The Moth has come to Portland a couple of times (via the folks at Literary Arts and/or Wordstock). But you should know that we have our own storytelling awesomeness called Back Fence PDX. It's every other month at the Mission Theatre. It's about $12 a ticket and it sells out often, getting a crowd of more than 300 people in there. Check out their info at the usual places: twitter, facebook, and backfencepdx.com

Chuck Palahniuk is just amazing. He wrote Fight Club. It was such a good movie too. He is notorious for that twist at the end that completely alters your perception of the book and knocks you on your ass. I recommend Choke and Diary.

Robert B. Parker's Spenser novels are great pulp fiction and fast page turners. There are about 25 of them going back to the 70's. My favorites would be Judas Goat, Early Autumn, and valediction are my favorie.

Donald Westlake has a number of funny or serious caper novels. "Dancing Aztecs" makes me laugh every time and any of the Dortmunder novels are great.

Lawrence Block's novels about Matthew Scudder are dark and very well written. Finally, Robert Crais has a number of "Elvis Cole" mysteries which are great summer reads too.

You should be able to find most of these at the library or as downloadable rentals from http://library2go.lib.overdrive.com

Can I mention my new e-novel, The Mission of the Sacred Heart? It's set in Portland in 2000 and has lots of places (and a few people) you might know. It's about a couple of hipsters, an opera singer, a gutterpunk girl, and a guy who may or may not be an alien. It's only be out since 4/15 and already gotten some great reviews! Here's a YouTube Video about it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KQMqpk02bew

And here is the Amazon link: http://www.amazon.com/Mission-Sacred-Heart-ebook/dp/B004WT7KLC/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&m=AG56TWVU5XWC2&s=books&qid=1305044670&sr=1-1

Well, this is not a wide history of AIDS, but Rebecca Brown's The Gifts of the Body is worth looking at.
http://www.powells.com/biblio/9780060926533

The Epidemic by Jonathan Engel is fascinating, well written, and wide in scope. I would highly recommend this book.

There's also And the Band Played On by Randy Shilts, a journalist who covered AIDS in San Francisco before succumbing to the disease himself in 1994. Comprised of his reporting from the earliest days of AIDS, it is thorough and intense.

Anything by Tana French, starting with "In the Woods." Also John Burdett, beginning with his excellent "Bangkok 8." Kate Atkinson ("Case Histories," "One Good Turn," and "When Will There Be Good News") is very good as well

For a little creepiness factor - perhaps better around Halloween - try Susan Hill's "The Woman in Black" and Sarah Waters' "The Little Stranger." Arianna Franklin's medieval mystery series, which begins with "The Mistress of the Art of Death," is also fun.

For contemporary western mysteries, I recommend Craig Johnson's Walt Longmire books (first is "The Cold Dish"), which AMC is now making into a TV series (with Katie Sackhoff!), and Nevada Barr's Anna Pigeon books, which are set in national parks across the country. Fun Alaska mysteries are Dana Stabenow's Kate Shugak series (way better than Sue Henry's books); they give you a lot of info about native Alaskans and current issues there.

Do you recommend the Reacher books?

Have you read any Richard Price? Lush Life is a great place to start. I guess maybe it's more of a "procedural" than a mystery, but it's definitely substantial, and an incredibly good read no matter what you call it.

Literary page turners...

Libra by Don DeLillo. Fictional account of the life of Lee Harvey Oswald. Exciting, historical, politics, conspiracy, awesome prose.

Rule of the Bone by Russell Banks. An abused and drug addicted teen runs away from home in the Northeast. A strange adventure story. A little melancholy.

Motherless Brooklyn by Jonathan Lethem. Did someone already mention this?

What Kevin said. Plus Charlie Huston is one of my favorites, though he's very pulpy. Try Caught Stealing of Sleepless.