What are the writers reading? (from Publishers Weekly)

They've been running a bunch of these, but I found this one particularly interesting.

From Mark Haddon, author of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time (Doubleday):

"I've read some wonderful books this year (Train by Pete Dexter, Things You Should Know by A. M. Homes, Timoleon Vieta by Dan Rhodes) but the one I've been thrusting most regularly into other people's hands is Bill Bryson's A Short History of Nearly Everything.

"I am an avid consumer of popular (and unpopular) science so I began reading with some skepticism. To my surprise, it taught me things I didn't know, gave me fresh insights into things I thought I knew and made me laugh out loud. It's worth buying simply for the story of Thomas Midgely Jr., who invented both CFCs and leaded petrol and was accidentally strangled by a machine of his own invention. Though if you're planning a trip to Yellowstone National Park in the near future, you might want to postpone reading this book till you're safely back home."

Sounds like a wild book...I'll be looking for it.