# Books that apparently,you're the only person to read **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 13, 2004, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-that-apparently-youre-the-only-person-to-read/234020 "2004-03-13T02:56:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Silver\_Fire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e4f/32.png) [@Silver\_Fire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Silver_Fire)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2004, 4:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-that-apparently-youre-the-only-person-to-read/234020/41 "2004-03-14T04:26:18Z")
The “Shopaholic” trilogy by Sophie Kinsella. ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2004, 4:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-that-apparently-youre-the-only-person-to-read/234020/42 "2004-03-14T04:50:51Z")
> [@ivylass](#): > > I think I’m the only one to have read _Shadow Castle_. It’s a story about a little girl who comes across a man in the woods, and he tells her a story about a fairy man who fell in love with a human princess, and all the conditions that had to be met before they could get married. Margaret Cockrell? I’ve had two copies, because I gave one to a little girl who was visiting neighbors, and then I had to buy another. ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2004, 4:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-that-apparently-youre-the-only-person-to-read/234020/43 "2004-03-14T04:57:39Z")
My most obscure book is **The Book of Ebenezer le Page** by G.B. Edwards, but it got some attention the last time it was reprinted so there are probably quite a few Dopers who’ve read it. ---
**Author:** ![The\_27th\_Evil](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ebca7d/32.png) [@The\_27th\_Evil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_27th_Evil)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2004, 5:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-that-apparently-youre-the-only-person-to-read/234020/44 "2004-03-14T05:07:23Z")
I have never found anyone else who read Vonnegut’s Galapagos- a hilarious book, but not often heard of. Our big brains just reject it or something. ---
**Author:** ![ITR\_champion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c67d28/32.png) [@ITR\_champion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ITR_champion)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2004, 5:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-that-apparently-youre-the-only-person-to-read/234020/45 "2004-03-14T05:29:48Z")
Yes, I read The first Chronicles of Thomas Covenant last year. When I first got into adult high fantasy, that was one of the most frequently recommended series. Brilliant concept, outstanding writing, unforgettable characters. Easily makes my list of the five best high fantasy series of all times. Rare books I have known: _The High House_ and _The False House_, by James Stoddard. Most people run screaming from the room when you mention the words “Christian fantasy”, but these books are actually quite good. Lots of lavish descriptions, plenty of action, very intriguing setting in a magical Victorian mansion that contains entire worlds. _The Prophecy Machine_ and _The Treachery of Kings_, by Neil Barrett, Jr. Dark comic fantasy involving magic talking animals, insane religious cults, balloons, weird technology, mechanical lizards, walking dead, time travel, sex, conspiracies, etc… ---
**Author:** ![BiblioCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ed8c4c/32.png) [@BiblioCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BiblioCat)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2004, 5:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-that-apparently-youre-the-only-person-to-read/234020/46 "2004-03-14T05:33:07Z")
> [@Silver Fire](#): > > The “Shopaholic” trilogy by Sophie Kinsella. I just read the first one - and want to read the others. I thought it was very funny. ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2004, 5:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-that-apparently-youre-the-only-person-to-read/234020/47 "2004-03-14T05:45:09Z")
> [@ITR champion](#): > > Rare books I have known: _The High House_ and _The False House_, by James Stoddard. Most people run screaming from the room when you mention the words “Christian fantasy”, but these books are actually quite good. Lots of lavish descriptions, plenty of action, very intriguing setting in a magical Victorian mansion that contains entire worlds. I’ve read _High House_! But, well, I don’t remember much about it except for the bobby and the eeeevil anarchists. That probably isn’t a good sign! 😃 Julie ---
**Author:** ![Ghostwind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ce73a5/32.png) [@Ghostwind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ghostwind)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2004, 6:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-that-apparently-youre-the-only-person-to-read/234020/48 "2004-03-14T06:08:54Z")
> [@SPOOFE](#): > > I have yet to meet anyone else - aside from me eldest brother, who recommended it to me - that has read Arthur C. Clarke’s _The Hammer Of God_. 'Tis an excellent book, in my opinion… some may hate the near-unnecessary amount of backstory that clogs the first half of the book, but to me it felt like reading an anthology of mini-stories that led up to the big plot. I read that book twice in my high school days. One heck of a strong book and relevant even today. ---
**Author:** ![Ghostwind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ce73a5/32.png) [@Ghostwind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ghostwind)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2004, 6:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-that-apparently-youre-the-only-person-to-read/234020/49 "2004-03-14T06:12:18Z")
Let’s go for an obscure fantasy book with a (\*gasp) strong female lead character titled _Silverglass_ by JF Rivkin. ---
**Author:** ![NicePete](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ee7513/32.png) [@NicePete](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NicePete)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2004, 6:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-that-apparently-youre-the-only-person-to-read/234020/50 "2004-03-14T06:21:10Z")
> [@The 27th Evil](#): > > I have never found anyone else who read Vonnegut’s Galapagos- a hilarious book, but not often heard of. Our big brains just reject it or something. I’ve read it (several times). Presents an interesting theory about our big brains. I’m not quite sure the Vonnegut wasn’t correct. Also read Thomas Covenant, first when it came out then again about 4 years ago. Very apt comment that they were horribly written yet somehow compelling. As for my contribution(s): _The Circus of Dr. Lao_ by some guy whose name I can’t remember at the moment. _My Three Years with Eisenhower_ by Commander Harry Butcher. _Red Star Over China_ by Edgar Snow. Good stuff, all three. ---
**Author:** ![Odinoneeye](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/97f17d/32.png) [@Odinoneeye](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odinoneeye)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2004, 6:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-that-apparently-youre-the-only-person-to-read/234020/51 "2004-03-14T06:27:51Z")
As far as books I’ve really liked and I’ve found it a shame that no one else seems to have read are the Snow Queen books by Joan Vinge. Actually, on the Snow Queen and the Summer Queen, the middle book, World’s End isn’t very good and is entirely recapped in the first part of The Summer Queen. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Tooth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c67d28/32.png) [@The\_Tooth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Tooth)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2004, 8:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-that-apparently-youre-the-only-person-to-read/234020/52 "2004-03-14T08:15:19Z")
> [@The 27th Evil](#): > > I have never found anyone else who read Vonnegut’s Galapagos- a hilarious book, but not often heard of. Our big brains just reject it or something. I have. Watching holocaust survivors evolve, isn’t that what it’s about? End o’ the world books depress me to no end. ---
**Author:** ![bashere](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/779978/32.png) [@bashere](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bashere)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2004, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-that-apparently-youre-the-only-person-to-read/234020/53 "2004-03-14T14:47:31Z")
I was pretty well convinced I was the only person to have ever heard of **Last Stand of the DNA Cowboys** by Mick Farren, but when I asked about the first three at a SF store in Toronto, the clerk said “By Mick Farren?” before I finished the name. Anyone else heard of him? ---
**Author:** ![TellMeI\_mNotCrazy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tellmei_mnotcrazy/32/3419_2.png) [@TellMeI\_mNotCrazy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TellMeI_mNotCrazy)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2004, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-that-apparently-youre-the-only-person-to-read/234020/54 "2004-03-14T14:56:12Z")
Based on the reaction here… I must be hanging out with shlubs. ---
**Author:** ![Morelin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Morelin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morelin)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2004, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-that-apparently-youre-the-only-person-to-read/234020/55 "2004-03-14T14:58:39Z")
> [@picunurse](#): > > I read Donaldson several years ago. I understand what you mean. I can’t say I liked them, but some how had to keep reading. > > My entry would be _The Magus_ by John Fowles I read and enjoyed _The Magus_. No one I know has read P. N. Elrond’s _Jonathon Barrett, Gentleman Vampire_ books. ---
**Author:** ![Tentacle\_Monster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ba9def/32.png) [@Tentacle\_Monster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tentacle_Monster)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2004, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-that-apparently-youre-the-only-person-to-read/234020/56 "2004-03-14T16:33:16Z")
Another one for Galapagos. Not my favorite Vonnegut, but decent nonetheless. There’s a book called _Those About To Die_ that I haven’t been able to find outside of my old high school library. It’s an interesting book about the Roman colosseum. ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2004, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-that-apparently-youre-the-only-person-to-read/234020/57 "2004-03-14T17:14:20Z")
> [@AugestWest](#): > > _The Circus of Dr. Lao_ by some guy whose name I can’t remember at the moment. If it’s the Jack Finney book, I read it a long time ago and you’re right, it’s great. ---
**Author:** ![xcheopis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/bc8723/32.png) [@xcheopis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xcheopis)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2004, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-that-apparently-youre-the-only-person-to-read/234020/58 "2004-03-14T18:06:04Z")
> [@Tentacle Monster](#): > > (thread remix) > Also, I’ve yet to meet anyone who’s read Mark Twain’s _Letters from the Earth_. Well, we haven’t _met_ in the formal sense but I’ve read it several times. > [@TellMeI'mNotCrazy](#): > > And then there’s The Mirror of Her Dreams, and A Man Rides Through, also by Donaldson. Much more readable, and just as phenomenal. > > No one else ever seems to have heard of them though which frustrates me. I’ve read _The Mirror of Her Dreams_ and hated the protagonist so much that I was hoping she’d magically come to life so that I might slap her until my hands bled. I’ve never read another Donaldson book and I never will. > [@gooti](#): > > **Biting The Sun** by Tanith Lee. My hubby isn’t into sci-fi or fantasy at all and I kind of picked this up by accident. I own (and have read) almost every one of Ms. Lee’s books and anthologies, including this one. I haven’t kept up with her works since about 5 years ago, though. Too busy. > [@ivylass](#): > > I think I’m the only one to have read _Shadow Castle_. It’s a story about a little girl who comes across a man in the woods, and he tells her a story about a fairy man who fell in love with a human princess, and all the conditions that had to be met before they could get married. By **Marian Cockrell** ; first read it in grade school and still have that copy. > [@Miller](#): > > I haven’t met too many other people who have read James Morrow… I’ve read all his other books prior to **Blameless in Abaddon** but still haven’t moved it to the will-read-during-Spring-Break pile. > [@Odinoneeye](#): > > As far as books I’ve really liked and I’ve found it a shame that no one else seems to have read are the Snow Queen books by Joan Vinge. Bought when it was first published. My best friend and I spent an entire summer bullying others into reading it, just as we had done with **God Stalk** by P.C. Hodgell. I’d love to find that others have read **Ou Lu Khen and the Beautiful Madwoman** by Jessica Amanda Salmonson (or any of her other books, for that matter.) Another book I often promote is **Courtship Rite** by Donald Kingsbury. How can you not love a book whose second paragraph begins: _“An old man, Tae had been skinned and then marinated and stuffed with insect flavored bread before his body was spit-roasted.”_ ---
**Author:** ![Undine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/e99b99/32.png) [@Undine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Undine)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2004, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-that-apparently-youre-the-only-person-to-read/234020/59 "2004-03-15T00:52:21Z")
I’ve read Vinge’s _The Snow Queen_ books, loved them, and recommended them widely. I have never met anyone else who read Zilpha Keatley Snyder’s Green-Sky trilogy (_Below the Root, And All Between,_ and _Until the Celebration_). ---
**Author:** ![xcheopis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/bc8723/32.png) [@xcheopis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xcheopis)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2004, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-that-apparently-youre-the-only-person-to-read/234020/60 "2004-03-15T01:00:26Z")
> [@Undine](#): > > I have never met anyone else who read Zilpha Keatley Snyder’s Green-Sky trilogy (_Below the Root, And All Between,_ and _Until the Celebration_). I have. I used to have an autographed copy of **The Velvet Room** from when she visited my grade school. No idea where it is now, though. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-that-apparently-youre-the-only-person-to-read/234020.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-that-apparently-youre-the-only-person-to-read/234020.md?page=4)