Inferno by Dan Brown

Professor Langdon's back, puzzling through his next cryptic treasure hunt to save the world; this time, he's trying to prevent a plague inspired by the 14th century epic poem by Dante Alighieri.

I'm a sucker for these books - they're the perfect mix of contemporary issues with geeky art and history knowledge that strikes a chord with me. Plus, I can't ever seem to set the book down because Brown ends even the shortest, two-page chapters with some kind of cliff-hanger that keeps you going.

To admit that I read this book over 4 days doesn't mean that it isn't read-it-in-one-sitting material - only that it's 460 pages long. Over those 4 days, I was totally sleep-deprived due to late-night reading binges - I just didn't have the time to stay up and binge.