One more to add to my list of things I'm late getting into: Michael Cunningham's beautiful novel The Hours. I'm gonna gush a little but I don't think I've read anything of this magnitude in a long, long time. Unless you've been under a rock, you've probably heard of the movie version which is up for a handful of oscars and stars Nicole Kidman wearing a big schnoz.

I have yet to see the movie (bet your ass I will), but the book is really just written so delicately and the descriptions are so rich. A worthy homage to Virginia Woolf. It is a tribute to the history of the great women writers in the way Jean Rhys' Wide Sargosso Sea honor's Brontë's Jane Eyre.

I guess the last couple of years in grad school and now in my work, I've spent with theory and engineering and science. Lately, I've really missed those works that I spent so much time with as an undergrad.

So, I'm on a quest for better fiction. I've been in a rut lately, reading what's been on the sale table at the book stores. So, if you have any suggestions for good contemporary fiction, please post away.