Reading and Traveling

At the time this goes up, I’ll be on a vacation. First Washington, D.C. (my first time!) for some touristy things (including the Spy Museum!), and then to stay with my grandma. Naturally, this is a good opportunity to discuss reading while on vacation.

Options vary, of course, based on the nature of your vacation. In most cases, it’s probably beneficial to take something that is fairly portable. It could be a reasonably-sized paperback (or two), a library book, a Kindle…whatever floats your boat.

An e-reader is a great opportunity if you like some freedom . You don’t even need a digital library that’s been built up from e-book deals and sales (like mine…it’s a habit), because many libraries offer ebooks to download, often remotely. My library and many others have Overdrive, which can be used online and in app form. You can then loan ebooks and audiobooks from your library, which can be downloaded to the app or to your e-reader of choice. I’ve used both in the past and ran into no problems.

Audiobooks are another travel favorite, especially for car rides. (Personally I’m not driving and I can read in the car without getting sick, so I usually don’t use them in the car on trips.)  Many use Audible.com for audiobooks, but after the first month there’s a subscription fee. I myself use the free Overdrive, even though its selection is smaller and is dependent on what the library ahs purchased. Nevertheless, it likely has plenty of options. Audiobooks don’t always go well with family car rides, of course, so if the whole family can’t decide on a book to listen to, there’s always the option of listening by yourself with headphones.

What am I bringing?

• Physical books: A Clockwork Orange, Oscar Wilde plays omnibus (I have 3 more to read), George Orwell essay collection (I have 200+ pages left), The View from Saturday, Lemony Snicket’s final book in the All the Wrong Questions series, and Challenger Deep by Neil Shusterman (library copy). This may seem like a lot, but I’m leaving myself options to choose from, including…
• My Kindle: I’m really loving my new Kindle, which I upgraded to a Paperwhite, and I’ve
• My phone: It has both the Kindle and Overdrive apps, so I never have to be anywhere without something to read! (I’m going to likely read the ebook of this year’s Printz winner Bone Gap.)

Unlike previous years, this time I haven’t brought a set amount of books to read and really want to make picking up a book to be more fun and less of something to cross off my summer TBR.