What I'm reading now that makes me think SF

I've been doing a lot of reading lately (unemployment will do that).  Two authors have really got me thinking about SF; John Scalzi and Allen Steele.  Their books deal with interstellar colonization, first contact and the difficulties humans might face once leaving Earth (as well as the challenges of a future Earth).  This has gotten me thinking about the early days of Frontier expansion - I'm currently working on an article for StarFrontiersman on the Cassidine system as a result.  I highly recommend these authors (the books are "Old Man's War", "the Ghost Brigades" and "the Last Colony" by Scalzi; "Coyote", "Coyote Rising", "Coyote Frontier", "Coyote Horizon", and "Galaxy Blues" by Steele) for anyone who enjoys SF.