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Here we have ten books that, if seen in a rider's hands, would make you change trains. I've never seen anything truly disturbing on Max train in Portland, just a few novels. The Metro in DC was all programming books and policy books. (via lgm)

One of my top reads of 2006 was Joseph O'Connor's Star of the Sea. That book was about Irish and English people fleeing the Irish Famine of 47-48. His new book concerns Irish Americans in the US Civil War. The Scotsman has a profile on O'Connor here.

If you like food writing, this book looks like a must.

Robert Kurson had a hit with Shadow Divers, the story of the discovery and exploration via extreme diving of a Nazi U-boat. His new book is also about pushing physical limits. In this case, the book concerns an experimental surgery to bring eyesight back to the blind. The book is about learning to see again.

It's hamburger month. Portland is about to get Mark Lindsay's Rock and Roll Cafe which is to feature Yaw's burgers, a popular burger from the baby boomer days. The Hollywood burger bar owners across the street probably won't be too psyched.