Does size matter?

[pbray]

When I was packing for last week's vacation, picking clothes was the easy part. Picking which books to bring involved a considerable dilemma.

The next book in my TBR stack was THE GIRL WHO KICKED THE HORNETS' NEST. If I'd been taking a car vacation I would have brought it, but I couldn't quite convince myself to bring it on a plane trip. My carry-on was heavy enough, and it didn't make sense to pack this book in my suitcase and then start reading a mass market paperback on the plane.

If we'd gone near a bookstore in Florida I would likely have given in and bought a second copy of it, knowing I could always pawn a copy off on a friend, but turned out there was no reading time on this trip other than the plane flights, so in the end it probably worked out for the best.

[Poll #1581550]

Comments

[desperance.livejournal.com]

Last time I flew to California, I took Neal Stephenson's Quicksilver, which is a thousand pages of hardback.

Last time I flew to Taiwan, I took all three of the Baroque Cycle. Yup, 3000 pages. In hardbacks.

[pbray.livejournal.com]

Whoa! You have stronger shoulders than I do.

[mtlawson.livejournal.com]

I rarely buy hardcovers due to the cost issue, so this doesn't come up anymore. In the past I have done this, however.

[pbray.livejournal.com]

It's rare that I buy them since my TBR stack is so huge I often don't read a book until a year after it comes out, by which point it is in paperback anyway. But in this case, I had to have it.

[cypherindigo.livejournal.com]

I hate flying with a white hot passion. I choose thick books so that I have something I can't distroy with my "deathgrip" during take-off and landing.

[pbray.livejournal.com]

:-)

When I was first out of college I traveled extensively for work, and developed a certain tolerance for flying, though a good book helps pass the time.

[karen-w-newton.livejournal.com]

Vacation time is when eReaders come into their own. Hardcover schmardcover! My ebook library weighs less than 12 oz.

[pbray.livejournal.com]

Traveling is the only time that e-readers tempt me. I still prefer the experience of reading a physical book but the convenience of not packing pounds of reading matter is tempting.

[http://users.livejournal.com/la_marquise_de_/]

I have dodgy shoulders, so books are difficult to begin with. Hardbacks are just bricks that mean I can take fewer books over all.

[pbray.livejournal.com]

Precisely. And with a TBR stack number over 100 books, hard to justify taking that hardcover when there are so many paperbacks in the queue.

[larryhammer]

When we're traveling, we're often backpacking it, so weight is even more important than car trips -- I limit myself to two, or sometimes three, paperbacks long enough to last me. For car trips, if it's an active vacation (including hiking/backpacking/whatnot), I operate on similar principles, but if it's more relaxed, knowing there's more reading time and space is less of a premium, I'll sometimes take a couple large trade pb/hardcovers.

---L.

[pbray.livejournal.com]

But are you ever tempted to buy books as souvenirs? That's usually where I go wrong, even if I've started out with a conservative supply.

[larryhammer]

Er, yeah. Especially when overseas. We actually didn't buy any, this last trip.

---L.

[pbray.livejournal.com]

I once came back from Ireland with a backpack so full of books, I could barely stagger thru customs :-)

[fireun.livejournal.com]

I have only taken hardcovers on very rare occasions, usually ones that involve my having been an inexperienced traveler. I would consider taking one now if it was a delayed release that I needed to read immediately.

I go through about 1 book per 5 hours of plane ride/down time on vacation, so it is a matter of how much I can cram in my carry on and suitcase. MM are nice and compact and can sometimes squish rather well, so they are preferred.

I still fail at enjoying ebooks, so maximizing book space for travel is still a thing I do.

[pbray.livejournal.com]

Turned out it was one paperback per flight so it worked out. And as soon as the ur-bar copyedits are done, I'm diving into THE GIRL WHO...

[jhetley.livejournal.com]

We throw a joker in because we read from the library, almost always hardcovers. The idea of being trapped in Newark Airport without a book terrifies me . . .

[romsfuulynn.livejournal.com]

Um - all of the above? I probably will have 2 or more paper books in my checked luggage and hardcover vs pb has less to do with it than they have to be a "guaranteed read" i.e. something I am sure I will want to read. I don't want to be limited to a book I have to be in the mood for.

I will have one paperback or thing trade paperback in my carryon for reading when I can't read my ebooks. And I have my Palm TX with about 1800-2000 books with me at all times and my phone, which is a Windows Mobil 6 and can read ebooks but it really small.

[pbray.livejournal.com]

There's nothing worse than only have one book in your carry-on, then starting to read that book and realizing it sucks. Then you're stuck either reading the inflight magazine over and over again, or reading something terrible.

I always take at least 2 books on the plane. Just in case.

[pbray.livejournal.com]

Terrifies me too!

[wiredwizard.livejournal.com]

If it's next on my to read pile, then yes.

[pbray.livejournal.com]

That's where I really hesitated. But in the end, I think that book deserved more attention than I generally give a plane book, so I made the right choice.

[wiredwizard.livejournal.com]

What messes me up is that they put a branch of Chapters in right behind the security check at the airport. I always end up getting on the plane w/ 2 more books than I went through security with.

[pbray.livejournal.com]

Evil! But oh so good to have it there in case of unexpected delays trapping you in the airport for hours.

[wiredwizard.livejournal.com]

True. That way I'll have 6 books to kill the time with instead of just 4. ;)

[pbray.livejournal.com]

Hee! No, Well of Sorrows is certainly... hefty. Substantial, even.

[libwitch.livejournal.com]

considering on my vacation, I took 3 hardcovers, none which I started reading - and only one by an author I have read before.

[pbray.livejournal.com]

Okay, you are glutton for punishment, or perhaps you have a friendly sherpa to carry your bags...