oh alright i'll give the new Galactica another go...
here's some other stuff i've been reading recently in addition to the excellent list above
Ben Elton's "Blind Faith" i'm a big fan of Ben Elton usually, but this is a nasty book. don't read it. set in a global warmed near future where London is a lake, religious extremists have taken over and blogging every intimate detail of your life on facespace (ha) is compulsory. everyone in the story is tortured and killed. oops sorry for the spoilers, now you don't need to read it ;-)
I like Neal Stephenson's idea in "Snow Crash" that the Torah (first section of the bible, the bit that Muslims, Jews and Christians all share in common) is the ultimate virus, using human brains as the host and method of replicating itself.