I went to the library last week to borrow another book by Dan Brown, and found that not one of his titles were available in any of the libraries in Montgomery County. They were all either checked out our on hold or in transit. His books are obviously very popular, and this is proof.

Other proof was seen in today's Sunday comic section where The da Vinci Code was featured in the comic strip "Mutts". Unfortunately it not yet available online.

The da Vinci Code
by Dan Brown

The da Vinci Code had me hooked from page one. From there it was a losing battle, and I admit defeat. I had trouble putting the book down, and read well into the night, on two consecutive nights.

The book is about a college professor who finds himself a suspect in the murder of a curator of the Louvre. He has to solve a series of cryptic puzzles, at first in an attempt to clear his name, but later to solve one of the greatest mysteries of history.

Not only did I read the book with complete fascination, I also participated in two web quests sponsored by Random House which were fun to do. One holds the promise of a possible prize and the other was just for fun.

It has been a while since I was so fascinated with a book that I could hardly do anything else. I guess that is a good thing, because I get little accomplished when I am so into a good read.

Mr. Brown is able to weave real places, events and people among his fictional places, events and people so seamlessly, it was almost frightening.

The Piano Tuner
by Daniel Mason

I began reading this book about two months ago. It was a book group pick and even though I was not interested in the subject matter, got it from the library anyway. I did not like it at first, but then it seemed to become interesting. However, something either happened to my concentration or the book was really not so good because I quit reading it, missed book group and am going to take it back to the library unread. Glad I didn't spend money on it.