Going to Portland, Going to Portland!

Sunrise was at 5:14, sunset will be at 9:02.  Everything smells so good outside.  I've been trimming back the rosemary bush.  It was great gardening weather; overcast, cool, and then the sun came out just in time to stop.  The fountain burbled, the birds chirped, the ducks next door were rowdy.  It was all good.

I'm heading to Portland to spend the night with my sister.  My niece is turning 24 (25?  Ah, I'm a bad aunt) so we're celebrating together!  It's the first birthday I've celebrated with her since her first birthday.

So what do you take on an overnight trip to Portland?   

I know you all do this:  I have a 3 hour trip, one way, and I have  6 (SIX!) books in my bag.  I'm always worried that I won't like a book, finish it faster than I thought, lose it, or have enough...so I pack far more than I really will finish, at least in real life.  Although, now I'm worried that 6 books won't be a good plenty.  If I read a book an hour... Well, and then there are meals, coffee shops, that little bit of time between wine and sleep, those moments waiting for someone who actually does wear makeup to come out of the bathroom.  And what if the bus is delayed?  Oh, man.  I'm meeting my sister at Powell's, you'd think I'd be okay. I just need to find one more book, a thick one, to add to my bag.

What's in the pile?  What do I travel to Portland with?  You Are My Only, by Beth Kephart (Egmont); Small Town Sinners, by Melissa Walker (Bloomsbury); Rift, by Andrea Cremer (Philomel); A Monster Calls, by Patrick Ness (Candlewick); Ready Player One, by Ernest Cline (Crown); and Struck, by Jennifer Bosworth (FSG).  I just added Railsea, by China Mieville (Del Rey).

It's a little bit of everything: Contemporary fiction, historical fiction, horror, science fiction, and a little romantic eco-chaos fiction. I'm set now!

I'll let you know how they were when I get back!


(no recompense was received for the mention of the books in this blog.)