A List Of Things Thrown Five Minutes Ago

THE ORIGINAL MR. F: Since I'll be leaving for my grand tour of the world's first class flight cabins this weekend, now seems as good a time as any to provide an update as to which books I have ordered for my travels. I undoubtedly overordered, but I like to have options. The list was compiled using the following criteria:

• Recommended by one or more Throwers of Things
• Paperback (sadly, this was the death knell -- at this time, anyway -- for Abundance)
• Not unduly depressing (My Sister's Keeper bit the dust here)
• Not said to require excessive investment of brainpower before getting interesting (Blind Assassin, I'm talking to you)
• Available for same-day-in-Manhattan delivery from B&N (because I just got around to ordering tonight) (this one knocked off Carter Beats the Devil)
• Otherwise captured my interest upon reading the Amazon reviews (B&N's reviews and user comments always suck. I can't figure out why. But they have the same-day Manhattan delivery, so I usually floomph around on Amazon and then order from B&N if I need books quickly)

And so here's the list:

• The Magician's Assistant, by Ann Patchett
• Snow Flower Secret Fan, by Lisa See
• Dirty Job, by Christopher Moore
• Gay New York: Gender, Urban Culture, and the Making of the Gay Male World, 1890-1940, by George Chauncey
• Monopoly: The World's Most Famous Game and How It Got That Way, by Philip E. Orbanes
• The 21 Balloons, by William Pene du Bois (this one is kind of a cheat, because no one actually recommended it, but I found out tonight that Mr. Cosmo had never read it, and so I ordered it for him -- except I think I'm likely to sneak it into my suitcase and hand it over to him when I get back)

Thank you all for your help! I'll report in after I've actually read something.