Before our vacation I put several, I mean several books on reserve in the library just a few days before I could pick them up. When I usually do this, more than half the books I request are just not available in time, so I always choose more than I need just in case some aren’t ready. Well this time nearly every single book I reserved was ready. When I saw the daunting stack of books ready for me I could have put some back knowing I wouldn’t get around to reading them all, or accept the challenge and run with them. I think you can guess which option I chose.
But when it came to packing, I had a hard time deciding which books to take. I ended up taking only the paperbacks for practical purposes (with the exception of The Paris Wife, which I had started right away). I sort of regretted this decision because it seemed all the paperbacks were heavy books, not suitable for light beach reading.
I read them anyway.
The Paris Wife by Paula McLain. I had been wanting to read this since I watched the movie Coco and Igor. The story was interesting. The Paris Wife, a novel about Hemingway’s first wife, is a look into the real lives of authors and the friend’s of the authors during that time period. Very engaging, but sad. You know from the beginning, even if you know little to nothing about Hemingway, that the book won’t end on a happy note. I read the entire book on the trip to the beach.
Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer. I read Into Thin Air by the same author a few years ago. I liked Krakauer’s way of investigating an event and then pulling it together into what reads like a narrative story. I think Into Thin Air was a better book, but Into the Wild was interesting too. I read this book on the way home.
The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini. I finally decided to give this book a chance. I didn’t think I would like it, but I did. The story is sad. It’s about Afghanistan and kite running and all sorts of other things I had no knowledge of, and I think that’s what initially put me off of the book. It’s worth reading, a good story of redemption and the complications of relationships. You’ll also learn a lot about Afghanistan.
None of my choices were really what I consider beach reading, but I never did read on the beach. I read in the car or before bed so I guess it didn’t matter so much what I brought, but it always seems whatever I read on vacation sets a tone or stays with me in the memory of that vacation. Have you found that to be true?
Have you read any good books lately?
