Ok, this is nonfiction, but you should read "Confederates in the Attic." It's interesting, AWESOME, and highly entertaining.

dude carl hiaasen have a bunch of books i can lend ya .... mostly about environmental stuff in FL and fiction... ones about a stripper if that helps =)

Two suggestions which while fictional, are based around real events...

War and Peace. Seriously. This is the ultimate character driven novel. The Maude translation is best and is that available through Gutenburg. Unfortunately, only the Garnett version can be found in modern prints but it is a good second best. Don't read any translations of Russian that aren't by either of these two. The best place for Maude translations are book stores, and if you're really lucky you will find mid-century printing, "The Inner Sanctum Edition" by Simon and Schuster.

Hadji Murad. Yeah, another Tolstoy. Should give some insight into Russia's conflicts with Georgia and Chechnya.

for Maude translations are book stores,

That is to say, used book stores.

Haha. Isn't War and Peace like a million pages long? I would be lying if I said I wasn't slightly intimidated by the size of it. ;-)

Its about 1300 pages, give or take.

I study Russian history, and even I find War and Peace a tad boring.

If you want to read something fun from Russia, check out Akunin's translated works. He's one of the hottest writers in Russia today, and he writes these great period pieces about the late 19th century. They're detective novels, with this quirky Sherlock-Holmes-like character who solves these murders that have great intrigue behind them. I haven't read the translations, but I've heard they're decent. They've received enough of a response to get a movie started on the first one. Plus, they're short, so you can get through 1 quickly and see if you like them. Start with The Winter Queen, and go from there, if you like it.

Oh, and I love the haircut. From the LJ shot, it looks tres-hipster, and it suits you.

Are you looking for something humorous? If so, I have many Augusten Burroughs (Running w/ Scissors guy) and David Sedaris novels.

The great thing about them is most of them are just funny short stories. Perfect for transit commuters.

That could work.