What's Holly Petraeus reading?

While Holly Petraeus' husband, Gen. David Petraeus, runs the U.S. Central Command overseeing operations in 20 countries, she holds down the home front on MacDill Air Force Base. As both a military brat and a military wife, she has moved households many times, "but never gets rid of a book. It just means more stuff and less energy with every move."

What's on your nightstand?

I have never been to Iraq, but I've been reading Desert Queen: The Extraordinary Life of Gertrude Bell (by Janet Wallach). It's interesting to see they have the same knotty problems there now.

I picked up local author Linda Taylor's Great Women Exploring Nature: How Wild Florida Influenced Their Lives, about Harriet Beecher Stowe, Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings and others.

Does the Tampa Bay area feel like home?

I'd like to see more. I have a book called One-Tank Trips and I would like to go bird-watching.

Amy Scherzer, Times staff writer