I'm 200 pages into Bill Bryson's Made in America but it's quite difficult to continue as it isn't what I expected. Much more language focused, and while I like some linguistics from time to time, he has parts of the book which feel like he's summing up all the different permutations of American English. The problem is that I adore his storytelling method (it's what hooked me into A Short History Of Nearly Everything) but there's too much stuff around the great stories. I'm having a hard time battling through the boring parts for the good parts. Recently I finished Surely You Must Be Joking, Mr Feynman which is filled with such lovely stories.

I'm also reading James Howard Kunstler's Geography of Nowhere which is more relevant to my field of study. It's basically a rant on the demise of public space and the suburbs of America. Very anecdotal but nice to read.

When I feel like reading a short essay I grab Hitchens Arguably. I should be reading more of these three books but my free time is spent more with friends and on the Web that I rarely take the time to sit down and read.