There’s something about airplanes — maybe it’s the altitude, or the rubbery chicken, or the $5 cocktails — that warps my entertainment standards. Where else but at 30,000 feet would I submit to watching A Cinderella Story or plugging my headphones into a "Hits" channel where I enjoy only one out of every seven songs?
Similarly, when it comes to airplane reading, I don’t want anything emotionally or intellectually challenging; I far prefer a crime thriller or a global suspense caper that I can finish (and perhaps forget) by the time my round-trip journey comes to its end. Heading to a wedding last weekend in San Jose, I had all of three minutes at the airport book shop to pick up a potential trashterpiece and get to my gate. On a whim, I grabbed James Rollins’ Black Order — mainly because the raised gold lettering of the author’s name was an indubitable indication of "quality," and also because the illustration of a dood in a hood made me think the 500-page tome might contain "mystical" elements. Well, let me just say that unlike a couple of recent airport stinkers (like Sandra Brown’s thudding White Hot), Black Order (part of something called the Sigma Force series) turned out to be a very pleasant surprise. It was far-fetched, to be sure, and Rollins’ love of cliffhanger chapters had me occasionally groaning, but the writing was crisp, the pacing was lively, it made my flight fly by (sorry) in what seemed like minutes, and I may have learned a little something about quantum physics in the process. At this rate, I might just have to log on to Orbitz and book myself a trip somewhere — just to have an excuse to pick up Rollins’ The Judas Strain.
Now it’s your turn. What’s the last book you picked up at the airport — and was it any good? The fate of your fellow readers’ vacations hangs in the balance!
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Ee, yay, a topic I can actually answer with delight because I’m an avid bookreader on a flights. Mostly because I find the movies in-flight to be emotionally jarring or scarring (“Rumor Has It”, anyone?). The last two books (long flight) I read were “The Devil Wears Prada” and “Mythology” by Edith Hamilton. You know, because you have to following a contemp comedy with a classic. Both were fun reads.
I was reading “Running with Scissors” and since it was awesome, I had to have another book by Augesten Burroughs, so I bought “Sellavision” at the Chicago airport. It was good and trashy for airplane reading. This was b4 he had any other books out, I now buy them on the date they are released.
Angels and Demons for my trip to Italy. A fun read for a vacation in Rome.
I read Breakfast at Tiffany’s on a bus ride from Boston to New York. Seemed appropriate. I also read Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius on a trip from St. Louis to Boston. Sounds like a big accomplishment until you find out the trip took 12 hours!
I always pick up the latest by Elmore Leonard or Haruki Murakami before jumping on a long flight.
Though my portable DVD player gets a lot more time, I still love a good mystery.
I consider myself kind of a literature snob, only reading “intellectual” books (I know, I annoy myself too), which I always take with me on trips. For some reason, though, I always find myself picking up a bunch of crappy gossip magazines (Us, InTouch, etc) and reading those instead. The fact that they all have the same, and often contradictory, articles each week doesn’t seem to stop me from grabbing at least 3 for each leg of a trip.
I love flying just for the fact that I’m allowed the time to read a book. I try to pick something that I can read in total for a round-trip flight. The last one was Stephen King’s ‘Cell’ – great fun!
“She Got Up Off the Couch” by Haven Kimmel. She’s a briliant writer. I’ve read everything she’s written, fiction and non-fiction and have never been disappointed.
The Birth of Venus by Sarah Dunant was the perfect page turner for my last trip to Europe. Set in Florence during the Renaissance, a bit of history with an excellent character drama/romance. Brain candy of Godiva level.
I picked up She’s Come Undone at the Toronto airport on my way to a week in Barbados a few years ago and was totally absorbed from the plane ride on – I got sunburned because I was too engrossed to move or re-apply sunscreen. On another note, I felt like a jackass reading The Da Vinci Code on a train when I saw at least 5 other people reading the same thing.
I never buy a book at the airport. I buy it in advance and take it to the airport with me. In recent years I’ve gone through the Augusten Burroughs books and Gregory Maguire’s Wicked (which led to the musical). A book and my iPod and I’m all set.
Slezak — “trashterpiece”? I haven’t heard that before — is that all you? Fantastic! For flights, Philippa Gregory is good — The Other Boleyn Girl or The Queen’s Fool.
Since I was travelling with a 12 and 15 year old, I read “nasty bits” by Anthony Bourdain. Short essays about travel and food so when I was constantly interrupted I could easily pick up where I left off. Then I read “Emily’s Reasons Why Not” and “Following Foo” by BD Wong.
The last great airplane book I remember was Barnstormer in Oz by Philip Jose Farmer. Quick read, and tons of fun, as I recall.
cool, a James Rollins fan…once you finish with Sigma Force, some of his earlier adventure novels are really cool, just exciting, escapist kind of literature–great for a summer beach read, or a plane…I recommend Excavation.
Whenever I travel, I usually take some kind of reading like Rollins or F. Paul Wilson, those are always good, but I never leave for a long trip without a copy of The Complete Sherlock Holmes. Never, never gets old.
Now if we are talking trashtastic (love it Slezak) then I am all Jackie Collins or Sophie Kinsella. Occasionally I’ll have something a bit more intellectual but mainly, it’s throw-away books that are fun and easy to get into.
Anything by Stuart Woods too…
Anything by Christopher Moore, Terry Pratchett, or Gregory Maguire
I am very late to this party, but recently I’ve been transported to Mike Callahan’s Cross Time Saloon thanks to author Spider Robinson and The Callahan Chronicles. (The audio book version, now appearing on my iPod.) It is of the science fiction genre, for some reason, and has many, many puns. Some you’ll love to hate, and some you’ll hate to love. (“Hi Homey, I’m Hun.”) It’s to die for.
For some reason, I use flights to read books that are really popular or were once featured on Oprah’s book club. The last two flight books: “A Long Way Gone” by Ishmael Beah and “The Lovely Bones” by Alice Sebold. Both were great reads.
For a recent bus trip, I read “I Love you, Beth Cooper” by Larry Doyle. This was a fun and fast read, perfect for a 4 hour trip.
I switch between literature and murder mysteries in my usual reading, but something about being on a plane screams, “Cosmo”! to me. It’s a nasty, guilty-pleasure habit I picked up in high school on flights to and from boarding school that I haven’t managed to kick yet.
Dedication by Emma McLaughlin and Nicola Kraus and Free Food For Millionaires
Dedication by Emma McLaughlin and Nicola Kraus and Free Food For Millionaires
Last week, Portland Maine airport: Good Grief by Lolly Winston. A pleasant surprise, very well-written. I keep a stash of airplane reads that I pick up from book exchanges and yard sales. Favorites are: the kind of mystery where everyone sits down for tea with the vicar to disuss the suspects (one of whom usually is the vicar), plucky girl finds true love, or college friends compare notes in the midst of some big 20-years-after crisis.
I picked up the last Harry Potter book at the airport this weekend. It was a great read in the airport and plane, but I had lots of people trying to read over my shoulder!
“Walking in Circles Before Laying Down”, Merrill Markoe – not on a plane, stuck in bleachers at a swim meet for HOURs – funny, funny, funny. Listened to “Home to Big Stone Gap” on drive from Houston to Lake Charles – maybe other books are just fun to listen to, but this one is pure pleasure. I have been saying “My husband” in that Kentucky accent ever since. This flight…”Telegraph Days”, Larry McMurtry – typical Larry, just fun. I will be the last in my family to get “Deathly Hallows” to read – but I am waiting patiently…..
For short trips, David Munroe’s short story collection, Mahoney in Control. For long trips, David Munroe’s novel, The Unexpected and Fictional Career Change of Jim Kearns, which is very funny, or anything by Harlan Coben or Robert Crais.
Bright Lights Big Ass – Jen Lancaster. Bought on a whim 15 mins before boarding, it was super funny and I’ve since bought her other book and bookmarked her blog as a ‘favorite’ (www.jennsylvania.com). Funny stuff!
When I was going to Cananda for a school trip by Dad bought me A Shadow in the Wind for the plane ride over. It was brillant. Despite being a translation (orginal in Spanish) and a fairly predictable ending, I was engrossed simply by the author’s words. Once again proving that if you write well, the book will be good.
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