I’m trying to read more books, less magazines, and be choosier about the crap I fill my brain with online.
I have to admit something though. It seems like a lot of folks online are heavily into YA (it’s probably skewed for me since so many of my friends and acquaintances WRITE Young Adult novels) and it’s a genre that I don’t really enjoy… Coming of age stories need to have magic, werewolves, or lasers in order for me to get invested.
Now, I’m not saying that I only read high-minded, serious literature, because I don’t. I read a lot of fluff. I just finished Agent Dale Cooper’s autobiography My Life, My Tapes. It was great.
And so, I guess I’m looking for recommendations? If you just a read a really great book (or read a really great book a long time ago), let me know. If it’s hard to pin down the style or genre, even better.
I think the next book I read with probably be the final book in Neal Stephenson’s Baroque Cycle. Or maybe this one.

I know a really good book! With magic! But it’s not published yet.
I’ve mostly been reading mysteries lately (this is what happens when you ask your mother, who is in two mystery book reading groups & helps moderate a mystery book online group, for recommendations), so my current recommendations come from that genre. The one I’ve enjoyed most is Monkeewrench by P.J. Tracy. The follow-on books in that series are also wonderful.
I also thorougly enjoyed some non-fiction books I picked up because of the authors’ appearances on The Daily Show. Assassination Vacation by Sarah Vowell was a great, fast read, as was The Pluto Files by Neil deGrasse Tyson.
I’m currently enjoying Job: A Comedy of Justice. Others I’ve recently liked include Secret Dead Men and The Queen’s Gambit.