RIDING WITH THE QUEEN, Jennie Shortridge. A first novel that reads like a 20th, about a down-and-out blues singer with some mother issues who goes home to Denver to work out her life.

EXPAT, Women's True Tales of Life Abroad, Edited by Christina Henry de Tessan. A delicious group of essays.

THE BEST AMERICAN TRAVEL WRITING, 2003. Edited by Ian Frazier. The annual roundup of best essays. Good cross-section of writing and subjects.

WHY WE LOVE, the Nature and Chemistry of Romantic Love, by Helen Fisher. I can never resist chemistry-of-the-brain studies, and this is quite interesting.

THE ART OF MENDING, Elizabeth Berg. She is a master of the layers of family love.

Things I have waiting on my desk:

A SUITABLE BOY, Vikram Seth, because my uncle said it's an excellent book and I believe him. I checked it out of the library once, and didn't get it read. Three days after turning it back in, I discovered a copy in pristine condition at a used bookstore I only happened by. I can't resist synchronicity as presented like that.

LA CUCINA, Lily Prior, which has had a lot of word of mouth. And my mother thought I would love it, so I have it waiting.

THE EIGHT, by Katherine Neville, because a friend adored it and thought I would like it and sent me her copy.

BET ME, Jennifer Cruisie. But I save her books for Dire Times, because she's not the most prolific writer in the world and she saves me from reading disaster, so I have to be careful not to spend it too fast.

BETWEEN SISTERS, Kristin Hannah, because I love all of her books and usually do read them, but this time I especially need to read it because it's one of the books in the RITA category with A PIECE OF HEAVEN.

There are others. Lots of others. I'm particularly reading a lot of travel essays lately--imagining, maybe, that I'm brave enough to plan a trip around the world. Although it's more like, "if I were brave, what would I do to go around the world?" :)

Your task, if you choose to accept it, is to go to the message board and post a great book you've read lately.