Reading Material

When we're out of NPR range or television at the hotel starts to drive me batty (this usually takes about 3 minutes), I pull out one of the many books that weigh down my suitcase. So far I've read two that I'd highly recommend, even if you're not on a 5-week road trip!



Umberto Eco's The Name of the Rose is a fun murder mystery with a twist...it's set in 1327 in an Italian monastery! Eco manages to weave Aristotelian philosophy and a fair amount of European history into his narrative which kept a history nerd like me turning pages for hours.



I brought Willa Cather's My Antonia because I knew we'd be driving through the farmlands of Nebraska where the story takes place. Amazing how we can blaze through 600 miles in a day when back when this story took place, getting from the farm into town could be a grueling trip, or just plain impossible when there was snow. Though the outline of this story is relatively simple, the characters are wonderful as are the descriptions of the land, it's perils, challenges and infinite rewards.