Here it is:
Bought it at Target – I love the flowered pattern.
Hard-sided, for obvious reasons.
You know. Books. They’re weighty, with sharp corners.
During a recent trip, I comfortably fit 20 in here (mostly hardbacks, children’s fiction).
[For titles, if you’re interested you can check my recently read list on goodreads.]
Here’s why I have a book suitcase:
I don’t prefer e-readers (that might already be obvious).
I do like regular books. You can touch them, caress the cover, flip back-and-forth through the pages at will.
In the middle of a paragraph, you can shut a book and enjoy looking again at a fully-realized design, including cover art (and/or the author blurb). You can experience the tactile pleasure of a page turn.
You can easily pick one book up again in the middle of a second one, and compare something between the two. You can read a few pages from one, put that down, then read a few pages from another.
Here’s my tip for how you too, can travel happily by air with books:
Gate-check it.
To avoid the $25 fee for each checked bag. (I still checked my clothing bag though, this was not a save-every-penny trip for me.) Gate-checking also (I think) protects the books better. They don’t go through as much of a rough luggage-boarding process in order to be stored underneath the plane. I believe clothes are tougher, they can handle the gigantic conveyor system better (again, this might be my uninformed opinion). Anyway this way, I keep the books close to me until the last second.
{That statement was tongue-in-cheek. Sort of.}
Lastly, an important point:
Have wheels.
Suitcases with wheels = one of the modern inventions of humankind. And books are heavy.
Read On!!!