To follow the actual thread title, the book I'm currently reading is
The Windup Girl by
Paolo Bacigalupi . I read on some thread somewhere about what's hot in new sci fi so gave it a shot, I had to wait 7th in line for the reservation at the library.
Very good, I'm liking it a lot, the Wikipedia article there calls it BioPunk,
It's set on a future Earth very beleivable extension of current technological advances, no laser guns, anti gravity or aliens.