I'm going on holiday

holiday holiday holiday holiday hollllllllidayyyyy...*ahem* just going to take a minute to compose myself...I'm ok, let's carry on. On Monday I am going to Egypt for an entire seven days (the excitement is barely containable, you may have noticed). Just before Christmas my bestie and I decided it was high time we had a trip, nothing crazy, just a relaxing week in the sun to make up for all the hours we knew we'd be pulling over the Christmas period. So the weekend before last we sat down at her computer and searched for last minute, all-inclusive deals somewhere in the sun. We stumbled across Egypt and, without further ado, hit that 'book holiday' button and, well, away we go.

I have never done an all-inclusive strictly touristy holiday before. I tend to go for trips where I can soak up the culture through museums, food (mostly food) and architecture. But for this one time only, all I want is to sit in the sun, read my books, swim a bit and drink cocktails. I CANNOT WAIT.

Anyway, the point of this post is to show you what books I'm intending to read over the week. I have a fair number of unread books hanging about on my kindle and I have downloaded some specially for the holiday using a gift card my bro got me for Christmas (he knows me so well). Usually on a week away I can get through about five or six books but I am taking plenty to give myself some choice. That is probably the main reason why I love my kindle; you can have so many books all in one place and it weighs barely anything. My suitcases used to be half-filled with books and would weigh an absolute ton but now, all my books are in one  handy piece of kit. My arms are thankful. Delightful.

• Dark Places Gillian Flynn
• The Shadow of the Wind Carlos Ruiz Zafon (this would be a re-read but I want to read the follow-ups and can't remember what happened at all!)
• Slammerkin Emma Donoghue
• Wolf Hall Hilary Mantel (probably won't rush to read this one, it is mighty chunky)
• Half Blood Blues Esi Edugyan
• Alys, Always Harriet Lane
• The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry Rachel Joyce (definitely reading this one first)
• The Sisters Brothers Patrick deWitt
• Swimming Home Deborah Levy
• The Hundred-Year-Old Man Who Climbed out of the Window and Disappeared Jonas Jonasson

I'm also still trundling my way through Parade's End so I can turn to that if I get desperate for something seriously literary. That, and I have a subscription to the London Review of Books on my kindle and I've got a couple of issues to catch up on.

Actually, looking at that list I think I may have one too many. Does anyone have any recommendations for which books to read first? Or at least which books I definitely need to read whilst I get the chance?

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