1) Little Brother by Cory Doctorow (this is the front runner)
2) Collapse by Jared Diamond
3) Grayson by Lynne Cox
4) Suit Francaise by Irene Nemirovsky and Sandra Smith
5) A Town Like Alice by Nevil Shute
6) Geek Love by Katherine Dunn
7) Our Kind by Marvin Harris
8) Devil in the White City by Erik Larsen
9) The Path Between the Seas by David McCullough (and various others by this author)
10) The Sookie Stackhouse series (on which HBO's True Blood is based) by Charlaine Harris
I think 10 is a good start. Vote, veto, and keep suggestions coming for a week or two! Then we'll make a final decision and start reading......