I picked up a few books at B&N last week, but didn't have time to start on any of them until yesterday. I liked the cover of a book by a new author I thought I would try. The cover is a picture of the White House and it looks like you're viewing it through a sniper scope. The title is Freefall (by Traci Hunter Abramson) and I am hooked. It's not often the first line of a book catches me, but this one did. I have a feeling I'll be finishing this one before the day is over.

Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance (I know - so I'm 30 years behind in my reading!) Spinal Cord Injuries (Research for something I'm writing). Still wrestling with The Grapes of Wrath. My experience with The Lovely Bones was so good that I want to dive into recent and lauded books and am held back only by my unpleasant experience with Everything Is Illuminated. Also realize I am breaking my own vow to not read anything printed before 1940, but forbidden fruit is the sweetest.

I am reading Eclipse, the third in the Twilight series by Stephenie Meyer, and LOVING it!!

Just finished Alice Hoffman's Local Girls which I'm going to crack open and read again.

Not current, I realize, but The Godfather's Return by Mark Winegardner. It's OK, but doesn't quite feel like Puzo. Next up is Atomic Lobster by Tim Dorsey, the latest in the Serge series.

I've read Chameleon's Shadow and I loved it! I'm a huge fan of Minette Walters. The Redbreast is also in my TBR stack.

Currently on my nightstand are: Adam Gittlin's The Deal, C.E. Murphy's The Queen's Bastard, Maureen Freely's Enlightenment, Cathedral of the Sea, and Alison Weir's The Lady Elizabeth.

Last night I finished up Tom Rob Smith's debut, Child 44, and it was great!

I always seem to read stuff months or years after I get it. Just finished Shadow of the Wind and am starting Queen of the South

I just finished the Lies of Locke Lamora, and wonderfully thrilled! Of course Duma Key was terrific. And my boss recommended Made to Stick, which I'm finding quite a bit interesting. Anyone have any good fantasy/horror recommendations for me?

I stayed up way too late last night reading The Deep End by Traci Hunter Abramson. I didn't realize Abramson had any other books out, so thanks Emily for mentioning Freefall. I'll have to check it out.

I'm about 3/4 of the way through Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Picoult. I find it pretty depressing and yet, I can't seem to make myself put it down. Next in line is The Year of Fog by Michelle Richmond.

I'm a YA specialist at the bookstore I work at so I just finished Bird Lake Moon by Kevin Henkes, Peeled by Joan Bauer, Adoration of Jenna Fox(fabulous) and I'm now reading Patron Saint of Butterflies by Cecilia Galante which is very timely as it deals with cults.

I'm getting ready to start Barack Obama's "Dreams From My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance". It's a book I suggested for my book club. I went online to see how many copies were available at the Los Angeles Public Library (all branches) and there are about 100 or more and all of them are either checked-out or 'in transit' (the available copy has already been requested for check-out). Wow! I just read on yahoo that Obama made $4million in royalties for both of his books. I can't wait to read it.

I just started Meg Wolitzer's The Ten Year Nap. On deck is Hilma Wolitzer's Summer Reading and an old Meg Wolitzer book, The Position. I started the Ten Year Nap and immediately decided I needed to read those other two that have been languishing on my nightstand. Also waiting is Jennifer Weiner's new one and Shakespeare's Kitchen by Lore Segal and a collection or essays by David Rakoff that Ayelet Waldman recommended on her blog. Throw in a few children's books, I am a children's book reviewer, and I am overwhelmed in the very best way!

I have been in ARE mode lately. Last week I finished an amazing ARE entitled The River. It released last year as a Random House hardcover. They are releasing the trade paperback in June. This is a remarkable book that deserves wide readership.This past weekend I finished another Random House ARE entitled The House at Midnight. This is an absorbing novel about friendships and how the past re-plays itself in the present. I just started the ARE of The Story of Edgar Sawtelle on the advice of my Harper rep.This one may take a while since I am savoring every word.

Just received "The Painter from Shanghai" a stunningly beautiful new book by Jennifer Cody Epstein.

Then, an ARC from Kristy Kiernan--"Matters of Faith"

I'm finishing up "The Bug," a novel by Ellen Ullman. It's pretty good. I'm also reading "Finding Your Own North Star," by Martha Beck, because I'm not happy with my job and am trying to figure out what I should be doing instead. Next on deck is "Madness" by Marya Hornbacher--which I picked up recently since I liked her previous memoir, "Wasted."

Just finished Denise Hamilton's first stand-alone The Last Embrace (due in July from Scribner). It's set in 1949 Hollywood and is a real blast! Just started a 20-year old fantasy/horror/pirate novel On Stranger Tides by Tim Powers, author of The Anubis Gates and Last Call. Not sure this one is still in print, but it's great so far.

Just finished Denise Hamilton's first stand-alone The Last Embrace (due in July from Scribner). It's set in 1949 Hollywood and is a real blast! Just started a 20-year old fantasy/horror/pirate novel On Stranger Tides by Tim Powers, author of The Anubis Gates and Last Call. Not sure this one is still in print, but it's great so far.

I read through Alan Brennert's "Moloka'i" this past week - a beautifully tragic, stirring novel about a young Hawaiian girl with leprosy at the turn of the last century. The cover is gorgeous, so it's still on my nightstand. I just cracked open Kay Warren's "Dangerous Surrender", I'm half-way through "Suite Francaise" by Irene Nemirovsky, and 2/3rds of the way through William Young's "The Shack."

Also, "The Power of Positive Thinking" has remained buried in the rotation for the past six months...I will finish it one of these days!!