I’m sure I’m not alone in wanting a magical bag like Hermione’s where I can store a ton of books without them being too heavy or taking up too much space. Alas, that’s not possible, and since I inevitably wind up bringing home more than I initially packed when I travel (especially at Christmas), I try to restrict how many books I take with me. 

I’ve been a huge fan of the Kindle ever since I first bought mine in college about five years ago. I was about to do a three-month internship in Washington, D.C., followed by a year studying abroad in Regensburg, Germany, so I knew I wouldn’t be able to take many books with me and that I wouldn’t want to acquire too many during my travels, making the Kindle the perfect fit for me.

Ever since then, I’ve made it a rule of thumb to only bring two physical books with me when I travel, but load up on ebooks via my library’s Overdrive account, too. That way I can read some of the books I’m most excited about on my shelves while also ensuring I have extras in case I finish them as well as an assortment of books to fit any mood I might be in should I change my mind on what I want to read while traveling.

It’s a system that’s worked well for me, but it’s so hard to only pick two books from my shelves that I want to bring with!

Right now, I still have to finish Madam President by William Hazelgrove and I haven’t started Anything for You by Kristan Higgins even though they’re both on my December TBR, but I think I have enough time to get to them before I leave for Christmas.

If things go as planned, then I think I’m going to bring along Ready Player One by Ernest Kline and Hunger by Roxane Gay. I started listening to the audiobook of Ready Player One and made some good progress in it, but I know I won’t finish it before the audiobook is due back, and it’s in too high of demand for me to borrow it again anytime soon. So I want to bring my physical copy with and finish the book. I’ve also been wanting to read Hunger for a while and have been seeing it pop up a lot again lately, so even though I’m not sure it’s very good Christmas break material, I want to at least start it and we’ll see how it goes from there. I also miiiiight break my rule of only bringing two and sneak my advanced copy of Beyond Scandal and Desire by Lorraine Heath in my bag, as I’ve been wanting to read a good historical lately. But we’ll see.

Then again, I might have just finished A Discovery of Witches and immediately bought both sequels, so there’s a chance all bets will be off once they get here.

As for what library books I have checked out? Well, I went a little crazy and decided to check out a ton of them at once even though I know I won’t have a chance to finish them all before they’re due. I currently have on my Kindle:

• The Demon King by Cinda Williams Chima
• Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi
• The Queen of Attolia by Megan Whalen Turner
• Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel
• A Bollywood Affair by Sonali Dev
• Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates
• City of Brass by S.A. Chakraborty

I also have Arabella by Georgette Heyer checked out, which I need to read before my next book club meeting at the beginning of January, and I own a copy of Every Heart a Doorway by Seanan McGuire that I keep forgetting I have but really want to read.

So yeah, lots of books to keep me busy during my flights and week off of work. I’m so excited to have so much free time with nothing to do but read!

What’s your process like for traveling with books? Do you only read ebooks? Cram as many physical books into your bag as possible? Forgo books entirely? Let me know in the comments, as well as what books you’re taking with on any Christmas travels!

Oh, and keep an eye on my Instagram to see what books I actually wind up taking with on my trip!