The air-plane book. Previously published under a pseudonym, this political thriller is set in the months leading to the first Gulf War: A low-ranking CIA analyst uncovers hints that Saddam Hussein could be preparing for a major military operation, but her superiors do not want to hear about it, because it does not fit into their own scheme of things. At the same time, a small-town Iowa Deputy Sheriff (and great admirer of Sherlock Holmes) investigates the murder of a foreign exchange student and stirs up a great deal of attention in Washington and in the Middle East. The plot and setting is not too exciting, but Stephenson's witty writing style is well worth your time.

Oh, and if anyone was wondering, I did finish the Baroque Cycle, and it was great. I started to blog about it, but trying to come up with something special to match the extraordinary books turned out to be too ambitious and I could not finish the posts. It would have required continuous note-taking throughout (which did not happen), or a page-by-page revisit (and pages there are plenty). Well, maybe one day. It was a concept.