Summertime beach reading -

I checked Kim Stanley Robinson's novel The Years of Rice and Salt out of the library in September, and have been waiting for a block of time away from all responsibilities to read it. Our long weekend get away to the coast let me immerse myself in this alternate history which begins with the premise that the Black Death that wiped out a third of Europe's population in the 14th century killed closer to ninety nine percent of the people. What's left is a world where Buddhism and Islam dominate. The protagonists live through the next six centuries being reborn many times in different places and roles. I found the story fascinating - especially the sections that deal with historiography - the frameworks we have about what history is and how we understand it. A very fun summer read for a former history major!