Holiday reading and mislaid book

I don't know what I was thinking when I packed for my recent holiday.

I have a rule - a very good one, in my opinion - of travelling with books: when going abroad, take as many as are needed to take you through the "getting there" stage, i.e. the whole trip from home to hotel. This usually means three books, although for a flight to the US I might take five, or load some audio books into my mp3 player. Then, once I get there, I go shopping for more books. When I travel, it's usually with someone else at the wheel, be it on an aeroplane, ship, train, bus or car, giving me ample time to read while being transported from place to place.

When packing for this camping holiday, in a fit of reader's optimism I took something like 15 books with me, forgetting that this time I was driving myself. The plan was to read for 30 minutes or so before bedtime, at mealtimes and whenever the weather was too bad to sight-see or hike. I ended up finishing one book, because at the end of the day I was usually just too tired to read, and my meals were mostly hurried affairs taken sitting behind the wheel of the car. It was a great holiday anyway, but next time I'll only pack 2 books.

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BTW, I've mislaid Penny Black, so the promised review will be delayed until I can find and finish it. This is what can happen when one takes too many books on holiday. It's probably lurking somewhere in the car, or possibly at the bottom of the tent bag.

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