Those Poor Lil’ Orphan Books

Okay, so it goes without saying that anyone who reads this blog is most likely also a regular, if not avid, reader of books. Translate this to mean that none of us can go on vacation for a week, or even a weekend, without packing a selection of books. Generally, I pack one book for every two days I plan to be at my destination. Which means for a ten day trip I take a minimum of five books.I said minimum five books. There are always two or three just-in-case titles I throw into the suitcase … well, just in case. *g*

In fact, my book selection is more important to me than what clothes I’ll be taking. I’m on vacation after all, who cares what I look like. But if I were to run out of stuff to read … *shudder*

Having admitted to my book addiction, it should come as no surprise that I was appalled to learn that travelers commonly leave books behind in their hotel rooms after they check out. It’s true. They simply abandon those poor little orphan books to be … well, truthfully, who knows what their fate will be?

The Travelodge hotel chain did a survey and subsequently compiled a list of the ten most often left behind books of the summer travel season.

Number one on the list was Alistair Campbell’s book The Blair Years. Second was Piers Morgan’s book Don’t You Know Who I am?

Um, no.

The remainder of the list was made up of books, many of which I had at least heard of, none of which I’ve read. Here it is:

3. A Whole New World - Jordan

4. Wicked - Jilly Cooper

5. Dr Who Creatures & Demons - Justin Richard

6. The Diana Chronicles - Tina Brown

7. I Can Make You Thin - Paul McKenna

8. Humble Pie - Gordon Ramsay

9. The Story Of A Man And His Mouth - Chris Moyles

10. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

Now, I must say that the only title that surprised me is #10. I wouldn’t have thought that, given the hype, an HP book, let alone the final one, would be so easily discarded. Or is it simply that so many copies of that book were sold that there are bound to be copies floating around everywhere you look?

Just imagine it. Three thousand years from now some archaeolgist will present a paper to his colleagues theorizing that these HP books must have been like the bible of our time, otherwise why would there be so many copies?

So let me ask, have you ever deliberately left a book behind either in a hotel room or on a train or buss or anywhere else? If you have, why did you leave it? Or, and this might be the more interesting question, have you ever found a book that was abandoned by someone else then read that book and loved it?

Written by Kimberly Gardner

As early as the seventh grade, Kimberly remembers slashing her favorite rockstars and reading romance. So it’s not surprising that her two passions, romance and putting pretty boys with other pretty boys, should come together in her writing. Moliere said, “Writing is like prostitution. First you do it for love, then for a few close friends, then for money.” Kimberly is delighted to finally be doing it for money.
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