# So, uh, whatcha readin' over there? **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [January 25, 2012, 12:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-uh-whatcha-readin-over-there/610593 "2012-01-25T12:41:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Frylock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ce7236/32.png) [@Frylock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frylock)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2012, 11:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-uh-whatcha-readin-over-there/610593/61 "2012-01-26T11:39:57Z")
> [@madmonk28](#): > > There is a certain type of person who just doesn’t understand that when a person is reading, that person is engaged in activity. For this type of person, they can’t imagine wanting to read, but assume that you are so bored that you are forced to be reading. They think that they are doing you this great favor, by saving you from having to read. Yep. Hate this. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2012, 12:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-uh-whatcha-readin-over-there/610593/62 "2012-01-26T12:16:18Z")
> [@Eleanor\_of\_Aquitaine](#): > > Nobody ever asks me what I’m reading, if I’m reading _Jane Eyre_, or a biography of John Adams. They wait until I’m reading a vampire detective novel, and \*then \*they ask me what I’m reading. My mother asks me when I’m reading the Dope… she knows it’s “the forums”, but she wants the juicy details. Note that, in my mother’s case, “the juicy details” would amount to “so who said that?” “Eleanor of Aquitaine” “what? wasn’t that dead?” “the original one is, Mom, but this is a currently-living person’s nickname. We sign with nicknames, not with our legal names.” “Oh. So what’s her real name?” “I don’t know, Mom, I don’t think we’ve ever exchanged our real names.” “[here start the questions about EoA’s posting history, taste in clothing, family life, education, employment history, nationality, religious affiliation, etc.]” > [@DesertDog](#): > > Well, look at it from her point of view: _Nobody_ could possibly read a whole 700 page book. You just want to read it until you’re full, then you stop. I mean, if you were alone in a restaurant and accidentally ordered the chateaubriand (work with me here) would you really be surprised if someone seeing you contemplating it in all its 48 ounce glory (with vegetables and potatoes) asking “So, you gonna eat all that?” I didn’t think so. The correct answer to that question is “wanna bet?” I don’t have a problem with someone who’s reached his stop asking “sorry, that cover looks interesting, can I see it?” or whether I’m happy with my kindle (dude’s friend was thinking of buying an e-reader), it’s the people who either hate being interrupted themselves (hi, Mom) or, yes, those who are trying to save me from the boredom and drudgery. ---
**Author:** ![Daithi\_Lacha](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/daithi_lacha/32/5430_2.png) [@Daithi\_Lacha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Daithi_Lacha)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2012, 12:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-uh-whatcha-readin-over-there/610593/63 "2012-01-26T12:43:51Z")
> [@DesertDog](#): > > Well, look at it from her point of view: _Nobody_ could possibly read a whole 700 page book. You just want to read it until you’re full, then you stop. I mean, if you were alone in a restaurant and accidentally ordered the chateaubriand (work with me here) would you really be surprised if someone seeing you contemplating it in all its 48 ounce glory (with vegetables and potatoes) asking “So, you gonna eat all that?” I didn’t think so. Follow-up question: “You buying it for me? Then mind your g-d business, go back to your table, eat your paltry salad, and let me enjoy my rich - and enriching - meal.” **Nava** , amusingly enough, in the book that I was reading, Eleanor of Aquitaine (the historical figure) figures heavily in the last third. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![MsRobyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/90ced4/32.png) [@MsRobyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsRobyn)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2012, 12:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-uh-whatcha-readin-over-there/610593/64 "2012-01-26T12:51:23Z")
Usually, if I’m reading in public, it’s because I want to be left alone. I don’t mind if people ask me what I’m reading. I just let the disinterested body language speak for itself. If someone is too clueless to get that, there is no hope for them in other areas. ---
**Author:** ![Fiendish\_Astronaut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fiendish_astronaut/32/3295_2.png) [@Fiendish\_Astronaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiendish_Astronaut)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2012, 1:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-uh-whatcha-readin-over-there/610593/65 "2012-01-26T13:02:11Z")
I was reading The Black Swan by Nassim Nicholas Taleb on a train once and a middle-eastern gentleman who was walking past me down the aisle stopped and cross-examined me on the central premise of the book. He wasn’t asking me out of curiosity, he was establishing whether I understood it as he clearly knew the answers himself. As soon as he confirmed to me that I had got it right he walked off and got off the train. I didn’t have time to ask him why he was asking me or who he was. I thought for a long time that he must be the author, but I’ve since seen a television interview with Taleb and I don’t think it was him. Weird though. It was a nice moment actually rather than annoying. ---
**Author:** ![Pine\_Fresh\_Scent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/43a26b/32.png) [@Pine\_Fresh\_Scent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pine_Fresh_Scent)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2012, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-uh-whatcha-readin-over-there/610593/66 "2012-01-26T14:08:01Z")
Are any of you self-conscious about laughing in public when a passage tickles your funny bone? Jon Stewart’s _Earth The Book_ is my laundromat book and cracks me up quite a bit. I try to laugh into my collar though, so as to not freak out the other patrons by being that creepy guy reading and laughing to himself over by the dryers. Maybe I should switch to something less funny. ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2012, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-uh-whatcha-readin-over-there/610593/67 "2012-01-26T14:22:13Z")
> [@Pine\_Fresh\_Scent](#): > > Are any of you self-conscious about laughing in public when a passage tickles your funny bone? Jon Stewart’s _Earth The Book_ is my laundromat book and cracks me up quite a bit. I try to laugh into my collar though, so as to not freak out the other patrons by being that creepy guy reading and laughing to himself over by the dryers. Maybe I should switch to something less funny. No way. I smile and laugh whenever I need to. I figure, what do I think when I see people smiling and laughing? Oh, they must be happy, I think, and it invariably brings a smile to my own lips. I’m more self-conscious about tears than anything - books can and do drive me to tears but I don’t want to even have wet eyes in public. I was a temp once for about eighteen months between jobs. I understand temps are not really fully integrated into the office, so I’d bring a book to reach in my lunch break. And sure enough, someone would take pity on me and try to bring me in their conversation. But I didn’t know enough about anybody (the assignments were rarely long enough) and the conversations just got awkward. But they all felt like I must be reading only because I was lonely and didn’t have anyone to talk to! I love to read and also don’t like to get interrupted in the middle of the flow. ---
**Author:** ![Eleanor\_of\_Aquitaine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a88e4f/32.png) [@Eleanor\_of\_Aquitaine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eleanor_of_Aquitaine)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2012, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-uh-whatcha-readin-over-there/610593/68 "2012-01-26T15:08:39Z")
> [@Daithi\_Lacha](#): > > **Nava** , amusingly enough, in the book that I was reading, Eleanor of Aquitaine (the historical figure) figures heavily in the last third. 😃 She figured heavily in the book I was reading when I signed up for the SDMB. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Daithi\_Lacha](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/daithi_lacha/32/5430_2.png) [@Daithi\_Lacha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Daithi_Lacha)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2012, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-uh-whatcha-readin-over-there/610593/69 "2012-01-26T15:49:21Z")
> [@Eleanor\_of\_Aquitaine](#): > > She figured heavily in the book I was reading when I signed up for the SDMB. 🙂 So, uh … What were you reading back then? 😃 Full disclosure: I was reading When Christ and His Saints Slept by Sharon Kay Penman. It’s about the struggle between Stephen and Maude and Stephen and Henry (and Henry’s courtship of Eleanor) for the crown of England. ---
**Author:** ![Eleanor\_of\_Aquitaine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a88e4f/32.png) [@Eleanor\_of\_Aquitaine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eleanor_of_Aquitaine)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2012, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-uh-whatcha-readin-over-there/610593/70 "2012-01-26T16:00:56Z")
> [@Daithi\_Lacha](#): > > What were you reading back then? 😃 > > Full disclosure: I was reading When Christ and His Saints Slept by Sharon Kay Penman. It’s about the struggle between Stephen and Maude and Stephen and Henry (and Henry’s courtship of Eleanor) for the crown of England. It was Penman, yes - either that book or the next one, _Time and Chance_. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2012, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-uh-whatcha-readin-over-there/610593/71 "2012-01-26T19:42:32Z")
You two, get a library! ---
**Author:** ![Daithi\_Lacha](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/daithi_lacha/32/5430_2.png) [@Daithi\_Lacha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Daithi_Lacha)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2012, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-uh-whatcha-readin-over-there/610593/72 "2012-01-26T22:28:31Z")
> [@Nava](#): > > You two, get a library! For the record, I just stabbed my mouse towards a non-existent ‘Like’ button. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Darth\_Panda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ee7513/32.png) [@Darth\_Panda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darth_Panda)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2012, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-uh-whatcha-readin-over-there/610593/73 "2012-01-26T23:27:44Z")
Hey, what _you_ readin? ---
**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2012, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-uh-whatcha-readin-over-there/610593/74 "2012-02-02T21:33:17Z")
> [@](#): > > And this waitress comes over to me: “Whatcha readin’ for?” "Well, you _still_ don’t have strippers in here, so I gotta do _something_! My favorite: “Good book?” “I don’t know. I’m on page four.” or “What’s it about?” “I’m halfway through the third book of a four-book series that adds up to over 3000 pages. How much time do you have?” ---
**Author:** ![flatlined](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/eb9ed0/32.png) [@flatlined](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flatlined)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2012, 4:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-uh-whatcha-readin-over-there/610593/75 "2012-02-03T04:42:05Z")
Now that this thread came back up, I do have to say that I sounded churlish in my reply. I don’t mind telling people about my reader if they are asking about using it to read. I’ll let them hold it and show them the screen. Its the ones who refuse to let me go back to reading that bother me. One day, I took myself out to eat while carrying a dead tree book. The hostess tried to seat me in a dark booth when a waitress came rushing over to tell the hostess “she has a book, she wants to sit over here” and led me to a very well lit table. The waitress told me that she wouldn’t bother me while I ate and to wave at her if I wanted anything. When my iced tea got empty, I’d put it on the edge of the table so she could see it and she refilled it promptly. That was the first time I’ve ever tipped 50%. ---
**Author:** ![singular1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ba9def/32.png) [@singular1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/singular1)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2012, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-uh-whatcha-readin-over-there/610593/76 "2012-02-04T17:52:23Z")
I do have an ambivalence towards people that interrupt me about my Nook. I was an early adopter - I had a Rocket book in 1999 and couldn’t travel without being asked about it - but I was so pleased with my brilliant new toy that I couldn’t help sneak bragging about it. But they’re getting so common that that should taper off now. ---
**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2012, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-uh-whatcha-readin-over-there/610593/77 "2012-02-04T18:39:17Z")
> [@singular1](#): > > I do have an ambivalence towards people that interrupt me about my Nook. I was an early adopter - I had a Rocket book in 1999 and couldn’t travel without being asked about it - but I was so pleased with my brilliant new toy that I couldn’t help sneak bragging about it. But they’re getting so common that that should taper off now. The only person who’s ever annoyed me about my Kindle is my roommate. If I thought he was honestly curious about the thing it would be one thing. But, a) I’ve had the thing for months, so the novelty should have worn off by now, and b) I know the guy is _never going to buy one for himself_. So his questions and comments about it every time he sees me with it are transparently of the “you’d really rather have a conversation than read” variety. It’s the same as his questions about _what_ I’m reading, when I know for a fact it’s something that he himself is never going to be interested in reading (I read mostly fantasy and science fiction, he reads biographies and self-help books). It’s the same reason why, several years ago, I started taking my meals to my room to eat at my computer instead of eating at the kitchen table. When I’m eating, I want to _eat_, not be barraged with conversation-starting questions while I’ve got a mouthful of food. And I also like to read while I eat. Actually, this is also why I hate “going out to eat” with a group of people. ETA: I think I’m going to start a new technique: When somebody asks, “Whatcha readin’?” I’m simply going to start reading aloud from wherever I happen to be in the book when the question is asked. That way, I can answer the question without interrupting my progress 😃 ---
**Author:** ![StarvingButStrong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/starvingbutstrong/32/335_2.png) [@StarvingButStrong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StarvingButStrong)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2012, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-uh-whatcha-readin-over-there/610593/78 "2012-02-04T23:24:42Z")
> [@Daithi\_Lacha](#): > > **Nava** , amusingly enough, in the book that I was reading, Eleanor of Aquitaine (the historical figure) figures heavily in the last third. 😃 Louise Perry, A Fatal Grace? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Doctor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Doctor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doctor)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2012, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-uh-whatcha-readin-over-there/610593/79 "2012-02-05T00:55:13Z")
My standard answer to “Whatcha reading’?” is “A book.” Yes, I am a smartass. I often get a snarky or equally smartass reply to that, but it tends to kill the long conversation off. And being a smartass, that doesn’t bother me. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-uh-whatcha-readin-over-there/610593.md?page=3)