10 Books I've Read Away From Home
This blog post is inspired by @PaperFury's '10 Books I've Read While Outside (Translation: Being Dragged Out Of) My House'. One of my favourite things about reading is being able to look back and associate certain books with certain memories, so here are my 10 books I've read away from home:
1. The Mark and the Void: read on a beach in Bodrum, Turkey
I spent my birthday this year in Bodrum, where I read several books on the beach (I can think of worst ways to spend my birthday), including the witty and thoughtful The Mark and the Void.
2. Memorial: An Excavation of the Iliad: read in a coffee shop
Memorial is a retelling of the Iliad featuring only paraphrased accounts of the battle deaths, and translations of Homer's similes. It's short enough to read in one sitting, so I read it in a coffee shop, which I would not recommend because it made me cry.
3. Pretend You Don't See Her: read at my grandparents' house
So I still read this one inside a house, but the reason I've included it is because this was the first Mary Higgins Clark book I ever read (and remains my favourite), and probably the first real thriller I ever read. I finished reading the book I'd brought to my grandparents' house, so I picked this off the shelf to try it, and didn't put it down until I'd finished.
4. The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox: read on a plane to Budapest, Hungary
This was some years ago, when I went to Budapest on a school trip (it was with the art department, even though I had no intention of taking art). I had an amazing time, but one of my lasting memories of the trip is reading this brilliantly intricate and subtle book - partly because one of my friends sat watching me, in awe at the speed I was reading, for most of the journey.
5. Democracy and Its Crisis: read on a plane to Santiago, Chile
I went to Chile last December to visit a friend on her year abroad, and this is one of the books I took with me. It is a fascinating and thought-provoking read, and one I hoped made people who saw me reading it, in the airport and on the plane, realise that I was not a Brexiter.
6. The Reluctant Fundamentalist: read in New Delhi, India
When I did a summer internship at The British School, New Delhi, one of the books I was teaching on was The Reluctant Fundamentalist, which I hadn't come across before. One of things I most enjoyed about my time at The British School was seeing how different their international curriculum was from that of my own school. This book, which consists of the sustained monologue of a young man in Lahore telling an American stranger about his experiences of life in America, before and after 9/11, is one example of that.
7. The Ice Beneath Her: read in a hotel in Glasgow
Since I go to bed much later than my parents, whenever I go away with them, there's plenty of opportunity to read at night. I devoured this thriller while on a long weekend away in Glasgow with them.
8. Ulysses: read (in part) on a cruise around the Mediterranean
Ulysses was too long for me to read all in one place, but I read a good part of it while on a cruise around the Mediterranean. It was actually a library book that I took with me, and I like the idea that other people have and will read it in lots of different places too. It seems especially appropriate for a book like Ulysses.
9. The Awakening and Other Stories: read in Cambridge
I read the books we were going to study in English Literature A-Level in the summer before the new year started. I was at a summer school in Cambridge when I read The Awakening, staying at St. John's College. The summer school is an important memory to me, because it helped me to realise that I wanted to read Classics and English at University (having not really understood what Classics was up until this point), and I'm glad that memory is associated with a good book.
10. The Gene: An Intimate History: read in Swansea
I bought this book last year on my birthday (with money I was given as a birthday present), and I have fond memories of spending a good chunk of my birthday wandering around Waterstone's, choosing the right book. I definitely made the right choice with The Gene: An Intimate History, which I think is one of the best books I've ever read, and I read most of it while on a family holiday in Swansea (although I'm not sure how much my family enjoyed being told facts about genes throughout the holiday).
1. The Mark and the Void: read on a beach in Bodrum, Turkey
I spent my birthday this year in Bodrum, where I read several books on the beach (I can think of worst ways to spend my birthday), including the witty and thoughtful The Mark and the Void.
2. Memorial: An Excavation of the Iliad: read in a coffee shop
Memorial is a retelling of the Iliad featuring only paraphrased accounts of the battle deaths, and translations of Homer's similes. It's short enough to read in one sitting, so I read it in a coffee shop, which I would not recommend because it made me cry.
3. Pretend You Don't See Her: read at my grandparents' house
So I still read this one inside a house, but the reason I've included it is because this was the first Mary Higgins Clark book I ever read (and remains my favourite), and probably the first real thriller I ever read. I finished reading the book I'd brought to my grandparents' house, so I picked this off the shelf to try it, and didn't put it down until I'd finished.
4. The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox: read on a plane to Budapest, Hungary
This was some years ago, when I went to Budapest on a school trip (it was with the art department, even though I had no intention of taking art). I had an amazing time, but one of my lasting memories of the trip is reading this brilliantly intricate and subtle book - partly because one of my friends sat watching me, in awe at the speed I was reading, for most of the journey.
5. Democracy and Its Crisis: read on a plane to Santiago, Chile
I went to Chile last December to visit a friend on her year abroad, and this is one of the books I took with me. It is a fascinating and thought-provoking read, and one I hoped made people who saw me reading it, in the airport and on the plane, realise that I was not a Brexiter.
6. The Reluctant Fundamentalist: read in New Delhi, India
When I did a summer internship at The British School, New Delhi, one of the books I was teaching on was The Reluctant Fundamentalist, which I hadn't come across before. One of things I most enjoyed about my time at The British School was seeing how different their international curriculum was from that of my own school. This book, which consists of the sustained monologue of a young man in Lahore telling an American stranger about his experiences of life in America, before and after 9/11, is one example of that.
7. The Ice Beneath Her: read in a hotel in Glasgow
Since I go to bed much later than my parents, whenever I go away with them, there's plenty of opportunity to read at night. I devoured this thriller while on a long weekend away in Glasgow with them.
8. Ulysses: read (in part) on a cruise around the Mediterranean
Ulysses was too long for me to read all in one place, but I read a good part of it while on a cruise around the Mediterranean. It was actually a library book that I took with me, and I like the idea that other people have and will read it in lots of different places too. It seems especially appropriate for a book like Ulysses.
9. The Awakening and Other Stories: read in Cambridge
I read the books we were going to study in English Literature A-Level in the summer before the new year started. I was at a summer school in Cambridge when I read The Awakening, staying at St. John's College. The summer school is an important memory to me, because it helped me to realise that I wanted to read Classics and English at University (having not really understood what Classics was up until this point), and I'm glad that memory is associated with a good book.
10. The Gene: An Intimate History: read in Swansea
I bought this book last year on my birthday (with money I was given as a birthday present), and I have fond memories of spending a good chunk of my birthday wandering around Waterstone's, choosing the right book. I definitely made the right choice with The Gene: An Intimate History, which I think is one of the best books I've ever read, and I read most of it while on a family holiday in Swansea (although I'm not sure how much my family enjoyed being told facts about genes throughout the holiday).
No comments have been added yet.
