for Stiff! I'm currently reading the book and it's hilarious. Definitely great for on the road reading.

What are other good unusual books to read on the road?

Vernon God Little worked really well for my last trip, but it's fiction.

Id prefer to take a short magazine and read something I like.Short and sweet, thats my motto.You should include many varietys of books or magazines to read!

I like to take a small blank sketchpad about the size of a cigarette pack (but not as thick).
On your trip you can use it to:
1. Doodle something you see
2. Write down memos about things you find that you want to look up in a library or online
3. Other travellers you meet can write messages and leave their own doodles in it as mementos
4. Note down ideas that travel brings to you - I get quite inspired about a lot of things while travelling, from personal to work.
5. Write drunken drivel at 4.00am in the morning in a hostel in Bulgaria. Then look at it when you're back home - you'll be amazed how it brings your memories into sharper focus and makes you smile.

I'm generally not a fan of beat writers, but On the Road is a nice little travel book. I think it's the sort of book that you can focus on, or read frantically, and get very different, enjoyable experiences.

One book I'd highly recommend, though, is The Way of a Pilgrim. Very interesting, simple book.

I enjoy reading a book that is set wherever I am visiting. It really helps you get into the story and to appreciate the atmosphere the characters are in.

Way of a Pilgrim looks quite good!

I think I'll add it to my wish list right now.

If you're at all a J.D. Salinger fan, or at least aren't sure you dislike him, I recommend following up The Way of a Pilgrim with Franny and Zooey. It's a novel (formed by two short stories he wrote) where the Way of a Pilgrim plays a central role. It's actually where I found out about the book, so I read them a little backwards, I guess.

Do you know, speaking of Salinger, that I never read Catcher in the Rye until this year, but I read Franny and Zooey, Nine Stories, and Seymour (I think that was the one) in high school?

Talk about backwards.

But Nine Stories is definitely a good on the road read, because it's just a little bit nuts.

Is War & Peace too crazy to read on the road?

definitely not. Especially if you have long waits anywhere.