Leave the worthy stuff at home and fill your case with the books you have been looking forward to all year, says Mariella Frostrup Save Them Up Throughout the year, hang on to things that you like the look of but don't have the time to enjoy properly. Working on the Open Book programme on Radio 4 means I'm always reading to prescription, so holidays are a fantastic opportunity to indulge myself. I keep a running pile of books by my bed that eventually topples over and spreads itself around the rest of the house if I haven't been away for a while Do Your Homework There's a wonderful rhythm to reading novels that are in some way attached to the place you'll be visiting. People think guidebooks are required pre-holiday reading, but I think reading fiction about a place ultimately tells you a lot more about it than a list of restaurants or historic buildings. I'm looking forward to The Enchantress of Florence by Salman Rushdie for a weekend in Italy, and have Lawrence Durrell lined up for a week in Greece The Great Escape Holidays are a time to remove yourself as far as possible from your normal workday life, so choose books that are escapist. Unless something really grips your imagination, it's going to feel like a chore. Evocative narratives such as The Cairo Trilogy by Naguib Mahfouz or The Catastrophist by Ronan Bennett have that un-put-downable quality that makes them perfect for uninterrupted reading Squeeze Them In There's nothing worse than running out of books. I get very neurotic about this, but over-pack with clothes, too, so it's an ongoing battle. I usually empty my children's luggage of anything I consider to be extraneous and squeeze my paperbacks in there Hedge Your Bets Mix ambitious choices with some safe bets. I always find room for the brilliantly funny Carl Hiaasen, because I know I'll enjoy anything he writes. Alternatively, cheat a little. How Proust Can Change Your Life by Alain de Botton is a marvellous read, and left me with the sense of virtuous smugness usually associated with a macrobiotic diet Don't Get Attached You have to be prepared to treat a book badly when you're on holiday, so don't choose anything too precious. A holiday tome will never stay pristine - it's going to come back covered in suntan oil, with red wine spilt all over it and folded-down pages Love Them and Leave Them I tend to leave books behind me when I finish them - there's something lovely about finding a book on a park bench, or in a hotel room or caravan. I was in South Africa at Christmas and someone had left The Grass Is Singing by Doris Lessing, which was just perfect Indulge Yourself Holiday reading should be indulgent, not a slog. I've lost count of the number of people I've seen on the beach not reading The Alchemist. If you want to spend it reading the entire Shopaholic series, do it! After lugging Che Guevara's biography on holiday for the past six years and never getting past the third paragraph, I've now learnt my lesson. If you aren't enjoying a book, move on. Life - and holidays - are far too short Mariella will be presenting daily coverage of the Hay Festival at 8pm on Sky Arts from 23 May | 
