The 5 Fiction Books I'm Taking on My Trip Next Week (and What Made Me Pick Them)

Because I'll definitely read one book a day

There are plenty of memes and jokes about travelers who pack twice as many underwear as they could possibly need in case they pee their pants every day. I am actually a minimalist when it comes to packing clothes, but I am very much a maximalist when it comes to books. A friend recently texted that she was at her son’s soccer practice and didn’t have her headphones for an audiobook or a print book that she could read. I told her that was my worst nightmare. And so thinking about running out of books to read on a vacation is an even more terrifying prospect.

Of course, I have virtually unlimited access to audiobooks through the library, so I could always just check another one out. But I particularly love reading print books on vacation because it’s something I find difficult to do in my normal life at home. And thus every out-of-town trip becomes a challenge as I try to fit as many books as I possibly can into my bag (made easier on a car trip than a plane trip).

This trip consists of a 7+ hour car ride each way, plus three full days and four nights with no plans. I used this information to calculate how many books I should bring, using Official Book Math. I determined I needed at least five books.

Over the past few weeks, whenever I go to the library, I have checked out a few books that looked interesting and made a pile. This morning I went through the pile and chose four library books plus the book I bought this past week at a local bookstore. I will almost certainly not read all of these, but look at all the options I have!

How do I choose books to read right off the shelf without any background research? This is part of the fun for me. That said, I was familiar with three out of the four authors of the library books I chose, so it didn’t feel like I was going in blind.

Escape!: A Novel by Stephen Fishbach

This one caught my eye when I was browsing the new releases shelf at the library. A former reality show winner is looking to revitalize his life and so ends up on another reality show. This new show, though, is more than just contestants competing against each other—even the show’s producer has her own stake in how she wants the show to turn out. This felt like it would be a fun vacation read, and it was endorsed on the back by the author of Cue the Sun!: The Invention of Reality TV, which I read last year and really enjoyed.

The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store by James McBride

I have read one other book by McBride, Deacon King Kong, and enjoyed it, so this one has been on my mental TBR for a long time. I remember trying the audiobook a few years ago and not being able to get into it. I am guessing it was just my mood at the time and I think having the print book in front of me will help me to focus better.

This is Happiness by Niall Williams

The first person I saw recommend this book was Grace Leuenberger, and while I don’t know how much our reading tastes overlap, her description of how the book affected her made me file the title away in my mind. Then, last week, while browsing a local bookstore and trying to find one book to purchase for myself as a birthday present, I saw this book. I had a few other books in hand to decide between but ended up on choosing this one. I expect it to be a slow burn of a read, perfect for lazy reading on vacation. I also expect I may want to do some highlighting.

Blockade Billy by Stephen King

My goal is to one day say I’ve read all of Stephen King’s books, so every time I go to the library I see if they have any on the shelf that I haven’t read yet. I can always put some on hold through the interlibrary loan system, but my goal is more casual for now, so I have been letting myself be at the mercy of our small library’s selection. I don’t enjoy sports and don’t care about baseball, but this book was only 132 pages long, so I grabbed it and definitely think I can finish it on the trip. Knowing how King writes, my guess is that it’s not just about baseball.

Leaving Atlanta by Tayari Jones

I have been wanting to read a book by Toni Morrison, so I ventured down the aisle of African-American fiction at our library (which, to my shame, I did not know existed until this week). They didn’t have any books by Morrison, but they did have several by Tayari Jones. She just came out with a new book called Kin that I’ve been interested to read, but, alas, they only had her backlist books on the shelf. I chose this one that takes place during the Atlanta child murders in the 1970s. (I have already read her book An American Marriage.)

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In addition to these five books, I also already have a fiction book on my Kindle that I’ve started as well as an audiobook and a book on spiritual authority that I’ve been reading in the mornings while I drink coffee. All of these will also be traveling with me next week, so stay tuned to the end of the month to see if I actually managed to finish all eight of them!

If you were going on a five day trip that included 15 hours in the car, how many books would YOU pack? Tell me I’m not alone!