# Time for another installment of . . . "So, whatcha reading?" **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [August 14, 2001, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-for-another-installment-of-so-whatcha-reading/76281 "2001-08-14T22:52:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![frock75](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ad7895/32.png) [@frock75](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/frock75)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2001, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-for-another-installment-of-so-whatcha-reading/76281/81 "2001-08-15T23:26:03Z")
I don’t recall seeing a bathroom book in this thread. Don’t tell me none of you have a crapper book to keep you occupied during those prolonged visits to the john. Mine happens to be the Guiness world records. The segments are just long enough for my bathroom enjoyment. As for the OP, I’m reading Caleb Carr’s “The Alienist”, for the 7th time. Every time I get in a rut and can’t find something to read, I go back to that wonderful novel. ---
**Author:** ![turner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/22d042/32.png) [@turner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/turner)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2001, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-for-another-installment-of-so-whatcha-reading/76281/82 "2001-08-16T01:18:07Z")
American Pharaoh–a biography of Richard J. Daley. It’s funny, you can tell the authors thought Daley was evil incarnate, but they have a tough time making him sound like he is. They say things like, “People would go to their preicinct captains for favors like fixing a crack in the sidewalk, or garbage pick-up or help get a kid out of a jam withthe cops. Then come election day, the PC would ring your doorbell and ask you how your sidewalk was, or if your kid was keeping out of trouble.” I WISH things were that corrupt now. Sure he was a power hungry crook, but the machine worked to get people what they needed in exchange for their vote. And I’m a republican! ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2001, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-for-another-installment-of-so-whatcha-reading/76281/83 "2001-08-16T01:25:07Z")
Frock, it sounds to me like you need to get “The Bathroom Book”. It’s fabulous. You’ll most likely find about 9 editions in the humor section of your bookstore. It gives 1-2 page synopses of various novels, philosophical concepts, religions, etc. Anything and everything. But the beauty is that they’re all about the length of one “sitting”. I recommend. ---
**Author:** ![Albert\_Rose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9de053/32.png) [@Albert\_Rose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Albert_Rose)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2001, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-for-another-installment-of-so-whatcha-reading/76281/84 "2001-08-16T01:31:31Z")
I’m re-reading Harry Wong’s **The First Day of School**. I try to read it every year before school starts, but I’m a little late this year. ---
**Author:** ![Lsura](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7993a0/32.png) [@Lsura](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lsura)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2001, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-for-another-installment-of-so-whatcha-reading/76281/85 "2001-08-16T01:40:13Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by GrandfatherTrout \* > \*\*at least the first volume of **The Lord of the Rings** in time for The Movie. How could I forget? \*\* I recently began another attempt at reading _The Hobbit_, and found that I enjoyed it this time. So my current commute reading is a book that contains the other three volumes(so shoot me, I can’t remember the names). But it’s almost time for a change-I just can’t keep up the steady pace on this one much longer. I may switch it to my before bed reading. I’m reading romance novels before bed lately, particularly the Johanna Lindsey ones that I’ve read before. And at odd times, I’m re-reading _Pope Joan_, just because. Plus whatever other book I happen to pick up in a spare moment. ---
**Author:** ![flickerwolf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/13edae/32.png) [@flickerwolf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flickerwolf)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2001, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-for-another-installment-of-so-whatcha-reading/76281/86 "2001-08-16T01:45:17Z")
The Wild Road by Gabriel King. Super-good book. ---
**Author:** ![Mobius74](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b19c9b/32.png) [@Mobius74](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mobius74)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2001, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-for-another-installment-of-so-whatcha-reading/76281/87 "2001-08-16T02:47:00Z")
Lately I’ve been on a quest for the obscure… Just finished Joe Haldeman’s **Mindbridge** (1976) and am about two-thirds of the way through Keith Laumer’s **Time Trap** (1970) - as neither of these are difficult reading, nor lengthy by any stretch of the imagination, I am afraid I will soon be rummaging through my shelves for yet another unread “ancient tome” to occupy my spare moments… ---
**Author:** ![Zap\_Rowsdower](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/3da27b/32.png) [@Zap\_Rowsdower](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zap_Rowsdower)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2001, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-for-another-installment-of-so-whatcha-reading/76281/88 "2001-08-16T03:09:02Z")
Just finished reading **Fast Food Nation** by Eric Schlosser. Which makes me glad I stopped eating fast food about 10 years ago. I do not read much fiction, but I am into Harry Turtledoves alternate histories. I am currently reading **American Empire: Blood and Iron**. Very entertaining series. ---
**Author:** ![clayton\_e](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c57346/32.png) [@clayton\_e](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clayton_e)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2001, 3:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-for-another-installment-of-so-whatcha-reading/76281/89 "2001-08-16T03:40:55Z")
One title: “Earth Abides”. Nothing better, best book I’ve ever read. Couldn’t put it down. ---
**Author:** ![fish\_in\_the\_sky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/7ba0ec/32.png) [@fish\_in\_the\_sky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fish_in_the_sky)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2001, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-for-another-installment-of-so-whatcha-reading/76281/90 "2001-08-16T03:41:26Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Jodi \* > \*\* > > > [@](#): > > > > I’ve been working away at them at random, reading each as the mood hits. > > I can_not_ do this. I am a serially monogomous girl, even unto literature. I read one book, finish it, then start another. I’m intrigued by all you guys with multiple books going at once (the bus book, the bedside book, the lunch book); I tote around a single book until I’m done with it, then pick up another. Maybe I’m just not bright enough to keep multiple plots/subjects straight, but I’ve never enjoyed reading more than one book at once. > > ZYADA, if you like regencies, do you read Joan Wolf? She’s my favorite of the throwaway bodice-ripper genre. \*\* Yeah. If I want to really get into a book and enjoy it, I usually only read one at a time. If I really want to read two or more at once, only one can be a story book, the other(s) must be nonfiction, something informative, because I just can’t keep two sets of plotlines and characters straight. Anyway, some of my summer reading so far… Just today I finished **The Late Night Muse** by Bette Pesetsky, a fiction story about a poet with a neurological disorder, recalling her life. Very cleverly composed and well-written. I’ve also read, in no paticular order: **The Religion of Ancient Greece** by Th. Zielinski. Most of what was mentioned here I already knew, but the language in it is absolutly gorgeous, and written from the point of view of a faithful pagan. **The Dragons of Eden** by Carl Sagan. Fascinating and engagaing. All science books should be this well-written. **The Bell Jar** and **Ariel** by Sylvia Plath. One of my writing professors adores Plath, so I thought I’d see why. I loved both books, although I am slightly disturbed by how much I can identify with things in “The Bell Jar”. **The Bee’s Kiss** by Shirley Verel. ::dreamy sigh:: For the past couple monthes I’ve been thinking “well maybe this, or maybe that” about my sexuality, and one thing that kinda turns me off of the queer community is that everything is made to be so damned political. I’m not a political person, not in the least. I just like girls. I don’t wanna march in pride parades or tatoo a rainbow coloured double venus on my tits. I just like girls. What I loved most about “The Bee’s Kiss” was that it made lesbain love something real and beautiful and decidedly NOT political. ::another dreamy sigh:: **The Legacy of Luna** by Julia Butterfly Hill. I don’t recommend this. If Miss Butterfly comes to give a talk near you, _definitly_ go see her, she is an _awesome_ speaker. But she is not a good writer. I saw her at the [Midwest Renewable Energy Fair](http://www.the-mrea.org/lastyearfair.htm), bought a book and got it signed, then I got home and started reading and thought, oh. Hmph. **Birds of America** by Lorrie Moore. I read her “Who Will Run the Frog Hospital?” back in high school, and that was one of the books that really got me interested in good modern fiction; before then I had just read bad mystery novels and the occasional classic, and was convinced that they had stopped making good books about 100 years ago. I’m not even 1/4 of the way through “Birds of America”–just reading the stories one by one every so often–but Moore is again reminding me of the beauty and honesty possible in fiction. I am also ocasionally doing exercises from **Writing as a Healing Art** by Laura Cerwinske and **The Practice of Poetry** ed. by Robin Behn and Chase Twichell. Next up… I don’t know. I’m really in the mood for something about science or psychology, but nothing in my personal library is really grabbing me, and I don’t know when I’ll get the the public library next. I want to read **An American Childhood** by Annie Dillard (I LOVED “Pilgram at Tinker Creek”) before I go back to school in September, so maybe I’ll just go right into that. ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2001, 3:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-for-another-installment-of-so-whatcha-reading/76281/91 "2001-08-16T03:47:06Z")
Lunatic - WOW! Great books. And I have an incredible soft spot for those who enjoy Annie Dillard. I’ve seen her speak, and have looked up a bunch of her interviews. She’s amazing. VERY similar to L’Engle, minus the exactness of science. I would recommend the Crosswick Journal series to you. I did my college entrance essay on “An American Childhood,” and my very favorite passage ever is from “Pilgram at Tinker Creek” (the ‘Seeing’ chapter, right at the beginning, regarding her hiding pennies. I don’t have my copy with me, but I’ll punch it in tomorrow night, if you’d like). ---
**Author:** ![sjc](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e5b9ba/32.png) [@sjc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sjc)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2001, 4:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-for-another-installment-of-so-whatcha-reading/76281/92 "2001-08-16T04:32:29Z")
I’m reading Lords of the Horizon, A History of the Ottoman Empire By Jason Goodwin. Dunno if it’s worth the read yet. I’m into it so far. Just Finished The Good Nazi, the Life and Lies of Albert Speer by Dan Van Der Dat. I thought it was good, I didn’t know much about Speer and now I have a better picture. He was responsible for industrial output in the third reich. At the end of the war he said he hadn’t known about the atrocities but that he accepted responsibility for his part in allowing it to happen. Turns out, according to Van Der Dat, he lied. Later in life he admitted he lied at the Nuremberg trials. In the 80s, when he and his closest assistant had died, records of his wartime work that the assistant had kept were given to the Federal Archives in Bonn. Turns out he gave the order to destroy thousands of Jewish homes that required the deportation of tens of thousands of Jews from Berlin to concentration camps. He gave all the orders. There may be more things we don’t know about what he did during the war. Whether or not he is guilty of other crimes, he probably escaped hanging by covering up the deportations. Whew! That was long-winded. Sorry. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Drastic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Drastic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drastic)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2001, 4:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-for-another-installment-of-so-whatcha-reading/76281/93 "2001-08-16T04:39:51Z")
Currently working towards the end of **A Deepness in the Sky** , by Vernor Vinge. Very entertaining science fiction. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Man\_Who](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c2a13f/32.png) [@The\_Man\_Who](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Man_Who)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2001, 5:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-for-another-installment-of-so-whatcha-reading/76281/94 "2001-08-16T05:35:25Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Number Six \* > \*\*Books I’ve read in the last month: > > _Holes_, the best children’s book of the 90’s. > _Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of Nimh_, the best children’s book of the 70’s. > _Jacob Have I Loved_, the best children’s book of the 80’s. > _Maniac Magee_, second best children’s book of the 90’s. > _Sounder_, best children’s book of the 60’s > > Guess who’s been getting ready for the new school year. \*\* I’ve read all the Newberry winners back to Wrinkle in Time, if I’m not mistaken, and I agree that Holes is the best Newberry winner of the '90s. However, Frindle is the best children’s book of the decade, and it didn’t win jack. Also, please find and read Louis Sachar’s earlier book, There’s a Boy in the Girls’ Bathroom. This is a remarkably sensitive book about a boy with antisocial tendencies trying to cope with the newfound idea of Friendship. Thanks for reminding me of Jacob Have I Loved. I should go back and reread that one. And to get back on topic, I’m currently reading Isaac Asimov’s autobiography. -Myron ---
**Author:** ![Kricket](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/f14d63/32.png) [@Kricket](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kricket)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2001, 5:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-for-another-installment-of-so-whatcha-reading/76281/95 "2001-08-16T05:35:31Z")
I am suprised to find so many other out there who read like I do. I mean like three books at the same time, but then I throw in crochetting and needlepoint in there also. The Chronicles of Narnia for the kids, the new VC Andrews series the first book Cinnamon (no flamming for this guys, for some reason I can’t stay away from her books and yes I know she’s dead) I am also in the middle of the Wheel of Time series (my husband should be shot for starting me on this series I can’t put them down!) ---
**Author:** ![Evno](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/c68b51/32.png) [@Evno](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evno)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2001, 6:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-for-another-installment-of-so-whatcha-reading/76281/96 "2001-08-16T06:01:18Z")
Has anyone here read [Mephisto in Onyx](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1883398460/qid=997941469/sr=2-1/103-4504290-9127035) by Harlan Ellison? Short book, but pretty interesting. Right now, I’m almost done with “The Two Towers”, by J.R.R. Tolkkien. Don’t really know what to say about it, I’ll wait until I’m done with the next book to form an opinion. But for now, I’ll just say that it doesn’t grab hold of me as well as I wanted it to. ---
**Author:** ![Kittie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/f07891/32.png) [@Kittie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kittie)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2001, 6:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-for-another-installment-of-so-whatcha-reading/76281/97 "2001-08-16T06:39:06Z")
I just finished _The Dangerous Lives Of Altar Boys_ by Chris Furhman. It was one of the best books I’ve ever read and I reccomend it highly. Now I’m reading _The Wasp Factory_ by Iain M. Banks. ~Kittie ---
**Author:** ![SolomonGrundy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d07c76/32.png) [@SolomonGrundy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SolomonGrundy)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2001, 7:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-for-another-installment-of-so-whatcha-reading/76281/98 "2001-08-16T07:51:35Z")
Like a couple of others on here, I’m re-reading **The Lord of the Rings** in preparation for the movie. I remember feeling like the second book (_The Two Towers_) would never end the first time I read through them, but this time I actually enjoyed it. I just have to get around to finishing it. I guess I’m also reading **Now, Where Were We?** by Roy Blount, Jr., but only in the sense that I’m always re-reading and re-re-reading it. The man is bar none the funniest human alive. Thanks for all the recommendations, everybody. ---
**Author:** ![Chez\_Guevara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/aeb1de/32.png) [@Chez\_Guevara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chez_Guevara)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2001, 1:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-for-another-installment-of-so-whatcha-reading/76281/99 "2001-08-16T13:03:48Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Dr. Schadenfreude \* > \*\*Instruction manual for a recently purchased vibrator, bought on behalf of an unnamed friend of Mrs. Dr. Schadenfreude (In Waiting) - highly complex. \*\* For the avoidance of doubt, the purchase was made at Mrs DSIW’s request for her friend who she refuses to name. And quite right too. ---
**Author:** ![BunnyGirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/22d042/32.png) [@BunnyGirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BunnyGirl)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2001, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-for-another-installment-of-so-whatcha-reading/76281/100 "2001-08-16T13:59:35Z")
I’ve got a ton I’ve been picking at (most memorably, Kierkegaard’s _Either/Or_ - jeez, that one’s hard - and Montaigne’s Essays) but I read pretty voraciously too, so let’s see if I can remember a few: _The Devil Never Sleeps_ - Andrea Codrescui; Essays (very good) _I Rant, Therefore I Am_ - Dennis Miller (no explanation necessary) _Do Try To Speak As We Do_ - Marjorie Leet Ford (lite reading; novel about an American au pair in Britain; good, entertaining) _The Two Towers_ - by you know who. I’ve not read the Ring Trilogy before and I’m enjoying it so far _The Best American Essays of the Century_ - edited by Joyce Carol Oates. I just picked this one up from my SIL last night and I’m looking forward to getting into it. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-for-another-installment-of-so-whatcha-reading/76281.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-for-another-installment-of-so-whatcha-reading/76281.md?page=6)