
A good book, a bit like a memorable meal, can transport you not just to the time and place it was written, but also where you read it too.
For me, Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events transports me back to being eleven-years-old reading in a loft in Rutland Waters and more recently, Trent Dalton’s Boy Swallows Universe to poolside in Ubud.
I’ve even found the words of books are so powerful that some of the sentences are etched into my brain forever, yet for some reason I can’t remember what I had for breakfast yesterday.
Take the opening of Truman Capote’s Breakfast at Tiffany’s for instance – “I am always drawn back to places where I have lived, the houses and their neighbourhoods.”
This sentence has the powerful effect of transporting me straight to the streets of New York when it plays over in my mind.
Why? As Stephen King puts it, “books are uniquely portable magic”.
Books are undoubtably one of the cheapest tickets to see the world through the eyes of a character, but also one of the cheapest (and lightest) thrills to pack for your holiday too.
Whether you’re looking for page-turning action during your holiday or something to pass the time while you transit, follow our tips for picking up an airport read at Brisbane Airport.
What exactly is an airport read?
Sure, you can pick up a biography, thriller or romance novel, but there is a special category of reading that’s only brought to life in airports - airport reads.
That is, a book that’s not so much defined by the complexity of its plot or characters, but the speed at which you can read it.
The idea of this genre is for it to be fast paced enough to capture your attention through the white noise of transit and engaging enough to keep your attention through take-off and landing.
Given there’s over 129,864,880 books in this world (at least by Google’s last count), it’s safe to say there are so many books and so little time.
That’s why we asked our Facebook community to share their favourite airport reads to take care of your attention-span next transit.
Anna Firmin:
“Just finished Belgravia” (Julian Fellows, creator of Downton Abbey).
Jay Taylor:
“I’m reading ‘I am Pilgrim’ by Terry Hayes, 52 pages in and seriously hooked.”
Good Reads, the world’s largest site for readers and book recommendations, collated their 90-million member’s top Airport-reads, listing these top five page-tuners for your next transit:
- The Girl on the Train (Paula Hawkins)
- The Girl Who Played with Fire (Stieg Larsson)
- The Girl with The Dragon Tattoo (Stieg Larsson)
- Little Earthquakes (Jennifer Weiner)
- The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s nest (Stieg Larsson)
Where to buy a book at the Domestic Terminal
In case you missed this post which shared the recent $40 million redevelopment of the Domestic Terminal, you might not have seen that all newsagencies within the terminal branded into one – [email protected].
Regardless of which airline you’re travelling with – Qantas, Jetstar or Virgin – each [email protected] store stocks the same paperback titles.
Books are organised according to best-sellers and genre-categories, so you can pick up a page-turner that will transport you to another world faster than any plane ride ever could.
Where to buy a book at the International Terminal?
Before you pass the yellow gates, it’s worth a visit to News Travels upstairs. Their store footprint affords maximum room for bookshelves and their range is a little wider than what you’ll find downstairs. If you haven’t maxed your carry-on luggage weight restriction, you can pick up a selection of hardcover cookbooks, perfect for gifting.
Downstairs, NewsTravels stocks an array of paperbacks categorised according to best sellers and genre. Interestingly, ‘self-improvement’ style books (Barefoot Investor, The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck, Everything is F*cked: A Book About Hope) dominate a majority of the best-sellers, suggesting most BNE travellers like to use their downtime goal setting and making life-changing habits.
Prefer to read digitally?
If you’ve got your own iPad or Kindle, put your transit time and Brisbane Airport’s free WiFi to use downloading a few books to get you through your flight.
If you don’t have the technology just yet, take your wallet to Lotte Duty Free to treat yo’self with a new tech-toy.
Print or digital, one thing is for certain - “the more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you’ll go” – Dr Seuss.
Do you have a page-turning airport read to suggest? Leave a comment on our Facebook post:
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