The Best Books for Vacation Reading

Listen to Adispark’s excellent tips on vacation reading, just in time for the long holiday weekend. Major props for the Kelly Link recommendation! –Sparkitors

If your favorite book is a large-print, hardcover copy of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, or the complete works of Meg Cabot in a single pleather-bound edition, it may not be practical for your travel bag. Here are a few great books that will carry you through hours of trip time AND leave room in your luggage for your weirdly space-consuming vacation pants!

For someone who takes time to really enjoy a book.
(Unlike me. I devour them and then feel like an idiot because I didn't comprehend anything that happened.)

1. Norton Juster's The Phantom Tollbooth

Yeah, it's a quick read, but when you're done you'll want to read it again. And again and again and again...until you’re the annoying friend who quotes the book nonstop. Example: Boyfriend: "The reason our relationship isn't working out is because you always jump to conclusions!" You: "You’re saying our relationship isn’t working out because I keep going to a magical island? You're crazy!” If you didn't understand that reference, you haven't read The Phantom Tollbooth enough times.

2. Anything by Scott Westerfeld

He's most known for his epic dystopia trilogy Uglies, featuring the a**-kicking Tally Youngblood, but I'd suggest his other novels, including the Midnighters trilogy or Peeps. Neither was an instant hit, but they're still some pretty top-notch stories. Did I mention his heroes have a tendency to be SEXY?! (I'm Team David all the way—Zane can go be skinny and poetic in a hole.)

For the chronic reader who will freak out if he or she runs out of reading material, finding themselves in a book-less land of horror.
(Just breath. It won't be as scary as you think, I promise. Even if you do run out of books, you can always reread.)

1. Your favorite children's book

You can read your childhood favorites again and again, and they’re very soothing plane or bedtime reading. My picks: anything by Maurice Sendak, Mercer Mayer’s amazing Little Critter books, and the fabulous Need a House? Call Ms. Mouse! Ms. Mouse is my favorite-book-ever-in-the-whole-wide-world-of-mouse-architecture-books, and that’s really saying something.

2. J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings

Okay, I'm not saying this one is particularly practical for carrying, but it's still great travel reading. Anyone who DOESN'T want to be a hobbit isn't receiving a gift at my birthday party. To all of you who start this book, only to give up because you find Tolkien too dense and boring, I say, "Muwahahaha! All will soon change, but you shall never read about adventure, evil trees, singing men with yellow boots, or terrifying Barrow Wights. Woe betide you!"

3. Charles Dickens' Great Expectations

Pretty much anything by Dickens is gold, but this one is especially great. It's practically a soap opera, filled with unrequited love, mysterious benefactors, and creepy old ladies (Miss Havisham is one of my favorite characters of all time). It will last a long time, too, because Dickens was paid based on how much he wrote—and boy, did he write some long-winded sentences to bring in the cash! Like most Dickens books, it's also really funny, once you get past the old-fashioned language.

Books that are FREE (if you have an iPhone/Pod/Pad)

My favorite reading application is Stanza. If you happen to own an iProduct, DOWNLOAD IT. You can turn the pages, and adjust the fonts and colors—it's awesome! Yes, I realize I sound like an advertisement. Whatever. These are my recommendations for books you can read free on Stanza (and, possibly, on your own favorite reading app).

1. Awesomesauce classics: Lewis Carroll, H.G. Wells, George Eliot (pen name of Mary Anne Evans), and Edith Nesbit

You can't go wrong with any of these writers, all of whom are among my favorite oldies.

2. Anything written by the epic Kelly Link

She is the incredible author of two of my favorite books, Magic for Beginners and Stranger Things Happen. I hadn't read much magical realism or slipstream until I chanced upon hers for FREE, at which time I devoured every single story in a single 24-hour period.

Which books are you taking on your next vacation or reading during the holidays?

Related post: Sparkler-Recommended Fantasy Novels

You may not be as fahncy as Dickens, but we still think you should write for SparkNotes!