One duty of an Airbnb host that I take very seriously is curating our cabin library. I tuck great reads throughout the cabin, hoping that the right person will pick up the right book at the right time. I like to envision the serendipity of that moment, when the words reach a guest and spark something. Maybe they’re read at the end of the day, under the dim glow of a sconce. Perhaps they usher in a quiet morning, savored with a mug of hot coffee.
In the primary bedroom, I’ve tucked a stack of Anna Quindlen books in the bottom of an end table. Her tiny tome Being Perfect rests in the top drawer, a lighter introduction to the longer works below. When a mom visiting the island messaged me that she’d found Being Perfect and enjoyed it, I was so pleased.
The cabin library includes many titles about the Mississippi River, along with Mary Oliver poetry and Oprah Winfrey’s What I Know for Sure. They’re easy to dip into—a poem here, a chapter there, one and done.
The complete 26-volume Time-Life The Old West series, with its striking brown covers and separate Master Index, feels less like a row of books than a small museum of the American West. These were a major score at a library sale, where I scooped them up for a dollar a book. Rich with period photographs, letters, newspaper clippings and firsthand accounts, volumes such as The Great Chiefs, The Loggers, The Railroaders, The Women and The Rivermen make for fascinating reads.
My commitment to picture books is just as earnest. The upper bunk room holds stacks of them, including Barbara Cooney’s masterpiece Island Boy, which spans four generations of one island family; Carter Higgins’ delightful Everything You Need for a Treehouse; and Home in the Woods, a gem by local author-illustrator Eliza Wheeler.
Our newest addition is The Campground Kids series, which I’ve stored in a basket in the lower bunk room. The books feel made for Grey Cloud Island, which is part of the Mississippi National River and Recreation Area.
Written by C.R. Fulton, the series began in 2022 and its national-park adventures now extend to 13 books. Isaiah, Sadie and their cousin Ethan travel through national parks, where every camping trip brings a new mystery, danger or discovery.
The books feel pleasantly old-fashioned: cousins sharing adventures, parents who remain part of the story and children using resourcefulness, courage and teamwork to solve problems.
They’re remarkably well reviewed. At the time of writing, the first five-book collection holds a 4.8-star average from 172 reviews on the publisher’s website. On Goodreads, the first five individual titles have averages ranging from roughly 4 to 4.25 stars.
At a cabin on an island, these stories fit right in.
Pick a book. Climb up to the top bunk. Start reading.
Sources and reading notes
- Island Boy by Barbara Cooney, Penguin Random House.
- Eliza Wheeler’s official studio, including her Minneapolis base and Home in the Woods.
- The Campground Kids series guide and Books 1–5 reviews, Bakken Books.
- The Campground Kids series ratings, Goodreads.
- Grey Cloud Island, Mississippi National River & Recreation Area, National Park Service.