A byootaful Life

We finished packing our bags yesterday and gave the remaining boxes and bits and pieces of our lives to my parents to look after while we’re gone… we’re pretty much ready to go! All of our belongings are in storage, all we have left is what we’re going to be taking on the plane with us, all the boring moving-country stuff like banking and insurance is done. I had one thing left on my list though – get some reading material for the plane!

I get incredibly bored on plane rides and since this one’s going to be around 13 hours, I’m definitely going to need something to keep me entertained. There’s only so many movies I can watch and pretty soon, I find myself craving something to read – something to keep my brain whirring around, instead of staring at a television screen. I’m a lover of books and yes, I know I can buy books to read on my iPhone now, but I just can’t do it. I need the papery smell of the pages, the bookmark to mark my progress and the pages to turn softly while everyone else is sleeping. I know I’m strange.

So what did I decide on? I got three books (all at really good prices!).

Firstly…

I’ve been wanting to read “Eat Pray Love” forever – before it came out as a movie. I had no idea it was being made into a movie until we saw a preview for it. Unfortunately the copy I bought wasn’t pretty like the picture above – it’s one brought out after the movie, which means it features Julia Roberts on the front. That’s not particularly bad, but I just prefer the original cover better than the movie cover. Oh well, I can’t wait to read it!

Secondly…

The Carrie Diaries! I’ve been wanting to read this for a while (see a pattern here?) so when I saw it on sale, I knew I had to get it. I’m a great fan of the Sex and the City series (not particularly the movies) so it will be interesting to get a bit of history and back-story on Carrie. I’ve heard it’s quite good and the cover is cute (reminds me of my purse I bought in Bali) so I’m looking forward to starting this one.

And lastly…

I thought “Could it be Magic?” looked like some light reading. I’m not ashamed to say I base my first impressions off book covers (maybe that’s why I’m not such a fan of my Eat Pray Love cover?) and anything that’s gimmicky, girly and fun will definitely catch my attention.

That’s how I find new books to read – after admiring the cover, I then turn it over and read the blurb. If I’m still interested, I open the book up and read the first paragraph of the first chapter. Then I’m either sold, or I put the book back down on the shelf.

How do you pick the books you read?

In addition to my books, I have a puzzler book which will keep us both occupied with mind-teasers and brain-benders like sudoku, puzzles and crosswords. I say “us” because Phill loves those books (but he’ll never buy his own) so if he’s annoying me on the plane, I’ll simply hand him the book and a pencil and let him get distracted by the puzzles.

How do you pass the time on long trips (especially plane rides)? Are you a movie watcher, a sleeper, a book reader, a laptop/phone user or a puzzle-book lover? Or none of the above?