# 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:** 7\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![Innanna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/ecd19e/32.png) [@Innanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Innanna)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2004, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-that-apparently-youre-the-only-person-to-read/234020/101 "2004-03-17T19:32:57Z")
> [@photopat](#): > > Has anybody else ever read **Bridge of Birds** by Barry Hughart? Great book set in ancient China. I picked it up years ago at Stars Our Destination in Chicago. I know Hughart wrote two sequels although I’ve only ever read one of them. It was good but not as good as the first. I have read all three–SciFi book club edition. I quite enjoyed them. And I do not think I have ever met another person who has heard of them. How about **Stop the World, I want to Get Off**? It had aliens visiting the Earth. As I recall, they did not like it very much. And there was one series–blanking on the name, but each one had an umbrella in the title. I haven’t seen these outside of my local library (And probably for good reason, knowing my taste as a young teen :)) ---
**Author:** ![scotandrsn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a4c791/32.png) [@scotandrsn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scotandrsn)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2004, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-that-apparently-youre-the-only-person-to-read/234020/102 "2004-03-17T19:43:37Z")
> [@bughunter](#): > > - Another by Herbert, this time Whipping Star. Stars are intelligent beings. The galactic government is so efficient that it includes a Bureau of Sabotage to throw monkey wrenches in the process so that citizens have a chance against their government. And someone is holding a star hostage and torturing it… I read The Dosadi Experiment, which was kind of a sequel to Whipping Star. Great story! ---
**Author:** ![xcheopis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/bc8723/32.png) [@xcheopis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xcheopis)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2004, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-that-apparently-youre-the-only-person-to-read/234020/103 "2004-03-17T19:48:47Z")
> [@photopat](#): > > Has anybody else ever read **Bridge of Birds** by Barry Hughart? Great book set in ancient China. I picked it up years ago at Stars Our Destination in Chicago. I know Hughart wrote two sequels although I’ve only ever read one of them. It was good but not as good as the first. My current favourite; I’ve been pimping it for months now. For those in SF, Cover-To-Cover in Noe Valley carries it new. I’ve also seen it used at a few stores. Both of the sequels are good but not on a par with the first. **Eight Skilled Gentlemen** suffered most toward the end, in my opinion, but is still a good story. ---
**Author:** ![Innanna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/ecd19e/32.png) [@Innanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Innanna)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2004, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-that-apparently-youre-the-only-person-to-read/234020/104 "2004-03-17T22:48:06Z")
> [@Innanna](#): > > And there was one series–blanking on the name, but each one had an umbrella in the title. I haven’t seen these outside of my local library (And probably for good reason, knowing my taste as a young teen :)) Okay, this was bothering me. After some hunting, the books are both by Martin Kaye: **The Incredible Umbrella** and **The Amorous Umbrella**. ---
**Author:** ![Shirley\_Ujest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shirley\_Ujest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shirley_Ujest)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2004, 4:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-that-apparently-youre-the-only-person-to-read/234020/105 "2004-04-10T04:24:10Z")
> [@acrossthesea](#): > > _Candy_, by Mian Mian. About a young woman in China’s underground scene of sex and drugs. It was actually banned in China, which should have given it more headlines around the world, but I’ve yet to find anyone who’s even heard of it. Real good book though. I read this. Surprisingly, it was at my library which isn’t exactly the first place Hot New Books or Upcoming Books are found. (It’s wading slowly out of its Mayberryish mentality and whomever is picking books there is doing a pretty darn good job.) I really liked parts of this book, it was well written but I was depressed for the characters for their drug abuse about 3/4 of the way through and I never finished it. ---
**Author:** ![Tamarin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bc79bd/32.png) [@Tamarin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamarin)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2004, 4:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-that-apparently-youre-the-only-person-to-read/234020/106 "2004-04-10T04:47:01Z")
> [@JackaRoe](#): > > I have never met anyone who has heard of **Jack Vance** hence never read any of his books. The closet I came was while playing Dark Ages of Camelot, an online role playing game, so9meone recognized my name as a main charater from one of Vances’s series, “The Cadwal Chronicles”. > > So has anyone read anything by **Jack Vance**. I’ve read the Lyonesse series but never anything else. I didn’t realize how many books [Jack Vance](http://www.jackvance.com/) has written! ---
**Author:** ![Shirley\_Ujest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shirley\_Ujest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shirley_Ujest)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2004, 4:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-that-apparently-youre-the-only-person-to-read/234020/107 "2004-04-10T04:51:12Z")
My one ‘friend’ ( a used book store owner) was the only book buddy that I was sympatico with. She ran her business into the ground and I have been without verbal book talk for quite some time. A book series that I am working my way through is \*\*Miss Read Novels \*\*: Lovely pastoral books set in Post WW2 england about a school teacher in a small town and the goings on. I think there are over twenty books in the series and I’m slowly on 3. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-that-apparently-youre-the-only-person-to-read/234020.md?page=5)