Reading On The Road: Bay Area, CA Part II

So how did my light luggage experiment go? Pretty well! I only had time to read three of the books I brought with me, but jettisoned 2 -- one because I'd read it, the other because I read about 50 pages and it wasn't doing anything for me. Now if only an airport would go ahead and open up a "take one, leave one" lending shelf. I realize the security issues inherent in this set-up, and the newsstands wouldn't like the competition, but it sure would come in handy.

(This strategy comes care of my maternal unit, who has probably left hundreds of books in hotel rooms on previous family vacations. It used to drive me nuts, but I see the appeal in it on the way back home.)

I have some hardcover review material to tote along on Trip No. 2, but once that's finished:

• John Fante, ASK THE DUST (from Part I)
  
• John O'Hara, APPOINTMENT IN SAMARRA (from Part I)
  
• Stephanie Elizondo Griest, AROUND THE BLOC -- a memoir of an American's experiences in various Communist countries.
  
• Galt Niederhoffer, A TAXONOMY OF BARNACLES. I saw Niederhoffer's second book out in the wild and loved its faux-destroyed cover. I nearly bought it, and then I remembered how I had found her debut at the Strand, gotten faked out on the price, later mooched it but never read it. A dysfunctional family story? For Thanksgiving? Oh, do go on.
  

And again I remind myself: There are stores in California.

Stuck at your desk over Thanksgiving? Itching for something long-winded with a surfeit of parentheses? Never fear, WORMBOOK will be magically publishing all weekend in my absence.