Ahab's Wife, or the Star Gazer
By Sena Jeter Naslund
I had to delay arriving at my destination so I could finish the book... (I was soooo close!)

The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon.

This one will make you wish your flight wouldn’t end. It falls firmly in the can't put it down category. Light enough for the high altitude, heavy enough to keep you enthralled, well written enough to recommend to your friends. Enjoy!!

I waslooking for hospital reading a couple of weeks ago, which may or may not overlap with flight reading. Someone brought me I am America, and So Can You, which was a horrible choice--I had a hole in my side, and laughing was too painful. Someone else brought me a Chuck Palaknic (sp?) book, Horror or something, and tha twas just too damn visceral too. I didn't end up reading much--the operation took a whole lot out of me, but it was an interesting exercise for me. I'm glad to be reading again. Redemption Ark is so much what i enjoy, compelling story, interesting ideas. But I didn't even pick it up in the cutting house.

Welcome to the Monkey House by Kurt Vonnegut. Good (for me) to read on the plane because I could nap between stories. Got me halfway to London.

The rest of the time I was reading A Thread of Grace by Mary Doria Russell, which...while fabulous was too heavy to read on a plane and deserved a day in bed or something similarly focused.

Extraordinary Delusions and the Madness of Crowds

www.amazon.com/Extraordin...701-6681403

Great sections on Stock Market Bubbles of England and France in the 1600s and the Tulip Craze, as well as the folly of the Crusades, Famous Thieves worshiped by the public and Haunted Houses. Sharp and funny, amazingly written in the mid 1800s and hardly shows it in the language and the ironic tone.

I tend to bring a small library when I'm flying. I'll take a few paperbacks, plus a few magazines, crossword puzzles, etc. I like to have a variety at my fingers. And there is absolutely nothing worse than getting stuck with nothing left to read but the inflight magazine!

I've also learned to avoid things that make me cry. I read Trinity by Leon Uris on a flight and cried like a baby. It was a tad embarassing to do so in such close quarters. Imagine sitting next to stuffy, frumpy business man as I'm sniveling away.

As a travel agent, I get to travel quite frequently and I love to match up a book with something interesting about my trip. I just wander the aisles at the bookstore and see what catches my attention. One of my favorites was a story about vampires in London and a man traveling all across Europe by train to track one. It was so fun to read about the various stations and be stopping at half of them on the same trip! I often travel in Eastern Europe and I've developed a love for literature from the region, especially Czech authors - they have such a fantastic sense of self-deprecating, yet subtly proud humor.

I suppose its a matter of what you like to read.

C.E. Murphy is a great, Lois Bujold is my own personal goddess. Dave Freer is divine. Sarah Hoyt, Elizabeth Bear, Rob Thurman, Robin Hob, David Drake, Michael Z Williamson are all great.