Thailand reading list (tentative)
Went through and picked through some of my books tonight, just trying to figure out how many books to take. Last time I was in Thailand, the list was far more skewed toward classics, but this time, most of the titles that jumped out at me were modern.
Since the trip is about writing, reading is a component. I’m intentionally not loading up a ton of iPod video to watch. So, books will be the main activity. I may run out and get a book I’ve been meaning to read as research for my next novel, may as well get started. 
The other criteria was that I mainly wanted books I can abandon. There’s something interesting about reading a book in a foreign place, and when you read the last page, just setting it down and letting it find a new journey.
I think I was on a ferry to Koh Phangan last time, after a month on Koh Samui, when I finished reading Life of Pi, and just asked if anyone wanted it. Some girl said she’d been wanting to read it, so I said “Enjoy it” and handed it to her. Just something nice about that. So, books I’m certain I want to retain are less likely to go with me. (* indicates the ones that will return)
Also, a few of these books will never make it to Thailand, in that I’m in the air so long getting there, it’s quite possible that 2-3 of them will be left in the Taipei, Bangkok, and Koh Samui airports. To be sure, this whole stack won’t be going with me (I don’t think), this is just round one:
Definitely going:
– Then We Came To The End, by Joshua Ferris (first book that will be read, since it is humorous and about corporate America and I’ll just be detoxing from that)
– Catfish and Mandala, by Andrew Pham (recommended, and about Vietnam, so close enough)
– Bangkok 8, by John Burdett (Thailand theme)
– *Excuses Begone, by Wayne Dyer (vacation theme, heh)
– Brief History of the Dead, by Kevin Brockmeier (been wanting to read this)
– *Speak, Memory by Vladimir Nabokov (been too long since I read him)
– *Brideshead Revisited, by Evelyn Waugh (never read it)
– Gutterboys, by Alvin Orloff (saw him read recently, and he seems fun)
On the fence:
– *Moby Dick, by Herman Melville (obsession themes, ties into novel, heh)
– Clown Girl, by Monica Drake
– Vernon God Little, by DBC Pierre
– Being Dead, by Jim Crace
– The Book of Revelation, by Rupert Thomson
– Lisey’s Story, by Stephen King
– The Breakdown Lane, by Jacquelyn Mitchard
– This Book Will Save Your Life, by A.M. Homes
– Remainder, by Tom McCarthy
Thoughts? Anyone not feeling any of these? Any obvious omissions (I read The Beach last time, heh). Speak up soon…
We’ll see how many end up going with me… there is an incentive to read, though. Otherwise, I have to carry them all back with me.
