I often need to bring back to the USA, books published in Asia not normally available in North America nor on electronic media--most of them are art, architecture and cultural where the illustrations are as important as the text. There's just no substitute for an old fashioned hard copy for things like these. So the admonition to "get a Kindle" is a bit simplistic--I'm no Luddite but modern technology has its limits.

I've had TSA paw through checked luggage with books, even though I try to spread them out.

Question for the esteemed FT panel: What is TSA likely to do if I bring a BOX of books back as a piece of checked luggage--sealed up and everything? (In the past, I've only sent books back through postal systems.) Anybody have on point experience with this? Are they likely to call the Bomb Squad to take my box and blow it up "out of an abundance of caution?"