My parents are heading out on vacation this week and have some long flights ahead of them. My mom e-mailed me yesterday saying she was trying to find some reading material for the trip, �something I can pick up and put down easily.� I think she meant that in terms of attention span, but my recent reads have not met the other requirement of travel books � small of size and light of weight. I recently finished Jonathan Lethem�s Fortress of Solitude (which, rs536, I really loved despite the long time it took me to get to it!) and am now in the middle of Jeffrey Eugenides� Middlesex. Such tomes are not easily slipped into one�s carry-on bags. In fact, they may require their own set of luggage. And possibly a cocktail on the airplane.

The only suggestion I could come up with was the Best American Essays of 2003, which is in paperback and suitable for attention spans shortened by traveling to exotic places. Anyone else have anything to recommend?

And if you don�t have plans this evening, don�t despair! You can always help Paris Hilton stop her video tapes from reaching the public!!

[Second entry. Click back if you want, but you didn�t miss much.]

0 people said it like they meant it