Poolside reading

Opening: T-13 days Nicki and I have just returned from the Algarve. On first inspection, fitting in another holiday so close to opening seems to be bordering on lunacy. However:

• The trip was for Mum's 60th birthday, and the entire family was gathered together for the week
• It had been organised about 2 years ago whilst Mostly Books was but a mere twinkle in our eyes
• We spent a large part of the week making phone calls, sending emails and making last minute revisions to the shop layout / stock order
• It's the last holiday we'll be having for some time we think...

It is now less than two weeks until opening and we're trying not to panic. We'll try to keep short updates throughout the entire time (probably in the wee small hours by either myself or Nicki, eyelids drooping).

Anyway, back to the Algarve. In between sitting on the beach, playing huge games of highly competitive family french cricket, and sitting round sneaking the odd bit of World Cup footy, books were never far from our thoughts.

Unable to relax by the pool, I decided instead to perform a (completely unscientific) poll of poolside reading amongst the overwhelmingly British clientele. I tried to do it surreptitiously, but I'm sure at least one of the woman reading thought I was oggling her. Anyway, the results (in the order I furtively scrawled them down over the course of the day) were as follows - and an interesting breakdown they make:

• Alan Titchmarsh (hardback) - title unknown
• Tongue in Cheek - Fiona Walker
• Latest John Grisham
• 3 Dan Browns (but no Da Vinci Code - probably no-one left in the Western world who hasn't read it yet, and if there are, they don't holiday in the Algarve)
• Philip Short - Pol Pot: The History of a Nightmare (jolly holiday reading I thought)
• Jarhead - Anthony Swofford
• Lace 2 - Shirley Conran (unnamed middle-aged male reading this one)
• Faithless - Karin Slaughter
• A Man Named Dave - Dave Pelzer
• We need to talk about Kevin - Lionel Shriver
• Jordan: A Whole New World - Katie Price (woman reading it without a cover, so not obvious from a distance. Some guilt involved?)
• On Ice - David Ramus
• The Seventh Wave - Emma Sinclair
• A Tale Etched in Blood and Hard Black Pencil - Christopher Brookmyre
• Blackout - Chris Ryan
• A Jackie Collins novel (moved away before noting title due to potential oggling accusations)
• A walk to remember - Nicholas Sparks
• Sheer Abandon - Penny Vincenzi
• A Cuppa Tea and an Aspirin - Helen Forrester
• Vanishing Acts - Jodi Picoult

Serendipity in a list. I'm sure someone could write a PhD thesis on this: Influence of size of pool, average daytime temperature, etc. But for now, it's back to the shopfitting...