# What was the last Airport Novel you purchased? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 1, 2017, 6:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-last-airport-novel-you-purchased/778734 "2017-02-01T06:21:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2017, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-last-airport-novel-you-purchased/778734/21 "2017-02-01T22:14:31Z")
> [@Martini\_Enfield](#): > > That and the prevalence of Kindles and e-book readers made me wonder who was actually buying books at airports these days, hence the discussion. 🙂 I either play with my laptop or sleep. The plane is the one place where I wish I had a tablet since the form factor of a laptop is slightly too big to be comfortable on a plane and a smartphone is too small to be enjoyable. I do enjoy the planes that have touchscreen entertainment on the seats as long as it has games and not just tv. ---
**Author:** ![Balthisar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/balthisar/32/2825_2.png) [@Balthisar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balthisar)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2017, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-last-airport-novel-you-purchased/778734/22 "2017-02-02T00:04:30Z")
> [@Ludovic](#): > > The plane is the one place where I wish I had a tablet since the form factor of a laptop is slightly too big to be comfortable on a plane and a smartphone is too small to be enjoyable. The days when we could comfortable use laptops on planes is still a fond memory. I used to enjoy American because they bragged about increased seat pitch, for our comfort. I guess I’m the only dummy that cared enough to pay for American versus Fly-by-Night companies. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Stainless\_Steel\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_stainless_steel_rat/32/5727_2.png) [@The\_Stainless\_Steel\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Stainless_Steel_Rat)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2017, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-last-airport-novel-you-purchased/778734/23 "2017-02-02T00:27:39Z")
Never bought a novel, but did pick up “Longitude: The True Story of a Lone Genius Who Solved the Greatest Scientific Problem of His Time” and it kept me interested from Atlanta to LA a number of years ago. Last books I bought were in Sydney, Australia, awaiting a flight to Dallas (LONG Flight), and got a couple compilations of Jeremy Clarkson columns. He’s a bit of a twat, as the British would say, but he’s easy reading for 16 hours in the air. But usually I pack my own reading material with me. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Goob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c77e96/32.png) [@Mr.Goob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Goob)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2017, 5:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-last-airport-novel-you-purchased/778734/24 "2017-02-02T05:49:53Z")
I read a ton of books, it kills me not to finish one. I was traveling light so needed to buy one in Dublin for the flight to NY, the DaVinci code just came out in paperback. I threw it out waiting in baggage claim. I don’t care how it ended. ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2017, 7:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-last-airport-novel-you-purchased/778734/25 "2017-02-02T07:52:52Z")
Some years ago, when I was delayed in Calgary, I bought a John Grisham novel. I don’t know why, but Grisham seems to be my “go-to” when I’m stuck in an airport. ---
**Author:** ![nightshadea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/7ba0ec/32.png) [@nightshadea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nightshadea)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2017, 8:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-last-airport-novel-you-purchased/778734/26 "2017-02-02T08:17:43Z")
actually I never bought a book at lax…there used to be a book exchange rack where you could get a free used book with the hope you would drop the book off at the exchange rack at your destination… funny thing is people would write " jt was here DAL to LAX '99 on the covers … some of those books had been to hell and back … at some point they had so many donations they had a donation box… ---
**Author:** ![standingwave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9de0a6/32.png) [@standingwave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/standingwave)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2017, 8:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-last-airport-novel-you-purchased/778734/27 "2017-02-02T08:41:46Z")
Airframe by Michael Crichton. Flying from NJ to Seattle. It’s about the investigation of an airliner incident. I remember a flight attendant seeing it and saying, “Good, isn’t it?” I agreed though reading while flying seemed to make it a more visceral experience than it otherwise would have been. Sent from my LGLS990 using Tapatalk ---
**Author:** ![Battle\_Pope](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4bbf92/32.png) [@Battle\_Pope](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Battle_Pope)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2017, 8:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-last-airport-novel-you-purchased/778734/28 "2017-02-02T08:43:53Z")
1am flight out of Hyderabad heading for Kuala Lumpur and then onto Sydney. I picked up a copy of \*The Alienist \*by Caleb Carr. It was good enough I went and found the sequel \*The Angel of Darkness when I got home. \* ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2017, 5:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-last-airport-novel-you-purchased/778734/29 "2017-02-03T05:10:27Z")
> [@Spoons](#): > > Some years ago, when I was delayed in Calgary, I bought a John Grisham novel. I don’t know why, but Grisham seems to be my “go-to” when I’m stuck in an airport. Grisham wrote the only airport novel I ever bought: _Playing For Pizza_. Even though I detest football, and have been programmed to think of Grisham as a formulaic hack, I enjoyed it quite a bit. > [@Mr.Goob](#): > > I read a ton of books, it kills me not to finish one. I was traveling light so needed to buy one in Dublin for the flight to NY, the DaVinci code just came out in paperback. > > I threw it out waiting in baggage claim. I don’t care how it ended. Too bad. If I have to bear the suffering, so do you. Tom Hanks survives to star in the prequel, _Angels and Demons_. ---
**Author:** ![Purd\_Werfect](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e47c2d/32.png) [@Purd\_Werfect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Purd_Werfect)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2017, 5:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-last-airport-novel-you-purchased/778734/30 "2017-02-03T05:23:26Z")
I can’t remember the specific last book, but I do remember the first - The Firm, by Grisham. In my mind, he’s the archetype for this. ---
**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2017, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-last-airport-novel-you-purchased/778734/31 "2017-02-03T21:43:00Z")
Last book was “A Geek In Japan”. Never bought an airport novel. ---
**Author:** ![Sunny\_Daze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunny_daze/32/438_2.png) [@Sunny\_Daze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunny_Daze)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2017, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-last-airport-novel-you-purchased/778734/32 "2017-02-03T23:49:03Z")
I usually travel with tablet, kindle and laptop, but on my last trip to Barcelona I hit a long enough travel delay that my battery life was in serious doubt. I bought some YA fantasy novel that I thought my daughter would like (she did - Court of Thorn and Roses series maybe), and something else which I have completely forgotten. I can almost always find a way to charge up, so I don’t need a hard copy, but that trip I did. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2017, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-last-airport-novel-you-purchased/778734/33 "2017-02-04T00:06:33Z")
**Room**. I didn’t know anything about it and was sucked in. Before that it was **The Devil in the White City** and I still haven’t finished it! ---
**Author:** ![Jim\_s\_Son](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19adc/32.png) [@Jim\_s\_Son](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jim_s_Son)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2017, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-last-airport-novel-you-purchased/778734/34 "2017-02-04T03:10:38Z")
I think the only time I ever did was in the late 1970s for a novelization of “Star Wars”. Nowadays I bring my diary so I will have something exciting to read. Alright, I stole the last bit from Oscar Wilde. ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2017, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-last-airport-novel-you-purchased/778734/35 "2017-02-04T03:31:33Z")
Charles Dickens’s _Little Dorrit_. New York airports have “classics” sections. ---
**Author:** ![DummyGladHands](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/49beb7/32.png) [@DummyGladHands](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DummyGladHands)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2017, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-last-airport-novel-you-purchased/778734/36 "2017-02-04T15:24:21Z")
Something by Carl Hiaasen [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-last-airport-novel-you-purchased/778734.md?page=1)