I agree-I pack slim paperbacks that can easily slide in my bag, and always a mix of never-read and at least one old reliable, in case the never-reads turn out to be bombs. Nothing that requires deep concentration, because I find that impossible while traveling-too many interruptions or aggravations.

On my latest trip to California I read The Book Thief which was perfect.

Me, too. I like light in both senses--easy to carry and easy to read.

I once brought Gibbons' Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire (paperback copy -- condensed, I think) on a trans-Pacific flight. That was a mistake.

Nothing I care about. I never end up liking what I read on airplanes. I do, however, like to read what I end up writing on airplanes. Go figure.

I always read mysteries on long flights, the longer, more complicated and more engrossing, the better. I want to get so lost in the mystery that I forget I am defying gravity and squished like a sardine. And breathing who knows what microbes.

My in-flight reading has to be 1) something I've read before that absorbed me completely (so I don't have to actually take in the material for the first time while stressed) and 2) light enough to be read under the influence of flight anxiety meds. I'm such an airplane wimp!

Definitely paperbacks, and enough supply to be sure I won't run out. Oh, the horror of not having anything to read!

I usually take a couple of light novels, but often also a book I have been meaning to read, but have kept putting off. Sometimes the uninterrupted time is just the nudge I need to overcome an approach-avoidance situation.

Rosefolly

Ccrdmrbks, taking an old reliable is a good idea. I think I will take "Good Omens" as I haven't read that in while.

Dynomutt, "The Decline and Fall..."? That was ambitious. I keep meaning to read it, but not while travelling.

The biggest mistake I ever made was not taking anything to read, not even a magazine. I was ready to tear my hair out when the batteries in my walkman (this was before CD players) ran out when I had three hours of airtime left.

I've decided to take "The Nautical Chart" (Arturo Pérez-Reverte), "A Blunt Instrument" (a Georgette Heyer mystery), "Good Omens" (Pratchett and Gaiman) and probably a Jennifer Crusie short romance novel.

Have you ever read David LodgeÂs books? A few of them are really enjoyable in my opinion.
I would suggest Small World is a comic take on academic conferences, or The British
Museum is Falling Down the main charachter, a graduating student, spends a day at the British
Museum while his wife is at home with their children and sheÂs pregnant another time. The funny
thing is that each chapter of this book is written as a parodie of Joyce, V Wooolf, Kafka, G. Green
and others

grelobe

I grab all offered newspapers, in any language I am at least somewhat familiar with. If I happen to fly with Alitalia an Italian paper will keep me occupied for the duration of the flight, guessing the meaning of every article. English is easier and I may even get down to the easy crossword. On my last flight with BA to London two weeks ago I read Alexander McCall Smith's Love over Scotland. A bit too thick but I took only one book with me and wanted it to last until I got to a Waterstone's.

Netla --

Yes, it was ambitious. I was in the middle of reading it when I had to travel. So, it seemed logical to take to the plane what I was reading at the time! I kind of forgot to realize that I would only read snippets of it every day. A concentrated dose was too much to take. Don't get me wrong -- it was an interesting read but for a 12-13 hour flight, you want something that RELAXES the mind.

Next time, I'm taking some Tintin and Asterix books.... in digital format on my notebook! (It's hard to take 15-20 oversize books on the plane.) ;-)

When traveling for business (which I fortunately don't have to do these days) I always took along three magazines, something with crossword puzzles, and one or two books, depending on how close I was to the end of one. This was true of one day trips or much longer trips, during which I had to add to my reading stash.

The most enjoyable inflight reading experience I recall was a trip where I had plenty of space in front of me and was reading A Civil Action by Jonathan Harr. The book was fascinating and I was comfortable with no annoying people around. It was such a rare occurrence that it has stuck with me for years.

I like to take a selection, perhaps one or two paperbacks, one I haven't read before and one an old reliable (in case the new one turns out to be a disappointment).

Coming back from England the other day, I read the whole of "Perfume" by Patrick Suskind which I loved. It took most of the journey (in between food and naps and a movie) and was just right. Not too cerebral, not too bubblegum. Just right.

liz

Netla, I took Nautical Chart on a cruise. Perfect choice.

I took The Right Stuff by Tom Wolfe on a transatlantic flight and it was a really great choice because what they (the astronauts) were doing was much more dangerous than my current position in an airplane.

PAM

I never take anything too serious, but do like to take something that is set in the area where I am going. Mysteries often work, someone has written a mystery that takes place almost everywhere! Memoirs are oftne good as well. Helps me get ready for what I'm going to see. I do take several things, but would never take something I've already read! I want to be engrossed, not reflective!

And I so agree Rosefolly...."the horror of not having anything to read!" I always have newspapers and saved crosswords as well as several books. I look at those people just sitting and wonder at them. I remember in particular one man who was staring at the outlet his phone was charging from. I guess the phone had games, but what a limitation! I would have been RUNNING to a bookstore.

I have taken to traveling with audiobooks on an mp3 player, which lightens the load considerably. This means I will no longer read anything meaty and in need of focus at the beach, but that rarely worked out well anyway.

Why read a book on a plane flight? You can read at home. There are so many interesting things to do on the trip right from take-off. Check out the goody bag, read the literature in the front pocket. Play with your new duty-free gadgets. Press all the chairside buttons and listen to the inflight entertainment. The movie is a new release. The food is interesting and you didn't have to cook it or wash the dishes afterward. You can do exercises to ward off DVT while queueing up to use the washroom and swap stories with others in the queue about other long queues they have had to stand in.
Chat to the person sitting next to you,this can be rewarding even if they don't speak your language. I got a very good upper body massage once from a Chinese sports therapist who understood my pained wriggling. My Personal Best conversation is over nine hours almost non-stop on the Australia to Hong Kong route.
You can even doze once the babies stop crying and the child behind you stops kicking your seat. Be creative with this time. Enjoy your flight!

LoL annpan!
It's so long since I went on even the shortest domestic flight that I wore a flying helmet and had I taken a book to read the pages would have been blown away by the wind. I'm sure there was an outdoor loo.
A short but memorable flight, as a child, went from St Just to the Scilly Isles (off Cornwall, SW England)) in a 6 seater biplane. The passengers had to be weighed so the balance of the plane could be adjusted.
Re conversation on public transport. Many years ago I was due to spend a w/end in East Anglia. It was a Friday evening and after a dash into London I go the last seat in a pullman type coach on the train out to the small Fen-land City of Ely
I was tired, the carriage was over-heated and crowded and the man opposite wanted to talk.
He asked what I did, where I lived, where I was going etc. At the time I had been teaching and that started him off as everyone has an opinion about education.
In the end I gave up trying to read and put my book down (sorry, I can't remember what it was) and half listened to him going on . . . and on. After a couple of hours he got off the train saying "That was a most interesting conversation" followed by other passengers who said "Well done" to me; probably heaving a sigh of relief that they hadn't sat opposite him!

I'm like Rosefolly, in that I always take something off Mt TBR, in addition to light novels and a comfort re-read or 2. I usually take something serious (or at least what I call serious), because sometimes I need something that will last for a long flight, and novels just go too fast. I took Ciardi's translation of Inferno & Purgatorio for a couple of DC-Tokyo trips, with Pride & Prejudice for my comfort re-read. For my Alaska flight this past February, I took Campbell's Primitive Mythology along with 2 unread Margaret Frazer mystery novels for light reading, and Megan Whalen Turner's The Thief for the comfort re-read.

I remember finishing Gaiman's Coraline in 45 minutes, and having the endure the rest of the cross-country flight without anything to read. Arrggghhh! I ended up re-reading the thing 3 times between forays through the airline magazine & overpriced catalog, and it hasn't come off my shelf since. :)

ann, as someone who has flown on four flights in the last two weeks, I'd say I've done all of those....:)

I bring paperbacks, usually ones that I have already read, so I know they have staying power. My DH got me into the habit of picking up cheap copies of the books at the local used bookstore, and leaving them behind as you read - giving someone else a chance to try them, and lightening your luggage just enough to include those new books you are going to buy on the trip....

grelobe, I love David Lodge, esp Changing Places, Small World, and Falling Down. He's quite a joy to read (tho I think his more recent books haven't been as good)

Cindy, I take your point! You must think that a plane is like a second home! I do take a couple of new paperback
mysteries by favourite authors, carefully hoarded for my trip but as I don't fly very often, I get too involved with the actual journey and usually only read them to get off to sleep at the hotel.
The only time I did read on a trip was during the return 24 hour train journey across the Nullabor. I had seen every bush going to Adelaide and did not want to see the rear of them coming back, so I went to a Charity shop and bought a load of books as your DH recommended you to do.

I always bring several books from my TBR pile with me, but I usually can't concentrate enough to read anything but those gossipy magazines that I can't resist buying at the airport.

not gossip magazines, sheri...popular culture periodicals. It is important to be informed!

Cece, LOL! I feel much less shallow now *G*

who's shallow? I always pick up a copy of People before a flight and read it cover to cover. " popular culture periodicals"-I like it!!!!

I'm off tomorrow for ten days in Italy and went to the library yesterday to pick up half a dozen paperback mysteries. One is by Donna Leon set in Venice, and one is Catilina's Riddle by Steven Saylor. It says it is a novel of ancient Rome.

I'm really not taking all six. One turned out to be one I had read before and one is a little one I'm reading while I wait for tonight to pass so I can get going, so only four get to go on the trip.

cindy grelobe, I love David Lodge, esp Changing Places, Small World, and Falling Down. He's quite a joy to read (tho I think his more recent books haven't been as good)
So do I. To your list IÂd add a book of short stories , I donÂt remember the title because IÂve got it in Italian and every time IÂm at home I keep forgetting to check out the original one. Besides IÂve got another book written by David Lodge, titled Ginger yourÂre Barmy, it is the first book that D.Lodge has written and was published in 1963, I seem to remember,(at the moment it is out of print) and it is about two blokes serving in the army in the 50Âs . I think it is also a bit autobiographical. But IÂve never read it yet, because when I got it I wasnÂt able to read in English and the book hasnÂt never been translated in Italian. IÂm going to take it with me on my mountain holiday next August.
grelobe

grelobe, I actually read that book, found it in a used store a while back. Its not bad - you can certainly see the beginnings of how he writes, and his sense of humor. But I honestly can't say I remember much about the story itself.

carolyn, have a wonderful trip!

I'm just back from a trip to Pennsylvania. For my travel book I took Guns, Germs, and Steel. I read, dozed, read and dozed both coming and going. Travel makes me sleepy. I only have about two chapters left to go. Interesting book.

R

Like many of you, I always take at least a couple of paperbacks with me on a trip. One has to be a comfort read, since I don't want to be stuck without reading material if the other book(s) don't pan out. I also like to take a crossword puzzle magazine as well as a "popular cultural periodical" (I really like that term too!)in case I can't relax enough to get engrossed in a book.

Hmm, popular culture periodical. It almost makes me feel scholarly to pick one up when looked at in that light!

If one does not study the times in which one lives, how will one know what is going on? And, although all mentioned in such journals are not shining examples, there are definitely some who are dire warnings.