For all those here such as I with that short attention span syndrome, may I suggest you do what I do: Read the Sunday L.A. Times Book Review Section.
Now I know what you're thinking here...that I'm "cheating" or maybe taking somebody else's word about the lastest books on the Best Sellers List. BUT, look at it this way...ALMOST without exception those reviews are written by what could be described as the "Intelligentsia" in this country(or the U.K.), who almost without exception are published authors themselves.
So, the bottom-line here is that I save a heck of a lot of time and money by doing this, AND if I'm ever around people who STILL read, I can come off like I know a little somethin' about the subject at hand.
(and besides...you people all know me by now...I KNOW EVERYTHING ALREADY ANYWAY, RIGHT?!...so what are those darn books gonna tell me that I don't already know, HUH?!!!!)
