Neal Stephenson. My favorite work of his is his Baroque Cycle trilogy, a superbly-researched, fascinating, richly detailed, entertaining historical fantasy set from about 1650 - 1750 and the only places Stephenson doesn't take his characters are the north and south poles, I believe.

I also love his "Cryptonomicon," a sort of cyber-historical adventure story. Three disparate story lines: A WWII cryptoanalyst in England, a WWII China Marine in the Pacific Theater, and a contemporary Internet guru the Phillipines as well as Washington state--all three people revolving around Japanese war gold, submarines, codemaking and codebreaking, the Phillipines, et al.

I love Michel Tournier, although I'm not too sure just how active he is. His book The Ogre, about a French prisoner of war who eventually runs a Hitler youth camp is one of the most beautiful things I've ever read.

can i have 2?

philip roth.

years now after having finished his american trilogy, i still live with his characters and with the existential issues his writing raises. i think of them when i lie in bed at night. the Swede. Ira. the way roth writes about america also resonates with me in a very particular way. and his love for shakespeare... i have yet to read Exit Ghost -- i'm kind of saving it.

john banville.

for the language (the book of evidence, the untouchable...). and the hell with critics who call it too recherché. however: the protagonist of the shroud (i think that's the right title) took me almost to the edge of what i find bearable in the way of blackheartedness...

Neal Stephenson is an acquired taste, I guess. Upon your recommendation I should (and will) give him another go. I threw myself at "Cryptonomicon" for several nights' reading and kept startling myself awake at 1 a.m. with the book either open on my face or fallen to the floor while I escaped into slumber. Maybe he's for a.m. reads when one is especially bright-eyed and tailed. I kept getting lost and therefore disinterested.

I just read "The Fortress of Solitude" by Jonathan Lethem. Oh! His words and story construction make me feel small. It's a riveting look into the male persona and life's effects and coming of age in Brooklyn. I want to read "Motherless Brooklyn" next, once I oomph myself back to the bookstore.

Have to finish "World Without End" (by Ken Follett, which I'm only sticking with as an homage to "Pillars of the Earth," which was far superior). Mr. Follett's usual thriller genre isn't quite my cup of tea, so this will be it. Both 5-pounders will become bookends in my bedroom library (to beat burglers on the side of the head when my sleep face doesn't send them howling to the streets).

Barbara, if you've no interest in technology, Cryptonomicon may be tough going for you. Instead, try his Baroque Cycle trilogy, beginning with vol. 1, "Quicksilver."

Give it several chapters to get going, I found the opening chapters set in Mass. didn't make as much sense to me as they did after I'd read the series and went back again for a re-read, which paid off well. Lots of things I didn't notice the first time around I saw now and they added to the depth of the books.

KenWritez,

Thank you. I'll give any book a solid 50-page chance, but if I know there's better to come I'll give it 100 before tossing in exasperation. If you've been compelled to read this twice, it must be a tasty read.

Mary Doria Russell, author of (among others) "The Sparrow" and "Children of God".

"The Sparrow" is the story of an space expedition sent in response to a received signal - but the mission is sent by the Jesuits, who have so often been on the forefront of exploration in the name of God's kingdom. The story starts with the return of one survivor from the expedition, a priest who is too destroyed to talk about what happened - but the Jesuits want the full story. It is one of the most gut-wrenching stories I've ever read.

She followed it up with "The Sparrow," a story of the return expedition. This is one of the only sequels I've ever read that lived up to the impact of the original.

Also recommended by this author: "Thread of Grace," a novel about the Jews who fled into the Italian Alps during World War Two.