Reading List for the Island Princess Cruise

A cruise is a great time to just sit and read -- or listen to an audio book. You have to find something to do between meals and naps. Here is a list of the books we're taking on the next cruise. And there's more for us to read in the ship's library.


Very Good, Jeeves!, eleven short stories by P.G. Wodehouse
A Midsummer Night's Dream, By Wm. Shakespeare
Rat Pack Confidential, by Shawn Levy


The Talented Mr. Ripley
Ripley Under Ground
Ripley's Game
all by Patricia Highsmith


The Boy Who Followed Ripley
Ripley Under Water
The Complete Ripley Radio Mysteries, audio CDs from BBC Radio 4
all by Patricia Highsmith


Spinoff 2008, annual publication by NASA
The Hit Charade, by Tyler Gray

Books for the Cruise

As the time for our next cruise draws closer (this time it's on the Emerald Princess to the Southern Caribbean) it's also time to pick some books to read on the ship. This itinerary has several days "at sea" with no ports to visit. That gives us lots of time to sit and read and relax between all those meals.

I am sure that the Emerald has a good library on board -- the Princess ships usually do -- but we will take these along with us:

Absolute Friends, John le Carré
The Complete Idiot's guide to the World of Harry Potter, Tere Stouffer
Dixie, Curtis Wilkie
Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them, Newt Scamander
Noel & Cole: The Sophisticates, Stephen Citron
The Private Lives of Noël and Gerty, Sheridan Morley
Quidditch Through the Ages, Kennilworthy Whisp
Walt Disney World Without Kids, Birnbaum Guides

May 2008 Cruise -- Book List

Departure for our next cruise, this time on Carnival Glory, is coming soon. Here are some of the books we'll be taking with us to read while sitting on our cabin's balcony.



In the land of the Magic Pudding, A gastronomic miscellany, a history of what Australians eat, edited by Barbara Santich

Kitchen Confidential, Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly, by Anthony Bourdain

Licks of Love, Short Stories and a Sequel, "Rabbit Remembered," by John Updike

The Letters of Noël Coward, edited by Barry Day

Permanent Passenger, My Life on a Cruise Ship (Assistant Cruise Director, Carnival Ecstasy), by Micha Berman

Something from the Oven, Reinventing Dinner in 1950s America, by Laura Shapiro

We will also take several Harry Potter books. Right now we are re-reading the whole series and we're finding there are lot of details of the characters and story we missed in the first reading. J.K.Rowling's writing is so compelling that the first read is a race to get to the next plot point. The second reading is a treat.

And there's always the ship's library for more things to read on board.

Winter 2007 - 2008 Reading List

Early last fall we decided that we really needed to read the Harry Potter books. The series has become a cultural phenomenon and we heard that J.K. Rowling's writing is full of wit and great story telling.

Also it is very hard to figure out what's going on in the Harry Potter movies if you haven't read the books first.

So we bought the Harry Potter books -- a boxed set of the first six volumes in paperback. And found them a nice place on the bookshelf. And there they sat for a while.

Jack started by taking the first two installments on our cruise in December. When we got back we he continued reading the rest. Right after Christmas, as he got halfway through the sixth one I went to Books-A-Million and got the final installment -- book number seven.

He enjoyed them a lot and I am now in the middle of the third one, and find Rowling's work very enjoyable and clever.

Meanwhile, to lighten things up we have both been reading Noel Coward's diaries as well as his several autobiographies. Other reading we enjoyed included two volumes of the New Encyclopedia of Southern Culture -- Geography and Foodways.

Coral Princess Cruise, April 2007 -- Reading List

One of many great things about a cruise is the peace and quiet and free time you get to sit and read. Here's a list of some of the books we read that we either took with us or checked out of the ship's library:

Ball of Fire: The Tumultuous Life and Comic Art of Lucille Ball by Stefan Kanfer

Firefly: Noel Coward in Jamaica by Adrian Boot & Chris Salewicz

In a Sunburned Country by Bill Bryson

Include Me Out: My Life from Goldwyn to Broadway by Farley Granger and Robert Calhoun

It's All American Food: The Best Recipes for More than 400 New American Classics by David Rosengarten

Lilibet: An Intimate Portrait Of Elizabeth II by Carolly Erickson

Panama Canal By Cruise Ship: The Complete Guide to Cruising the Panama Canal by Anne Vipond

Red Carpets and Other Banana Skins: The Autobiography by Rupert Everett

Somewhere for Me - A Biography of Richard Rodgers by Meryle Secrest