The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz

I can see that the Pulitzer folks might find this unique and worthy therefore of recognition, I sometimes lost interest. Maybe it was because I was reading it in New Mexico and Death Comes to the Archbishop just seemed a better read. I definitely found the female characters more interesting and Oscar the least interesting of all. The footnotes about Trujillo made me realize how little I paid attention to the events in the Dominican Republic.

1421 by Gavin Menzies

I confess I skipped parts to finish the book. It is an interesting idea but as much as I believe that China invented almost all the good stuff way before western civilization decided to take the credit, I'm not sure I buy this story.

Forger's Spell by Edward Dolnick

I couldn't believe how many Vermeer connections I made while reading this. I was also intigued with the Emperor's new clothes idea of who gets to decide what is great art and how willing we are to have someone determine art value for us.