I’ve not taken a flight that’s had more of a 90 minute duration in over fifteen years. So the above question may not be as rhetorical (or silly) as it first may seem.
I’m between books at the moment; a sad case of timing. If I were immersed in something there would be no confusion, I’d just throw it in and be sorted.
Then I got the idea that seeing as I would be travelling for so long I would go bananas on Amazon, download to the Kindle lots of free samples of titles I’d long been curious about, and then make the decision as to whether I’d get the full version if I liked it or not.
And that is what I did.
Because I know many of you will want to know, here’s the list!
- Breakfast of Champions, Kurt Vonnegut
- The Cat’s Table, Michael Ondaatje
- Chocky, John Wyndham
- Cocaine Nights, J. G Ballard
- Crash, J. G Ballard
- God Bless You, Mr Rosewater, Kurt Vonnegut
- The Marriage Plot, Jeffrey Eugenides
- The Midwich Cuckoos, John Wyndham
- The Strangers’ Child, Alan Hollinghurst
- The Tiger’s Wife, Tea Obreht
One lonesome female, yes, I did notice. Still, quality all round. A sly attempt, also, to bump up the red tally (at least) on my 1001 Book Challenge.
The only problem is that because I’m a fast reader – once I get going – I have a suspicion that I’ll be finished before I’m halfway over the Pacific.
Which is why my back up plan is to buy Bring up the Bodies by Hilary Mantel and then get stuck into that. A treat!
What do you read on plane trips? Books? Glossy magazines? Nothing – you sleep?
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Excellent choices, Karen. I do love me some Vonnegut. I have no idea what “Chocky” is about, but I love the title.
I’m a bit of a nervous traveler, so I don’t sleep much on planes. The last plane trip I took I read James Swanson’s “Bloody Crimes: The Chase for Jefferson Davis and the Death Pageant for Lincoln’s Corpse.” It was an excellent read.
Oh, also, you’re a Colin Farrell fan, right? If you haven’t gotten to see “Ondine” yet, oh you should. It’s just a lovely film, a wonderful modern take on fairy tales.
I’d probably watch whatever was on and knit. I wish I could simultaneously knit and read but it’s a lot harder!
Crash! You are in for one hell of a ride… I usually feel too braindead to read on flights. I watch crap movies or just zone out.
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I just watch movies and drink wine
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I watch movies mainly. I find I get too drowsy to read anything of substance. I try to sleep on flights too, but rarely with success. I started The Marriage Plot recently, but haven’t finished – not as engaging as Middlesex or Virgin Suicides (read Middlesex if you haven’t yet!). If I do read anything, I try to get something set in my destination city/country – it gets my travel bug ready to be fed
Another good one is downloading 10 movies to your iPad, and watching them, rather than the often poor selection on flights and the same movies on the way back!!
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