# SDMB Book Swap **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 11, 2002, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmb-book-swap/97579 "2002-03-11T15:01:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 10
**Author:** ![Yersinia\_Pestis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/ccd318/32.png) [@Yersinia\_Pestis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yersinia_Pestis)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2002, 3:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmb-book-swap/97579/181 "2002-05-02T03:51:24Z")
It’s the end of the semester, and I swore off SDMB until all my work is in. But I finished my book a couple days ago, so… **Little Nemo** , I really enjoyed _Thank You for Smoking_. I almost certainly wouldn’t have picked it up on my own because I usually assume that quasi-political satire is going to either be tendentiously irritating or full of jokes that I won’t get. But this was clever and FUNNY, and a great change from thinking about, oh, say, Miklos Radnoti’s sense of his mission as a poet, or the relationship between modernism and primitivism in William H. Johnson’s paintings. Just to pick the first things that come to mind. 🙂 And I’m glad you didn’t send me those Gardner Dozois collections–I read them every year. **Krisfer** –I’m so glad that you liked _Master and Commander_. (Enough to start _Post Captain_! I done good, I think. IMHO, the books just get better and better as the characters build up more history among themselves. And they go cool places, like Peru. And they get arrested a lot. And there’s a bear suit involved at one point, too. And more operations. Thanks for your email, too. (I had thought you were a he, for some reason.) I had to skip past what I think was a discussion of _Daughter of the Forest_ because I want to read it! ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2002, 4:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmb-book-swap/97579/182 "2002-05-02T04:45:03Z")
I’m glad you liked it, Yersina, and equally glad I didn’t send you a book you already had. For the record, other novels that were being considered were _The Devil’s Tower_ by Mark Sumner, _The Empire of Fear_ by Brian Stableford, _The Harvest_ by Robert Charles Wilson, and _The World on Blood_ by Jonathan Nasaw; all of which were rejected for being too SF or fantasy. Other non-SF possiblities were _Kahawa_ by Donald Westlake and _A Dangerous Fortune_ by Ken Follett, but in the end I decided to go with my first instinct and send Buckley’s book. I enjoyed its mix of bitterness and cynicism with humor and a happy ending. I can’t imagine why it was never optioned for a movie. That said, don’t judge Buckley by this novel. I’ve read other works he did both before and after _Thank You for Smoking_, and that book unfortunately appears to be his personal apogee. ---
**Author:** ![bristlesage](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/edb3f5/32.png) [@bristlesage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bristlesage)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2002, 5:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmb-book-swap/97579/183 "2002-06-09T05:09:07Z")
I know this is a hard-core bump, and I’m sorry for that… But not nearly as sorry as the fact that I didn’t get the notice from the post office about the book **Krisfer the Cat** was nice enough to ship to me insured. My mother picked up the notice, and she gave it to me too late. Sigh. And as sorry as I am about that, I am also sorry that I didn’t get **Bibliocat** ’s books to her sooner. Please, if you got them, let me know. I sent them about three weeks ago, and I just want to know if I should throw good books behind bad. Again, I am a jerk. I know I got corrected when I said that before, but really. Glad to see so many people enjoying so many books! ---
**Author:** ![BiblioCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ed8c4c/32.png) [@BiblioCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BiblioCat)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2002, 12:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmb-book-swap/97579/184 "2002-06-09T12:34:00Z")
Yes, **bristlesage** I did get your books. Thanks so much. I’ve been meaning to come and dig up this thread, but I just haven’t had a chance. I have read _Poisonwood Bible_, but have a pregnant friend who is now on bedrest who hasn’t read it so I will pass it on to her, if that’s okay. That is the whole point of this, isn’t it? The others I have not read, so that’s great. _The Plague_ looks good. I like that they are smallish paperbacks. I can take them to the pool with me and read while my kids are having their swimming lessons. I don’t like taking new hardbacks to the pool. ---
**Author:** ![Krisfer\_the\_Cat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Krisfer\_the\_Cat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Krisfer_the_Cat)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2002, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmb-book-swap/97579/185 "2002-06-09T14:36:14Z")
Bristlesage, I am relieved to see that you are okay. I was a tad concerned when I got the books back. That book has since been sent on to another person, however I haven’t heard from him nor have I got the book back. So I hope alls well with my book and the reciever is just lazy.😛 ---
**Author:** ![Another\_Primate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@Another\_Primate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Another_Primate)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2002, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmb-book-swap/97579/186 "2002-06-09T15:01:38Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by BiblioCat \* > \*\ ***Another Primate** , did you get your book yet? \*\* Yep, but haven’t read it yet. Got it over a month ago. Sorry for my delay. And, thanks! ---
**Author:** ![bristlesage](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/edb3f5/32.png) [@bristlesage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bristlesage)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2002, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmb-book-swap/97579/187 "2002-06-09T16:23:06Z")
Oh, good, this all makes me feel a little better. Sorry to worry you, **Krisfer** , and glad the books are at least handy, **BiblioCat**. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmb-book-swap/97579.md?page=9)