I felt quilty (albeit mildly) when I got Readin' in my mailbox that I hadn't sent you some readin' ideas after the last installment. So here goes:

One of the best books I've read in yearsãand, as it turned out, unfortunately timely, was The Nine Parts of Desire: The Hidden Life of Islamic Women by Geraldine Brooks. Brooks is (or was) the Mideast correspondent for the Wall Street Journal who records her many experiences with Muslim women in many parts of the Middle East, especially Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Iran, and Iraq. It was fascinating, sobering, upsetting, and I was unable to put it down. Brooks' style is engaging and she clearly has enormous experience. She has the objectivity of a reporter but doesn't hesitate to make her opinions clear.

I also loved In the Heart of the Sea by Nathaniel Philbrick. This is so much the opposite of the kind of book I'd ever choose (that's one reason why book clubs are so good.) It is the true story of the 1819 doomed voyage of the whaling ship which was rammed in mid-Pacific by a giant whale (Yes, it's the event upon which Moby Dick was based). The 27 men on board the ship set out in three lifeboats... and you'll need to read it to find out what happened. Great book!

I'm currently reading A Heart-breaking Work of Staggering Genius by David Eggers. Eggers' parents died within weeks of each other when he was 18 leaving his adult brother, sister, and him to care for their 8-year-old brother. Eggers is outrageous, witty, ironic, sentimental; his stream of consciousness style takes a while to get used to, but the book is truly heartbreaking, funny, sweet, tragic, and, frankly, a bit staggering.

As far as good mysteries are concerned, (my sister and I frequent the Poisoned Pen bookstore in Scottsdale, AZ), some great authors to check out are Elizabeth George (she's an old standby), Virginia Lanier (female detective who trains bloodhounds), Minette Walters (British), Walter Mosley (the Easy Rawlings ones), Miriam Monfredo (Women in 19th cent America. One title is The Seneca Falls Inheritance), and Tony Hillerman (Southwestern US). Better yet, go to Poisoned Pen Web site.

Finally- a few comments on books mentioned in Reading. I hated The Pilot's Wife. Read it for a book club and would never have finished it if it hadn't been for the group. I read about half of Wilkie Collins The Moonstone about 20 years ago. Found it turgid and too dense to be suspenseful. Someone mentioned Bill Bryson A Walk in the Woods. It was great. Again, not the kind of book I'd normally choose. I read about half of Prodigal Summer: too pedantic/like she was on a soapbox. I was disappointed because The Poisonwood Bible was one of my favorites.

Coming up on my stack of books: Cousin Phyllis by Elizabeth Gatskill (19th century British) and The Lexus and the Olive Tree by Tom Friedman.

Cindy Kalland