I've been reading less and less lately. It takes about 90 minutes to get Z to sleep, from the time we announce "night-night" through bathtime, and reading of five or six (of his) books, and then rubbing his head until he finally passes out. These aren't things to be rushed, so one has less time to read. Here's what's on my night-stand right now (compared to October last year, and compared to two months before he was born).

• The State of Africa - I picked this up on our trip to Tanzania in the airport store. It's fantastically dense with information, each chapter is almost a book itself. It feels balanced and thoughtful and the author is well thought of on the 'net and has an extensive bibliography and there's clearly a great deal of research and thought behind the book. I'm still learning, but it sure is whirlwind coverage of the last hundred years in Africa. Recommended if you're interested in the continent.
  
• Phantoms in the Brain by V.S. Ramachandran- This was loaned to me by my friend Michael Stanford. It's a very accessible book on neurology, dealing specifically with phantom limbs and phantom pain, and how the body remaps its image of itself. A fascinating read, much lighter than you'd think.
  
• Killing Rain (John Rain Thrillers) by Barry Eisler - I love the whole Barry Eisler "Rain" series. John Rain is a half-Japanese, half-American professional assassin who specializes in making it look like a natural death. Because he's in Japan, he doesn't have a car, so there's incredibly detailed (and apparently, accurate) descriptions on how he gets to and from his target's final resting places. He's an assassin on foot, using crowds and organizational behavior to stay in the shadows.
  UPDATE: Barry Eisler, the author, just left a comment below that the sixth installment, Requiem for an Assassin, comes out on May 22! That's so cool. I love blogs.
  
• Cell by Stephen King - Folks are picking on this book, but you either like Stephen King or you don't. In this book, the end of civilization starts with a cell phone call...how can you not like a book that starts like that? Can you hear me now?
  
• Smoke and Mirrors: Short Fictions and Illusions by Neil Gaiman - I can't remember who in my blog posts recommended Gaiman, but I'm hooked. My family is hooked. My parents are hooked. Stardust the Movie is coming out this summer and I just ordered the BBC Miniseries of Neverwhere, for Pete's Sake. This compilation of short stories is great "bathroom reading." Just put it in there and you'll eventually make it all the way through. 
  
• Good Omens: The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch by Neil Gaiman - More Gold from Gaiman (Neil Gaiman blogs here), another Armageddon novel I'm reading, although this one is decidedly "jollyer" than Cell. It involves a mixup in the birth of the Anti-Christ and wackiness ensues along with an unusual partnership between a demon and an angel.
  
• The Honor of the Queen (Honor Harrington (Paperback)) by David Weber - Darn that Chris Sells, he told me to read the first Honor Harrington novel and now I have to read all, what, eleven of them? The first one started slow...real slow, and then something like fifty pages in, I was hooked. It's better than Star Trek (in terms of space combat) when Star Trek was great. My dad's hooked too. I keep wanting Angelina Jolie to play Honor in a movie, but that would cheapen it, wouldn't it?

By the way, all the links and pictures in this post were quickly and easily added using my CueCat for Windows LiveWriter Plugin that you can download and use as well!

What are you reading?