I have just finished a couple of really interesting books and thought I'd share them with you and ask you to share what you are currently reading or have just done. Who knows, someone might get some good holiday gift ideas from this, too.:-)

Just finished Calculating God by Rovert J. Sawyer. It's a Nebula Award winner, the author is Canadian and it takes place mostly in Toronto. From the synopsis:

Both alien races believe this (the same cataclsymic events happening on their two worlds as happened on Earth, at the same time) proves the existence of God: i.e., He's obviously been playing with the evolution of life on each of these planets. Aliens from both planets land at a museum in Toronto and basically say take me to your paleontologist, who helps them investigate Earth's evolutionary history. From there, Sawyer tells a fast-paced, morally and intellectually challenging science fiction story...

There's much more to it than that. It is well-written and very thought-provoking to read.

Another I just finished in The Angel is Near "created by" Deepak Chopra and Martin Greenberg. Parallel times, multiple choice scenarios for the characters as they confront a saga of good and evil in an ultimate contest. Deceptively simple in its writing, this one is also very thought-provoking.

Currently working on:

Kindred Spirit: How the remarkable bond between humans and animals can change the way we live by Allen M. Schoen, D.V.M., M.S. also author of Love, Miracles, and Animal Healing. Haven't read the latter, but will based on the former. It is really incredible!

Spirit Horse recommended to me by a Mudcatter who is friends with the author, Ned Ackerman. This is a young adult book of a classic theme, a young Native American boy proving himself through adversity and a spiritual connection to the Spirit Horse. Very well written and a great read. The descriptions are beautiful.

Net Force-CyberNation "created by" Tom Clancy and Steve Pieczenik and written by Steve Perry. VERY interesting, I am only a little way into it, but bascially it is the year 2012, the government has a branch of the FBI called Net Force which is charged with keeping the WEB safe, up and running, etc. CyberNation is a group of savvy computer geeks and people all over the world who believe they can create a country which exists only in cyberdom and they aim to gain status as such, on par with Real World nations, even if it means using terrorist tactics to achieve it.

I'd be interested to know if any of you have read this and how much of it is possible, technology-wise, etc. The blurb calls it "A powerful examination of America's defense and intelligence systems of the future."

SO, what are you reading?:-)

Thanks,

kat