Holiday reads!

July 3, 2012 by chestnutbookblog 1 Comment

Planning what to read on holiday…one of my most anticipated times of the year! On Friday, I am going to the beautiful pearl of the Indian Ocean, Sri Lanka, for two weeks.

With me, I am taking:

• Bring up the bodies by Hillary Mantel
• The white lie by Andrea Gillies
• Fried green tomatoes at the whistlestop cafe by Fannie Flagg
• Me before you by Jojo Moyes

I am particularly pleased with this list and am quivering with excitement at the thought of opening their fresh pages! I enjoyed Wolf Hall, Matel’s prize-winning blockbuster hugely, although it did take me a while to get my perspective within the story – I found her lack of speech marks a bit discombobulating until I was used to it. This book will pitch my back into the heart of Tudor England with a front row seat to watch Anne Boleyn’s downfall. This is a story that has been told many times, but somehow it remains compelling. Perhaps it is because it has all the extremes of life inherent within it – love, wit, courage, politics, religion, obsession, jealousy, anger and tragedy. I can’t wait!

I have chosen Andrea Gillies’ The white lie for several reasons. The Scottish Highlands, and in particular the west coast, hold a very special place in my heart and so I am drawn to any fiction set there, which this is. I also saw the wonderful reviews on Amazon and so my decision was made.

Fried green tomatoes at the whistlestop cafe – a wonderful title and I can’t believe I’ve never read it or seen the film. It has been on my list of books to read for a long time now and a holiday seemed the perfect point to immerse myself in it. Finally, I feel that no holiday is complete without a book that my literary soul labels ‘trashy’ or ‘chick lit’ – this is my time off after all! This year, I have chosen Jojo Moyes’ Me before you. The cover has stared at me from the bestseller tables in bookshops for a while now and, having seen all the amazing reviews, I consider it an upgrade on Jilly Cooper or Tamina Perry’s latest offerings!

I will do a post about what I think of each of these books  as well as update you on which Shakespeare play I will be tackling in August when I get back.