Philip Pullman: His Dark Materials Trilogy (The Golden Compass; The Subtle Knife; The Amber Spyglass)
Some children's stories are not children's stories. (****)
Hilary Mantel: Wolf Hall: A Novel
Tough sledding to get through, but brilliant in spots.
Anthony Bourdain: Kitchen Confidential Updated Edition: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly (P.S.)
If Hunter Thompson was a foodie. (*****)
Elizabeth Moon: Command Decision (Vatta's War, Book 4)
Good basic space opera (***)
Orson Scott Card: Ender in Exile
Boring in spots, but sprinkled with diamonds of writing. (***)
Timothy Ferriss: The 4-Hour Workweek: Escape 9-5, Live Anywhere, and Join the New Rich
Tim's a little crazy, but there's lots to chew on here in the area of questioning your basic assumptions. Good for that if nothing else. (****)
James Ishmael Ford: Zen Master Who?: A Guide to the People and Stories of Zen
Middle section reminds me of Genesis (begat, begat, begat) but the best up-to-date (2001) explanation of how all those Zennies got here. (****)
Soko Morinaga: Novice to Master: An Ongoing Lesson in the Extent of My Own Stupidity
Delightful book about a Zen master's progression. (*****)
Linda Greenlaw: The Hungry Ocean: A Swordboat Captain's Journey
Nuts and bolts of swordfishing from the world's only female captain. More fish than polemic. (***)
Natalie Goldberg: Writing Down the Bones: Freeing the Writer Within
Best book on interior of writing I've read in quite some time. Great advice for we the writing afflicted. (*****)