Packing for a Trip

I leave tomorrow for a trip to the east coast. I haven't even gotten my suitcase out of the closet, but I've been creating a pile of potential books for the trip for more than a week.

There is an art to finding the perfect balance of reading matter for a trip. I need something light and engaging but not insulting for the plane, but I usually like to have something a little more solid too just for a change. The trip will be busy so I won't have much reading time, but I will have the odd half hour here and there to read before going to sleep or while having a cup of coffee in a cafe. In recent years I've even started to bring books that I know I can leave behind when I'm done, so I don't need to worry about carrying them home. And of course I need to remember that I will undoubtedly buy books along the way, especially when I will be visiting 14 -- yes 14 -- college campuses, all of which will have enticing bookstores.

So what's in the pile at the moment?

"Wilderness Run" by Maria Hummel. Novel about a group of Vermonters during the Civil War. I'll be taking a seminar with Hummel in May so I really wanted to read this. I am almost done so I'm not sure if I will bring it with me. Maybe I will try to finish it today?

"Hotel du Lac" by Anita Brookner. I've been wanting to reread this for a long time and it keeps getting pushed down further in the pile. Maybe this will be a good alternate for the plane?

"The Glass Castle" by Jeannette Walls. Perfect for the plane.

"The New York Stories of Edith Wharton" -- thematic for trip. But I don't know if short stories will be right for a trip when I don't know how much reading time I will have. There's nothing worse than needing another ten minutes to finish a short story and not getting it.

"Tin House - Fantastic Women" -- I'm not very familiar with Tin House but I may be attending their workshop this summer so I want to spend some time with this.

"Mrs. Astor Regrets" by Meryl Gordon. Another thematic book for the trip.

"The Observations" by Jane Harris. Looks like fun.

"The Queen of the Tambourine" by Jane Gardam. This one has been waiting for a special occasion. Maybe it will be for the plane ride home.