I’m not sure how most people approach a vacation (extended or just a weekend), but almost as important as my destination/arrival activities are the books I bring along. I recently had back-to-back trips: a weekend in Connecticut, followed immediately by five days in Las Vegas. The weekend trip involved one book (Mary Jo Putney’s Petals in the Storm, a historical romance–my genre of choice), read during brief snippets of free time. The nearly 400-page book was a good choice, leaving me quite a bit to begin the longer trip to the West Coast.

Perhaps it was carlag (we drove to Connecticut), but in turning around to leave early Monday morning for the airport, I only packed an additional two books along with the remainder of the historical, which, it turned out, was just enough to get me from New York to Vegas, a nearly six-hour flight. OK. Two books left. Not terrible. Unfortunately, one was a title I had bought at a fundraiser the previous weekend for the paltry sum of $1. After about ten pages, I realized I had read it. My loss was my sister’s (and traveling companion’s) gain.

Now I’m down to a galley I borrowed from the office by an author I have read and liked before–a follow-up to a previous title I had not read. I quickly discovered that not having read the earlier book made the new book less than compelling. What to do? With numerous finished books/galleys sitting in my office and in my home, I went into a Las Vegas bookstore and discovered Putney’s Angel Rogue, the sequel to the historical romance I finished on the westbound flight. What were the odds of that happening? I was in Vegas; I’m sure I could have found out.

The new volume was working out fine until the day of departure and a four-and-a-half-hour weather delay. Sitting at the gate, I read a chapter, closed the book. Read a chapter, closed the book. Then, I walked around the airport. I completed the novel halfway through the return flight, leaving me with nothing to do but peruse inflight magazines and finish the already started crossword puzzles of a previous passenger.

Perhaps a book shop in another town would have had a larger selection than one in Las Vegas. Perhaps not. I just know that packing the proper reading material is more important than packing enough socks. One can always do a hand wash.