Books and Recent Reading Expeditions

A request for reading material was recently sent out at ShearSensibility, and many interesting titles and authors were listed in the comments. I'd like to add a few books of my own, and show you what I have been reading recently, even though it strays quite a ways from strictly science. I'm often in the middle of several books at once, so some books I have finished, some are in-progress, and some are on my "read next" list. My dad, a former geologist (is there such a thing as a "former" geologist?) gave me the "Map that Changed the World," and MOH gave me the "Alaska" book. Maps and Alaska are always near the top of my overall interest list.