Looking for more fantastic reads, now for 2007. Please help. Thanks to those who helped me last year I spent 2006 reading some fantastic books and discovering new authors. Amongst the recommended from 2006, I read: hard boiled wonderland, kafka on the shore, the wind-up bird chronicals, The Cloud Atlas, Kokoro, kissing in manhattan, amy and isabelle, you are not a stranger here, a personal matter, temple of the golden pavillion, the glass castle, lovely bones, and prep. Here's the same speil as last year: Here are my requirements: fiction - has to be relatively character based, well written and a book I can't put down. It can be classic or popular. here are a few I'd put in that category: The Kite Runner, The Time Traveler's Wife, Mystic River (tho the last ten pages were terrible), Great Expectations, A Prayer for Owen Meany, one hundred years of solitude, the unbearable lightness of being. As you can see, my taste is all over the place. I generally don't read mystery or sci-fi and never read horror. for non-fiction, I want books that are well written and don't read like they should have been long articles. I've enjoyed the Tipping Point, most of Feynman's work, the elegant universe, personal history, a million little pieces, and mauve just to give you an idea. Also if you like the work of a particular author, I'd be delighted to find out about new authors. A few I like are: Dickens, Murakami, Kundera, Coelho, Tyler, Irving, Hornby, Banks, Davies. And a new requirement this year, since now I've reentered the world of those who work 14-hour days and have a two-year-old, is that the book really has to be too good to put down. Any and all help is much appreciated!

Books for nine year old girl? I've been shopping for books for a bright, verbal almost-ten year old girl and have been dismayed at how many of the new titles are just age-reduced "chick lit" about dating. Can anyone recommend books that include a female protagonist that are a little bit more...what?...empowering? (This thread was very interesting but concerns only poetry.)

What is your all time favorite book (fiction or non)? I am looking to expand my horizons. I am a grad student and so I dont find myself reading for fun too often but, I should. I thought that this population might have some great ideas for new reads. I want to know what people love, not just what I think I would love. Any help is much appreciated.

I know someone who wants to become an independent professional photographer (of the wedding photo / portrait variety). I want to give this person a book that will teach them how to be independent professional photographer as a gift. Something that will give them some insight into aspects of the job beyond having a keen eye and talent. Can you recommend something?

Please tell me a book you think everyone should read and why. Fiction or nonfiction, doesn't matter. I'm not so interested in hearing about your favorite book or your desert island book, but a book you think everyone would benefit from reading.

What's the most exciting novel you've ever read? I mean this in the simplest sense: an exciting plot. I'm looking for page-turners. Novels that keep you on the edge of your seat and refuse to let you sleep until you finish them. I'm looking for genre novels -- but I don't care what genres: Mystery, thriller, sci-fi, etc. (though sci-fi/fantasy has been done-to-death here, so I'm really more interested in other genres.) Oh, I care about words. So no matter how exciting, I'll quit reading if the prose is crappy.