Sunday 5 February 2012

Sunday Salon: Long Time No See

The Sunday Salon.com


Long Time No See

Wowee, my first Sunday Salon in two years. It feels rather nice to dip my toe back in that pond. One of my goals for 2012 is to post every month to the Sunday Salon. Why did I start posting in February? I spent most of January on holiday in Los Angelos and San Francisco. I figured that January would be a non starter for most of my goals. This is probably evident by the fact I've only managed to read five books in the entire month. Unfortunately I made a rather unhappy discovery on the ten hour flight to Los Angelos.

I find it very hard to read on long haul flights. In cattle class, the lights are switched off immediately after the meal trays are swept away. The darkness made my brain rather sleepy. I dipped into 'The Black Dahlia' but this was not an easy book to read on a dozy mind. This was the first time I had been on a flight longer than three hours. I had always looked forward to the opportunity to do nothing but sit and read for an entire flight. That did not happen.

In January I managed to read the grand total of five books:

January 2012

  1. The First Wife – Emily Barr (Kindle)
  2. The Black Dahlia – James Ellroy (Kindle)
  3. Tales of the City – Armstead Maupin

This was the first holiday I took my Kindle on. Books were always a battleground when I went on holiday. My mother would, quite sensibly, limit me to ten books in my suitcase. Books were heavy; ergo it would not be a good idea to take many. But the fear would strike. What if I took the risk on a new book? I might be stuck with ten awful books and have nothing to read. A tad melodramatic but one always is when they're a teenager. I remember I would slouch around the pool reading Orwell and Salinger, at the age of thirteen, thinking I was so cool. How I wish I had had a Kindle back then.

I am pleased to report that the Kindle passed all tests whilst on holiday. I galloped through 'Smokeheads' whilst the plane soared over Utah. I battled unwanted jet lag with 'The First Wife.' I shared Bleichert's nightmares about 'The Black Dahlia.'

Yes, it's good to be talking about books again. 

5 comments:

Kath said...

Ah yes, the pain of not being able to read on a long haul flight. I've been there and it sucks. I've found that if I am already well into and captivatd by abook I can continue it on the flight but starting a new one for some reason will not work. I have no idea why.

Welcome back to Sunday Salon :)

Laurel-Rain Snow said...

I really don't enjoy flying, and having a great book (or Kindle) sounds like a wonderful idea.

My longest flight so far was five hours. I want to visit my son in Berlin (14 or so hrs. away); the idea of the long flight is daunting.

I'm glad the Kindle works on flights. One doesn't have to turn it off like a cell phone?

Welcome back to Sunday Salon!

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Unknown said...

@Kathmeista - Thank you for reading. I started reading 'Smokeheads' a couple of days before my flight. That was the only book I could read on the plane. Thankfully I had a full playlist of songs to keep me entertained!

Unknown said...

@Laurel - Thank you for the lovely welcome. Prior to my Glasgow >> LAX flight, the longest flight I had been on was four hours. This flight was ten hours which was manageable! Once you cut off the time for take off, getting your meal, a snack before you land and time for landing it's probably seven to eight hours of sitting doing nothing/potential reading time.

You do have to power down your Kindle on take off and landing. Probably a good idea to take a paper book for that time ;)

LBC said...

I love having my e-reader when I travel. That, and when I'm at the gym. I hate long flights and I haven't been on one in a while, but my husband and I are headed to London this May, so I'll see how the e-reader works then.