This is a copy of my post to a message thread in the Pharaoh Heaven's Forums on book recommendations. These are some I have enjoyed and recommend (I have not yet been to Egypt, so these are from my "armchair" perspective):

Non-fiction

• Atlas of Ancient Egypt, Baines & Malek. For a map lover, this is excellent. Good maps & drawings, with a short blurb on each location along the Nile. This book is my favorite, but, unfortunately Amazon shows the publisher to be out of stock (though B&N has it listed as in-stock). (FWIW, I have had success with Powell's Books on out-of-print books.)
• The Complete Pyramids, Lehner. I love this book which focuses, naturally enough, pretty much exclusively on the pyramids.
• The Complete Valley of the Kings, Reeves & Wilkinson. Excellent photographs, drawings, and treatment of the royal tombs across the Nile from Thebes.
• Ancient Egypt, Silverman. Beautiful photos, excellent drawings. I love the drawing of the series of temples at Karnak (it is even better than the Karnak drawing in the Atlas of Ancient Egypt since this one also has a reconstruction drawing). It is broken into short, readable sections.
• The British Museum Book of Ancient Egypt, Quirke & Spencer. Good photographs, but its real value lies in its text. A lot of good information; well-presented history that I found readily understandable.

Fiction
  The mysteries by Elizabeth Peters, an apparently prolific writer who has several names, but this is the one she uses for her mysteries set in Egypt. The author is a Ph.D. in Egyptology, and these mysteries of hers involve archaeologists in Egypt. While I normally prefer books written from the male perspective, she does such a good job that I confess to enjoying them.  :)
  -The Jackal's Head, a more modern (1960's) mystery set in Egypt, with archaeologists.
  -The Amelia Peabody series. I believe these are set in the late 1800's. I have not read them all, but I recommend beginning with Crocodile on the Sandbank, since that is the first book, where the main characters meet.

Other recommendations
  If you're out in Las Vegas, I recommend visiting the recreation of the tomb of Tutankhamun they have in the basement of the Luxor pyramid/casino. For a few bucks you can tour a beautiful reconstruction with a narration furnished by cassette and headphones.