# Pre Christmas 'Whatcha Reading Thread" **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 12, 2005, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pre-christmas-whatcha-reading-thread/335323 "2005-12-12T22:04:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Harborwolf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c89c15/32.png) [@Harborwolf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harborwolf)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2005, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pre-christmas-whatcha-reading-thread/335323/41 "2005-12-14T02:50:50Z")
**Natural cures they don’t want you to know about**. Honestly, it’s dumber than you think it is. No matter how stupid you think this book is, it’s much worse. Kind of hypnotic though. ---
**Author:** ![koeeoaddi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/koeeoaddi/32/408_2.png) [@koeeoaddi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/koeeoaddi)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2005, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pre-christmas-whatcha-reading-thread/335323/42 "2005-12-14T03:18:38Z")
> [@Harborwolf](#): > > **Natural cures they don’t want you to know about**. > > Honestly, it’s dumber than you think it is. No matter how stupid you think this book is, it’s much worse. Kind of hypnotic though. [bookstore worker rant]I hate this book with an almost irrational passion. Every time some little old lady plunks one down on the counter, tells me how great it is and asks me if I’ve read it, something intangible dies inside. I can’t wait till the damned thing falls off the bestseller list and ultimately the face of the earth. Stupid stupid dumb stupid book.[/bwr] Speaking of stupid, I’m reading **The Stupidest Angel : A Heartwarming Tale of Christmas Terror** by Christopher Moore. It ain’t Dostoyevsky, but it’s got zombies and it’s kind of fun. ---
**Author:** ![Askia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/96bed5/32.png) [@Askia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askia)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2005, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pre-christmas-whatcha-reading-thread/335323/43 "2005-12-14T03:38:18Z")
> [@Shirley Ujest](#): > > Pack your own mug and snack and skip the Starbucks and you would be able to afford books again. If I land a better paying JOB soon, I can afford books again. I spent six-fifty on a cookie and coffee at Starbucks and READ a novel in its entirety in four hours. If I’d bought the book I was reading, I’d have spent over twenty-six dollars. If I wait until summer I can buy it used or in paperback for around eight bucks, including cost of shipping. So, short term: read the novel, ate, drank and was intellectually occupied for a few hours for under seven bucks. Not bad. ---
**Author:** ![wonderlust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonderlust/32/7237_2.png) [@wonderlust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonderlust)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2005, 4:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pre-christmas-whatcha-reading-thread/335323/44 "2005-12-14T04:06:47Z")
I’m glad others are reading **Shadow of the Wind** , wonderful fun. I’m another Christopher Moore fan, having read the hilarious **Lust Lizard of Melancholy Cove** a few months ago. I then bought all his other books. One of my recent faves is **Spin** , by Robert Charles Wilson. What would happen if one day all the lights in the sky went out? It’s a remarkable character-driven science fiction novel filled with Big Ideas. It’s surprisingly good for mainstream readers as well. I bought all his backlist too. Currently I’m reading\*\* Chronoliths\*\*, also written by him. ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2005, 4:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pre-christmas-whatcha-reading-thread/335323/45 "2005-12-14T04:31:35Z")
> [@Askia](#): > > So, short term: read the novel, ate, drank and was intellectually occupied for a few hours for under seven bucks. Not bad. Bookstores let people do this? Cool. When I was growing up, if I turned more than a couple of pages of a book for sale, I’d get yelled at. “This ain’t a liberry!” Of course this was at the beer hall. I was 11 and trying to read Mickey Spillane off the revolving paperback rack. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Alice\_The\_Goon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ed8c4c/32.png) [@Alice\_The\_Goon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alice_The_Goon)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2005, 4:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pre-christmas-whatcha-reading-thread/335323/46 "2005-12-14T04:34:09Z")
I’m right in the middle of **A Million Little Pieces** , James Frey’s account of his stay in rehab. I’m liking it, but not quite as much as I thought I would after hearing how much other people liked it. ---
**Author:** ![susan\_foster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d9b06d/32.png) [@susan\_foster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan_foster)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2005, 4:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pre-christmas-whatcha-reading-thread/335323/47 "2005-12-14T04:45:20Z")
**The Stone Diaries** - Carol Shields Susan ---
**Author:** ![pokey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ebca7d/32.png) [@pokey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pokey)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2005, 5:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pre-christmas-whatcha-reading-thread/335323/48 "2005-12-14T05:46:27Z")
> [@Misnomer](#): > > I love these threads. 🙂 > > Cool! Have you read her other books, too? These days I can’t read an Adam Dalgleish story without picturing [Roy Marsden](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0550462/). 😃 Most of them I think. I love her but I find what I always loved best about her was the first half of the book she would spend so much time creating all these people who were going to be involved in the plot and for some reason that’s always my favourite part of the story. What I love best about her is her knack for character revealing details. They stay with me even when I don’t really remember how things turned out. I love her writing in general too. It’s funny but whenever I meet anyone who reads P.D. James I expect to like that person. She’s the only contemporary crime writer I really like at all. ---
**Author:** ![DfrntBreign](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f6c823/32.png) [@DfrntBreign](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DfrntBreign)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2005, 6:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pre-christmas-whatcha-reading-thread/335323/49 "2005-12-14T06:14:20Z")
> [@Eleanor of Aquitaine](#): > > Do you mean **Camouflage**? I haven’t tried that one yet because I was so disappointed with \*\*Guardian \*\*and **The Coming**. I love most of Haldeman’s stuff, though. Sorry for the slow response. I keep weird hours. You’re right it is **Camouflage**. One of the characters is referred to as the chameleon, another as the changeling and I wasn’t paying attention (with the book in my hand no less). I, too was left cold by **Guardian** , but **Camouflage** has brought me back around. I don’t think you’ll be disappointed. Can’t remember reading **The Coming** but that should say something about it right there. ---
**Author:** ![Starving\_Artist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/aeb1de/32.png) [@Starving\_Artist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Starving_Artist)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2005, 6:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pre-christmas-whatcha-reading-thread/335323/50 "2005-12-14T06:50:14Z")
Thanks to the movie starring Philip Seymour Hoffman (haven’t seen it but have seen clips of Hoffman’s incredible performance), I’ve become interested in Truman Capote and his writing and am devouring everything he’s written that I can get my hands on. In the last couple of weeks I’ve polished off _The Thanksgiving Visitor_;\* A Christmas Memory\*; _Answered Prayers_; _Breakfast at Tiffany’s_ (and its accompanying short stories); _Music for Chameleons_ (a collection of short stories and memoirs), and I’ve just started _In Cold Blood_. I’ve known of Capote for decades and used to watch him on _The Tonight Show_ all the time, but frankly I had no idea what an incredibly talented writer he was. I knew he was supposed to be good, but I didn’t know he was _that_ good! His writing is nothing like his public personna: it’s delicate, sensitive, concise, worldly, witty and heart-tugging, and incredibly sophisticated in terms of ‘writerly’ skill. I can’t recommend him highly enough! ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2005, 7:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pre-christmas-whatcha-reading-thread/335323/51 "2005-12-14T07:15:58Z")
I’m going to finish _Denial of Death_ this time. No, really. I renewed it and got off without having to pay a late fee, so I’d be a dope not to finish it with an extra month… of which ten days are left. ---
**Author:** ![stringy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/919ad9/32.png) [@stringy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stringy)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2005, 11:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pre-christmas-whatcha-reading-thread/335323/52 "2005-12-14T11:56:12Z")
I’m re-reading **Doomsday Book** for a bookclub - perfect Christmas selection, I reckon! Have added Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro to my To Read list. I really liked Remains of the Day and was wondering if I’d like his others. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Rieux](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@Dr.Rieux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Rieux)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2005, 12:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pre-christmas-whatcha-reading-thread/335323/53 "2005-12-14T12:07:54Z")
I’m going to finally read _Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell_ over the holiday break–and maybe the new Harry Potter, too ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2005, 12:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pre-christmas-whatcha-reading-thread/335323/54 "2005-12-14T12:14:07Z")
I am actively trying to stop myself reading three books that just arrived from the US. I bought _The Miracle of St Anthony_ by Adrian Wojnarowski (about a NJ school with 200 pupils that has one of the best high school basketball programs in the country), _Friday Night Lights_ by H.G.Bissinger (small town Texas high school football - there’s a movie too) and _Wannabe_ by Jamie Kennedy (an account of his early days in Hollywood as a no-hoper). Each was intended for someone else for Christmas but I peeked and… ---
**Author:** ![Askia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/96bed5/32.png) [@Askia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askia)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2005, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pre-christmas-whatcha-reading-thread/335323/55 "2005-12-15T02:58:50Z")
> [@AuntiePam](#): > > Bookstores let people do this? Cool. Barnes & Noble has basically a filesharing business model. Get enough traffic in your stores sampling books, don’t harass people, and hope 1) habitual book readers will sample new books, magazines and authors in addition to their regular book load and 2) attract people who aren’t nominally readers to a relaxing inviting reading environment. If both fail, at least have available overpriced concessions. The only thing I find off-putting is the almost complete disappearance of substantially remaindered books (between one buck and six.) Maybe this will change after Christmas. ---
**Author:** ![Nimue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/d26b3c/32.png) [@Nimue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nimue)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2005, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pre-christmas-whatcha-reading-thread/335323/56 "2005-12-15T18:11:30Z")
> [@Shirley Ujest](#): > > I have been long tempted by [The Shadow of the Wind](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0143034901/qid=1134424840/sr=8-1/ref=pd_bbs_1/102-3802887-9024113?n=507846&s=books&v=glance) and finally decided to bite the bullet … I read this book a few months ago and it was the best book I’ve read this year (this coming from a librarian who reads a lot). I thought the translation was magnificent; I never even would have guessed that it even was a translation if I didn’t already know. The language was rich and full of depth, some of it even quote-worthy. Even the occasional wordplay held true. ---
**Author:** ![Future\_Londonite](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/9dc877/32.png) [@Future\_Londonite](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Future_Londonite)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2005, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pre-christmas-whatcha-reading-thread/335323/57 "2005-12-15T18:26:50Z")
I finally finished Neal Stephenson’s Baroque Cycle…and am now almost done with “The-Know-It-All: One man’s humble quest to become the smartest person in the world” by A.J. Jacobs. Once I’m done with that one I’m moving onto “Worlds enough & Time: Five tales of speculative fiction” by Dan Simmons. ---
**Author:** ![wonderlust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonderlust/32/7237_2.png) [@wonderlust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonderlust)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2005, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pre-christmas-whatcha-reading-thread/335323/58 "2005-12-18T01:10:16Z")
Last night I finished [The Chronoliths](http://www.powells.com/partner/30419/biblio/0812545249) , written by Robert Charles Wilson. It was a fast, good read. I’m just beginning [About Grace](http://www.powells.com/partner/30419/biblio/0143036165), by Anthony Doerr. Karen Joy Fowler says it’s “Gorgeous, transporting, and deeply, deeply satisfying.” It received many prestegious rave reviews. He knocked everyone’s socks of with his debut [The Shell Collector: Stories](http://www.powells.com/partner/30419/biblio/0743212746), so I’m looking forward to this one. A man with precognition runs away from his wife and child in order to prevent his daughter’s drowning. ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2005, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pre-christmas-whatcha-reading-thread/335323/59 "2005-12-18T01:35:48Z")
Just finished **The Falls** by Joyce Carol Oates, and started **The Moonstone** by Wilkie Collins. The characters in The Falls were a bit too introspective and angsty for me, but it was well done angst and introspection. ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2005, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pre-christmas-whatcha-reading-thread/335323/60 "2005-12-18T03:22:41Z")
> [@Martha](#): > > I also read **Never let me go** by Kazuo Ishiguro which I have to say I was a little disappointed by, so I was surprised to see the positive reactions in this thread. I thought it was so understated it ended up falling flat. Finally finished it this morning – I can understand why someone might not like it, but to me the low-key way the whole thing unfolded was part of the spell of the book. Went to the library and got the “new” Anne Lamott – I like her essays a lot – and a couple of other things, I don’t remember what right now… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pre-christmas-whatcha-reading-thread/335323.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pre-christmas-whatcha-reading-thread/335323.md?page=4)