Airline passenger news and views

Holidays are made for reading - at least that is how many of us understand them. Spending hours in a park, beach, or swimming pool with a summer read is something we are used to. However, the way we do it now has considerably changed.

During the last years the trend has been reading e-books, instead of  printed editions. Earlier this year Amazon  announced that in the US it sold more e-books for its Kindle device than it sold paperback books in the last three months of 2010.

The world's biggest online retailer said that in the US since the start of the year it had sold 115 e-book downloads for every 100 paperback books, even excluding its downloads of free books.

The advantages of carrying around an light electronic device instead of several kilos of paper when travelling are obvious. If we add the death of free check-in luggage imposed by budget airlines, the decision to take could not be clearer.

The hesitation comes when we look at the ecological side. A report on Kindle by The Cleantech Group states that if a book uses up approximately 7.46 kilograms of CO2 over its lifetime and that the Kindle produces around 168 kg during its whole lifecycle, which concludes that the machine is the winner.  

But the report it is not taking into account that a book can last hundreds of years and be passed on to several readers. Even more, it can be recycled into another book.

There is also criticism of e-books in regard to destroying the trace of the author. A cover can tell a lot about a story or even the writer's personality. Also with the paper's texture, colour and font used. On an e-book, on the other hand, you read a pie recipe or a detectives novella in the same standard format.

Whether you opt for a paperback or a Kindle for your summer reads this year is your decision. Here are some suggestions for seasonal reading:

The Accidental, Ali Smith

The Beach, Alex Garland

Lanzarote, Michel Houellebecq

The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald

The Motorcycle Diaries, Ernesto "Che" Guevara

Atonement, Ian McEwan

Lord of the Flies, William Golding

One Day, David Nicholls

Eat, Pray, Love, Elizabeth Gilbert

Bonjour Tristesse, Françoise Sagan