The Alexandria Link, by Steve Berry

Another Dan Brown clone. Not horrible, but not horribly believable, either.

People of the Book, by Geraldine Brooks

Very interesting novel--cool structure.

Sex with the Queen: 900 Years of Vile Kings, Virile Lovers, and Passionate Politics, by Eleanor Herman

Quite the history of the sex habits of wealthy women over the centuries. Kinda depressing, really.

Things You Get for Free, by Michael McGirr

This is from my Books to Read list, and I can't remember where I heard about it. It is the story of the author and his mom traveling to Europe, but also the story of his relationship with his father, who died when he was 12.

McGirr was, at the time of the trip, a Australian Jesuit priest, and that colors some of his comments about the trip in a way I hadn't considered, especially in England. Ostensibly, this is a travel book. In reality, however, it is about traveling one's own history, and that of one's parents. It's not a particularly deep book, but it has a few insights, and the reader gets to know and appreciate the author. His mom is finely drawn primarily because of the amusing comments she makes. She is at once fiercely practical and daringly satiric.

The book ends with McGirr's return to regular life, but the flap says he's a "former priest" so I'd like to know what happened between the trip and the publication date. Time to do some research.

Loot, by Aaron Elkins

Another new character, Benjamin Revere, is introduced in this book. I like this art guy better than Elkins' other art guy; he's just more real for some reason.

The hook here is that a friend of Ben's, a local pawnshop owner, asks him to come look at a painting someone just brought in to be pawned; he thinks it might be a 'real' painting. Next thing Ben knows, his friend is beaten up, dies as a result, and the painting has disappeared. In researching it, he finds that it disappeared during World War II, probably one of the many artworks the Nazis appropriated from their rightful owners.

Ben follows the trail to Austria, then to St. Petersburg, and eastern Europe...and also discovers himself falling for the niece of his friend who shows up to help him figure out why her uncle was killed.

Fun story, lots of history, and good characters