Do you take books with you on vacations, little bloglings? I should hope so. There is nothing like relaxation while reading a good book.

Today, every person reading this post shall receive, quite possibly, the most IMPORTANT vacationing advice: never the leave the house without at least one book. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve freaked because I’ve walked out of the house without a book, and that’s when I’m going to run a few errands with my mom. Imagine the horror, the longing, the frustration, of leaving the house for days on end without a book.

SO, bloglings, I tell you now: the first thing on that packing list when you go on vacation should always be BOOKS.

Today I will be talking about the books I’m taking with me on my vacation this coming week…

LOOK AT IT, BLOGLINGS! BREATHE IN THE AWESOMENESS. Today I bought Heather Vogel Frederick’s Absolutely Truly, which I’ve been DYING to read since, like, Tuesday, when Heather celebrated its wonderful little book birthday on her blog. That’s almost one whole week, peoples. Seriously.

My mom told me I couldn’t read it until Wednesday, however, when we leave for Florida, since I’m already reading one book. ARGH. I have to wait a whole day, with it sitting on my desk, calling my name… read me, Emily, read me. And there it will sit in its glory, the magnificent book smells of it wafting to my nose… the gorgeous cover waiting to be opened… *sigh.* Good thing I’ll have eight whole hours to eat it up!

Look at this one! It’s so cute and it smells awesome. I bought it in August at a book sale in South Carolina, and this little gem’s been waiting to be opened for, well, practically forever. The Total Tragedy of a Girl Named Hamlet is anything but a tragedy. I’m eating it up! I’m half way through in one day! It smells so good! It’s hilarious!

I LOVE IT! I don’t know why I waited since August to read it. It’s adorable – and I can totally relate to Hamlet. (Honestly, Hamlet’s a pretty cute name. I might consider it for my kid one day if they didn’t get made of for it!)

And now, dear bloglings, BEHOLD. My first free book from a fantastic author who sent it to me for FREE. It’s called “Countryside: The Book of the Wise.” (I know, intriguing name!) The author, J.T. Cope IV, emailed me and everything, and it was all professional and business-like and it was FREE. I’ve been reading it to my sister and basking in the incredibleness that I got a FREE book from an author. For FREE. But other than the fact that it was a free (did I mention that already?), hard-back copy of a signed book, it is a pretty great one. I haven’t gotten very far into it, but I’m loving it so far. It’s so mysterious, and my sister keeps begging me to read more to her. (It takes a lot to convince my sister to read a book she didn’t pick up on her own.) I can’t wait to post my review, because I realllllyyy like it!

So those are the books I’m taking with me on vacation! Oh, and for those of you wondering, I’m going to Florida to visit my Aunt Tina first, and then my family and I are going on a Disney cruise! WHOOOO-HOO! We’ve been waiting since January, and the date’s crept upon us soooo fast. I won’t have internet access on the cruise (I’ll be in the middle of the ocean, heelllooo), so I won’t be posting for quite a while. However, once I get back, be prepared for lots of pictures and gushing and just… awesomeness, probably not related to books. (Thought it’s verrry likely I’ll get my hands on one and bring more than three back with me!) Until then, bloglings!