What are you reading?

So I just finished "The Historian" by Elizabeth Kostova. It completely took hold of my life for two days! Imagine "The DaVinci Code" but about Dracula and vampires. Not light reading! Not my usual stuff--I'm not often interested in the occult and things this macabre, but the book caught my eye at Target. It was misplaced and just kind of made its way into my hands. . . interestingly enough, this theme is very much a part of the novel.
If you are looking for some happy, happy book, I do not recommend it; however, if you are in the mood for something in the Halloween spirit, this is a winner.
For me, there's something intriguing about a novel that is at least partially comprised of correspondence between (in this case, many) different characters. Think: "Possession" (don't remember the author and didn't see the movie but the book was VERY interesting). The letters give you a glimpse more personal that straight narration. Also the variation in narrative voice keeps it much more interesting!
My first interest in the book was the author's seemingly Eastern European name. When I flipped through to discover the book was VERY much based in Eastern Europe, I was hooked. Although it begins in Amsterdam, the story spans thousands of miles--Boston, Oxford, Romania, Hungary, Bulgaria, Turkey, etc. I was thrilled to see similarities between the few words in Hungarian, Rumanian, etc. and the little Polish I know. Those kinds of things are pretty exciting for me! I love to see those connections between languages. And then the detail of the characters' visit to Oxford was thrilling, and I felt myself back on Broad Street. Even her musings on the canals in Amsterdam brought back memories from our recent trip. I guess having traveled to a few places gives you more of a connection when you read about them. Like when I took art history as a senior in college *after* I had traveled in Europe--the "stupid paintings" the freshmen complained about had a much deeper meaning for me since many were in the context of my memories.
So. . .what to read next? I picked up "The Dogs of Babel" a while ago--a murder mystery where a dog is the only witness. And I have one of Jodi Picoult's novels (I completely understand that it will have some twist ending that may not be satisfying) but I'm certainly saving that for the plane ride over to Ireland.
Oh, and if you are wondering where I'm writing this from--still in P-land. There has been new Irish legislation that will not allow workers to enter the country prior to receiving their work visa, so John and all the rest of the crew on the project are heading home this weekend to wait for their paperwork to be processed. Bummer!
But back to the books. . . what are you reading?