What's on my e-reader for a week-long trip

It won't run out of battery. It won't. I'll be FINE. (maybe one print book just in case?) Plus: 4 guaranteed in-flight reads in 4 genres

I’m going away for a week. Paris and Madrid (how awesome does 12-year-old me think that sounds?!). So one overnight flight. 4 assorted short connections, one all-day-shouldn’t sleep flight over the Atlantic back home. Time to read, yes—but also a definite requirement that I travel light. As in, none of my usual put all the books in the checked luggage strategies apply.

So I’m going bold. I’m bringing the e-reader and… ONE small paperback. One. Seriously one. (I’m talking to myself here.) Bonus: I always need something to read to turn off the day, and I’ll be sharing a room with my daughter, who likes dark and falls asleep early and easily. The e-reader (I use a Kindle paperwhite or Apple’s Books app on my phone) is ideal for that. I also carried it on my 5 day hike in Patagonia in December and it never once needed a charge.

Want 4 guaranteed airplane reads in 4 genres that I wish I could read again for the first time? Scroll to the end.

Here’s what I’d loaded up before I started to write this and saw a problem:

Sample chapters of two dueling memoirs from the hosts of the BBC’s What Not to Wear. Honestly the sample chapters may be enough but I used to be a huge fan and I’m interested. (Ready for Absolutely Nothing and Fearless)

A Galley of Kathleen Smith’s True to You: a Therapist’s Guide to Stop Pleasing Others and Start Being Yourself. I’ll be interviewing her on the #AmWriting Podcast when I get back.

To Woo and to Wed, the fifth in Martha Water’s regency series that I’ve quite liked.

Supercommunicators, Charles Duhigg (I’ve been reading this for a while but also? It really improved my recent law school reunion conversations.)

Boyfriend and Good as Gold, both by Sarina Bowen.

An ARC I’ve promised to read (I’m not telling you what in case I don’t get there or don’t like it)

Lo Que la Nieve Susurra al Caer (have I been reading this romance in Spanish for EVER? I have. Am I getting better and faster and actually getting into the plot? I am. Is it slow as hell? Yep. Is it improving my Spanish, which I’ll be speaking all week with friends in Madrid? That too. I actually have paper but I don’t want to start a new Spanish book OR carry it, so here it is, I paid an extra $8.99, so be it.)

Earls Trip, Jenny Holiday

Print choice: The Late Americans, Brandon Taylor

The problem: If I’ve been reading romance all week, I can’t be SURE that even the best romance will engage me for an entire 6 hour plane ride. Now, if I’ve burned my way through the Brandon Taylor, I’ll probably be ready for a palate cleanser. But still. It’s risky. And I often struggle to connect the Kindle to wifi and get something new (remember when they connected by their own secret always working “whispernet”? That never happens for me any more.)

And I’ve bought so many books lately in print that it’s hard to know what to add here! Still, I soldier on. For the books.

Ooh, Dolly Alderton’s memoir Everything I Know About Love is Kindle Unlimited and thus free for me. Done.

There’s a Tessa Bailey novella that’s also “free” but… too steamy for a flight I think. Still, downloaded. (Same Time Next Year)

Ooh, The Curious Secrets of Yesterday from Namrata Patel. I loved her last two books. Added.

Lies and Weddings, Kevin Kwan. The PERFECT book to take a chance on. Done.

Finally, I clicked on I Hope This Finds You Well by Natalie Sue. It popped up under something, I think I’ve heard of it, it sounds fun and.. okay. One of those should satisfy and keep me from loading up my backpack in the airport bookstore!

Now to open every single one in my Kindle to make sure they’re actually THERE.

If you’re looking for a pretty much guaranteed airplane read, here are a few I wish I could read again for the first time in a mix of genres, Just trust me here, if you click on it and it sounds good, IT IS.

The Five Year Lie

Emily Wilde’s Encyclopaedia of Faeries

Starter Villain

The True Love Experiment, Christina Lauren

AND SERIOUSLY—if you haven’t read The Chicken Sisters, In Her Boots or Playing the Witch Card yet, what are you waiting for? They’ve all got coming-in-hot airplane read vibes. Please tote a paper one so all your seatmates will see you reading it and maybe someone will send me a picture and I will swoon. (That happened to a friend last week. Author’s dream!)

What’s your top airplane distraction read rec?