Transmission, by Hari Kunzru. A computer programmer plots to save his job by creating a nasty virus, then heroically defeating it. "Lonely paranoid techie" sounds like a caricature but probably used for good comic effect if this is anything like Kunzru's debut, The Impressionist.

The Coma by the not unsightly Alex Garland. I couldn't even finish Garland's last novel, The Tesseract, but I think he's back, after writing the very creepy 28 Days Later. Plus it's just 144 pages with illustrations, perfect for a one-afternoon read.

American Desert, by Percival Everett. A ghost story by the brilliant author of Erasure.

The Plumber of Souls by Michael Guinzburg. I just picked this one up at the bookstore without ever reading a review but it involves a priest, a software mogul who makes illegal clones to be his companions, and people who marry their Mad-cow disease ravaged cows.

A Private Life by Chen Ran. A coming-of-age story set in the era of the Tian'anmen Square demonstrations.

What Really Happened to the Class of '93 by Chris Colin. Colin tracked down twenty people from his high school class, shortly before their 10 year reunion to see what had become of their lives. Do you think maybe everything had changed and yet at the same time, nothing had changed at all? Me too, but I still can't resist.

Feed, by M.T. Anderson. I'm going to pretend this is a recommendation from our resident teen but how can anyone not like a book where kids go to the Moon for Spring Break and have a constant stream of data fed to them so they don't have to read or write or even think? Kind of like now, only without keyboards and monitors. I can't wait for Google to make this a reality.

Sixteen, edited by Megan McCafferty. I like YA fiction, you have a problem with that? Actually there are some funny stories in here by Candyfreak Steve Almond and super-chill Ned Vizzini.