Decisions, decisions

Thanks to Santa, I'm looking forward to reading the following books:

Quicksilver by Neal Stephenson
Ilium by Dan Simmons
Singularity Sky by Charles Stross
Kant and the Platypus by Umberto Eco

I'm just finishing the first Aubrey-Maturin book now. Not the first I've read, but the first in the series. Like it, don't love it. I started with book seven, mostly because it was in the right place at the right time. I think I'll probably start with Stross. I've been looking forward to reading it for a while - love his Atrocity Archive - and besides, I need to savor the notion of having new Stephenson that I can start reading anytime I want for a while before I actually crack the cover.