My E-Reader and Me

As soon as I rolled into Baltimore two weeks ago, I patronized the local independent bookstore Atomic Books (who are awesome), and, when I finished all of those books and was stuck in Union Station longer than anticipated, I bought more books to read.

The problem with this book purchasing compulsion is not the expense (having no local library to call my own in my nomadic existence, I spend a large % of my disposable income on books), I love buying books and thumbing through the pages and writing in the margins. I love re-reading part or all of the foodie tomes that have filled my shelves of late, passing on books to my friends, and trading in books at second-hand book shops in Cyprus, Egypt, Austria or wherever else I find them.

The problem with my reading addiction is weight.
Luggage weight to be exact. I generally spend 10 - 12 weeks a year traveling, and to get books from the US to wherever I live means weighing down my suitcase - and often means paying extra baggage fees. I have survived in Egypt for four years without breaking down to buy an e-reader; but last summer, as I was living out of a suitcase for a month while I was touring SE Asia, I couldn't take books with me - there wasn't room. On that trip, I had to use an electronic device for reading and while I didn't like the look and feel of the device I was using as an e-reader, I did like the convenience and the broad range of reading options it presented me.

Fast-forward to now. I've already joined a book club in Mexico and have been advised to download the 10 books we will be reading. 10 books is easily 6 - 8 lbs of luggage that could be instead taken up with necessities like underwear and shoes...sadly, an e-reader at this point is really my only option.

So now I have one of these things. It's sitting before me, wrapped up in plastic waiting to be opened. It will not stop me from patronizing Atomic (who else is going to set-aside Buffy comics for me every month so I can pick them up every 6 months - 1 year?); nor will I stop buying Lonely Planet guides (I like to tear out little maps and restaurant reviews and carry them around in my pockets when I visit somewhere new); but it's likely to change how often I read and how much I read. (I should revisit this post in a year and see if it actually does change my reading habits.)

So the question is, what should I download? What should I read? Already this summer I've read Get Jiro (Anthony Boudain Foodie Comic - LOVED IT), Let's Pretend This Never Happened (A Mostly True Memoir) (Jenny Lawson/The Bloggess - LOVED IT and was only slightly embarrassed when I started laughing aloud reading it on the train to DC), and I'm 1/2 way through Blood, Bones & Butter (Gabrielle Hamilton - LOVING IT, but it does make me wish I had a better food education than the one I've been cobbling together for the last ten years).

And yes, I do have a goodreads account (from ages ago) that I've never done anything with. But I'd rather get your two cents, dear seven followers. What should I read this year AND WHY??