Bookspotting: Weeks 28 and 29, Travel Edition

It has been a whirlwind summer for me. I arrived safely back in Hong Kong last night after six days in Bali, a week with my family in Oregon, and a grand American road trip/train adventure through 13 states. I'll be getting back to my regular book review, bookspotting, and walking tour posts, and I'll also be responding to comments and visiting other blogs regularly again. Thank you to everyone who followed my travels through twitter and this blog.

I kept my eyes open for books along the way, and here's what I saw:

ROAD TRIPPING

Portland, Oregon was the biggest bookspotting winner of our road trip. In addition to a special pilgrimage to the legendary Powell's bookshop, I saw people reading at tables outside cafes and restaurants all over the city. A woman sitting next to me on the bus was reading a Kindle, and I was close enough to tell that she was perusing selections from the Bible. I was reading Bill Bryson's THE LOST CONTINENT and she asked me a bit about it before telling me what I should see in Portland. I saw another woman reading a Danielle Steele paperback and a man reading ALEX CROSS'S TRIAL by James Patterson. Along the road I saw two different people reading books by George R. R. Martin, who is probably the author that has been most represented in my bookspotting adventures lately (I'm halfway through the second book in his series).

TRAINSPOTTING

When we reached Kansas City, we traded our rental car for train tickets and spent the next 26 hours on the Southwest Chief train to Flagstaff, Arizona. I counted ten people reading books whose titles I couldn't see during my walks through the train. The books I could see were a battered copy of THE SOONG DYNASTY by Sterling Seagrave, OF MICE AND MEN by John Steinbeck, and one of the HARRY POTTER books. I also saw one Kindle.

UP IN THE AIR

After a few short days with my family in Arizona, I headed for the airport once again. At Sky Harbor International Airport, I saw a woman reading one of the 'Queen' books by Philippa Gregory and a man reading Dan Brown's DECEPTION POINT. At Los Angeles International Airport, I spotted two Kindles and OPEN by Andre Agassi. As I boarded the flight to Hong Kong, I spotted a Kindle in First Class, STAR ISLAND by Clive Hiaasen in the hands of an off-duty crew member, and a battered paperback that looked like a crime novel. Now that I'm back in Hong Kong, I'll be on the lookout for books on my regular commute as well as on my wanders through the coffee shops and hangout spots of Asia's world city.