MEME: John Scalzi's Weekend Assignment #113: Travel Books

John Scalzi's Weekend Assignment #113: Travel Books

John Scalzi, AOL's paid blogging cheerleader, noodge and all-things-blogging guru is off to the WISCon this weekend, a convention of feminist science fiction fans in Wisconsin. He had this to say about his Weekend Assignment:

“I'm running around like an idiot doing last-minute things before I hop on a plane, so here's a quick and hopefully fun Weekend Assignment for you:

Weekend Assignment #113: Someone you know is traveling. Suggest a book or two for them to read on their trip. If at all possible, pick a book from the last couple of years. Also, keep in mind that it's meant to be a recreational book; i.e., they're not really reading to change their life, here, just to have fun.”

Dear John,

Funny how this sort of stuff pops up when we are frantically searching for our speech notes or hunting down that other dress sock or chatting up our wife on the phone while packing crap in our bags before heading out the door. Me, I blame Murphy. She's the cause of all this mess (yes, Murphy is a “she” -- what male in his right mind would screw so much stuff up, so badly, at the most inopportune time? Except maybe Satan, if you're so inclined.)

OK, this is different than recommending a book to read on vacation. For that purpose, I'd recommend Gene Wolfe's The Fifth Head of Cerberus, Samuel Delaney's Dahlgren or maybe Stephen R. Donaldson's series about Thomas Covenant, especially his latest one, Runes of the Earth (only 20 some years in the making).

But, you want something light, fun. Hmm. Not much of that in my library. OK, anything by Terry Pratchett. Or Carl Hiaasen. Both of those are safe and funny, in an adult way. Definitely not something you want someone serious to see you reading. Then there's Charlaine Harris' vampire-infested waitress, Sookie Stackhouse.

I think you won't go wrong with any of those, so long as you won't be meeting any important people, like your editor or someone.

Of course, if you have Krissy along, she might like the slightly more romantic Even Vampires Get The Blues which is Katie MacAlister's fun, sexy bit of fluff for a plane ride or a holdover at O'Hare.

There you go. Or as they said in the 60's, add those to your peace pipe and smoke it!

wil

Tags: Weekend Assignment, travel, books, Scalzi