# Fictitious books/magazines you'd like to read **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 15, 2006, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fictitious-books-magazines-youd-like-to-read/356872 "2006-05-15T18:29:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2006, 12:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fictitious-books-magazines-youd-like-to-read/356872/61 "2006-05-17T12:39:19Z")
I’d like a copy of _The Dying Earth_ by Martin Silenus - the original copy, not the bastardized version he was forced to publish. ---
**Author:** ![Cheez\_Whia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/d26b3c/32.png) [@Cheez\_Whia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheez_Whia)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2006, 12:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fictitious-books-magazines-youd-like-to-read/356872/62 "2006-05-17T12:51:55Z")
[QUOTE=Saltire] Am I really the first with _Quidditch through the Ages_ and _Hogwart’s: A History_? [/QUOTE] Well [part](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/043932162X/ref=ed_oe_h/002-4556527-7912836?%5Fencoding=UTF8) of your dream can come true! I just finished rereading _Quidditch Through the Ages_ last night. ---
**Author:** ![chrisk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@chrisk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chrisk)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2006, 12:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fictitious-books-magazines-youd-like-to-read/356872/63 "2006-05-17T12:55:15Z")
[QUOTE=chrisk] Doh… stupid audible website, doesn’t seem to want to let me direct-link. But you can go to [http://www.audible.com](http://www.audible.com) and search by keyword ‘tertiary’ [/QUOTE] [We have a direct link!](http://www.audible.com/adbl/store/welcome.jsp?BV_UseBVCookie=Yes?source_code=AUDW2306EM040204&entryRedirect=/store/productPromo.jsp&entryParams=%5EproductID~PF_BBCW_000475%5EsentBy~chrisken) I had to use the ‘recommend this link to a friend’, and the recommendation emails kept getting caught in spam filters. One of them bounced back to me at my [audible.com](http://audible.com) registration address, on yahoo. ---
**Author:** ![Cluricaun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/bb73d2/32.png) [@Cluricaun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cluricaun)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2006, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fictitious-books-magazines-youd-like-to-read/356872/64 "2006-05-18T17:50:31Z")
I’ve been trying to think of this one for the last couple of days, and it finally revealed itself to me. I would love to get my hands on Tobin’s Spirit Guide from Ghostbusters. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2006, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fictitious-books-magazines-youd-like-to-read/356872/65 "2006-05-18T18:03:10Z")
[QUOTE=Malodorous] And the Necronomicon, because nothing bad could possibly come out of reading that 😉 [/QUOTE] And if you’re still regrettably sane afterwards, follow it up with _The King in Yellow!_ That should do the trick! [The King in Yellow - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_King_in_Yellow) ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2006, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fictitious-books-magazines-youd-like-to-read/356872/66 "2006-05-18T18:06:14Z")
[QUOTE=Bosda Di’Chi of Tricor] Which reminds me…how about the contents of Dr. Watson’s tin dispatch box, containing all the unpublished cases? [/QUOTE] Especially the one about the Giant Rat of Sumatra! 🙂 > **[Giant rat of Sumatra](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giant_rat_of_Sumatra)** > > The giant rat of Sumatra is a fictional giant rat, first mentioned by Arthur Conan Doyle in "The Adventure of the Sussex Vampire". As part of the tale, the protagonist, Sherlock Holmes, declares that there is a "story" connected with this rat, presumably a detective case he has handled. The name of the rat and its implied unpublished history were later used in Sherlock Holmes pastiches by many other writers. In "The Adventure of the Sussex Vampire", first published in the January 1924 issues of T... ---
**Author:** ![DocCathode](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doccathode/32/18773_2.png) [@DocCathode](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DocCathode)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2006, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fictitious-books-magazines-youd-like-to-read/356872/67 "2006-05-18T18:28:57Z")
How I Did It By Victor Frankenstein The Necronomicon and King In Yellow have been named, but what about The Black Book by Van Junzt Unausprichen Kulten De Vermis Misteris Re Monster Book Of Monsters I have a copy that I bought about twenty years ago. It’s an anthology of monster stories. ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2006, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fictitious-books-magazines-youd-like-to-read/356872/68 "2006-05-18T19:34:24Z")
[The Courier’s Tragedy](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Courier%27s_Tragedy). ---
**Author:** ![JThunder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e95f7d/32.png) [@JThunder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JThunder)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2006, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fictitious-books-magazines-youd-like-to-read/356872/69 "2006-05-18T19:40:02Z")
The Junior Woodchuck Guidebook. That thing must be amazing! ---
**Author:** ![Bridget\_Burke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7cd45c/32.png) [@Bridget\_Burke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bridget_Burke)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2006, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fictitious-books-magazines-youd-like-to-read/356872/70 "2006-05-18T19:46:49Z")
I also have a copy of Venus On the Half Shell. In fact, I believe I actually read it. However, I cannot vouch for your sanity. Or mine, for that matter. [QUOTE=Cluricaun] Am I crazy, or do I have a copy of Venus on a Half Shell by Kilgore Trout on my bookshelf? [/QUOTE] ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2006, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fictitious-books-magazines-youd-like-to-read/356872/71 "2006-05-18T19:54:40Z")
[QUOTE=JThunder] The Junior Woodchuck Guidebook. That thing must be amazing! [/QUOTE] Heh, Penny’s Computer Book would have been pretty cool, too. I’m sure it’s better than a PDA. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Beadalin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3be4f8/32.png) [@Beadalin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beadalin)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2006, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fictitious-books-magazines-youd-like-to-read/356872/72 "2006-05-18T20:17:12Z")
There were about a million cites in the footnotes of **Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell** that I would love to look up, if only they existed. ---
**Author:** ![maureen262](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ed655f/32.png) [@maureen262](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/maureen262)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2006, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fictitious-books-magazines-youd-like-to-read/356872/73 "2006-05-18T20:48:51Z")
‘How I managed to build a phenomenal career as a singing sex bomb (in spite of possessing negligible talent, and looking like a transexual truck driver)’ by Madonna. ‘Tree. Me. I am similar to one’ by Harrison Ford (These have never been written, or even suggested, but they should be…) ---
**Author:** ![photopat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e95f7d/32.png) [@photopat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/photopat)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2006, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fictitious-books-magazines-youd-like-to-read/356872/74 "2006-05-18T23:42:47Z")
Let’s not forget _Achmed the “I just get these headaches”_ **Book of Humorous Cat Stories** and **The Monster Fun Grimoire**. ---
**Author:** ![Glassy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ea666f/32.png) [@Glassy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Glassy)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2006, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fictitious-books-magazines-youd-like-to-read/356872/75 "2006-05-19T03:09:09Z")
[QUOTE=Kat] I just thought of another: The Diaries of Korval. Of course, first I’d have to learn to read Liaden… [/QUOTE] Oh, they just stick you into a convenient space-opera machine and download the knowledge into you. (I loved the sequence in Scouts Progress where the auto-education machine, or whatever it’s called, is used as a torture device.) ---
**Author:** ![rjk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ed655f/32.png) [@rjk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjk)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2006, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fictitious-books-magazines-youd-like-to-read/356872/76 "2006-05-19T20:25:26Z")
[QUOTE=BrainGlutton] And if you’re still regrettably sane afterwards, follow it up with _The King in Yellow!_ That should do the trick! [The King in Yellow - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_King_in_Yellow) [/QUOTE] Beat me to it! As an alternative, I’d certainly subscribe to the hypothetical obituary magazine suggested on the board by our own **Eve**. (Was its title to be _Death_ or _Obit_? The search isn’t helping me.) ---
**Author:** ![Tenar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/35a633/32.png) [@Tenar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tenar)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2006, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fictitious-books-magazines-youd-like-to-read/356872/77 "2006-05-19T21:55:31Z")
I’m not sure if I could stand to read them through, but I’d like to try anything written by Thomas Covenant – both his pre- and post- leprosy diagnosis works. But I would surely need a copy of Hamster Huey and the Gooey Kablooie to cheer me up afterward. ---
**Author:** ![Civil\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/d78d45/32.png) [@Civil\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Civil_Guy)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2006, 4:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fictitious-books-magazines-youd-like-to-read/356872/78 "2006-05-20T04:28:23Z")
Not a book as such, but I’d like to study at the library for the Unseen University (Ankh-Moorpark, Discworld). Or at least read any book that the Librarian would find for me. ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2006, 4:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fictitious-books-magazines-youd-like-to-read/356872/79 "2006-05-20T04:49:13Z")
[QUOTE=Civil Guy] Not a book as such, but I’d like to study at the library for the Unseen University (Ankh-Moorpark, Discworld). Or at least read any book that the Librarian would find for me. [/QUOTE] But is not the Library connected through L-space to every other library that might (or might not) exist, including the one down the street here in Mundania? The problem is getting upper-level librarians to admit you through that certain seldom-used door. And then finding the way… 🙂 I’d settle for being able to make an _inter-library loan_ from Unseen University. ---
**Author:** ![betenoir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/258eb7/32.png) [@betenoir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/betenoir)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2006, 4:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fictitious-books-magazines-youd-like-to-read/356872/80 "2006-05-20T04:59:43Z")
[QUOTE=Cluricaun] Hmmmm…I thought it the hight of Sci-Fi writing when I was twelve, but that may be because it had both spaceships AND sex robots. [/QUOTE] Well yeah but can you argue that spaceships, sex robots AND wide open beavers wouldn’t have been even better 😉 ? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fictitious-books-magazines-youd-like-to-read/356872.md?page=3)