Last month I had to travel to New York for business. This is where it would be fun to say, "By business, I mean monkey business!" because New York's that kind of town. But pretty much I just went to meetings all day, every day, except when I met my friends Caprice and Blackbird for various fish-based meals before crawling into bed at 9:30 PM.
Anyway, I'm someone who can normally amuse myself in public situations without a lot of outside electronic stimulus (read: quietly judge everyone in the vicinity) but when I fly, I'm loaded for bear. And by loaded for bear, I mean I board carrying an iPad (for games and in-flight surfing and movies), a Kindle, an iPod Touch (which is also loaded with movies in case the iPad goes down, as well as music), an iPhone (because it's a phone but because it also houses my music library), etc.
But as my dear friend Alec Baldwin* recently learned, flight attendants aren't kidding when they say you have to stow all that shit upon takeoff and landing, so in addition to the Best Buy I normally lug, I always have an old school book with me.
I attended a bookseller's convention last fall and as one of the perks, attendees were encouraged to circle the floor, stuffing as many free books in their gratis tote bags as possible. Wait, that was my interpretation. In actuality, this organization posted a sign asking guests to "not be greedy." As that was clearly impossible for me (I packed an extra suitcase just for my book booty) I figured I'd equivocate my free-book-lust by promising to read everything I nabbed.
ANYWAY, I haven't bought any physical books lately because I'm still working my way through the pile. At the top of the stack was a novel called The Bungalow by Sarah Jio and before I left for New York, I stuffed it in my bag because it was pretty. See?
(Don't judge me for judging a book by its cover.)
When it came time to stow electronics, I stuffed them all in the seat pocket and opened my book for the ten minutes until I was allowed to dive back into the iPad Mystery Manor game. An hour and a half later, I was still riveted and my seatmate had to poke me to prompt me to finally shut the book and disembark.
What I'm saying is I love The Bungalow so freaking much and every minute that I wasn't in a meeting, in a taxi, or in a restaurant with a plate of fish in front of me, I was inhaling this book and I finished it in twenty-four hours. Here's the official book's description so I don't screw it up:
In the summer of 1942, twenty-one-year-old Anne Calloway, newly engaged, sets off to serve in the Army Nurse Corps on the Pacific island of Bora-Bora. More exhilarated by the adventure of a lifetime than she ever was by her predictable fiancé, she is drawn to a mysterious soldier named Westry, and their friendship soon blossoms into hues as deep as the hibiscus flowers native to the island. Under the thatched roof of an abandoned beach bungalow, the two share a private world-until they witness a gruesome crime, Westry is suddenly redeployed, and the idyll vanishes into the winds of war.
A timeless story of enduring passion, The Bungalow chronicles Anne's determination to discover the truth about the twin losses-of life, and of love-that have haunted her for seventy years.
Let me add that everything about this book is gorgeous and tropical and historical and it absolutely transported me to another time and place.
(HERE IS THE PART WHERE YOU CAN WIN STUFF)
Because author Sarah Jio is just as cool as her books, she's giving away signed copies to three lucky winners! To be eligible to win, all you have to do is tell me the one thing you can't get on a plane without, like your passport or your lucky yellow paperclip or your pillow. (I will attempt not to judge you if you bring your pillow on the plane, but not without difficulty. Where are you flying that they don't have pillows??)
So, in the comments section, write your must-have. That's it! One entry per person/IP address and the winners will be chosen by a random number generator. The contest is open until 12:00 PM, Saturday, February 4th, and the winners will be posted shortly after that. Void where prohibited, and anything else I missed.
If you don't win and would like to read The Bungalow anyway, you can purchase it here, here, here, here, here, as well as big box stores and where ever else fine books are sold.
Good luck and happy reading!
*The Alec Baldwin joke is only funny if you've read My Fair Lazy.
Disclaimer: I'm in no way being compensated for this post, except perhaps by the karma of having shared my excitement over a really great read with others.
