Travel Tuesdays: Choosing Books to Bring

I'm back with a Travel Tuesdays post today. More guest bloggers will be appearing on future Tuesdays.

In the weeks leading up to a trip, one of my favorite rituals is the selection of books to bring. I know many of you are thinking I wouldn't need to choose books if I just used an e-reader. True enough. I could bring a boatload of books and even download more if I wanted. That's certainly convenient. It also makes selection much less important. But it takes away the intention that normally goes into my book selection. If I know I'll be away for several weeks and can only realistically fit 3 books in my bags, I think carefully about what books to bring.

And so, I start mulling over my choices roughly 1 1/2 to 2 weeks before I plan to leave. I love this phase. It forces me to consider my goals for the trip. Do I want to do informational reading? Read a book about the area I'll be in? Dig into a longer work I've been meaning to read? Read something less heavy? Perhaps I should bring a book I don't think I'll want to keep when I finish so I can leave it for another traveler to enjoy?

Sometimes I already know the answers to these questions as I begin scanning. Other times, I realize how I feel as I read a book jacket.  I start by scanning my bookshelves for titles I've been meaning to read. Any title that jumps out at me goes in a pile. Then I sit down and review the titles I selected. Maybe I'll read the back, look at the blurbs, or read the first few pages. That usually leaves me with a stack of 6 - 9 titles.

Which brings me to the titles currently in my stack:
A Natural History of the Senses by Diane Ackerman

Icy Sparks by Gwyn Hyman Rubio

Palmento: A Sicilian Wine Odyssey by Robert V. Camuto

Pilgrim at Tinker Creek by Annie Dillard

A Woman's Path: Women's Best Spiritual Travel Writing Ed by Lucy McCauley, Amy G. Carlson, and Jenifer Leo 

The Memory Keeper's Daughter by Kim Edwards

Strength in What Remains by Tracy Kidder

Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel Garcia Marquez

I need to narrow this down to maybe three titles. I'm already feeling like Natural History of the Senses (How have I not read this book, yet?) has to be one of my choices but I don't know what else I'll choose. 

What do you think? Have you read any of these books? Do you have suggestions?

Would you like to be a guest blogger? Read my Guest Blogging page for more information.

Travel Tuesdays: Trip Planning, Part 2

Once we choose a location for a trip, I begin doing a little research with our kids. I start at our local library's on-line catalog. After arriving at the website, I simply enter one of our library card numbers (or our alternate ID) and pin number. Then I can search for books, CDs, magazines, etc. to my heart's content. If you live in the US, you likely have the same service at your library. If you haven't used it, you're really missing out!

From the comfort of my own home, I can search my local library's complete catalog and the catalogs of the other libraries in our library system (Which is somewhere in the neighborhood of 50 libraries). If I find a book I want in another library, I simply click the "Place Hold" button. That book will usually arrive at my local library in a matter of days (Some take longer).

Here are a few titles I reserved for the kids last night:

A crafty one especially for my crafty daughter

A graphic style that will appeal to my son

A shorter non-fiction for my Kindergarten daughter

And a longer one to appeal to my 4th grade son.

Of course, globes and atlases will also feature heavily in our reading. We own several we like, though I recently read about this one from Barefoot Books that looks wonderful. 

(An aside: If you're not familiar with Barefoot Books, please visit their website. They produce lovely books).

What children's books about Italy have you enjoyed? Do you have any titles to recommend to us? How do you help your children learn about the places they'll visit?

Related posts:
Travel Tuesdays: Trip Planning
Travel Tuesdays: Top 10 Tips for Traveling with Children
Travel Tuesdays: Affording to Travel