traveler’s stacks

My husband and I were away over the holidays. I had my e-reader and one paperback with me- managed to read half of a short book on the kindle, and the first third of Peter and the Starcatchers (and did a little puzzle!) There was a stack of very worn paperbacks on the dresser in our little hotel room- quite a few missing their covers and several pages. Looks like a lot of previous guests did reading on the beach (or poolside) and then left their books behind for others to enjoy.

I cracked a few of them- the first I thought would be fun as it was set on a tropical island, but the humor was not at all to my taste. Ditched it after four pages. Then I attempted a Victor Hugo that’s been on my TBR for ages, Toilers of the Sea, but couldn’t get through more than two pages- this time due to my poor comprehension and focus. Still not there, sigh. But I liked the ambiance of having books around me, even if I couldn’t read them. And then on our last day, I pulled open all the drawers to check for belongings (even though I didn’t remember putting anything in there). Found this! More books!

At the last moment, going out the door, I opened one more drawer- the beside table on my husband’s side- and found another lot of books, old children’s classics. I didn’t get a photo, but there were two Winnie the Pooh books by A.A. Milne, The Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum, The Story of Peter and Wendy by J.M. Barrie, and something else I can’t remember now. This was even more delightful. It makes me wonder how many other books are left behind in this place, creating a library between all these rooms. It was a small hotel, only fifteen or twenty rooms, and if there were twenty or thirty books per room . . . at least three hundred books I estimate. I was itching to peek in other rooms and see, but of course that’s not possible.