Did I say a couple of months ago that I would be working so hard I wouldn't have time to read? Sigh. Would that that were true...

The Moor's Last Sigh by Salman Rushdie
I loved Midnight's Children, and I'm one of the few people to like The Ground Beneath Her Feet, so I'm a Rushdie fan. I loved this book. It was so rich, so fabulously odd, in that Rusdhie way. The ending seemed a bit tacked on, though. What's with the sudden introduction of a character we've never met before?

The Corrections by Jonathan Franzen
Great, fun, sprawling read. I cringed and laughed and cried along with all the characters...except the sister. She kind of bored me. Otherwise, I loved the book.

It Takes a Worried Man by Brendan Halpin
This memoir is about the author's wife's cancer diagnosis. It's incredibly touching, and very sad. And funny, too. It's hardly a work of genius, but it's good for a hormone-induced weep-fest.

The Vine of Desire by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni
This novel continues the story of the women we met in Sister of My Heart. As I've said before, I love novels about India, or Indian characters. So I whipped through this in a night or two. She's got a terrific descriptive sense. Probably because she's a poet.

The World Below by Sue Miller
I think of Sue Miller in many ways as the writer I'd like to grow into. Her themes are much the same as mine ? the minutae of daily life, mothering etc. No murders in this one, though.

The Fortune Catcher by Susanne Pari
Okay, I'll admit it -- Susanne is my friend. I gobbled up this book in a day. If you want some insight into Islamic Fundamentalism and a good read at the same time, this is your book.

The Safe House by Nicci French
This is the only mystery I read in the past two months. Can this be true? What a bad mystery writer I am, to have been such a bad mystery reader...This reads along pretty quickly. Could use a little humor, though.

Drowning Ruth by Christina Schwarz
What a lovely, sad, depressing book. The mystery was pretty obvious, but I didn't care. It was beautifully written, and a perfect post-partum book, if tragedy is your thing. I'm always drawn to misery when I've just had a baby.

The Impressionist by Hari Kunzru
This is a very strange novel, that's also compelling. It kept me up until all hours, again and again. This writer is one to watch. I told you I liked books about India.

Peace Like a River by Leif Enger
If you had told me that I would be blown away by a deeply religious book about cowboys and God, I would have laughed in your face. Read this book. It's amazing.

I got off to a slow start in July, but then worked up a head of steam in August. I read enough to satisfy even myself. Now, I'm back to work on the final revisions of A Playdate With Death and plan to begin writing Death Gets a Timeout very soon. My languid days and nights of reading may be behind me for the foreseeable future.

John Henry Days by Colson Whitehead
This guy is a brilliant writer. Almost as brilliant as my husband. And, come to think of it, his work does resemble Michael's. Sentences in this book had me reeling, and laughing hysterically. But, over all, I felt pretty distant from the plot and characters. I wanted to love it. Really I did. But I came away a bit dissatisfied.

A Traitor to Memory by Elizabeth George
I was beyond thrilled to get this in hardcover from a friend. I'd exhausted my hardcover budget for the month and was sure I'd have to wait for the paperback. It was a fun read, but I called the ENTIRE plot in the first 100 pages or so. And I'm not that swift...

The Night Inspector by Frederick Busch
I loved this one. It felt like a delightful Victorian gothic. The language was dead on and the seemy ugliness was creepily pleasurable.

Wild Writing Women by my friend Lauren Cuthbert, among others
These tales of intrepid women travelers braving remarkable dangers were so much fun! They made me want to head back out to Nepal or Ladakh.

The Binding Chair by Kathryn Harrison
I have a real soft spot for novels about China. I liked this book very much, although I was much less interested in the Western girl's story.

The Dark Room by Minette Walters
I love English mysteries and am always looking for good, new authors (or new to me at least). I enjoyed this one. It was a good read while I was on the plane from New Jersey. Miraculously, the baby slept and I had a terrific flight!

Getting a Life by Helen Simpson
The stories were amazing but, oh my God, were they bleak. Mothers on the edge of despair. We've all been there, in some fashion or another.

Still Missing by Beth Gutcheon
I had to skip to the end to see what happened to the abducted child in this book. I never, I mean NEVER, do that, but I couldn't stand the suspence. Maybe I was too post-partum to deal with it. Incredible read, this.

Arranged Marriages by Chitra Divakaruni
Last year I was on an India tear. I must have read twenty or thirty novels by Indian writers. This collection takes place by and large in the US and is a wonderful glimpse into the world of immigrants from India.

The Hotel Alleluia by Lucinda Roy
The Africa parts of this book were enjoyable, but the rest left me pretty cold.

This month's list is short, but in my defense, I did give birth on June 1. I had all this luxurious time for reading after my planned c-section, but due to the fabulous if foggy effects of Vicodin, all I managed to do was read the same article in Vogue over and over and over again. And I still don't know whether lipsticks are matte or glossy this summer.

The Human Stain by Philip Roth
I didn't want to like this book. Really I didn't. I mean, the man writes about prostates and fellatio. In the same sentence. But it was a wonderful book. Beautifully and even delicately written. Compelling. Sad as hell.

Dating Big Bird by Laura Zigman
I really don't plan to use this space to trash other writers. And hell, the book got published, so someone likes it. And I did finish it. It passed the time. 'Nuf said.

Siam: Or the Woman Who Shot a Man by Lily Tuck
This slim little novel is a wonderful glimpse into expatriate life in Thailand circa 1967. It's beautifully written and the sense of place is remarkable, but I found myself wishing for more of a plot.

Make Believe by Joanna Scott
After the deaths of his parents, four-year-old Bo is the focus of a fierce custody battle between two sets of grandparents, one black and one white. I don't generally enjoy novels written from the perspective of children, but I found this one thoroughly compelling.

O is for Outlaw by Sue Grafton
Ms. Grafton is one of the true geniuses of the modern hard-boiled mystery. Her sleuth, Kinsey Millhone, is an inspiration to all of us who are swimming in Ms. Grafton's masterful wake. This installment is particularly enjoyable, as it involves Kinsey's own past.

Being Dead by Jim Crace
I really didn't want to like this book, as the author beat my husband out for the National Book Critic's Circle Award, but it's impossible not to. He's a remarkable writer, and this is a haunting book. It's about a couple of corpses decomposing on a beach, but don't let that dissuade you.

Anil's Ghost by Michael Ondaatje
A delightful bout a forensic pathologist who returns to her homeland of Sri Lanka to discover the source of the organized murder campaigns engulfing the island.

The Vision of Emma Blau by Ursula Hegi
Stones From the River, by the same author, is one of my favorite books of all time. It's brilliant. This one...not so much. I just had a hard time finding a plot in it all.

The Strangeness of Beauty by Lydia Minatoya
If the author of this novel, about Japan on the eve of World War II, hadn't felt the need to be so "lyrical," I would have enjoyed the book more. The characters are interesting and the historical context is compelling. It's a good read if you allow yourself to skip the odd overelaborate descriptive passage.

Sister Noon by Karen Joy Fowler
I love this writer. I don't want to ruin anything about this book for you, so I'll just say that it takes place in San Francisco in the Gilded Age and that all the really interesting characters are women. How often do you get to read a book like that?

Snow Mountain Passage by James D. Houston
I'll admit it. I have a bizarre obsession with grisly stories of survival. Into the Woods by Jon Krakauer was one of my favorite books of the past few years. So I was thrilled to encounter this novel about the Donner Party's celebrated misadventures in the High Sierra of California. The sections of the book dealing with their awful fate were fabulous. Creepy and exciting and sad. I could have done without the detours to the Mexican -American War.