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Our Reading Lives

Traveling for Thanksgiving: What We Read

Katherine Marciniak

Staff Writer

Katherine is an over-caffeinated avid reader, writer and college student. She was featured in the anthology Once Upon an Apocalypse, and loves to beta read and edit when she has the opportunity. She’ll do more impressive things after she’s finished her tea…and this next chapter.

I have family who lives far away, so every year, my family goes to visit them for Thanksgiving. They’re not far enough to merit a plane ride, so we road trip it on up. It’s a long car ride, and since I was small, my parents have been trying every tactic under the sun to keep my brother and I occupied on the journey.

I don’t know how many years ago now, my parents discovered Louisa May Alcott’s short story An Old Fashioned Thanksgiving. There’s a surprising dearth of good Thanksgiving short stories out there – but this one is a staple for my family. Somewhere in the middle of the car ride, my mom will take out her Nook and read it to us. We used to borrow a copy from the library. After a few years, we tried to order it online – and it worked – except that the copy (though beautifully illustrated) was an abridged version. The pictures were great, but we really wanted the story in its entirety. And for some reason, that ended up being a more difficult endeavor than it sounded like.

Eventually, we acquired a digital copy of the book, which worked for us.

It’s one of my favorite Thanksgiving traditions, sitting all bundled up in the car, driving through the snow and listening to the story of an old-fashioned Thanksgiving. And by far one of the best ways to pass the time on a long road trip.

What are some Thanksgiving reading traditions you have?