MrStinky's High-Sea Sanity Kit

It's sad but true.
MrStinky's readying to abandon StinkyLu.
To leave lil Lulu all alone in the high desert. To gallavant the South Pacific for most of the summer... (See, for most of July & August, MrStinky'll be helping his brother sail a boat from Hawaii to San Francisco -- a 40' foot sail boat, a few thousand miles & a crew of 3. MrStinky's brother will be racing the tub from SF to Hawaii in one of those crazy contests those outdoorsy folks sometimes like. And MrStinky gets to help him steer the raft back to civilization. Fun, huh.)

And though StinkyLulu will miss MrStinky terribly (& will no doubt lapse into episodic Fanny fits of spinsterhood-induced-insanity during MrStinky's absence), StinkyLulu's everso grateful that the option of Lulu "going along for the ride" never came up. 5-6 weeks. No teevee. No movies. No wireless access. No air-conditioning. No stops at 7-11 for Big Gulps of Diet Coke. No phone no lights no motor car. No. Please. Love is strange, but there are limits.

But Lulu is worried. Not that MrStinky'll fall overboard, be eaten by sharks, or take up with some beefy Samoan. No. Lulu's worried that MrStinky'll go a little bonkers hisself. This is a man who starts getting a little manic if dinner plans for Sunday aren't set by Thursday. Who tends to do more in three hours than most do in a whole week. Who thinks "peace and quiet" is a ploy to convince people that good restaurants & better shopping aren't as essential as air & water. MrStinky says he's looking forward to just relaxing, maybe writing in his journal. And he's done this before so he -- ostensibly -- knows what he's in for...

Nevertheless, StinkyLu's a touch concerned, which is why Lulu's started constructing:

MrStinky's High-Sea Sanity Kit
An assemblage of portable amusements to keep Lulu's beloved MrStinky amused, enthralled, & diverted during his high seas adventure. So far, the "kit" includes:

• a travel Boggle game
• 2 decks of playing cards
• pens/moleskine notebooks
• paperback books

MrStinky's pooh-poohed the notion of art supplies but liked the idea of a mini-library-to-go. So, Lulu's loading up on the quality paperbacking. A few criteria are guiding the choices. First, should be smart & well-written, preferably quick-but-not-too-quick going, with artful realism preferred to literary/romcom fantasy. Second, travel/food/spiritual memoir excellent but risky (he's loved Annie Lamott & Beverly D'Onofrio & Augusten Burroughs, thinks Ruth Reichl can be good, and is finding Julia Cameron's latest to be "cheesy".) Third, cheap copies should be easily accessible. (Lulu's not springing for some treasure that's gonna come back all bloated & crinkly -- only MrStinky will be embraced in such condition.)

SO this is where you come in, lovely reader. So far, Lulu's got two books (Exhibit A & Exhibit B) in the stack & hopes to get about 10 or so more.

What books would YOU suggest that MrStinky have with him for this hi-sea insanity/adventure?

(StinkyLulu's been using PaperBackSwap for this -- it's a great site for you book fiends out there who've got way too many books but still want way too many more... It's free, easy & fun.)

ETA: So long as you're thinking all bookishly, click on over to The Film Experience (who's on a similarly literary brainstorm) & offer your erudite recommendations there as well...