Vacation Reading

One of the best things about vacation and traveling is that you have time to read. I love that moment when you click the seat belt shut, pull out your book and settle in for a 6 hour affair with a book you have been saving for just this moment.

And our recent trip to Scotland was no different. I have just passed my birthday and thanks to some wonderfully thoughtful friends I had a couple of good books to keep me company on my journey.

The first book I picked up was No Great Mischief by Alistair MacLeod. And how completely appropriate that I should read this on the flight to Scotland. I won't recount the plot here as I don't want to spoil it for anyone who might yet read this book. As a Canadian of Scottish heritage, this book touched something very deep in my past and put me in the perfect frame of mind to embrace Scotland as we toured the Highlands and walked Culloden Moor. Thank you Mr. MacLeod for a wonderful and touching story beautifully executed.

The second book to grace this vacation was Suite Française. How I could have missed this book during the five years since it was first published is a mystery. That I have found it and read it now is a blessing. Reading the book while knowing the fate of the author made it one of the most intimate literary experiences I've ever known. In a gross over-simplification, I categorize fiction as either action or character development. Suite Française has both and Irene Némirovsky is a master. It is our loss that she did not survive to publish many, many more works.

The last of my vacation reading was a little lighter ... A Year in Provence by Peter Mayle and Mr. Mayle had me chuckling pretty much the entire flight home. This book was so delightful that I think I've convinced Roël that we need to visit Provence very soon - and not the tourist hotspots, but the smaller villages and out of the way restaurants that I feel I have already visited.

As far as vacation reading goes, this past vacation has been a major success. All three books that I took with me were excellent reads ... each in it's own way. Very different books, very different (and talented) authors and all of them well worth the time to read and enjoy.