# Summer Edition of "Whatcha Reading?" **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 24, 2005, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/summer-edition-of-whatcha-reading/309725 "2005-06-24T20:27:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Shirley\_Ujest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shirley\_Ujest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shirley_Ujest)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2005, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/summer-edition-of-whatcha-reading/309725/1 "2005-06-24T20:27:40Z")
I am presently reading the children’s book: [The Callahan Cousins: Summer Begins](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0316736902/qid=1119645636/sr=8-1/ref=pd_bbs_1/102-3802887-9024113?v=glance&s=books&n=507846) which is for ages 9-13ish. And continuining on the series of Marcus Didius Falco by Lindsey Davis. I think I’m on The Dying Light in Corduba. Love it. ---
**Author:** ![Kaspar\_Hauser](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b3f665/32.png) [@Kaspar\_Hauser](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kaspar_Hauser)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2005, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/summer-edition-of-whatcha-reading/309725/2 "2005-06-24T20:32:33Z")
Twenty pages left in Beverly Swerling’s _City of Dreams_. ---
**Author:** ![Pixisis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f17d59/32.png) [@Pixisis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pixisis)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2005, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/summer-edition-of-whatcha-reading/309725/3 "2005-06-24T20:33:19Z")
All the Robert Rankin books I can get my hands on. ---
**Author:** ![Gangster\_Octopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a8b319/32.png) [@Gangster\_Octopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gangster_Octopus)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2005, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/summer-edition-of-whatcha-reading/309725/4 "2005-06-24T20:34:30Z")
Right now, _Collapse: How Societies Choose To Fail Or Succeed_ by Jared Diamond ---
**Author:** ![UrbanChic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/9dc877/32.png) [@UrbanChic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UrbanChic)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2005, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/summer-edition-of-whatcha-reading/309725/5 "2005-06-24T20:37:45Z")
Nothing! I am very troubled by this, too. I _need_ a book. I just finished Joe Queenan’s _[Confessions of a Cineplex Heckler](http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearch/isbnInquiry.asp?userid=JE4x8jhBHc&isbn=0786884649&itm=24)_ about two weeks ago. The essays were very dated. I think I would have enjoyed it more if I were reading his humorous takes on current/recent flicks. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2005, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/summer-edition-of-whatcha-reading/309725/6 "2005-06-24T20:49:29Z")
Just started in on Neal Stephenson’s _The Confusion_. At the rate I’m reading these days, this should last me through the rest of the year. ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2005, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/summer-edition-of-whatcha-reading/309725/7 "2005-06-24T20:55:42Z")
**Shikar** by Jack Warner (think Jaws, only with a Bengal tiger instead of a shark, and Georgia mountains instead of the Atlantic) – it’s good fun and appropriate for summer. **Sundial on a Grave: 1610** by Mary Gentle – engrossing, well-written historical, my first Gentle. ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2005, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/summer-edition-of-whatcha-reading/309725/8 "2005-06-24T20:57:04Z")
I’m one of those multiple books at a time readers. Just finished _The Light Fantastic_, by Terry Pratchett. _The Last Manly Man_, by Sparkle Hayter _The Serpent in the Crown_, by Elizabeth Peters _About a Boy_, by Nick Hornby (reminded of it on SDMB and had to reread) a book of short stories by Asimov _Rhapsody_, by Elizabeth Haydon and a book by Margaret Maron. The latest Deborah Knott. ---
**Author:** ![BabaBooey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/dfb087/32.png) [@BabaBooey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BabaBooey)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2005, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/summer-edition-of-whatcha-reading/309725/9 "2005-06-24T20:57:34Z")
Finally got about to reading Ender’s Game over the past two days. Have also read a hanful of PJ O’Rourke books since last semester ended. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2005, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/summer-edition-of-whatcha-reading/309725/10 "2005-06-24T21:00:49Z")
_Captain Blood_, who, by the way, is not the sharpest stick in the pile. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2005, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/summer-edition-of-whatcha-reading/309725/11 "2005-06-24T21:01:32Z")
Let’s see… **East of Ealing** - Robert Rankin (in the truck) **The Regiment: A Trilogy** - John Dalmas (by the bed) **Sex, Drugs and Cocoa Puffs** - Chuck Klosterman (by my chair) **1942** - Winston Groom ( a present from one of my students)(by my chair) **Finding _Serenity_** - Jane Espenson (by the toilet) ---
**Author:** ![Hal\_Briston](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a9a28c/32.png) [@Hal\_Briston](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hal_Briston)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2005, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/summer-edition-of-whatcha-reading/309725/12 "2005-06-24T21:41:35Z")
June was Dean Koontz month for me…_The Face_, _One Door Away From Heaven_ and _The Taking_. ---
**Author:** ![Odinoneeye](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/97f17d/32.png) [@Odinoneeye](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odinoneeye)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2005, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/summer-edition-of-whatcha-reading/309725/13 "2005-06-24T21:57:14Z")
Been on a Niven kick lately. Just finished “The Mote in God’s Eye” and am now reading the sequel “The Gripping Hand” I’ve also read a bit of Pratchett’s “Equal Rites” for the SDMB Discworld Reading Club threads. ---
**Author:** ![Tinkertoy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f19dbf/32.png) [@Tinkertoy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tinkertoy)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2005, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/summer-edition-of-whatcha-reading/309725/14 "2005-06-24T22:35:05Z")
**Just an ordinary day** by shirley Jackson **Whores in history** by Nickie Roberts **The goodbye body** by Joan Hess **The picture of dorian gray** by Oscar Wilde **Lady Bluebeard** : the true story of love and marriage, death and flypaper by William C. Anderson ---
**Author:** ![Shirley\_Ujest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shirley\_Ujest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shirley_Ujest)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2005, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/summer-edition-of-whatcha-reading/309725/15 "2005-06-24T23:07:32Z")
I will also be reading **Janet Evanovich’s** latest one when my library gets it. YAY for Stephanie Plum! ---
**Author:** ![supervenusfreak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@supervenusfreak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/supervenusfreak)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2005, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/summer-edition-of-whatcha-reading/309725/16 "2005-06-24T23:31:23Z")
> [@Hal Briston](#): > > June was Dean Koontz month for me…_The Face_, _One Door Away From Heaven_ and _The Taking_. I just started his new one, [“Velocity”](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0553804154/qid=1119656631/sr=2-1/ref=pd_bbs_b_2_1/103-6007715-2060605), after having finnished Jeannette Walls’ memoir [“The Glass Castle”](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0743247531/qid=1119656715/sr=2-1/ref=pd_bbs_b_2_1/103-6007715-2060605). ---
**Author:** ![BiblioCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ed8c4c/32.png) [@BiblioCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BiblioCat)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2005, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/summer-edition-of-whatcha-reading/309725/17 "2005-06-25T00:12:37Z")
You really wanna know? _Emergency Care_, Tenth Edition _The Maryland Medical Protocols for Emergency Medical Services Providers_ _Hazardous Materials for First Responders_, and _Hazardous Materials Operations Student Workbook_ Sounds like a little light reading, doesn’t it? :rolleyes: I’m one week into a five-week EMT crash course, with HAZ-MAT training. When I’m done, I’ll be a certified EMT (hopefully, if I pass). Wish me luck. ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2005, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/summer-edition-of-whatcha-reading/309725/18 "2005-06-25T00:54:52Z")
Just started **Collapse** (well, I’m a couple of chapters in) – not as good as **Guns, Germs, and Steel** , IMHO. Had a couple of good serendipitous library finds recently. Neither of these is a must-read, but if you seem 'em in the library, they’re worth picking up: I’m not a big short story person, usually, but I was intrigued by the premise of [\*Had a Good Time](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0802142044/qid=1119660936/sr=2-2/ref=pd_bbs_b_2_2/102-4082147-4308928)\* by Robert Olen Butler – short stories based on postcards from the early part of the last century. Some are definitely better than others – but the good ones are very good. Another kind of oddball choice: a neo-noir called _[Die a Little](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0743261704/qid=1119661411/sr=8-1/ref=pd_bbs_ur_1/102-4082147-4308928?v=glance&s=books&n=507846)_ by Megan Abbott (who’s apparently also written an academic study of the genre). Set in '50s LA, it’s narrated by a schoolteacher whose cop brother hooks up with a sultry dame with a shady past. Very well done, very absorbing. ---
**Author:** ![pasunejen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/58956e/32.png) [@pasunejen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pasunejen)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2005, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/summer-edition-of-whatcha-reading/309725/19 "2005-06-25T02:11:49Z")
Working through Brian Greene’s _The Fabric of the Cosmos_ slowly (mostly during my daily break at work and sometimes for a few minutes before bed)–because most of my time is spent reading and taking notes on various books and articles regarding language revitalization. Nothing like spending the summer doing thesis research. _yawn_ ---
**Author:** ![pasunejen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/58956e/32.png) [@pasunejen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pasunejen)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2005, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/summer-edition-of-whatcha-reading/309725/20 "2005-06-25T02:13:55Z")
I should clarify that I’m loving Greene’s book, and heartily recommend it. I’m reading it slowly because I have to focus on research. Which is what’s boring the pants off me. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/summer-edition-of-whatcha-reading/309725.md?page=2)