Honeymoon Beach Reading (Part 1 of 2)

Yes, I know.  What kind of freak takes books on their honeymoon, you ask…  Well, this kind of freak, I reply.  Come on, what did you expect – there were all those hours on the plane when The Husband was asleep (he can sleep anywhere, that brat – me, I can barely sleep in my own comfy bed at night let alone on a plane with other people…  although being in first class helps with that A LOT, don’t misunderstand me), plus beach hammock time when The Husband was taking pictures of birds and the beach and all the other cool sights (things that I’ve already seen and exclaimed over on each trip I’ve taken to Aruba before), plus the hours when The Husband was fishing (because this girl does not so much see the allure of the fishing thing)…

How was I supposed to entertain myself during all these collected moments if not with a book or two (or three or four or…) – none of these were exactly moments when I could have been talking to The Husband (or doing anything else to/with him), so of course I had to have books!  Plus, well, I’m me and so I would have had to have them even if he was available to talk to/do anything else with/to…  (teehee)

I bought two Kindle books special for the trip, and then picked four paperbacks.  That’s a total of six books for five days – the following six, to be exact:

• The Imaginings – Paul Dail (Kindle)
• Alison Wonderland – Helen Smith (Kindle)
• The Postmortal – Drew Magary
• Queen of Shadows – Dianne Sylvan
• Silent in the Grave – Deanna Raybourn
• Mindscan – Robert J. Sawyer

On my solo trips to Aruba in the past, well, I packed a few more.  Two per day for each of the seven days I was there, plus a spare, to be exact.  So I went dramatically under-board and believe I deserve credit.  (teehee again)

Turns out though that it was actually dramatic over-packing.  I read a grant total of 1.5 books on the trip.  The .5 was me finishing the book I had already been in the middle of at home (Queen of Shadows); the 1 was the next book I have to review for LuxuryReading.com (The Postmortal).  1.5.  A new record.  (teehee)

I also started three of the remaining four (everything but Mindscan), but never got more than a handful of chapters in.  With the two Kindle books, that’s because I never got comfortable enough reading on it around water – which meant no fishing or beach reading.  I know everyone says they take their Kindle into the bathtub or by the pool or onto the beach – I just couldn’t bring myself to do it.  I drop stuff or get splashed when I am near water, and I just couldn’t risk putting the poor Kindle through that!

So why so low a reading turn-out, you ask?  Well, turns out that “all those hours” while The Husband was doing other things weren’t really “all that much”.  With the exception of the time he spent sleeping on the plane and a few patches of stolen moments here and there when he was taking pictures, I pretty much did talk to him while he was doing everything else, from fishing to picture-taking to everything else…  Because turns out I didn’t want to sit and read by myself.  I wanted to be wherever he was, even if he was looking at things I’ve seen a thousand times – because I’d never seen them with him before.

Awwww, she said.

So I didn’t get to read very much.  But I’m totally fine with that, because I had an incredible, wonderful, amazing time – the best I’ve ever had.  Even without books.  Who’d a thunk it?  Thanks Husband… 🙂

(Check back tomorrow for the list of books I recommend for beach-reading if you are either going on a honeymoon with someone you don’t adore or if you are going by yourself…  teehee)