Please pardon my absence from the blog this week; I'm fighting off a cold. Or is it swine flu? One friend sent a handy-dandy flu-swine flu-cold comparison chart, useful if one wants to self-diagnose or get hysterical.

While resting I finished off Nine Dragons by Michael Connelly, which is No. 8 on the Publisher's Weekly best seller list. It's fast-paced, there's a shocking death and his Detective Harry Bosch is set up to start a very different life.

I also roamed the pages of Ree Drummond's The Pioneer Woman Cooks, Recipe's from an Accidental Country Girl, which is No. 6 on PW's hardcover non-fiction list. Check out Drummond's web site, too. It's more delightful than the book and you get more of a feel for her unexpected life as a rancher's wife. She's a talented writer and photographer, which you will see online, and she's on a book tour now so you can find out when she'll be near you.

The recipe's in Drummond's book are intriguing, but just reading them makes me feel as if I've gained five pounds. Not so The Conscious Cook: Delicious Meatless Recipes That Will Change the Way You Eat  by Tal Ronnen. Ronnen and book got the Oprah treatment last month — he's the man who fixed her food during her 21-day cleanse — and it's no wonder she's taken with him.  I talked to him as he was getting ready for the big book launch and found he sounds a little like a guru you want to follow into the land of better health. He's convinced a plant-based diet is the way — and he's a former meat eater.  He's working with restaurant chain Chipotle now to put vegetarian and vegan options on their menus. But back to the book. Every single recipe is shown in a gorgeous photograph. You will be inspired to cook. You can check out Tal's web site here.

Also on my pile of new books is Capt. Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger's book, Highest Duty, written with former USA WEEKEND columnist Jeffrey Zaslow. Much of it is about the day Sullenberger landed an Airbus 320 in the Hudson River and all 155 on board lived to tell the tale. I find that even though I'm a fretful flier I like to know the details of accidents — why they happened and how they can be prevented.  And I find it comforting to know that experts like Sullenberger are still at work.