Addicted to Books!

What happens when a book addict goes on vacation? Suitcases are weighed, every ounce is precious, we must leave room for gifts, but what if you're halfway through the second week and you, horror or horrors, run out of books? The advent of e-readers has gone a long way to solving this dilemma but it's so annoying to be told one has to shut off one's "electrical" device during take off and landing. In the middle of a good story? I don't think so!

So, what have I done as I prepare for this three week sojourn on another continent? Well, yes, I've loaded the Nook with an eclectic assortment of titles that includes African mystery writer Deon Myer, about whom I've blogged before, Isabel Wilkerson's The Warmth of Other Suns, Dickens' A Tale of Two Cities, and an old one I always thought I'd like to read "when I had the time," Pillars of the Earth.

Even with these choices though, I still want to throw a couple of paperbacks in my carry-on. Decisions, decisions! Meanwhile, I just received a wonderful title from Library Journal to be read and reviewed before I head out. It's a new release - next January - by Thrity Umrigar who is going to join us at the Southwest Florida Reading Festival next March. http://www.readfest.org/
How perfect is that! Several years ago I hosted a book discussion on her novel The Space Between Us and it was simply wonderful. Now I'll likely get to meet her. Don't I have the best job in the world?

In the meantime I'm finishing up a little gem that I spotted on our donations shelf - another great perk. The cover caught my attention, then the authors, and then, best of all, the memoir takes place in Greece. Traveling with Pomegranates; A Mother and Daughter Journey to the Sacred Places of Greece, Turkey and France has been a lovely surprise. You'll remember Sue Monk Kidd from The Secret Life of Bees, beautiful novel, great movie adaptation.

This memoir details a trip that Sue took with her daughter Ann, a gift for Ann's college graduation and a gift for Sue as she faced a mid-life decision about the direction that she wanted her life to take, that is, to become a full-time novelist. It's also a deep, thoughtful look at the empowerment of women  from a historical perspective but also in the here and now. While Ann contemplates the virgin queen Athena, Sue becomes fixated on the virgin Mary. While Ann suffers from a lack of confidence because she was rejected by her first choice for graduate school, Sue tells her husband that she needs to move from their life long home in order to be in a space conducive to her writing. Wow, if it were only that easy!

I'm really enjoying these two gals and hope that I can finish this book AND the LJ book before I leave. Everything else that I have checked out will have to go - including Alan Paton's Too Late the Phalarope that I had planned to finish before flying. Maybe that would be a good one to buy - I'll bet a classic like that will go for 99 cents. How sad is that?