The question “Which books should I bring with me on this trip?” is one which preoccupies me more than it should. I (M) know of some who take their Kindle along when travelling, but I’ve always needed to have real books when travelling, despite their weight and bulk. Here, for the record, are the books which have accompanied me on our “invasion of the AHE”. They’re all (with the exception of The Club Dumas) fairly compact, and light.
All of these are slightly battered “reading copies”, which were found in one or another of those “little free libraries” that are scattered about; and all of them are books that I have no particular attachment to. Which means that I am prepared (theoretically) to simply leave them behind when I’m done; or I suppose that I could try to trade them away for something else.
As an aside [can one have an aside in a sidebar?], this activity—the trading of books with fellow travellers—was a highlight of my visits to youth hostels back in the day, when I was backpacking, or bicycle-touring, around Europe. It was, in fact, one of the main reasons for staying at a youth hostel, rather than wild-camping, as I often did. Hopefully, you’d at least come out even in such a trade, exchanging books of similar quality and bulk. But I do remember occasions when desperation—nothing left to read!—forced me to trade away a good book—a Penguin classic, or something similar—for something much less good: a cheap thriller, maybe; or a currently popular title with very little literary meat on the bone; these memories still sting. 😊
There’s also the question of which books to read before a trip. Whenever possible, I like to have some sense of the place or places I’m about to visit before I go; I know others who like to read about a region after they’re back from travelling.
Usually, as part of my own research for a particular trip, I’ll ask Google for advice on which books to read; it’s a good way to discover books that you might not otherwise know about. So here, for those who also like to read before they travel, is a photographic reading list of some of the books which I found useful and informative for this particular trip. I’ll leave it as an exercise for you, the reader (if there is one!), to puzzle out the titles and authors.
Footnote: to date I have not read a single page of any of the books I’ve brought.
Danube to Dalmatia 
Suspects that pages read is in inverse proportion to enjoyment of company.
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You are indeed wise beyond your years, Ms Pope Spallebiondi 1 (note to self: must research Spallebiondi, so that J2 and I are properly prepared for the first Ecumenical Council. Must also—which I suppose would be a second note—read up on Ecumenical Councils: what to wear, that kind of thing)
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