Good news for Neal Stephenson fans (The Diamond Age, Snow Crash, Cryptonomicon)- his new book will be out in September. I got an email today from an author update mailing list, so I almost deleted it thinking it was spam (I don't remember half the poo I sign up for) but I saw Neal Stephenson in the subject line just in time. So here is the link for the Baroque Cycle. Or maybe it's called Quicksilver, it's not exactly clear. Quicksilver is a pretty generic title, though, I'd go with the Baroque Cycle if I was him.
And, I finally finished The Arctic Grail. Quite a book. My Dad, who originally got me into Pierre Berton in the first place by lending me Klondike (best book ever, read it today!) he told me Arctic Grail was a little dry. And though at over 630 pages, there are certainly some dry parts, I actually found it to be thoroughly fascinating and entertaining. Can you name me the first person to reach the North Pole? Most people can tell you Amundsen was the first to the South Pole, but who got to the North Pole is a little more cloudy. Some chicanery was involved.