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My wife and I will be going on a Grand Circle Tour of Egypt this November. I typically do a lot of reading on these kind of trips - plane rides, tour buses, insomnia episodes, during shopping stops, etc. I prefer to read a mixture of fiction that involves the country I am visiting as well as some basic history or other non-fiction volumes. I have a Kindle (preferred to limit weight) but paperbacks, as well as audiobooks (that I can burn to Ipod), are OK. Recommendations?

jahlie

I like Death On The Nile by Agatha Christie, The Key to Rebecca by Ken Follet and City of Gold by Len Deighton. I guess my taste in light reading shows! I've put The Yacoubian Building in my Netflix queue and am planning on starting the book after I watch the movie.

I'm looking forward to the continuation of this thread and have fun in Egypt.

geosand

I enjoyed reading the Christian Jacq series on Ramses before our recent trip to Egypt - there is a thread on here somewhere with this exact topic. We got loads of suggestions from it.Perhaps you can find it with a search. It was last fall I believe

Elizabeth_S

There are 3 great threads on this subject -here's a link to the search results where you can click on each of them

http://www.fodors.com/search/results...2F2010&author=

Grcxx3

Here is a past thread that might give you some ideas.

http://www.fodors.com/community/afri...t-to-cairo.cfm

Lolo12

I went to Egypt in January 2009 with OAT and I absolutely loved it!!

A couple of books that you might enjoy:

The Man in the White Sharkskin Suit by Lucette Lagnado
Palace Walk (one of the trilogy) by Naguib Mafouz
Nefertiti by Michelle Moran

I enjoyed all 3. In Cairo, I tried to get to the area referred to in the Lagnado book, but we just couldn't manage it.

BeniciaChris

fb-I also loved Key to Rebecca by Ken Fowlett

Lolo12-Is Nefertiti by Michelle Mmoran a historical novel? Love any historical novels-Thanks Chris

AuthenticEgypt

I've read

Palace Walk and Midaq Alley by Naguib Mafouz
Taxi by Khaled Al Khamissi
Poor by Idris Ali (Nubian)
Down The Nile: Alone on a Fisherman's Skiff by Rosemary Mahoney
The Yacoubian Building
Nefertiti by Michele Moran

and others I can't remember off the top of my head.

Lonely Planet has published a wonderful list here http://www.lonelyplanet.com/egypt/tr...1?affil=fb-fan

Enjoy!

AuthenticEgypt

jahlie, read the book first! The book was very, very good; the movie almost put me to sleep!

Lolo12, it's historical fiction and I got through it but I ended up liking Nefertiti's sister more than Nefertiti.

Lolo12

AuthenticEgypt - yes, I did too. The sister was much more likeable.
I also read Down the Nile etc. She was rather daring to do it on her own, don't you think?

But my favorites were Palace Walk and The Man in the White Sharkskin Suit

Nonconformist

You might like to try Mary Doria Russell's Dreamers Of The Day, set in the early 1920s.

jahlie

Luckily I'm not going to Egypt until next April - that gives me time to read all this I just ordered On Thousand Miles Up the Nile and am looking forward to starting it as soon as it arrives. There are a couple of biographies on Gertrude Bell out there. Does anyone have a suggestion which is best? I love to read about early explorers and Ms. Bell sounds like an interesting person.

AuthenticEgypt, I'll read the book regardless of how dreadful the movie is. Books are always better, aren't they?

Nice thread...

LEANNA

Desert Queen by Janet Wallach for Gertie.....super dooper book!!

Also for fun....the Amelia Peabody mysteries by Eliz. Peters....but read them in order. They are fun and you will great historical stuff as well!!!! The Christian Jacq series is also excellent which geosand also mentioned.

wanttogo

There is a writer with the surname George who writes good historical fiction set in Egypt. One of the titles is Child of the Morning. Amazon has them and good public library systems also should have some of them.

I second the recommendation for the trilogy by Naguib Mafouz.
He was a wonderful writer. Have a great time.

Pat

wanttogo

I am sorry. My last post was not correct. The author I am recommending is Pauline Gedge, not ? George. I got the names mixed-up. I have not read anything by Ms. George.

Pat

TC

Recently read: The Mistress of Nothing by Kate Pullinger. Its historical fiction and will make you eager to get to Egypt.

LEANNA

Gedge! George! It can get confusing!!!

Now the Cleopatra book by Margaret George is excellent. Reads like a beach book but actually she is quite a respected historian and the book is super.

And yes the stuff by Pauline Gedge is also excellent!

Now there's more of my 2 cents!!

AuthenticEgypt

So many books, so little time!

Lolo12, yes she was daring, but I think I expected more from it. She wasn't really alone as the Nubian guy was never far away and was so protective. I think she wanted to get rid of him as much as I did! I did find her conversations while trying to secure a boat hilarious though, and so much of the experience rang true for me.


jahlie, yes the books are usually better. And it's the worst when you see a movie and the people they cast are nothing like the characters you envisioned in your head!

Will have to get some of these other books though. They sound very interesting.

K

lyntay

Yacoubian Building is great - and if you wanted while in Cairo, you could go and see the building.

God Dies By the Nile

Both books were are considered controversial in some cirlces (one of the other reasons I chose them) as the provide a glimpse into everyday life for some Cairenes as well make a statement on religion. The Yacoubian Building was made into a movie, which was controversial when it was released too. The author of God Dies I think had to leave the country at one point.

Happy reading!

scotsgirl

Hi Lyntay

I read God Dies by the Nile, controversial yes defo, and a bit confusing at times. The bit about the buffalo I had to re-read a couple of times with a "did I read that right" face on me

An Egyptian man came up to me in a cafe when I was reading the book and said to me, that woman is trying to destroy our religion and our beliefs.

I responded by saying - did you read the bit about the buffalo?

Another little book I read was Nights of Musk - short stories about Nubia by Haggag Hassan Oddoul

Some of the stories werent all that - I think that they got lost in translation a bit, but a few of them were excellent.

Not on the subject of Egypt but one of the best books I have read is A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini. I defy anyone to tell me that they were able to put it down til it was finished. An outstanding read.

Hosseini also wrote the Kite Runner - which again - outstanding.

Scotsgirl