Good, because it is time for me to bring you up to date on some reading suggestions that I have developed for you from my work on UNC-TV's "North Carolina Bookwatch."

One of the most provocative, and possibly controversial, books of the year deals with health policy. It gives advice about our personal health choices and about how our country should change its policies. In "Worried Sick: A Prescription for Health in an Overtreated America," UNC School of Medicine professor Nortin Hadler suggests many of the tests and procedures we expect for the diagnosis and treatment of medical conditions are wasteful and counterproductive. He urges patients to consider avoiding such procedures and suggests that the government reduce or eliminate funding for many of them. (Watch Hadler on "North Carolina Bookwatch" this weekend -- Friday at 9:30 p.m. and Sunday at 5 p.m.)

N.C. native Tony Earley's "Jim the Boy" was one of the most popular books in our state several years ago. Its sequel, "The Blue Stat," follows Jim into his late teenage years in the time just before World War II. Critics have praised Earley's story set in North Carolina. (Earley will be on "Bookwatch," Oct. 24, 26)

If you have ever wondered if Hansel and Gretel really made it out of that gingerbread house alive or why Rapunzel was kept in that tower or what the real reason was behind Lady Godiva's shocking ride, you should take a look at "Black Pearls: A Faerie Strand." North Carolina writer Louise Hawes shares her version of the "real story" of what really happened in several of the most popular fairy tales. (Oct. 31, Nov. 2)

Some books recently featured on "North Carolina Bookwatch" also merit your consideration.

Raleigh author Therese Fowler's first novel, "Souvenir," was picked up by a major publisher and has drawn favorable attention in the writing community. No wonder. Her story takes its reader into the heartbreaking life of a young woman doctor who faces challenges at home, a reunion with a lost lover and the prospect of a disease that will take away her ability to live a productive life.

Do not forget Anna Hayes's "Without Precedent-The Life of Susie Marshall Sharp," a groundbreaking assessment of the life and work of North Carolina's (and the nation's) first elected state supreme court chief justice. This is the story of how a strong woman proved that women could succeed and lead in positions that had long been denied to them.

Moore County lawyer and mystery writer J.D. Rhodes sets his compelling novels in his home country. His latest, "Breaking Cover," brings drug dealers, motorcycle gangs and runaway FBI agents into small-town North Carolina. It is a thriller that kept me awake long after I finished the book.

Although the Battleship North Carolina is one of our state's icons, there's much about its history most of us never hear. But when that saga is told with the stories of its crewmen, you have the makings of a very poignant history. Cindy Ramsey, author of "Boys of the Battleship North Carolina," tells these stories in a most engaging way.

Hold these ideas for your Christmas list. I will be back in a few weeks with some more suggestions.

D.G. Martin will talk about this column on WCHL-1360 at 8:20 a.m. with Ron Stutts. His regular program, "Who's Talking," airs at 6 p.m. and 10 p.m.