Just about through Richard Russo's "Bridge of Sighs" (enjoyed it, love his writing), About to crack Richard Power's "Echomaker" and picked up Will Allison's "What You Have Left" (recommended by a trusted friend) for on deck.

Just about through Richard Russo's "Bridge of Sighs" (enjoyed it, love his writing), About to crack Richard Power's "Echomaker" and picked up Will Allison's "What You Have Left" (recommended by a trusted friend) for on deck.

I'm enjoying reading and looking at the amazing images in Angela Villalba's "Mexican Calendar Girls" and learning a bit from Michael Freeman's "The Photographer's Eye".

I just started Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield.

Just finished THE ASSIST by Neil Swidey. Wonderful book! Also have a self-pubbed novel called THROUGH THE EYES OF THE RAPTOR, which is great so far... Just started WELL-BEHAVED WOMEN SELDOM MAKE HISTORY. i think I'm going to like it!

Always keep the OXFORD HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION on my nightstand (for when the valerian root just won't kick in), just finished ON CHESIL BEACH (gorgeous. pick it up posthaste), and just started THEN WE CAME TO THE END (brilliant so far).

...Actually, I'm re-reading OFF THE WALL: DEATH IN YOSEMITE by Michael Ghiglieri. Seeing as I'm single this Valentine's Day, a book about the incredibly dumb ways people really die in this national park was perfect. *LOL!!* (People trying to take the perfect picture and walking off cliffs, anyone?)

I am always behind the curve so these books are not new: About a Boy The Nazarene Year in the World Stone Garden

Not a new book, but a fascinating one: American Bloomsbury by Susan Cheever...a look at the lives of some of America's greatest writers: Louisa May Alcott, Hawthorne, Thoreau, Emerson, Margaret Fuller. Terrific. Also have TalkTalk...a book of speeches and addresses by children's author E.L. Konigsburg. Equally fascinating!

Just finished Goodbye, Columbus (amazing!) as I've been on a Philip Roth tear lately, and moving on now to Don DeLillo's White Noise.

I recently discovered Georgette Heyer. I am currently reading The Corinthian. If you like Jane Austen, you'll love Heyer.

Way behind...way, way behind...Just finishing Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. Desperately wanting to start reading the books I picked up at BEA last year but haven't had the time for.

I have too many books sitting on my nightstand to remember them all. I can't even see my alarm clock. Two of them are Inkheart & Inkspell by Cornelia Funke. I'm reading Inkheart with my 8 year old daughter. I told her that she had to read it before we go see the movie (which was originally scheduled to release on her ninth birthday). It is great fun to share this wonder-full book with her.

I'm currently reading My Mistress' Sparrow is Dead: short stories edited by Jeffrey Eugenides. The most current issue of Tin House is on my nightstand along with Mr. Sebastian and the Negro Magician by Daniel Wallace.

I am inching thru Labyrinths by Borges for the book group. Finishing up the new Grisham and looking forward. I always have longterm relationships with mystery series: the current two are Peter Lovesey and Denise Mina.

Got Jan Karon's, Home to Holly Springs, for Christmas. Karon continues to delight and surprise the way she did in the Mitford series. Love the setting, love the new characters blended with the old.

Charles McCarry's Second Sight...why do we persist in calling him a genre writer? Tim Sandlin's Jimi Hendrix Turns Eighty--funny and thought provoking. Alex Berenson's Ghost War--now THAT'S what I call genre fiction!

Duma Key is my bok of the moment. Writers Market is always near by too.

I am reading The Dead Whisper On, Taj Mahal (Diana Preston), and Imperial Life in the Emerald City. I've got some ARE's coming up next: Olive Kittredge (Strout) and Resistance (Sheers). Just finished Wrack (Bradley) which was ok, but I rushed through it. Just not in the mood, I guess.

I'm really enoying THE INN AT LAKE DEVINE by Elinor Lipman and MARCH by Geraldine Brooks (I know--I'm a little behind!).

Penelope Lively's MAKING IT UP, but also Sharan Newman, and Timothy Findley's Not Wanted on the Voyage, part of Canada Reads challenge on CBC.CA

I recently finished an advance of CHILD 44 - a GREAT debut that ranks with GORKY PARK as a Soviet-based thriller, watch for it! Memoirs of note TRAIL OF CRUMBS and HER LAST DEATH. Another advance debut due this Spring is TELEX FROM CUBA - set in preCastro coup Cuba told by 2 American children. Each 'voice' is written with equal strength. I need a bigger nightstand.

The pile is high! Just finished Merle's Door. LOVED IT. Almost through David Shield's The Thing About Life is One Day You'll be Dead-- an odd mixture of body statistics and contentious relationship with his father. Just finished Kushiel's Dart by JAcqueline Carey. Luckily I have both book 2 and 3 to tide me over the long weekend. I also have A Three Dog Life by Abigail Thomas-- this one will wait a few days until I recover from Merle's Door. I have about 20 more minutes of reading to finish up Reserved for the Cat, a Mercedes Lackey Elemental Masters series title. Just learned there is a new Dana Stabenow-- Prepared for Rage so a trip to the bookstore is in store for me this weekend. The last two books in the Honor Harrington Series by David Weber. About a month ago I decided to reread the entire series in order. I find I'm dreaming about wars in space ships. Scary! Also may have to reread Jumper before I see the movie. I loved it the first time around-- early 1990s?

I just read Gardens of Water by Alan Drew. It is a Discover title at B&N this month. As a lead bookseller I read oodles of new books each year. This book is going to be big. I liken it to Kite Runner. I do not say that lightly. Run to get t his title.

Having just read Lisa See's "Peony in Love" a couple weeks ago, I am now reading her earlier mysteries. I'm nearly done with #2 The Interior - each is a mystery and a cultural study of Chinese and American life and law. Will be reading "Last Seen Leaving" this weekendfor a book group. Then I have "The Ghost of El Gullo" (I think that is the title) and "The Konkans" to get into - as well as Lisa See's 3rd mystery.

I have many library books on my nightstand right now (and stacked up next to it!). I don't know how I'll get to all of them before they're due (I wont). Some of them include: The Arsonists Guide to Writer's Homes in New England by Brock Clark; CivilWarLand in bad decline by George Saunders, Disgrace by J. M. Coetzee, The city of dreaming books by Walter Moers, and The abstinence teacher by Tom Perrotta.

Mr. Sebastian and the Negro Magician by Daniel Wallace, The Tin Drum by Gunter Grass, and The Invention of Everything Else by Sarah Hunt. I little old, a little new, through a bit of the second, a lot of the first, and none of the last. All promising so far.

For pleasure -- trying to get through The Ghost of Hannah Mendes. My synagogue book club wants to discuss Naomi Ragan next month. Struggling a little -- love the "now" part, getting dragged down by the "past." Think I'll reread Emma, Madame Bovary, Wuthering Heights, and Lady Chatterly's Lover again. Now those are books!

Just started "People of the Book" by Geraldine Brooks. So far, looks like a good novel that follows the trail of a Hebrew manuscript created in the 1400s. Alos reading "Beauty Junkies: Inside Our $15 billion Obsession with Cosmetic Surgery" by Alex Kuczynski - amazing the lengths we will go to retain youth or improve our looks. Getting ready to read The Senator's Wife by Sue Miller.

I am just finishing an ARC of Alice Hoffman's upcoming book, "The Third Angel" which is very engaging. I am in the middle of "Crazy" by Pete Earley which is a shocking expose of the mentally ill who reside in our prison system and receive almost no mental health care. Also in the middle of "Richistan", a look at the EXTREMELY wealthy in America. Next up, fiction-wise, is Russell Banks's newest, "The Retreat". On audio, I just finished Lee Child's newest thriller "Bad Luck and Trouble" and today I started Fannie Flagg's "Can't Wait to Get to Heaven". Both good, in their own way.

From the library I have"Perfect Weight" by Chopra. Recent purchases include "A New Earth" (Tolle) which is OK, but I preferred "The Power of Now", although I am only half way through the newer title, so I may change my mind. Also, "The Book Thief" (Zusak) which I just started and am enjoying very much.

Stuck in the Middle by Virginia Smith Adam by Ted Dekker Patriarchs by Beth Moore and Appeal by John Grisham

Power of One Bryce Courtnay ,recommended for years by customers ,a rare find and one for our times I think ...magically moved through 500 plus pages.

I have too many books on my bedside table, which is probably a sign that it's too small. I find that what I read next depends on my mood after I finish the last book, so I need my bedside table to act as the bullpen, with several options to choose from. Last night, I finished Lawrence Durrell's Bitter Lemons -- absolutely brilliant -- and why, exactly is Durrell almost entirely out of print in the US? NYRB, are you paying attention? Many books lie in various states of incompletion: Greet Mak's wonderful history/travelogue In Europe, which needs to be consumed by the decade, has sent me onto numerous other books on European 20th century history: Joseph Roth, John Keegan, etc. Gregory Frost's intriguing fantasy Shadowbridge is satisfyingly different and contains some wonderful writing. Also recently finished (and have not found space for on the regular bookshelves, yet) Cory Doctorow's brilliant Little Brother, Richard Bausch's searing Peace, Martin Millar's hilarious & touching Lonely Werewolf Girl, and John Kessel's Baum Plan for Financial Independence. FYI, I think it's a strong season for fantasy. And for those nights where I get to bed too late to do justice for a fat novel, I keep poetry on hand, (relatively) recent collections by Seamus Heaney & Louise Erdrich right now, with the selected Ted Hughes having joined them a few weeks ago.

I am so tickled to see so many responses! I just finished the Brooks...on to the Bock...and then, probably, on to ordering a whole bunch of the things you're reading. Thank you for reading and for posting. In fact, I may have to write a post saying just that, too...

I'm on a roll of good books. Read Tenderness of Wolves by Stef Penney--perfect book to read in the winter, sort of a western in the snow--really good. Then I read What the Dead Know by Laura Lippmann--couldn't put it down. I love her stuff. Last night, I finished The Theory of Clouds by Stephane Audeguy--a really unique book, full of stories within stories, that grows on you. I was sorry to see it end.

I'm on a roll of good books. Read Tenderness of Wolves by Stef Penney--perfect book to read in the winter, sort of a western in the snow--really good. Then I read What the Dead Know by Laura Lippmann--couldn't put it down. I love her stuff. Last night, I finished The Theory of Clouds by Stephane Audeguy--a really unique book, full of stories within stories, that grows on you. I was sorry to see it end.

Dry Manhattan by Michael A. Lerner and InterWorld by Neil Gaiman and Michael Reave

Reading RED HARVEST by Hammett currently. THE QUEEN GENE by Jennifer Coburn is next, and I MAY BE BIG BUT I DIDN'T CAUSE THAT SOLAR ECLIPSE by Gordon Kirkland is always around for laughs. Call me eclectic. Or don't.

I'm currently reading "The Long Walk Home" by first-time novelist Will North. It's a love story about two people (Alec & Finoa)who are actually in their 40's. That's what made me pick up the book, reading about ordinary middle-age folks who get a second chance at love. It takes place in Northern Wales. So far I love it!

I'm reading 'Team of Rivals' for my book club. This is a great choice for an election year, it is amazing how little has changed. I love this book, I'm so glad my book club chose it.

I'm in a noir mood lately, so I'm reading Raymond Chandler's The Big Sleep, after which I plan to start Hammett's The Maltese Falcon. And, since it's officially spring, I'm reading Gardening for Dummies, because I can't grow anything except weeds.