Want to Read: Aimee Bender - The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake

A girl who senses the emotional origins of food upon tasting it. Sounds a bit magical.

Want to Read: Tom Bissell - Why Video Games Matter

This book looks interesting - the world of gaming is maturing. Is it capable of real artistic achievement? The review is promising - Bissel is an editor at Harper's, and he teaches fiction - he should have a good perspective.

Want to Read: Vaclav Smil - Global Catastrophes and Trends, The Next 50 Years

Margaret Wente recommended Vaclav Smil. And although I often disagree with Wente's political stance, I love the way she makes me re-think issues. So if she thinks Smil is worth reading, he probably is.

Read: Dan Brown - The Lost Symbol

I might never have read this book if left to my own devices. I did read The Da Vinci Code, but that was due to a misadventure with a Mexican shopping mall, a Spanish-subtitled movie, and a lack of English book selection - I found the plot gripping but the writing wasn't terribly enjoyable.

However, a friend recommended this book because of its history of Washington DC and its landmarks. And since we're about to be spending several weeks there, I thought I'd read it as a primer for sight-seeing - and it worked. I'm much more keen on seeing some of the government buildings than I would have been otherwise.

Read: - Alan Bradley - The weed that string the hangman's bag

I read Alan Bradley's first mystery novel in this series during a business trip, and it was fantastic. I particularly enjoyed the young protagonist's love of chemistry - this is a book I should be reading to Mark.

I didn't find the second quite as charming - sometimes the inclusion of the chemistry slant seemed a bit forced. But Flavia's internal dialogue is still as funny as ever, particularly the rules she makes up for herself in how best to cope with her misadventures.

Re-read - Jacqueline Carey's Terre d'Ange series

In a burst of incipient summer fantasy escapism, and in preparation for the release of Jacqueline Carey's new book 'Naamah's Curse', I re-read all of her novels set in the imaginary land of Terre d'Ange. That's 7 books - the original trilogy featuring Phedre, the spin-off trilogy featuring Imriel, and the new trilogy featuring Moirin. Now I'm just awaiting the release date on the new book - it had better come out soon before I lose my momentum!

Want to Read: Lawrence Scanlan - A year of living generously: dispatches from the front lines of philanthropy

Scanlan spends a year volunteering with 12 different agencies, one month each. Seems like the perfect book to read before I'll have a year myself to volunteer.