# Name a good book that you're pretty sure nobody else has read **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 22, 2008, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-a-good-book-that-youre-pretty-sure-nobody-else-has-read/460941 "2008-08-22T17:32:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![vivalostwages](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/d07c76/32.png) [@vivalostwages](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vivalostwages)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2008, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-a-good-book-that-youre-pretty-sure-nobody-else-has-read/460941/21 "2008-08-22T22:51:39Z")
[QUOTE=AuntiePam] By Michael Faber? I owned that book for years but never got around to reading it. It’s gone now. Should I have kept it? [/QUOTE] Yes, I think so. ---
**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2008, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-a-good-book-that-youre-pretty-sure-nobody-else-has-read/460941/22 "2008-08-22T23:26:17Z")
_The Wimsey Family: A Fragmentary History Compiled from Correspondence with Dorothy L. Sayers, by Charles Wilfrid Scott-Giles, Dorothy L. Sayers_ This one is pretty obscure, because it is so hard to find. Last I looked, you have to order it directly from the Dorothy L. Sayers Society. Sayer’s great detective, Lord Peter Wimsey, is the second son of the 15th Duke of Denver, and carries with him eight centuries of aristocratic history. This book, a collaboration (mostly for fun) between Ms. Sayers and Mr. Scott-Giles, a Wimsey fan and expert in heraldry, details that history. Here you will find the origins of the Wimsey family (with a minor vassal of Duke William of Normandy, aka William the Conqueror), its rise through the ranks of the nobility from a humble barony, through a modest earldom, to become the wealthiest dukedom in England. Along the way, we find Crusaders and villains, cursed suits of armor, the origin of the Wimsey arms with its curious three mice, the story of the glazier’s widow, the story of Lord Mortimer Wimsey (who founded a religion with himself as its only adherent), the founding of Bredon Hall, and how and why Queen Elizabeth “slept here in the usual way and nearly bust the family bank”. Utterly useless to anyone who is not a fan of the Lord Peter stories, this book is essential reading to anyone who is. ---
**Author:** ![Don\_t\_fight\_the\_hypothetical](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/59ef9b/32.png) [@Don\_t\_fight\_the\_hypothetical](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_t_fight_the_hypothetical)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2008, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-a-good-book-that-youre-pretty-sure-nobody-else-has-read/460941/23 "2008-08-22T23:36:34Z")
Hammer’s Comet. ---
**Author:** ![pinkfreud](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pinkfreud/32/17603_2.png) [@pinkfreud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pinkfreud)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2008, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-a-good-book-that-youre-pretty-sure-nobody-else-has-read/460941/24 "2008-08-22T23:41:35Z")
[QUOTE=Don’t fight the hypothetical] Hammer’s Comet. [/QUOTE] I can’t find a book by that name. Could it be [Lucifer’s Hammer](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lucifer's_Hammer)? ---
**Author:** ![Don\_t\_fight\_the\_hypothetical](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/59ef9b/32.png) [@Don\_t\_fight\_the\_hypothetical](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_t_fight_the_hypothetical)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2008, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-a-good-book-that-youre-pretty-sure-nobody-else-has-read/460941/25 "2008-08-22T23:50:42Z")
Nevermind. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![as\_u\_wish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/6f9a4e/32.png) [@as\_u\_wish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/as_u_wish)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2008, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-a-good-book-that-youre-pretty-sure-nobody-else-has-read/460941/26 "2008-08-23T00:12:16Z")
Thanks, **Brother Cadfael**. I thought I read everything possible about Lord Peter! The book is in our county library system and being transferred to my branch tomorrow. ---
**Author:** ![WormTheRed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/bbe5ce/32.png) [@WormTheRed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WormTheRed)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2008, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-a-good-book-that-youre-pretty-sure-nobody-else-has-read/460941/27 "2008-08-23T00:15:30Z")
**The Long Ships** by Frans G Bengtsson - simply a brilliant view of the vikings. Just brilliant and great! (I’ve only read it in swedish though (many, many times), so I can’t wouch for the translation) ---
**Author:** ![vison](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/e47774/32.png) [@vison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vison)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2008, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-a-good-book-that-youre-pretty-sure-nobody-else-has-read/460941/28 "2008-08-23T00:17:30Z")
The Green Kingdom, by Rachel Maddux. (Read Lucifer’s Hammer and sorta enjoyed it.) Memoirs of a Rifleman, by John Kincaid. Barrabas (sp?) by Par Laagerkvist (sp?). Appointment in Samarra by John O’Hara. (all of O’Hara, he’s out of fashion) The English Orphans, by Mary Holmes. The Green Madonna, by C. L’Ami (as I recall . . .) The Martyrdom of Man by Winwood Reade. Gotta stop. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2008, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-a-good-book-that-youre-pretty-sure-nobody-else-has-read/460941/29 "2008-08-23T00:25:38Z")
[QUOTE=delphica] If a person thought Hambly’s science fiction was horrid, but LOVED her Benjamin January mystery series … would _Bride of the Rat God_ likely be a good choice? [/QUOTE] It was a _good_ novel. Go for it. 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2008, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-a-good-book-that-youre-pretty-sure-nobody-else-has-read/460941/30 "2008-08-23T00:28:49Z")
[QUOTE=Zsofia] I’ve read _The Carpet Makers_ and _Bride of the Rat God_, do I win a prize? [/QUOTE] Yeeeesss…yes, you **do**. Step a little _closer_, my child. \ ---
**Author:** ![lissener](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lissener/32/6139_2.png) [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2008, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-a-good-book-that-youre-pretty-sure-nobody-else-has-read/460941/31 "2008-08-23T00:31:30Z")
[QUOTE=Don’t fight the hypothetical] Hammer’s Comet. [/QUOTE] Read it in my teens (_Lucifer’s Comet_, that is). ---
**Author:** ![j666](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de0a6/32.png) [@j666](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/j666)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2008, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-a-good-book-that-youre-pretty-sure-nobody-else-has-read/460941/32 "2008-08-23T00:38:21Z")
[QUOTE=delphica] If a person thought Hambly’s science fiction was horrid, but LOVED her Benjamin January mystery series … would _Bride of the Rat God_ likely be a good choice? [/QUOTE] I don’t know, but anyone who loves the _Janvier_ series would probably enjoy the Sharyn McCrumb Ballad Series (I think they begin with _The Rosewood Casket_). ---
**Author:** ![lissener](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lissener/32/6139_2.png) [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2008, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-a-good-book-that-youre-pretty-sure-nobody-else-has-read/460941/33 "2008-08-23T00:43:43Z")
[QUOTE=vison] Barrabas (sp?) by Par Laagerkvist (sp?) [/QUOTE] Read it. Great book. But his masterpiece is _The Dwarf._ ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2008, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-a-good-book-that-youre-pretty-sure-nobody-else-has-read/460941/34 "2008-08-23T00:44:32Z")
A Recent Martyr, The Consolation of Nature, and Love, all by Valerie Martin. ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2008, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-a-good-book-that-youre-pretty-sure-nobody-else-has-read/460941/35 "2008-08-23T01:02:25Z")
[QUOTE=vison] Barrabas (sp?) by Par Laagerkvist (sp?). [/QUOTE] Read it! My own entry: The Vicar of Christ, by Walter Murphy. It’s about a former American Chief Justice of SCOTUS, who winds up, after a chain of circumstance, becoming Pope. ---
**Author:** ![Yookeroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yookeroo/32/323_2.png) [@Yookeroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yookeroo)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2008, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-a-good-book-that-youre-pretty-sure-nobody-else-has-read/460941/36 "2008-08-23T01:23:02Z")
[Dreamhouse](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0312151144/sr=8-1/qid=1219454428/ref=olp_product_details?ie=UTF8&me=&qid=1219454428&sr=8-1&seller=) by Alison Habens. “This clever first novel mutates elements from Lewis Carroll’s Alice books into a hip, highly charged, ultramodern coming-of-age tale. Celia (an anagram for Alice) lives uneasily with three other 20-something housemates in London: Cath, a hippy; Phoebe, a beautiful but frightening feminist; and quiet, mysterious Dodge. Celia’s recent engagement to boring banker Kenneth (whom she barely knows) allows her to finally throw the engagement party she has always obsessed about.” ---
**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2008, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-a-good-book-that-youre-pretty-sure-nobody-else-has-read/460941/37 "2008-08-23T01:36:42Z")
[QUOTE=as\_u\_wish] Thanks, **Brother Cadfael**. I thought I read everything possible about Lord Peter! The book is in our county library system and being transferred to my branch tomorrow. [/QUOTE] You’ll love it! ---
**Author:** ![Savannah](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b3f665/32.png) [@Savannah](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Savannah)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2008, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-a-good-book-that-youre-pretty-sure-nobody-else-has-read/460941/38 "2008-08-23T02:06:58Z")
[QUOTE=vivalostwages] **Bear** by Engel (last name) [/QUOTE] Marion Engel. Read it! (I was told it was dirty. And very Canadian.) Um… To come up with one… Let’s see… Pressure’s on… Maybe **The L-Shaped Room** by Lynn Reid Banks? I loved it, but haven’t re-read it in years. ---
**Author:** ![vison](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/e47774/32.png) [@vison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vison)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2008, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-a-good-book-that-youre-pretty-sure-nobody-else-has-read/460941/39 "2008-08-23T02:09:59Z")
[QUOTE=lissener] Read it. Great book. But his masterpiece is _The Dwarf._ [/QUOTE] Yes. ---
**Author:** ![SmartAleq](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smartaleq/32/163_2.png) [@SmartAleq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmartAleq)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2008, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-a-good-book-that-youre-pretty-sure-nobody-else-has-read/460941/40 "2008-08-23T02:23:32Z")
[QUOTE=silenus] **The Armageddon Rag** by George R. R. Martin. Most definitely **not** a book like his later works. It’s a mystery, it’s a horror novel, it’s a wonderful trip, so perfectly realized that you’ll start googling “West Mesa”, just in case you somehow missed the concert. [/QUOTE] Read it to shreds and recommend it to everybody! The Margaret of Ashbury novels by Judith Merkle Riley, “A Vision of Light,” “In Pursuit of the Green Lion” and “The Water Devil.” Excellent historical fiction with a twist! “It Happened In Boston?” by Russell H. Greenan. Not actually in print but still findable and it’s been a favorite of mine since I was a kid. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-a-good-book-that-youre-pretty-sure-nobody-else-has-read/460941.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-a-good-book-that-youre-pretty-sure-nobody-else-has-read/460941.md?page=3)