My Upcoming Holiday Reads

Wednesday is about books. And/or writing. And therefore reading. This week, I'm planning my holiday-reads for my fast approaching holiday. (Sorry!) /not sorry

I’m gearing up for a holiday. It’s less than a couple of weeks away now – and more on that soon, and during…(I’ve got previous form staying in touch with the blogging community while abroad, so I can’t see a little international travel stopping these newsletters, though they might arrive in your inbox at some slightly different times).

It used to be that I’d travel with a laptop, and a plug-in mouse, a second laptop too sometimes. Then for music there was the iPod, and all sorts of cords, a couple of Bluetooth speakers and sometimes even something actually approaching a full stereo. It was a lot, at any rate.

But for this trip I’ll be taking a phone and an iPad and some headphones. That’s it. I’ve streamlined my audio and computing equipment, and thank someone’s lord for that eh. But there’s one thing I can’t quite contain as easily, and that’s the reading material.

Holiday Reads are a hot topic in this household. The three of us all with our books. We’re a mess. We will all be taking a bunch. And buying a bunch more while away. It’s quite ridiculous. And of course I secretly hope it never changes.

We’re already talking about the dozens of books we’ll each read while away. And of course, that might mean we get through two or three books each – perhaps a magazine or two on the side as well.

Oscar will want to take far too many books – and I’m not quite sure how to stop that. He won’t actually read on the plane either. He’ll watch movies.

Katy won’t pack a thing until the day we go – and her suitcase will be filled with a layer of books that she “needs” for research, for work, for pleasure, the works. The collected bloody works…

But I’m being sensible. I’m planning my Holiday Reads right now. And I’m keeping them set at a realistic amount.

A couple of advance-copy new releases arrived in the mailbox this week. And I rushed out yesterday to buy a new release. Anything else I’ll need can sit on my Kindle – I always take my Kindle for the plane-rides, I like the reading-light option, the one-hand-free option, the slide-it-in-my-pocket option…Anyone piously proclaiming they must have the physical copy hasn’t travelled far I reckon. The Kindle isn’t here to kill books. It’s here for your boarding pleasure.

So, here’s what I’m hoping to be reading – in the airport, on the plane, and while away. And then of course in the airport and on the plane ride back home…

In no particular order, I hope to get through the following (good) reads:

The Night House by JO NESBØ

This is an advance copy. I believe it’s released in early October – so I’m lucky to have this. It will also by my first Nesbo; I’ve meant to read him. I just haven’t. He blew up big a while back and it wasn’t that that bugged me in any way, I just wasn’t reading much in the crime-thriller space. But I reckon he’s going to become my new favourite author finally. And if it’s going to happen, it’s because of this one. The Night House is being billed as a chilling fresh spin on the horror novel. So that’s me signed up. I was going to say, take my money. But that’s a bit gauche, given the publisher’s already sent me this ARC.

But even if I hadn’t been given an advanced reader copy, I think the cover would have won me over. That’s a beauty. That says, Buy Me, Tell Everyone You Love Me, And Then Hopefully Read Me As Well. It says all of that to me. And in precisely that order. So, fingers crossed. Katy’s read a Nesbo or two. And she reckons it’s Classic Holiday Read material. So, it’s going in someone’s suitcase.

Doppelganger – A Trip into the Mirror World by NAOMI KLEIN

Another day, another ARC – though this advance is not quite so advanced, it’s out next week. Here, Naomi Klein has turned her frustration at being mistaken for Naomi Wolf into a book. Klein and Wolf are both brunettes, both writers, both Jewish, both have been mistaken for the other. But during the pandemic, when everyone was stuck at home, Klein had to suffer the comparison to Wolf right as the latter was becoming one of the anti-vax, Trump-era loonies. One of the ultra-platformed ones.

This sounds like a ripper. I’ve not read Wolf, and never will, and I haven’t really read Klein since No Logo – which was back in the day. But this is the sort of non-fiction caper I go all in for. There’s every chance I’ll have finished this before the taxi arrives to take us to the first airport. This one might not even make it into the suitcase.

Want to know more about this bizarre story? Here’s a great piece on it/from it.

Holly by STEPHEN KING

It's no secret that I’m a Stephen King fan. I sometimes worry I’m mentioning that too often here. But it’s been a wonderful re-discovery across the last 2-3 years, and I’m taking my time catching up on the books I’ve missed, and trying to read a few of the newer titles. People haven’t been super excited by the last couple of King novels. They’ve arrived on the back of early promise but never quite delivered beyond their advance-hype. I feel like Holly will be the opposite. It’s going to be the one that really delivers; more than that I’m picking it as the one that gets people telling those classic reviewer-lies: “I’ve always been a fan…” etc.

Holly is about the character of the same name who was part of the Bill Hodges Trilogy (Mr Mercedes, Finders Keepers, End of Watch). She also popped up in The Outsider, and one of the novellas collected in Let It Bleed. Now she has her own book. Holly has her own detective agency now. And she’s called on to solve a missing person case. From there we get backstory into some deceptive murderers. King sets this story up as his pandemic novel, gets in a few more digs at Trump’s era and generally captures the madness of the time. Apparently. I’m so looking forward to this. It was released yesterday. And I went and bought two copies. Because this is a King book that everyone in my house wants to read. So I might be the third cab off the rank when it comes to actually cracking the spine on this. But I wanted to be ready.

Sure, I’ll Join Your Cult: A Memoir of Mental Illness and the Quest to Belong Anywhere by MARIA BAMFORD

Also a brand-new book, released yesterday, this is sitting waiting on my Kindle; I don’t often pre-order Kindle titles, but when I do they’re usually by Maria Bamford. I have loved her comedy across the last decade or two, from Netflix specials (and her bonkers/brilliant sitcom, Lady Dynamite) to comedy albums, cameos and the aforementioned previous pre-order (that one an audiobook).

Bamford’s story around her mental health journey is equal parts harrowing and inspiring, and is threaded all through her work. She was diagnosed with both bipolar and OCD – and openly discusses some of the suicidal ideation and breakdown sequences in her life on both podcasts and the stage during her comedy act. Here she turns that into a book. I can’t wait to read this. I love her writing, her timing, her honesty, her delivery. All of it. Every time. I feel like this is going to be one of my favourite memoirs of 2023.

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So that’s my stack of Holiday Reads. There’s a chance I’ll read one or two of those before the holiday even starts. There’s no chance I’ll return home without at least one new book. And my Kindle has me covered with a few other pre-loaded options anyway.

See anything in that small list you’re also looking forward to, or already reading? And what have been your favourite recent (recommended) Holiday Reads?

Also, any tips for how to pack (and hide) books and reduce weight, etc? Asking for two other family members in particular…