Tuesday, January 18, 2011

Carting a book around wherever you may go

I find that if I don't have a book in my bag I start to feel little twitchy, incomplete, lost and as if I am not quite myself but vulnerable to colonisation.

As long time readers will know, I do a lot of reading on the bus. But presently I am carpooling with a friend-and-colleague who has recently moved into the neighbourhood. Lots of advantages, including sleeping in or doing some yoga in the mornings, nice conversation, driving in the T2 lane, not seeing every house in the suburb before I get home and so on. No disadvantages at all, really.

However, there is no need for me to bring my book. I don't often get a chance to read at lunch time (although I appreciate it when I do). People seem to like to talk to each other at lunch time in my work. Or I go for a nice walk in the sunshine or something.

So my bag is bookless.

It's only been in recent years that I have stopped carrying around three books in my bag. One that I am presently reading, one that I think I will probably read next and one in case that one is not to present taste. Heavy. I stopped because it was incompatible with carting around baby and toddler stuff and not ending up with floor-length arms.

But I was wondering about you all - do you have a book in your bag all the time? Do you have one right now? What is it? Do you sometimes or always have more than one? How do you cope if your day no longer includes random reading moments? Am I acting like a nine year old instead of a thirty-nine year old and should I just get over it?

5 comments:

mimbles said...

I'm Kindle equipped now so I'm carrying rather more than 3 books around with me :-) It's a very long time since I've used public transport regularly but I still always pack a book if I know there'll be a chance to read.

Roger said...

I never used to carry a book but my current phone is smart enough to also be an eReader. So I now have the current book on there. I walk to work, so no reading then, but I do read at lunchtime and other spare moments.

I also like that I can read in the dark, ie if I can't sleep and truring on the light would wake Mrs.

If I did catch a bus I would get a lot more reading done.

Ampersand Duck said...

Yairs, my iphone now holds a gazzilion books, so I don't ever feel unprepared. Before I had it, I ALWAYS had a book on me. I consider it a service to my poor neck & shoulder: my bag is much, much lighter now.

Charlotte said...

I always like to have a book...because whenever I don't, I seem to have a few minutes to read, and nothing with me!

Kaelin said...

I'm afraid I have added the majority of my library to my ipod now, and I still read incessantly. I was waiting in line at the post office, and while everyone else was hostile and unfriendly to one another, I peacefully read the next four chapters in my book as we inched along. It was very therapeutic.