Jet Lag

This may sound crazy because it goes against the advice to sleep before your trans-oceanic flight. It may also be impractical for your situation or for people over 40

But the night before you travel, stay up all night and then crash like a ton of bricks on the flight. This works better for night owls that morning doves.

No alcohol or coffee in the 24 hours before the flight or on the flight.

This depends on what direction you're travelling in but when you arrive and it's still daylight, try to take a 20 or 30 minute walk during twilight. Dusk may trick your brain into thinking about getting to sleep soon. Light exercise such as walking or stretching or some sun salutations will help in any direction.

When I used to travel a lot, I found that the older I became, the longer it took me to get over jet lag. After 40, I was taking about 10 days to get right after a trans-oceanic flight. At least I got a lot of reading done around 3 a.m.

10 Rights of the Reader

In its preface, the book by Daniel Pennac called Comme un roman (Paris: Editions Gallimard/Folio, 1992), lists 10 Rights of the Reader:

• The right to not read,
• The right to skip pages,
• The right to not finish a book,
• The right to reread,
• The right to read anything,
• The right to mistake a book for real lilfe (or, the right to escapism),
• The right to read anywhere,
• The right to dip
• The right to read out-loud, and,
• The right to be silent.  

My take: I've seen #5 translated as "The right not to have to defend your taste," which I like better. I think we readers spend too much time being sheepish about what or how much we read.

With neat illos by Quentin Blake, a poster of the rights can be found on the web