Packing My Library

The battle for book space in my luggage has been raging as I pack for my trip with Kurt. I woke up this morning to the happy thought that I could use the outer pockets of my suitcase for books if I need to. Otherwise I'm restricted to the pockets in the purse I bought and whatever little nooks and crannies are left in my technology backpack. I can hear packing experts beginning the lecture now, and I agree less is often more. The thing is we'll be in one hotel for the entire stay, so I'll only be lugging stuff onto a plane and then off a plane.

Anyway, down to the inventory. I read a little saying from this book every night before I go to bed. She was so compassionate and good.


I've gotten behind on the Liturgy of the Hours, but I'm ready to get back to it. One of my goals is to attend mass everyday I'm gone, and this might be just the thing for waiting for the liturgy to start.
I want to use this time to pay attention to German authors, so I'm finishing up Hegel's Philosophy of History. Enthusiastic optimism is nice in a philosophical work.

I'll be reading Goethe's Faust. I read it at some point in my college career, but I find that I'm missing a lot of the details. It's also a play, and I love reading plays.
Finally, a selection of material from Hildegard of Bingen. I read her biography for the Medieval Women class I taught. She still amazes me. I'm looking forward to hearing her speak in her own voice.
The obligatory guides I'm taking along are a general guide to Germany--Fodor's See It. It's very informative. Boris Becker lives in Munich. Worth the money right there. I like all the pictures. It moves it from a cram fest to a pleasurable, magazine-like browsing experience.

I also got a smaller book dedicated to Munich. I'll be sticking to Munich most of the time Kurt will be working and he will be working most of the time. I've been enjoying it and it's newsprint interior removes all concern about underlining and scribbling in the book. I went with Frommers in hopes of getting a different perspective. It's a good size for dragging around.
I decided I needed a phrase book. Kurt's picked up some German, but I'll be on my own a good bit. This book comes with an audio disk. Kurt's promised to teach me how to load all that on his old I-pod. The I-pod will also allow me to pack the Teaching Company classes I didn't think I could take. You've got to love technology.
Now we get down to the iffier stuff. Harriet research, poetry, and fun reading--not that all of the above aren't fun. I'm reading The Souls of Black Folk. I think the more enlightened characters in this chunk would be familiar with W.E.B. Dubois and he is a strong model for the character of William.
I have several anthologies of poetry, but only the "pleasant" poetry is in a portable form. I tend to buy the complete anthology even though that isn't recommended because I like to read the garbage too. For a place holder until I find time to do better, I'm putting in the way too heavy Norton Anthology of Poetry.
Finally, as a distraction while in flight, I'll be trying my hand at new rhyme schemes. It's a tiny little book, but it might be the straw that breaks the camel's back. You never know.