Reading Road Trip
Hello there. Am heading out on a girl’s weekend for one of my best friend’s birthdays. The house is in good hands and being kept company, my i-Pod is loaded with Sarah Vowell, and I’ve got my car’s air conditioning newly fixed (yes, non- SoCalers, my air conditioning — ridiculous, I know). I am ready to roll.
While the rest of the girls are e-mailing about what they are wearing this weekend, I am planning which books I will be bringing. (Pure Wallace to worry more about which books are coming along than which shirt, shoes, jeans, etc.) I did reassure the birthday girl that I would, in fact, be wearing clothes this weekend, so no one was to worry. Not that she would — she’s known me for over a decade and loves me for my brains, not my looks.
So, party people (aka blog readers), here are the books I am bringing with me…
1.) Assassination Vacation by Sarah Vowell – on the i-Pod (Almost finished with this one already)
2.) The Partly Cloudy Patriot by Sarah Vowell — on the i-Pod (First of all, I’m going to pretend that SV and I are on a road trip together, so I need her talking non-stop. Second of all, I would rather run out of gas than run out of a book to listen to on a road trip.)
3.) The Queen’s Lover by Vanora Bennett (Reading for a book tour, must make headway.)
4.) A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness (Because I absolutely, positively just can’t wait to start this one and I picked it up from the bookstore yesterday in anticipation.)
Notice that I am not bringing Villette. That is because none of it would be read. Villette is not a sit-by-the-pool book, or a read-before-bed book (which I learned this week), but rather a read-while-all-attention-can-be-paid-to-it-while-you-are-coherent-enough-to-process-its-goodness book.
What will you be reading this weekend?
Thanks for wearing clothes this weekend, and I will be reading another book in the Outlander series. Looking forward to seeing you, drive safe!
J– a bunch of us were just having a conversation yesterday on the Outlander series on Steph’s (from below) blog. If you get a chance, go weigh in, as you’ve read far more than I in this series. She’s trying to decide whether or not to read it and is put off because people are mentioning the rape scene, etc.
Looking forward to seeing you soon!!!
Villette, Olive Kitteridge and maybe Friday Nights by Joanna Trollope (really not enjoying this, but since I have enjoyed her others, I keep thinking if I plod along I will start caring about the characters). So not working. Enjoy your weekend.
Mmm… I have Olive Kitteridge on my TBR shelf. I hear it’s wonderful.
Have a great time! Girlfriend trips are a blast! I am reading U is for Undertow by Sue Grafton and then I hope to start Year of Wonders by Geraldine Brooks!
I have been debating reading Year of Wonders for quite awhile. You’ll have to come back and tell me how you like it when you are finished. I have March by Geraldine Brooks, which I hear is great, waiting to be read.
Are you heading to the desert? I ask because it is supposed to snow in Santa Clarita this weekend and be about 25 degrees tonight. Brrrr. This SoCal girl won’t know what to do with herself.
It’s good to know that whenever we meet, I won’t have to worry about what I wear
Yes, we are… it’s supposed to be chilly (and possibly rain), so pool is probably not going to happen after all. I can’t believe it’s going to snow up there again (you have all the luck)!
Exactly… just bring your brain and we’ll be good.
You might not want to start Discovery of Witches while on your roadtrip because it is so good that you might wind up being anti-social and ignoring all your friends. I certainly neglected my husband for a good three days while I was reading it!
But other than that: have fun!
Hahaha, you know what… I actually worried about that this morning when I saw the book lying on my suitcase. Hmmm, might have to rethink it. Though I think I’ll have a good two hours of waiting for the other girls to get in. Thanks for the head’s up .
Have fun! There are few things as fun as time with the girls.
I’ve been wanting to read a Discovery of Witches so badly now. I’ve got to get to the bookstore soon. I’ve heard so many good things about it.
Thanks! Yes… go get the book. It’s supposed to be a total treat.
Sounds like such a fun weekend. I’m always the one that puts more thought into my books than my clothes for a trip.
I, too, am putting aside Villette for the weekend. Top priority is Everything is Illuminated–book club is Monday night and I haven’t started it yet. I’m also hoping to squeeze in another chapter or two in Bryson’s At Home.
Oh wow, you need to get cracking on the Foer book. I’m dying to read Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close. Are you liking At Home? I bought it, but am now hearing mixed reviews. It sounds up my alley though.
I am enjoying it, although it is taking me a bit longer than I thought it would. I like Bryson’s conversational tone, and love historical/social factoids, so it’s right up my alley.
I’m reading a critical essay on Villette from the book The Madwoman in the Attic:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Madwoman_in_the_Attic
veeeeeeeeeery interesting! I’ll share when I’m done on a read-along post.
and I think I’ll start the Bronte biography I picked up from the library:
http://www.amazon.com/Unquiet-Soul-Biography-Charlotte-Bronte/dp/068970707X
and download the Gaskell bio to my Sony Reader – I’m pretty sure that one is free on Project Gutenberg.
Also have reading for class about the Caldecott awards for picture books!
Have a great weekend!
Oh great! I’m really looking forward to hearing about the essay.
This clothes vs books issue reminds me that my mum always jokes with me that I may not carry money in my purse, but I will always have a book – and it is true!
I’ll leave Villette to read during the week, so I’ll probably start my next bookclub read: “Blood from Stone”, a crime novel (this is not my usual kind of book, so I’m actually looking forward to something new!) and finish “A Bend in the Road” (Nicholas Sparks is not my kind of writer, but I felt the need to read something that would mildly amuse me and let my brain take a rest 
).
I’m near to getting a cold, so this weekend I’ll try to spend as much time indoors as possible – and reading is perfect for healing colds
Have fun this weekend!
I read A Bend in the Road years ago… I remember liking it. I think it was sad — but can’t remember it perfectly. Then again, which Sparks book doesn’t try to rip your heart out?
Have fun, Wallace! And happy reading! I wish I were going away this weekend as well. It’s grim and gray today, rained earlier. Nothing like rain on leftover blackened snow. Ugh.
I’ll be finishing up a terrific book this weekend for my Vintage Mysteries Challenge: THE YELLOW ROOM by Mary Roberts Rinehart. (I love it when a book exceeds my expectations.) Then I’ll be picking up and possibly starting a new thriller that everyones talking about: DISCIPLE OF THE DOG by R. Scott Bakker. Also will delve into KIM by Rudyard Kipling for my Victorian Reading Challenge. And whatever else comes my way. Lots to do, reading-wise.
You do have a lot to do! Hope it went well.
Love your picture – have fun!
Thanks!
I’m stoked that my weekend is totally free and it is raining and miserable here in LA…you know what that means: reading under blankets!! So excited since I’m obsessed with “In The Woods” but can’t read it at night. Hoping to finish it this weekend and make some progress on the Andrea Agassi bio “Open.”
You know I’ve taken a little break from life with my job and a wedding last year, but this’ll be my first weekend back in a long time to read just for enjoyment! I’m so out of the loop I have no idea what this Witches book is everyone is talking about, but now I’ll have to go check it out!
Have fun this weekend…stay dry!
Hope you got some good reading done.. can’t believe you had a day to yourself!
Hope you had a fabulous girls weekend!! All I read was tropical depression and Angelology (which I still need to finish). No Villette for me – just wasn’t in the mood for more Lucy.