# Time for another "Whatcha readin'?" thread. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 26, 2002, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-for-another-whatcha-readin-thread/145003 "2002-12-26T18:50:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Gazelle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Gazelle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gazelle)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2002, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-for-another-whatcha-readin-thread/145003/41 "2002-12-27T13:47:08Z")
**Biggirl** , if you like sci-fi, read anything by Octavia Butler and/or Philip K. Dick. And my favorite book of the year: Empire Falls by Richard Russo. ---
**Author:** ![Monkeyman367](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d07c76/32.png) [@Monkeyman367](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monkeyman367)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2002, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-for-another-whatcha-readin-thread/145003/42 "2002-12-27T14:17:33Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Amp \* > \*\*I’ve recently picked up a copy of Allen Moore’s _WATCHMEN_ and just finished _The Dark Knight Returns_. Really enjoyed the Dark Knight. I’m about halfway through _WATCHMEN_ but I’m not to impressed by it so far which is kind of a bummer because I’ve heard so many goods things about it from this board. \*\* Well, the thing about Watchmen is that it is not really a superhero story; the fact that the characters are superheros is almost incedental. I always enjoyed it for the fact that it is a bittersweet story, but it probably turns a lot of people away. I am reading Titus Groan By Meryvn Peake The Satanic Verses by Salman Rushdie Coraline by Neil Gaiman Imagica by Clive Barker Just finished Bones of the Moon by Jonathan Carroll Just purchased War of the Oaks by Emma Bull Land of Laughs Jonathan Carroll Just gave up on Dhalgran by Samuel R Delany. Maybe I will come back to it, but I just felt like a waste of time. ---
**Author:** ![Maeglin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8baadc/32.png) [@Maeglin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maeglin)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2002, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-for-another-whatcha-readin-thread/145003/43 "2002-12-27T14:24:29Z")
No, _Pakesnarrion_ does not get any more exciting. I slogged through the entire series on the recommandation of a friend, and I still want my time back. Right now I am working my way through _The World of the Troubadours_ by Linda Paterson, probably the best historical survey of high medieval Occitania. ---
**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 27, 2002, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-for-another-whatcha-readin-thread/145003/44 "2002-12-27T17:54:36Z")
Working on Christmas books - just finished re-reading When the Bough Breaks by Jonathan Kellerman. Currently active reading is Better Off Dead by Katy Munger - I do own all of the Casey Jones mysteries, and I plan on re-reading them in order, when I started, I just read what was available. Current background reading is Thinner, Blonder, Whiter by Elizabeth Maguire - will probably move to foreground reading, since it is a library book, due back Jan. 4. Just started it, so we’ll see how I like it. Got the softcover HP & Goblet of Fire - haven’t read in over a year, so I’ll get back to that. Susan ---
**Author:** ![Kyla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/eada6e/32.png) [@Kyla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kyla)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2002, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-for-another-whatcha-readin-thread/145003/45 "2002-12-27T19:55:40Z")
**Biggirl** , if you haven’t already, check out _The Third Chimpanzee_ by Diamond. I liked it even better than _G,G, & S_. I’m reading _Holy War: The Crusades and Their Impact on Today’s World_ by Karen Armstrong. It’s very interesting, but I’m a little fuzzy on some of the connections she’s making between the Crusades and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. I’m not even halfway though, though, so she’s got a lot of time to convince me still. ---
**Author:** ![airdisc](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e19adc/32.png) [@airdisc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/airdisc)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2002, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-for-another-whatcha-readin-thread/145003/46 "2002-12-27T20:05:07Z")
_Thunderball_ by Ian Fleming. ---
**Author:** ![BioHazard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3bc359/32.png) [@BioHazard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BioHazard)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2002, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-for-another-whatcha-readin-thread/145003/47 "2002-12-27T22:24:34Z")
Ivor Horton’s _Beginning Visiual C++ 5.0_ I highly recommend this book to treat insomnia, unfortunatly it has the side effect if causing brain splitting migranes. ---
**Author:** ![Fiddle\_Peghead](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fiddle_peghead/32/3506_2.png) [@Fiddle\_Peghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiddle_Peghead)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2002, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-for-another-whatcha-readin-thread/145003/48 "2002-12-27T22:44:15Z")
“Sandy Koufax: A Lefty’s Legacy”, by Jane Leavy, soon to be followed by “Master of the Senate”, by Robert Caro, both very cool Giftmas gifts. ---
**Author:** ![vix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/a88e4f/32.png) [@vix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vix)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2002, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-for-another-whatcha-readin-thread/145003/49 "2002-12-27T22:47:21Z")
Just finished _Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America_ by Barbara Ehrenreich. If you read it, you’ll never shop at Wal-Mart again. ---
**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 28, 2002, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-for-another-whatcha-readin-thread/145003/50 "2002-12-28T00:21:33Z")
_The Education of Uncle Paul_ by Algernon Blackwood. Out of print, alas, but I found a copy in ASU’s Hayden Library. ---
**Author:** ![Jeff](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19b73/32.png) [@Jeff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jeff)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2002, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-for-another-whatcha-readin-thread/145003/51 "2002-12-28T00:25:40Z")
Just finished Graham Greene’s _The Quiet American_, and jumped into _Collected Novellas_ by Gabriel Garcia Marquez, both of which I’d strongly recommend. Plus I’ve got _Rendevous with Rama_ and I’m slowly inching my way through an anthology of Stephen Leacock’s works. ---
**Author:** ![Fiddle\_Peghead](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fiddle_peghead/32/3506_2.png) [@Fiddle\_Peghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiddle_Peghead)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2002, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-for-another-whatcha-readin-thread/145003/52 "2002-12-28T01:25:18Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Jonathan Chance \* > \*\*Again? > > Ok… > The Silmarillion, by JRRT. Only in dribs and drabs as I can take it. \*\* Does this imply that you are irritated, inundated, yea, even overwhelmed by its utter, meaningless complexity, a novel so dense that even Gomer Pyle would be put off by it’s sleep inducing _ennui_istic nature? If so, then why the hell do you keep reading it? Chuck it into the circular file, I say! Alright, it took me at least 100 pages before I discarded “The Brothers Karamazov”, I’ll admit it, but at least I came to my senses before wasting another 3 weeks on it! ---
**Author:** ![Fiddle\_Peghead](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fiddle_peghead/32/3506_2.png) [@Fiddle\_Peghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiddle_Peghead)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2002, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-for-another-whatcha-readin-thread/145003/53 "2002-12-28T01:33:15Z")
**its** , that is! ---
**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:** [December 28, 2002, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-for-another-whatcha-readin-thread/145003/54 "2002-12-28T03:00:57Z")
I always love these threads. \*\*The Holocaust Chronicle: A History In Words and Pictures \*\* Just the ‘light’ and ‘happy’ reading one needs as a pick me up over the holidays. ---
**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:** [December 28, 2002, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-for-another-whatcha-readin-thread/145003/55 "2002-12-28T03:02:40Z")
\*\*Donbas \*\* by Jacques Sandalescue (?) is another one I just finished re-reading. Excellent WW2 boy taken by the Russians and sent to a Siberian work camp and his chilling tale of survival and escape. ---
**Author:** ![Biggirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biggirl/32/3294_2.png) [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2002, 5:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-for-another-whatcha-readin-thread/145003/56 "2002-12-28T05:38:23Z")
These “what are you reading” threads usually take on a life of their own and don’t need further input from the OP. But since many of you addressed me personally, I don’t want to seem like an inattentive host. Let me just say at the start that I appreciate everybody’s thoughts and if I don’t mention your post specifically it’s not because I didn’t read or appreciate your opinion. The Black Death by Philip Ziegler sounds like it could be up my alley. Does it get too technical? 'Cause my brain can only take but so much I’ve read The Bourne Identity and, as it seems almost always the case with sequels, The Bourne Supremacy was such a let down. Founding Brothers, by Josep Ellis. Astounding? Amazing? Really? With descriptors like that the book sounds hard to resist. (Should I mention that I’m a little dense and easily bored? Is this good for the layman?) Catch Me If You Can is a quick read _and_ fascinating? Sounds as if it’s right up my alley. I have to say that when I found out the movie was about a real person, my curiosity was piqued. Exiles Honor, by Mercedes Lackey. How can I pass up a book that’s Qadgop’s guilty pleasure? Seabiscuit, An American Legend by Laura Hillenbrand has already been recommended by Dopers in a face-to-face situation. A book about a race horse doesn’t seem to be my cup of tea, but with so many recommendations, it’s beginning to be hard for me to pass this one up. Rats, Lice, and History just sounds like something I would enjoy. I’ve been dissapointed by stand-up comedians before. Their books are worth a chuckle, but you can usually get a better feel by watching them perform. Is there anything _more_ in I’m The One That I Want than there is in the act? I am a BIG romance fan (as can be gleaned from my web page) and I have yet to read Outlander even though I’ve heard great things about this book from romance fans _and_ those uninitiated in the guilty pleasure of love in book form. I’m definitely getting this one. The Third Chimpanzee by Diamond. As good as GG&S? My to be read pile is growing. Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America is already in my to be read pile. Only I haven’t actually purchased it yet. Have I mentioned how much I love this board? ---
**Author:** ![KarlGauss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/karlgauss/32/3713_2.png) [@KarlGauss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KarlGauss)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2002, 6:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-for-another-whatcha-readin-thread/145003/57 "2002-12-28T06:23:35Z")
Well, I just got [Seabiscuit](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0449005615/qid=1041056471/sr=2-1/ref=sr_2_1/002-9611274-2060066) as a present and, from the little bit I’ve read so far, its five star rating at Amazon (almost unanimously from 267 reviews!) seems like it’s gonna be justified. ---
**Author:** ![Katisha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/bcef8e/32.png) [@Katisha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Katisha)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2002, 6:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-for-another-whatcha-readin-thread/145003/58 "2002-12-28T06:28:53Z")
**likes the Silmarillion** But that may not surprise you, after I post my current reading list. Currently working on: _The Vision of Piers Plowman,_ William Langland Sitting on my desk at the moment, roughly in the order they’re stacked: an anthology, Five Elizabethan History Plays – contains _King John_ (John Bale), _Edward III_ (anonymous, possibly Shakespeare, at least in part), _Thomas of Woodstock_ (anonymous. I’ve read this one, btw. It’s a riot), _Perkin Warbeck_ (John Ford), _The Tragedy of King John and Matilda_ (can’t remember the author’s name) John Dryden, Selected Poems Ben Jonson, _The Devil is an Ass and Other Plays_ (contains _Poetaster, Sejanus, The Devil is an Ass,_ and _The New Inn_ – which I’ve also read. It’s odd.) Thomas More, _Utopia_ _The Cambridge Companion to Ben Jonson_ Jonson (again), _The Alchemist_ and _Every Man In His Humour_ Stephen Mullaney, _The Place of the Stage in Renaissance England_ Marvin Rosenberg, _The Masks of Othello_ Harold Bloom, _The Western Canon_ (a gift from my sister, knowing I’m no Bloom fan) And I’m going on an [Amazon.com](http://Amazon.com) binge with some of the money I got for Christmas. Mmmmmm…books… ---
**Author:** ![Kyla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/eada6e/32.png) [@Kyla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kyla)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2002, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-for-another-whatcha-readin-thread/145003/59 "2002-12-28T16:41:32Z")
> [@](#): > > The Third Chimpanzee by Diamond. As good as GG&S? My to be read pile is growing. It occurs to me that I’ll see you in New York next week. I’ll bring my copy for you to borrow, if you like. ---
**Author:** ![Biggirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biggirl/32/3294_2.png) [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2002, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-for-another-whatcha-readin-thread/145003/60 "2002-12-28T16:55:13Z")
Cool **Kyla**. How’m I gonna return it? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-for-another-whatcha-readin-thread/145003.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-for-another-whatcha-readin-thread/145003.md?page=4)