Deciding on books to take camping

How do you decide what books to bring on your camping trip?

Reading is by far my favorite camping activity. A campfire does come close, but when you combine the two, reading by a crackling campfire or the low-glowing embers, it’s sheer delight to my soul.

The problem during my early days of camping involved lighting. Because I was reading at night when my kids were asleep and my husband had also gone to bed, I didn’t want bright lights, but it was hard to read the paper books I had taken with me.

This was before tablets and e-readers like a Kindle came into existence. Now I load up books on my iPad or Kindle Paperwhite and don’t need to worry about lanterns or sliding into my car to turn on the overhead lights and thus drain the battery.

I still take paper books, too. And magazines I’ve set aside to read.

But deciding what to read ahead of time is part of the problem. Fortunately in our technological days, you can also get books electronically if you have wi-fi or a cell phone signal. I’m pretty frugal, so I check out books from Kindle via the Libby app from the library. Or even audiobooks from the same app. If you are a reader, definitely check into what your library offers electronically. I also enjoy Hoopla and audiobooks are available on both platforms.

What do I bring? Well, it really ends up being similar to what I read on vacation. I personally like fiction, but usually I’m not into anything depressing. I enjoy bringing nostalgic books when I’m camping. Usually set in summer. Lighthearted memoirs and humor are fun, especially vintage ones. Camping puts me in a vintage mood.

See what you FEEL like reading.

What is the vibe you want for your camping experience? Do you want a cozy, nostalgic feel? Do you want to laugh? Do you want to get engrossed in a long novel or have a stack of quick reads? Or maybe a smattering of genres to read based on how you feel at the time

Look at your TBR (to be read) lists.

Poke through the pile on your nightstand or next to your bed. Check over your Goodreads or Storygraph or library lists. Flip through your bookmarks or collections on Pinterest or Instagram where you might have saved some books of interest.

Look over any challenges or summer reading guides

Do you have reading goals for the year or the summer? Maybe you’ve filled out a challenge or downloaded a booklist like the one Anne Bogel from Modern Mrs Darcy puts out every summer. Perhaps your local library or bookstore has staff recommendations in list form.

Revist old favorite books

Rereading childhood favorites can be a vibe. Especially summer-themed ones like Gone-Away Lake or ones that celebrate seasons like Anne of Green Gables. The benefit of reading something you have read is you already know the feeling you are going to have and it’s like settling in with an old friend.

Go all in with camping-themed reads

Obviously, books centered on camping are a good pick. Very meta. Those could be based on summer camp, hiking trips, canoe trips, staying at lodge, camping in the woods, etc. I’ll do some digging and write a post on this later.

Get recommendations from friends

Get on social media and poll your friends about good books to read. Try doing a hashtag search on social as well. Find people that have a similar reading style and see what they’ve enjoyed lately. Check out people you follow on Goodreads.

If summer camp book stickers are fun for you here is a selection of 200 you can order to use and share!

Want a printable list to start brainstorming ideas? Enter your email to download a page from my camping planner. Happy camping!

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