The best way, in my experience, to keep a summer cruise interesting and entertaining is to have a small library aboard. As part of my preparation, I fill a bag with books I want to read; it lives in a locker in the V-berth, and I can fish out a good book whenever I want. Most of my books for cruise reading come from a friend’s secondhand bookshop. After all, there’s no point in spending a lot of money on something that’s going to be passed among the crew or left in a marina’s laundry room. One of the real delights of a bag of books is that books don’t stress your boat’s systems. They draw zero amps and never depend on connectivity. You don’t need a library. For a two-week cruise, three to four books will do the trick. Here are six true sea stories for those quiet nights at anchor.