# It's Time for Another "Whatcha Readin'?" Thread! **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 8, 2004, 4:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-time-for-another-whatcha-readin-thread/249231 "2004-06-08T04:11:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2004, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-time-for-another-whatcha-readin-thread/249231/41 "2004-06-08T20:22:37Z")
Just finished _Glorious Appearing_, the latest/last of the Left Behind series. Hoo boy. My “Listening to An Audio Book in the Car During My Commute” book is a biography of Geronimo. Only fair - less than half the book is actually about Geronimo so far. Can’t remember the author, but it was published in 1971. I also picked up a recently discovered early Heinlein novel, called (IIRC) “We the Living”. That’s next. Then maybe _Full House_, the latest Stephanie Plum novel. My wife wants me to read it so we can discuss it. I managed to plow my way thru Jane Austen’s _Mansfield Park_, based on some Doper recommendations. Better than _Emma_, at least. And I was very disappointed by _Wizard’s First Rule_, which I heard good things about but didn’t encounter in the book itself. Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![NE\_Texan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/e99b99/32.png) [@NE\_Texan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NE_Texan)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2004, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-time-for-another-whatcha-readin-thread/249231/42 "2004-06-08T20:22:44Z")
I’m in the middle of _To Reign in Hell_ by Steven Brust. It’s a stopgap effort to fill my Brust addiction, since I recently read all of his Dragaerian novels, and ran out. I interrupted it to reread (like **Ethilrist** ) Rowling’s _Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban_, having just seen the movie. I finished it though, so it’s back to _Hell_ for me. **LeRoi** , (and **silenus** if you’ve started it,) is _Ringworld Children_ readable? I started _Ringworld Throne_, couldn’t stand it, and put it down. I used to be such a fan of Niven’s, too. ---
**Author:** ![Kizarvexius](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/da6949/32.png) [@Kizarvexius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kizarvexius)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2004, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-time-for-another-whatcha-readin-thread/249231/43 "2004-06-08T20:26:02Z")
On Sunday I finally finished reading _The October Horse_, the final volume of Colleen McCollough’s mammoth _Masters of Rome_ series. Even though I love these books, I can only read them veeeeeeeery slowly. The sheer number of names and places that pop up from one page to the next are pretty overwhelming. Taking notes is heavily recommended. Now that I have that one out of the way, I’ve got a whole box of other books – much less epic and weighty books – taking up space on my bedroom floor. I picked up _The Da Vinci Code_ on Sunday evening and finished it last night at around 3:00 AM. Yes, I am yawning at the office today. Hugely entertaining book. Intellectual caramel corn. I’ll tear my way through a few more page-turners before embarking on the _Master and Commander_ series. ---
**Author:** ![emekthian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ecae2f/32.png) [@emekthian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/emekthian)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2004, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-time-for-another-whatcha-readin-thread/249231/44 "2004-06-08T21:51:34Z")
I just finished _East of Eden_ by John Steinbeck, for my school Summer reading. I enjoyed it, and I think I’ll try reading some other Steinbeck stuff- Cannery Row or Grapes of Wrath, maybe. Next, I’ll be reading _A Rasin in the Sun_, also for school summer reading. ---
**Author:** ![Albert\_Rose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9de053/32.png) [@Albert\_Rose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Albert_Rose)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2004, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-time-for-another-whatcha-readin-thread/249231/45 "2004-06-08T21:55:49Z")
I’m reading **Martin Chuzzlewit** , by Charles Dickens. It seems to be a treatise on human selfishness, especially in regards to the “New Worlders” in the good ole U.S. (circa 1860s). I’m enjoying the exaggerated characters immensely. I like C.D.'s writing style, too, which makes me a big silly. ---
**Author:** ![eunoia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eunoia/32/97_2.png) [@eunoia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eunoia)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2004, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-time-for-another-whatcha-readin-thread/249231/46 "2004-06-09T01:12:32Z")
Nicholas V. Riasanovsky’s _A History Of Russia_ Fourth Edition, Steward Brand’s _The Media Lab_ and Bill Griffith’s _Kingpin_, an anthology of Zippy The Pinhead comic strips. ---
**Author:** ![RealTronic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9dc877/32.png) [@RealTronic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealTronic)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2004, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-time-for-another-whatcha-readin-thread/249231/47 "2004-06-09T01:54:38Z")
Just finished (after what felt like an eternity) _Blackwood Farm_ by Anne Rice… Somewhat of a snore (see separate thread about it) to be honest. So after reading that, I thought I’d intellectualize myself a bit, so I turned my attention to _Northanger Abbey_ by Jane Austen. Yep, that’s pretty far from Anne Rice, and what a refreshing change!! It’s the first Jane Austen book I’ve read (I’ve loved pretty much every movie adaptation) and although the language can be tricky at times, I am enjoying it thoroughly! ---
**Author:** ![Ashes\_Ashes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/db5fbb/32.png) [@Ashes\_Ashes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ashes_Ashes)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2004, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-time-for-another-whatcha-readin-thread/249231/48 "2004-06-09T03:32:52Z")
Lately I haven’t read anything I much enjoyed. Why did I bother with Anne Rice’s _Sleeping Beauty_ series? I don’t like her writing and this trilogy isn’t even good Anne Rice, but I just had to know how it ended, sheesh. Plus, I know it’s a fantasy, but I just couldn’t help thinking those poor people must be seriously chaffed, _everywhere_. Then there was Alice Hoffman’s _Turtle Moon_, which was mildly entertaining but not the light fun of _Practical Magic_. Jeffrey Eugenides’s _Middlesex_ was maddening. All wind up and then a fizzle. The last good book I read was Twain’s _Diaries of Adam and Eve_. It was quite touching, funny, and generally made me like Mark Twain even more. Next up is Oscar Hijuelos’s _Empress of the Splendid Season_. I kind of liked _The Fourteen Sisters of Emilio Montez O’Brien_, so I’ve got my fingers crossed. **Only Mostly Dead** I read _The God of Small Things_ a while back and it was okay. It helped that I was reading it more for the description of another country and culture, than the story itself. Not the happiest read, so I can understand not getting all the way through. ---
**Author:** ![Ashes\_Ashes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/db5fbb/32.png) [@Ashes\_Ashes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ashes_Ashes)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2004, 3:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-time-for-another-whatcha-readin-thread/249231/49 "2004-06-09T03:42:27Z")
You know, it seems I can read a bit, but not write. What I meant, in the last paragraph of my post, was that I could understand that you might not have liked _The God of Small Things_, not that you quit reading it. This darned keyboard, it never listens! ---
**Author:** ![El\_Elvis\_Rojo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/898d66/32.png) [@El\_Elvis\_Rojo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Elvis_Rojo)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2004, 4:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-time-for-another-whatcha-readin-thread/249231/50 "2004-06-09T04:10:51Z")
I’m absolutely terrible with author’s names, which is rather sad, because after I read something of someone’s I like, I can never remember to find other works of theirs :smack: Still, the last name is Lynch, and the book is _The Undertaking_. Lynch lives his life as a poet and undertaker, and so far, the books just a great read. I’m only four chapters in, but so far it’s great. 'm also reading _Fast Food Nation_. ---
**Author:** ![HPL](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/3da27b/32.png) [@HPL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HPL)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2004, 4:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-time-for-another-whatcha-readin-thread/249231/51 "2004-06-09T04:33:30Z")
I’ve got a huge summer reading list, but right now I’m reading “The Illiad” which I’m been meaning to read for a LONG time. I also plan to read the “Oddessy” and “The Aneiad”. The “Art of War” by Sun Tzu, “Paradise Lost” by Milton and “Star Maker” by Olaf Stapleton. ---
**Author:** ![Suburban\_Plankton](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/suburban_plankton/32/219_2.png) [@Suburban\_Plankton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Suburban_Plankton)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2004, 6:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-time-for-another-whatcha-readin-thread/249231/52 "2004-06-09T06:16:05Z")
I’m currently reading _Beowulf_, as translated by Seamus Heaney. Recently I read \*A Simple Plan \* by Scott Smith, and \*The Color of Magic \* (my forst foray into Terry Pratchett’s Discworld). Next, I think I’m going to try to get all the way through Malory’s _Le Mort d’Arthur_. I’ve started it three or four times and have never been able finish it for one reason or another. ---
**Author:** ![DataZak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ea666f/32.png) [@DataZak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DataZak)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2004, 6:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-time-for-another-whatcha-readin-thread/249231/53 "2004-06-09T06:50:44Z")
Have just finished two books in quick succession: The historical fiction, **Gates of Fire** by Steven Pressfield and Terry Pratchett’s latest Discworld novel **A Hat Full of Sky**. Next, I’m going to read Patrick MacGilligan’s biography on Hitchcock, **Alfred Hitchcock: A Life in Darkness and Light** ---
**Author:** ![auliya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/90db22/32.png) [@auliya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/auliya)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2004, 10:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-time-for-another-whatcha-readin-thread/249231/54 "2004-06-09T10:26:48Z")
> [@Spectre of Pithecanthropus](#): > > _Lucifer’s Hammer_, by Jerry Pournelle and Larry Niven. Comet wipes out civilization. > > I’d almost forgotten how good SF can be. 🙂 > > Now I remember why I don’t like end-of-the-world stories ☹ > > But I had to read it, didn’t I? :smack: Wow, i thought I was the only person in the world who remembered with awe Lucifers Hammer. I actually chased it up a couple of Christmases ago for my middle son who is a sci fi fan - had to get it sent up from Sydney, but it was still in print. I am not reading anything except journal articles and lecture notes for end of semester exams atm. ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2004, 11:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-time-for-another-whatcha-readin-thread/249231/55 "2004-06-09T11:50:47Z")
I’m having so much going on in my life right now I haven’t been able to pick up a book in about a week. I can hardly believe such a thing is possible! I do still have my audio book, which, God bless it, is extremely long and interesting. _I Know This Much Is True_, by Wally Lamb. Story of twin boys, one of whom is mentally ill, the other is the narrator. The narrator has plenty of problems of his own, and is also reading a manuscript written by his grandfather, who had a fascinating life in his own right. Highly recommended. It’s not highbrow by any means, but quite an engrossing tale. ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Derfel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/bb73d2/32.png) [@Lord\_Derfel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Derfel)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2004, 12:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-time-for-another-whatcha-readin-thread/249231/56 "2004-06-09T12:53:54Z")
Just finished Hemingway’s _Across the River and into the Trees_. It was alright, but definitely not his best work. He spends a lot of time describing food in detail. Nothing wrong with that, but without the time spend illustrating the culinary delights of Venice the book could have been a short story. I didn’t have a chance to get to the library recently, so I picked a book off of my wife’s shelf called _The Secret Life of Bees_. I couldn’t get more than a third of the way through it. An “inspirational” tale of a young girl and her black housekeeper in Georgia who run away from her abusive father and start a journey of personal discovery and _…zzzzzzzzz…_ Just about to start Umberto Eco’s _The Name of the Rose_. I loved _Foucault’s Pendulum_, so I’m looking forward to this one. ---
**Author:** ![jinty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/dbc845/32.png) [@jinty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jinty)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2004, 1:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-time-for-another-whatcha-readin-thread/249231/57 "2004-06-09T13:03:51Z")
Christopher Moore’s **Lamb**. Blasphemous or heretical, not quite sure which, but it’s certainly laugh-out-loud-funny :D. Starts with the hero (“Biff, Christ’s Childhood Pal” and narrator of the book) meeting Jesus as a young boy. JC has a lizard in his mouth, and he takes it out and gives it to his young brother, who bashes its head with a rock. JC puts it in his mouth again, takes it out (head restored, lizard returned to life), gives it to his brother again, etc. I’m now 300+ pages into Lamb and it’s full of clever inventive stuff like this - not just comedy, there’s pathos and thought-provoking bits too. Highly recommended if you liked “Life of Brian”. Can’t wait to see what happens in the end (don’t say “he gets crucified” I’m sure there’ll be more to it than that). ---
**Author:** ![Meatros](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Meatros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Meatros)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2004, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-time-for-another-whatcha-readin-thread/249231/58 "2004-06-09T14:00:21Z")
Currently I’m reading “The Mystery Religions”, “Atheism, a collection of essays”, “What remains to be discovered”, the NCSE (?) book on education and evolution, “10 things you should know about the crea-evol debate”, and “Stranger in a strange land”. I’m reading each one depending on what sort of mood I’m in-I should probably just concentrate on one at a time, but I really don’t care if it takes me longer to read them the way I’m doing it… 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![LeRoi\_Lezard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/53a042/32.png) [@LeRoi\_Lezard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LeRoi_Lezard)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2004, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-time-for-another-whatcha-readin-thread/249231/59 "2004-06-09T18:12:39Z")
> [@NE Texan](#): > > **LeRoi** , (and **silenus** if you’ve started it,) is _Ringworld Children_ readable? I started _Ringworld Throne_, couldn’t stand it, and put it down. I used to be such a fan of Niven’s, too. So far it’s pretty good. I’m reading it immediately after having finished _Ringworld Engineers_, which I had in old yellowing paperback form for years. _Children_ is set 12 years after the end of _Engineers_ and a lot has changed, but it seems to be (so far) a faithful recreation of the tone and characterization of the first two books in the series, and a natural progression of the story. I haven’t read _Ringworld Throne_, but if you liked _Ringworld_ you should like _Ringworld Children_. Think I used the word “Ringworld” enough times? ---
**Author:** ![Politzania](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3ab097/32.png) [@Politzania](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Politzania)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2004, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-time-for-another-whatcha-readin-thread/249231/60 "2004-06-09T20:49:04Z")
Just finished _The Eyre Affair_ by Jasper Fforde - an alternative-universe mystery/comedy with many. many literary in-jokes & references. A re-read in preparation for _Lost in a Good Book_ and _The Well of Lost Plots_ - by that time _Something Rotten_ may have arrived at the library. Two other recent reads I’d recommend: _I Had Brain Surgery, What’s Your Excuse?: An Illustrated Memoir_ by Suzy Becker & _Opening Skinner’s Box: Great Psychological Experiments of the Twentieth Century_ by Lauren Slater. Reading them back to back wasn’t intentional - but thought-provoking anyways. [What I’ve read so far this year](http://www.livejournal.com/tools/memories.bml?user=politzania&keyword=2004+Book+List&filter=all) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-time-for-another-whatcha-readin-thread/249231.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-time-for-another-whatcha-readin-thread/249231.md?page=4)