Variable Star
by Robert A. Heinlein, Spider Robinson

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The best Heinlein book Heinlein never wrote! That is to say, Spider Robinson's novel, based on notes and an outline never completed by Heinlein, is a credible entry into the universe of all things RAH.

Robinson happily lifts concepts and notions (slidewalks, Nehemiah Scudder, Harriman industries) out of the Heinlein canon, and merges them with his own ideas to create a story that fits well within the Heinlein Universe. Dramatic, and picking up on ideas and technologies that Heinlein never saw, this book does feel like it fits in with RAH's own work.

Tempting Faith: An Inside Story of Political Seduction
by David Kuo, J. David Kuo
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A great book - and hard to peg. I suspect the left will be uncomfortable with his laudatory words about many religious leaders and Republicans, and the right will be unhappy with his rejection of their merger of religious and political goals.

But his book highlights many of the problems of our current political scene, and along with his critique, his greatest criticism is for himself, and his mistakes in his political career. It's a genuine book, and worth reading.

(And he quotes CS Lewis a lot - I have to love it for that!)

The Perfect Thing: How the iPod Shuffles Commerce, Culture, and Coolness

by Steven Levy

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Cool book - with lots of interesting details about the creation, emergence and dominance of the iPod. Maybe not for you, if you hate all things iPod, but otherwise an interesting read. (or in my case, LISTEN. I downloaded it from Audible.com to my iPod shuffle - somehow that seemed like the more appropriate way to experience it....)