One of my favorite works of historical fiction is The Lady and the Unicorn which was beautifully, poetically, and magnificently written by Tracy Chevalier. The title refers to actual tapestries currently hanging in Paris's Musee National du Moyen-Age Thermes de Cluny. Chevalier weaves (pun intended) a fictitious tale surrounding the commission of these tapestries, the creation of the works of art, and the love, secrecy, and extraordinary efforts that went into making them. Nicholas des Innocents, tapestry maker, falls in love with the daughter of the wealthy man who hired him to weave the six elaborate scenes. Chevalier relays each character's story through their own narration, including Nicholas' current wife with whom he has three daughters (but no sons).

Chevalier is known for her amazing pieces of historical fiction. Her first novel Girl with a Pearl Earring was even made into a motion picture. The story centers around the real artist Johannes Vermeer and his fictitious house made that became the title character. Chevalier describes the forming forbidden relationship between master and servant and how it may cause trouble for each of them.

Chevalier chooses a time in history that usually has to do with an artistic, creative historical artifact. Her current novel, Burning Bright surrounds the formation of William Blake's poetic works, 'Songs of Innocence' and 'Songs of Experience' and how two small town children influenced his work.

One will fall in love with Chevalier's works and truly respond to the time of the story. Other historical fiction novels by Chevalier include: The Virgin Blue and Falling Angels.

As an avid reader, I have read a great deal of books. I would never call myself a 'book worm', but I like to settle into bed before I fall asleep and read a couple of pages (studies show this will help get a good night's rest, so turn off the TV and read). The genre of books I like to read varies immensely depending on my mood, what I pick up at the library, and what's on the best seller's list that week. My favorite type of book to read is currently labeled 'chick lit'. These novels revolve around a 20s-30s protagonist who must overcome an obstacle in her professional life while trying to land the perfect guy in her private life. Most females flock to these stories because who doesn't like a happy ending?

My other favorite genre is historical fiction. I think people dismiss these types of books too quickly. Though I am no history buff, I like when an author weaves in a fictional story during a historical era. The reader gains a vast amount of knowledge, while enjoying some leisure reading.

Lastly, another field of literature I enjoy reading are action/danger books. These mostly involve the CIA, scientists, the government, fighting, espionage, blackmail, deceit, kidnapping, and backstabbing.

Books are a method of escaping from reality. Some people use TV to do this, but the method of reading and visualizing at the same time allows one's creativity to imagine how the characters look in their own mind. I will be giving recommendations of good books to read according to different genres, as well as suggestions of how to search for books one likes to read.

Rare is the writer who can make a reader laugh out loud. Carl Hiaasen's exceptional humor can tickle the funny bone like no other.

The only writer in my collection to repeatedly make me laugh out loud is Carl Hiaasen. Technically, he doesn't even belong in the collection - he doesn't write a series with a repeating character and his lead character is usually not a detective (though it was in his first novel). But somewhere along the line the words, "funny," "hilarious," "wacky," and "hysterical," kept popping up in descriptions and reviews of Hiaasen's books so I made an exception and started at the beginning of the series. Hiaasen's been writing fiction for over 20 years (he was a reporter before trying his hand at novels) and his first attempt - "Tourist Season" - came out in 1986. That was where I started.

Hiaasen is a master of the absurd - no one can take a "serious" matter like saving the environment and turn it into an exercise of comic relief quite like Carl Hiaasen can. Hiaasen's books take place in South Florida, a popular venue for writers, and the author is fixated on one idea - the unfortunate and tragic reality of the natural, beautiful landscape of the area being taken over and destroyed by "progress," construction, and civilization. Hiassen's characters are quixotic and determined, off-beat yet intelligent and they tilt at the windmills of the blind and clueless establishment, vexing and hand-tying them by the end of every book. This description does nothing to explain the sheer silliness and bizarreness of most of the scenes and plots of Hiaasen's books. They bomb along at an out-of-control pace, taking no prisoners, and leaving the reader shaking his or her head. The humor is not for everyone - too absurd for some and too gross for others - but beneath the insane scenarios, Hiaasen's stellar writing is the real basis of his fame and fortune. His books tend to be the same after a while - recycled plots and characters - but he can still get a giggle out of me every single time.

Sue Grafton's Kinsey Milhone books are an easy, addictive pleasure. One can only hope the alphabet - and the series - goes past "Z."

I have to admit that there aren't many female authors in my collection. A couple have been added in the last few years (S. J. Rozan comes to mind) but only one has been in it from the beginning - Sue Grafton. I started reading Grafton's Kinsey Milhone "alphabet" series years before I started my collection so it went without saying that I'd fill in the blanks and that her stellar series would have a starring place on the shelf.

Grafton launched her series - with "A is for Alibi" in 1982 and she is currently working on "T is for Trespass," which is due out in hardcover at the end of this year. The series is actually stuck in the 80's and takes place in a fictitious Californian coastal town called Santa Teresa. Kinsey is the best - she is a 30-ish, single, tough, unsentimental private eye who can get down and dirty with the best of ?em. She is totally self-aware, knows her limitations, and is happy to tease herself about all of them. She is a loner ? like every hard-boiled private eye should be - and Grafton has taken pains to let her social/love life evolve slowly over the course of 25 years. Kinsey has softened somewhat over time but only a bit; essentially, she hasn't really changed mht since the series began and I think it's because her fans like her as she is - plucky, independent, brave, smart, cynical, jaded and no-frills. Everyone can relate to some aspect of Kinsey's personality and - in the end of each book - she always gets her man. The books are easy reading; not great literature but, at this point, classics of the genre. Grafton produces about one Kinsey book a year (maybe every 18 months), which means that in the decade to come the alphabet - and the series - will draw to a close. I don't want to think about it - I just look forward to the next entry.