Meet Me at Infinity (James Tiptree Jr 2000)

A posthumous collection of non-fiction and short stories. I'll take my time with it.

Heat 20: Plain Vanilla Futures (Ed Ivor Indyk 2009)

Looks like a challenging read.

(500) Days of Summer (Marc Webb 2009)

Pomo romcom but lots of heart. And laughs.

TV: United States of Tara (Diablo Cody 2009)

I'm finding this compulsive viewing, and not just because I worship Toni Collette. We watched four taped episodes last night.

Dangerous Days: A Digger's Great Escape (Ernest Brough 2009)

I'm hoping this will be a remedy for the aftertaste of Inguinious Barristuds.

Shall We Kiss? (Emmanuel Mouret 2007)

My defective hearing makes it virtually intolerable to watch in-flight movies. But I decided to try this subtitled Gallic romantic comedy without earphones. I don't think I missed much, but nor would I have missed a great deal if I hadn't watched it at all. The English title misses the awkward politeness of the French Un baiser s'il vous plaît.

Inglourious Basterds (Quentin Tarentino 2009)

There's no doubt that this guy can make movies. I was sleep deprived, but I didn't nod off once, though I did close my eyes several times as self protection. Reflecting on it afterwards, I found all roads leading to revulsion.

Perdido Street Station (China Mieville 2000)

Another big thick book, that should keep me going for the whole Paris–NY–LA–Brisbane–Sydney trip. It's a fantasy, though not exactly rosy.

Seitoun (Dave Eggers 2009)

Another book about peremptory imprisonment and related horrors, this one set in 21st century USA.

A Year in the Merde (Stephen Clarke 2005)

My travelling companion not only laughed a lot at this and its sequels, but kept reading bits that shed light on our experiences in France. So why not actually read it?

Landscape of Farewell (Alex Miller 2008)

Having just read books about terrible things done in England and North America, now I'm reading one set closer to home.

What Is America? (Ronald Wright 2008)

I attended a lecture by Ronald Wright last year, and it's about time I read this: what we know but are induced to forget about US history.