Reading at Sea: Enjoying Holland America’s New York Times Explorations Café

by Janis on March 17, 2013

Reading while at sea on a cruise is one of life’s great pleasures.

There’s something about the gentle rocking of the ship and the quiet solitude of being surrounded by water that allows you to be transported by a good book.

Mr. Jones and I have converted to reading from paper books to electronic versions via the Kindle app on our iPads, mainly because books are heavy to carry when you travel. I like the convenience of electronic books, but I miss paper books.

So I consider it an extra bonus to be sailing on a ship with a well-stocked library, like the one on Holland America’s Amsterdam that I recently sailed on for two weeks.

One of the first places that I visit whenever I’m on a Holland America Line ship is the Explorations Café, powered by The New York Times which features one of the most extensive libraries at sea in a coffee-house-like environment. I love to grab five or six New York Times Best Sellers that peak my interest but that I haven’t previously bought or read.

Here’s what I read during my last cruise from the Explorations Café, powered by The New York Times:

1. Extraordinary, Ordinary People: A Memoir of Family A terrific story of Condoleezza Rice’s parents and how they encouraged and guided their child while she was growing up in racially-charged Birmingham, Alabama during the early 1960’s.
2. The Island: A Novel What’s better to read at sea than a novel about romance and a summer spent on a island trying to come to grips with life’s challenges?

3. Red and Me LP: My Coach, My Lifelong Friend While sailing through the Philippines where basketball is an obsession, this story about friendship taught me about how different the world of college and professional basketball was less than 50 years ago.

4. Blood, Bones & Butter: The Inadvertent Education of a Reluctant Chef Cruising and food go together, as does this beautiful story written by the owner/chef of Prune in New York City. I couldn’t help but wonder: is a dis-functional childhood a requirement to write this story?

5. Champagne: How the World’s Most Glamorous Wine Triumphed Over War and Hard Times I admit, I didn’t read this book cover to cover; I’m skipped through to the photos and the parts I found most interesting. Still, as a champagne-lover, I can now appreciate the bubbly a little more every time I drink it, which is easy to do while at sea.

Do you like to read while you cruise? What are some of your favorite books read while sailing the high seas? Please share your recommendations in comments below.

Other posts on my Grand World Adventure”;

Follow us on Twitter or interact with us on Facebook.