Next week, the husband and I are heading south to soak in Great Smoky Mountains National Park! We’re super excited to get away for a few days, and we are always into hanging out in the mountains. While we’ve been through sections of the Blue Ridge Parkway, we’ve never visited GSMNP, so that should be a fun experience. We’ve rented a cabin just outside the park, so hopefully we’ll be covered even if the weather is rainy. :-D (And yes, someone will be here with the dogs so still not a good time to try and rob us, internet people! – not even counting how disappointed you would be when you broke in here haha)
And while deciding which hikes to take, which restaurants to visit, which museums to explore, and what route to drive are all important parts of vacation, I’m sure my readers here will understand that deciding which books to take is THE critical decision! There are loads of vacation book theories, partially depending on what kind of vacation you’re taking, I suppose. Our vacation will kind of depend on the weather, as we are hoping to do a lot of hiking. But even if we hike all day, we’ll probably spend most of the evening sitting on the porch of our cabin.
Some people prefer to take books they’ve never read, and some people prefer library books. Some people just travel with an ereader instead of lugging around physical books. I’m pretty much the opposite of all of those. :-D I love to use vacation as a chance to reread some old favorites that I’ve been meaning to revisit, and I almost always take my own books – in some ways the books become imbued with the flavor of the places I read them, tied to happy memories. I love looking at my shelves and remembering where I was the last time I read a certain book!
The other reason I like rereads on vacation is because it’s just Tom and me on the trip, and part of the point is for us to hang out and visit with each other – something I find difficult to do with anyone if I’m embroiled in an exciting book with the ending unknown! Rereads take some of the pressure of I NEED TO FINISH THIS off so that I can more easily set a book aside to enjoy the moment with my husband. One of the most important pieces of marriage advice I ever received was a reminder to always “listen with my face” – to put down whatever I’m looking at, be it a book or my phone or computer or whatever, and actually LOOK at my husband when he’s saying something. It can be a challenge for this bookworm, but so important to do!
ANYWAY, time for the important part – what books am I actually taking?? The real problem is my constant, haunting fear of not having enough books! This has been somewhat alleviated the last few trips by the addition of a Kindle to my life – I load a bunch of books as backups (in case, you know, I really do have time to read the eight physical books I’m lugging along haha). So while these are the books I’m taking with me, deep down I know that the odds are slim that I’ll actually read all of them. Still, I’ll give it my best shot!!
Spindle’s End by Robin McKinley
I bought this book while on vacation all the way back in 2003, and for some reason it’s been on several trips with me since then, probably because it’s a small, fat paperback. I haven’t read it since I reviewed it here back in 2013, so I’m looking forward to enjoying it again. Magic, humor, engaging characters, and talking animals – do I really need anything else from a book?
Friday’s Child by Georgette Heyer
I’m not sure a vacation would be complete without a Heyer book to read. I enjoyed this book enough back in 2012 to add it to my permanent collection, but haven’t read it since. I gave it a full five stars then, but I’ve read a lot of Heyer’s other books since then, so I’m curious to see if this one still ends up a fave.
Indiscretion by Jude Morgan
I’ve actually read and reviewed this one twice since I’ve had this blog – the most recent time was when I took it on vacation back in 2015! (The first time was in 2013.) This Regency romance is just delightfully funny and full of wonderful characters. My sister read it recently and listening to her wax eloquent about how perfect it is made me want to pick it up again.
The Books of Bayern by Shannon Hale
Apparently I’m revisited a lot of books from 2013, which is the last time I read this quartet as well. While I have read this series a couple of times, I’ve only read the final book, Forest Born, once, and it was my favorite of the batch last time. I remember really liking these books as exciting but thoughtful fantasy stories, so I’m excited to revisit them.
Summer Moonshine by P.G. Wodehouse
Like Heyer, I always take along a Wodehouse, because there is no way to go wrong. While I’m “officially” reading all of Wodehouse’s books in published order, I’m jumping to 1937 with this one – I’m pretty sure I’ve read it before but remember literally nothing about the story or characters. The 1930’s are really the height of Wodehouse’s magnificence though, so I think this should be a treat.
Well, that’s a total of 2740 pages to keep me busy for six days. Do you think it will be enough?? Good thing I’m bring my Kindle, too… :-D
The Aroma of Books 