"Do you ever run out of great books to read?" asks a friend.

    No, no, and no, is my triple-decker answer.

    "Well, how do separate the wheat from the chaff?"

    Gut, instinct, industry intelligence, and years and years of turning the pages and seeing the good, the bad, and everything in between.

    "So what should I read next?" 

    Depends on what moves you.

    Is fast-paced crime fiction your thing?

    Try the new Patricia Cornwell book, Scarpetta (Putnam). She's such an able writer and handles complicated forensic intelligence with ease and sophistication. You need to be prepared, though, for the world you're entering--this isn't for the faint of heart, let's say.

    If peace and tranquility are more your thing, try Mary Pipher's wonderful new book, Seeking Peace: Chronicles of the Worst Buddhist in the World (Riverhead). Mary is a lovely, comfortable writer who takes the reader through her personal awakening after fame and fortune came her way. Even if you've never experienced life as a bestselling writer (as she has done, in the wake of her important book of a few years back, Reviving Ophelia), you'll totally understand and sympathize with her renewed need for privacy, distance, and quiet, and even glean a few tricks on how to achieve it yourself.

    What if you want a straightforward, totally engrossing read with vivid characters, set circa World War II? You cannot go wrong with Jim Lehrer's new novel, Oh, Johnny (Random House), about a young Marine whose life is changed forever when he meets a woman on his way to war. His relationship with her sustains him through danger and hardship, and there's a fabulous ending. See our interview with the prolific novelist/newsman in the current issue of Reader's Digest (March, on stands now), by the way, for insight into the very talented Mr. Lehrer and what interests him.

    Well, what about something wickedly funny and totally offbeat? Does the name Carrie Fisher do anything for you? Try her vivid and outrageous new memoir of life in Hollywood and elsewhere, Wishful Drinking (Simon & Schuster). Be prepared for humor as sharp as knives and hefty doses of psychological soul-baring (and a lot more than that). Note to rabid Simon and Garfunkel fans: There is an entire chapter on her relationship with Paul. And a pic or two. Delicious.

    More recommendations coming down the pike in the very next go-round. (Can't spill all the beans in one post, you know!)