In a week, I'm off for two weeks to the Caribbean - Barbados for one week, and St. Maarten for the other. As this is my first holiday in 2009, you can imagine how excited I am! I've been looking forward to this break for the last couple of months, and I can't believe it's almost here. Honestly!
I'm all prepared for a lazy holiday, where I spend most of my time drinking margaritas or pina coladas, or go swimming, or snorkeling, or trekking, or just taking in the breathtaking beauty of the white sands. Of course, a book list to go would be mandatory! I'd hate to find myself in paradise without a good book to read, and I'd be miserable if I found myself to be a victim of a 'bad' book (read, a book I didn't enjoy). For some time, I have been "saving" books - books I can't go wrong with, and books that I've been looking forward to reading for ages. So, here's the likely short-list:
- Sarah Waters - Fingersmith : Ok, I'm running about seven years late. Yes, I know it's The Little Stranger which is the flavor of the season, but, I really want to read one of her earlier books, and this one's been rated very highly by most people. Even Amazon has a 50:3 ratio (50 five-star ratings, and three one-star ratings), so, you know - it makes it to the list.
- Haruki Murakami - Kafka On The Shore : I've already mentioned that I've been saving this book for the past eight months, plus, it's part of the Japanese Literature Challenge 3. What better time to bring it out?
- Carlos Ruiz Zafon - The Angel's Game : I loved The Shadow Of The Wind, and this book starts off in the Cemetery of Forgotten Books as well. How can I go wrong with it? However, this is a hardback, and while traveling, I'm not sure hardbacks are the way forward.
- Daphne Du Maurier - Rebecca : A while back, you probably saw this on my "I'm reading" widget, because well - I started reading it. However, after eight pages, I put it down, because I felt I couldn't do total justice to the book if I continued to read it while commuting. It's a book I want to soak in, and enjoy, and hopefully, I'll get a chance to do so.
- James Scudamore - Heliopolis : I'd feel guilty if I didn't try to read at least three or four of the books on the Booker long-list of this year. I'm reading The Wilderness at the moment, which is great, but that just morphs the baker's dozen into a layman's dozen. I don't have this book at hand yet, so I might need to pop into Waterstones or something next week.
- Angela Carter - The Bloody Chamber : This is literally a last minute addition. I loved The Magic Toyshop, and this went straight on to my list after reading that. It's a book of short stories, which might be a nice change, as I haven't read short stories in the longest time. The only dilemma with this book is, where can I find a copy with a cover as stunning (if not more) as The Magic Toyshop's.
The other books that I have stacked neatly, but are unfortunately going to miss out on the Caribbean include: Out {Natsuo Kirino}, The Cellist Of Sarajevo {Steven Galloway} and How To Paint A Dead Man {Sarah Hall}. Would you guys swap any of the books I've included with any of the above three? How about with any of the other books on the Booker long-list? Or, do you have any brand new recommendations? Maybe something that is actually set in the Caribbean?
What kind of holiday reading are you inclined to do? Do you also find yourself 'saving books', to dig out when the time is right?