I can take 100 books on my trip around Vietnam next month

Yes! 100 books. You'd think this not very practical, when carrying around a single backpack for a month, right?

I'm not talking about a Kindle. I don't have a Kindle. I want the Kindle, so badly, and I've wanted it for a long time, mainly because of its audio option: I could listen to novels while painting, driving or doing anything with my hands which stops me from reading an actual book, but not from listening one. But Amazon doesn't seem to deliver to any of the countries where I've lived, so I'll wait a little while longer for my Kindle.

In the meantime, I'm using my Nintendo DS. I bought a "game" for the DS back in Sydney, which is not really a game but a 100 classical books which can be read by turning the DS on its side. I completely forgot about it this year until last week I dug up my DS from a forgotten pile in my bedroom. I did this knowing that now Dan has gone to Australia, I'll have much more alone time to do some reading, which I do.

Now I'm reading Mansfield Park, which I had never read, and I'm already half way through it, because I take my little DS everywhere!

When I turn it on it remembers what page I was on last and takes me straight there. It also has a background sound feature so I can read Jane Austen with birds chirping in the background, or the ocean, or a quiet stream. It makes even the profoundly annoying Jane Austen enjoyable. Yes, sorry Gaby, sorry Lanette, it's the fourth Jane Austen I have read and I am still not liking her characters, whose shallow concerns make me feel like they belong in High School with Hannah Montana.

But reading Mansfield Park on my DS, that's great. The DS screen is lit up, so I can read in the dark. I didn't think I would be able to concentrate properly reading from a game console, but I am, so I'll take it on my trip. I love that I have so many options! after Mansfield Park I'm thinking... Moby Dick, Little Women (les 4 filles du Dr March), Jane Eyre or even some good old Shakespeare. I haven't read any since studying English at University, close to 10 years ago...oh my God. My brain has turned to mash potato from reading too much Twilight, Bridget Jones and Harry Potter.

My DS rules.