Amos, I'll second Guns, Germs, and Steel. Fascinating!

Another fascinating one was "The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime" by Mark Haddon. It's sort of a murder mystery; the "detective" is a highly intelligent boy with autism.

I've also read just about everything written by John Lescroart, my favorite quick-reading crime/cop/lawyer author. Far better than Grisham in my opinion.

Right now, though, I'm cutting back on my reading in an attempt to force myself to write.

Aloha,
Mark