As you peruse this column, dear reader, I am holed up in the mountain town of Maggie Valley, North Carolina enjoying fresh air, great views, rich food, and as much relaxation as I can manage. When I expressed my worry over choosing and packing books to my other half, he simply said, “You can stay in the room and read if you want, but I’ll be out and about.” Well! I never! He’s right, though, of course. When I’m in a place I’ve never visited before, I should get out and see what there is to see. And I will. But there are plenty of hours that won’t be full of amusement, so I definitely need something to read. What if the lines for the chair lift at Ghost Town are long? What if it rains and we’re trapped indoors? What if I can’t sleep?

Do you see a pattern here? All these questions are exhausting.

I cannot, in good conscience, leave for a five-day vacation with no books. Therefore, in order to pack the appropriate wardrobe options, hair supplies, makeup, shoe options, AND books, I have to be creative—and picky. Since I won’t be near my home library to be fickle and dip in and out of books in an effort to find Just the Right One, I will have to do some preparatory leg work.

This week’s installment of “The Finicky Reader” is perhaps the most illustrative of exactly what it means to be a finicky reader. Choices, choices, shifting moods, indecision. I feel like J. Alfred Prufrock on his worst day. As I ready myself for packing, I thought I’d share some of the frontrunners itching to dive into my suitcase. Only after my return will you know if my self torture made for successful vacation reading.

First in line is bestselling young adult novel, A Great and Terrible Beauty, by Libba Bray. First in a series, this novel is the story of Gemma Doyle, a 16-year-old shipped off to an English boarding school. Upon her arrival, she becomes entangled with the school’s most powerful girls and begins to explore the magic powers that go along with her association. I’m particularly attracted to A Great and Terrible Beauty for vacation reading because it seems the perfect mixture of adventure and relaxation. When I feel stressed or am coming off of a particularly busy time at work, young adult fiction is often the perfect mental fix. Incidentally, I read the first few pages of this one a few nights ago, and I’ve been foaming at the mouth ever since. Bray’s style seems intensely readable, minimally cheesy, and ultimately promising.

Straight from my review pile, I also feel the pull of an Orange Prize longlister, Sorry, by Gail Jones. Set in Australia, the novel is about the daughter of an English immigrant family in the 1930s and 40s. The child’s parents are pushed to the outer reaches of sanity in this novel full of family drama. Admittedly, I’ve read about 50 pages of this one already, and while it’s been slow going, I hold out hope that it will perk up a bit as I continue. I’m compelled to pick it back up soon, but the word is still out on its appropriateness for vacation.

Finally, Haruki Murakami’s newest novel, After Dark, beckons with its pretty cover and promises of surreal weirdness. This twelfth novel from Murakami takes place over the span of one night in Tokyo and laces together three separate stories. The only Murakami I’ve read thus far is Norwegian Wood, and I absolutely loved it. While I understand it’s one of Murakami’s more lucid offerings, I feel a great deal of gluttonous glee at the thought of hopping back into his vivid imagination.

With 400-some-odd books on my shelves, this is obviously a very small sample, but if I were to consider every book on the stack it would take me another week to decide what to take, and I might miss my vacation completely. Wish me luck, dear readers, in choosing the right books for the right mood at the right time. Oh! The plight of a finicky reader. What to do with innumerable books and just one bag?


Andi is a recovering university academic employed by the North Carolina community college system as an English instructor. While she decided to forego a Ph.D. and career as a professor, she fills in all the free time her current position affords her with editing literary publications, reviewing, freelancing, and blogging. Her work can be found in the journal, Multi-Ethnic Literature of the United States (MELUS), and Altar Magazine as well as online in various venues such as PopMatters.com. She is a member of the National Book Critics Circle (NBCC), and writes fiction. Her turn-ons include new books and gelato, while her turn-offs are reality television and washing dishes. She can be reached at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it