# Watcha readin'? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 19, 2006, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/watcha-readin/384804 "2006-12-19T18:19:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2006, 1:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/watcha-readin/384804/21 "2006-12-20T13:32:24Z")
I just finished [The Botany of Desire: A Plant’s-eye View of the World](http://www.amazon.com/Botany-Desire-Plants-Eye-View-World/dp/0375760393/sr=8-1/qid=1166621302/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/002-2921172-7217600?ie=UTF8&s=books). It’s not the most rigorously researched or reasoned book around, but it does tell some fascinating stories about the history of apple trees and other plants and how they’ve evolved to exploit humans, just as flowers evolved to exploit bees. Before that, I read [Skin Folk](http://www.amazon.com/Skin-Folk-Nalo-Hopkinson/dp/0446678031/sr=1-5/qid=1166621395/ref=sr_1_5/002-2921172-7217600?ie=UTF8&s=books) by Nalo Hopkinson, a book of Caribbean-Canadian magical realist short stories. Very good. And the book I read before that, recommended by Hopkinson (“Off the _hook_!”) and picked up solely because of the name, was [The Coyote Kings of the Space-Age Bachelor Pad](http://www.amazon.com/Coyote-Kings-Space-Age-Bachelor-Pad/dp/0345466357/sr=1-2/qid=1166621465/ref=pd_bbs_sr_2/002-2921172-7217600?ie=UTF8&s=books). Best I can describe it is like an Afrocentric Tim Powers novel: tremendously fun, hilariously written, and just a great all-round read. I loved it. Daniel ---
**Author:** ![Campion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4491bb/32.png) [@Campion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Campion)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2006, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/watcha-readin/384804/22 "2006-12-20T13:51:11Z")
[QUOTE=Rebecca DiMwitter] Next up is “The Thirteenth Tale” for me…I know I am getting it for Christmas and I can hardly wait! [/QUOTE] I just got this as a Christmas present; I didn’t really look at it, so I’ve no idea what it’s about, but now I’m looking forward to reading it, if people here like it. That’ll be next week, assuming I’ll get a few days off work… ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2006, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/watcha-readin/384804/23 "2006-12-20T14:28:47Z")
I just finished The Thirteenth Tale last night…and started it again this morning. If that tells you anything. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2006, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/watcha-readin/384804/24 "2006-12-20T14:29:09Z")
I’ve finally gotten around to reading **'Tis** , by Frank McCourt, and have started **Bushwhacked** , by Molly Ivins. The latter may be a mistake, as it’s just pissing me off all over again about how apathetic American voters are. ---
**Author:** ![LANmom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c89c15/32.png) [@LANmom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LANmom)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2006, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/watcha-readin/384804/25 "2006-12-20T14:33:02Z")
Robert Jordans Wheel of Time series. I love nice thick well-written tomes like this. I don’t want them to ever end. (newbie here) ---
**Author:** ![Trion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ccd318/32.png) [@Trion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trion)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2006, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/watcha-readin/384804/26 "2006-12-20T14:40:27Z")
[QUOTE=LANmom] Robert Jordans Wheel of Time series. I love nice thick well-written tomes like this. I don’t want them to ever end. [/QUOTE] Boy, are you in luck! ---
**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:** [December 20, 2006, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/watcha-readin/384804/27 "2006-12-20T14:51:32Z")
[QUOTE=Tamryne] …I gave in and bought Laurell K Hamilton’s latest, Mistral’s Kiss. My god, only 215 pages? For that much money? And that bad? I hung in there for the Merry Gentry series, buying the books knowing how they were written, but this is a new low. [/QUOTE] Yeah, I’m sticking with the Anita Blake series, but I’m not paying money for any more Merry Gentry books. I just finished Rachel Caine’s Weather Warden series. I really liked the first book, and the rest are not bad, but I don’t much like the direction she took them. It may be a dumb thing to complain about in a paranormal series, but there’s too much magic. Everyone is getting too powerful and the huge, abstract magical battles get dull after a while. Also every book ends in a cliffhanger, which wasn’t a problem when I had all five books lined up but now that I have to wait months for the next one, it’s annoying. Next I’ll finish Kelley Armstrong’s Otherworld series. I still have George R. R. Martin’s \*\*A Feast for Crows \*\*to read after Christmas, and I’m also a couple of stories into his **Tuf Voyaging** collection. I borrowed a sack full of Tony Hillerman’s mysteries from my mom, and I’m looking forward to reading those. ---
**Author:** ![stegon66](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee59a6/32.png) [@stegon66](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stegon66)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2006, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/watcha-readin/384804/28 "2006-12-20T14:52:43Z")
Currently reading Carl Sagan’s _The Varieties of Scientific Experience_ and Haruki Murakami’s _Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman_. On deck: Charles Frazier’s _Thirteen Moons_, Richard Dawkins’ _The God Delusion_ and _The Electric Life of Michael Faraday_ by Alan Hirshfeld. Plus a couple of Marvel Masterworks: Avengers Volume 6 and Thor Volume 4. ---
**Author:** ![koeeoaddi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/koeeoaddi/32/408_2.png) [@koeeoaddi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/koeeoaddi)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2006, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/watcha-readin/384804/29 "2006-12-20T15:32:59Z")
[QUOTE=Dung Beetle] I just finished The Thirteenth Tale last night…and started it again this morning. If that tells you anything. 🙂 [/QUOTE] I did that too, **Dung Beetle** , and when the library gets the audiobook, I’ll probably listen to it, too. Some books just beg to be listened to. I read **Lisey’s Story** and liked it, with reservations. When the audio finally came in for me, I started to listen to it, only because I had nothing else to listen to. It’s _much_ better read aloud. It already has the quality of someone telling you a story and the annoying parts [the cutesy inside words like “smuck” and “SOWISA”] don’t jar as much. It helps that it’s read by Mare Winningham. She does a wonderful job. I’m reading the second book in the Depford series, **The Manticore** by Robertson Davies. Where has this guy been all my life. He’s _great_! ---
**Author:** ![Chance\_the\_Gardener](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eada6e/32.png) [@Chance\_the\_Gardener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chance_the_Gardener)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2006, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/watcha-readin/384804/30 "2006-12-20T15:48:15Z")
Currently I’m reading _Mysteries of Pitsburgh_ by **Michael Chabon**. I’m also reading lots of Harper’s and New Republic articles, plus the New Yorker. _Mysteries_ is pretty good. I’ve got a heap of other books to move on to after I’m done with it, and I’ll probably get more for Christmas this year. And I’ve been getting a hankering to finally read _Gravity’s Rainbow_ lately, but there’s no telling if I will. It certainly won’t be for lack of any other reading materials! ---
**Author:** ![Bridget\_Burke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7cd45c/32.png) [@Bridget\_Burke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bridget_Burke)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2006, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/watcha-readin/384804/31 "2006-12-20T15:52:23Z")
I just finished _Adventures in Unhistory_ by the late Avram Davidson. This collection of interlinked essays on arcane topics was previously released in a limited edition; used copies occasionally became available at slightly less than $1,000. If you’ve read Davidson & enjoyed his unique style, you might enjoy this discursive & erudite collection. In fact, you might be thrilled to finally have this well-produced volume in your mitts. And then you’ll devour it greedily; or more slowly, as this is rich stuff. > **[Adventures in Unhistory: Conjectures on the Factual Foundations of Several...](https://www.amazon.com/Adventures-Unhistory-Conjectures-Factual-Foundations/dp/076530760X)** > > Adventures in Unhistory: Conjectures on the Factual Foundations of Several Ancient Legends \[Davidson, Avram\] on Amazon.com. \*FREE\* shipping on qualifying offers. Adventures in Unhistory: Conjectures on the Factual Foundations of Several Ancient... Re-reading S M Stirling’s \*The Peshawar Lancers \* on the commute. Quite the ripping yarn. > **[Amazon.com: The Peshawar Lancers: 9780451458735: Stirling, S. M.: Books](https://www.amazon.com/Peshawar-Lancers-S-M-Stirling/dp/0451458737)** > > Amazon.com: The Peshawar Lancers: 9780451458735: Stirling, S. M.: Books I promise to resume working through The Pile of Substantial Literature after Christmas! (If I don’t just send away to the UK for the last volume in the amazing _Bold As Love_ series.) > **[Rainbow Bridge (GOLLANCZ S.F.): Amazon.co.uk: Jones, Gwyneth: 9780575077157:...](https://www.amazon.co.uk/Rainbow-Bridge-GOLLANCZ-Gwyneth-Jones/dp/0575077158)** > > Buy Rainbow Bridge (GOLLANCZ S.F.) by Jones, Gwyneth from Amazon's Fiction Books Store. Everyday low prices on a huge range of new releases and classic fiction. ---
**Author:** ![Missy2U](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/3bc359/32.png) [@Missy2U](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Missy2U)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2006, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/watcha-readin/384804/32 "2006-12-20T15:53:38Z")
Finally found a copy of A Catskill Eagle (it’s the Spenser book where he gets back with Susan) - and my husband got me a bunch of others as well. Just finished that one, and started from the beginning of his series with The Godwulf Manuscript. I’m about halfway through that one. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2006, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/watcha-readin/384804/33 "2006-12-20T16:02:58Z")
[_The American Way of Strategy,_](http://www.amazon.com/o/ASIN/0195308379/ref=pd_rvi_gw_2/103-5733463-8947052) by Michael Lind. Watch for a GD thread to debate his insights. ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2006, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/watcha-readin/384804/34 "2006-12-20T16:06:38Z")
[QUOTE=sleestak] I am dying to find another good author I can really get into. The problem is that I like horror. Most horror writers suck. Actually, the vast majority of horror writers suck. [/QUOTE] I feel your pain. Have you read George R. R. Martin’s horror? Armageddon Rag, Fevre Dream, the short stories (one collection is called Sandkings)? T. M. Wright (Manhattan Ghost Story) is pretty good too, and I wasn’t disappointed with the one Tananarive Due I’ve read – The Good House. There are some horror “elements” in Steven Erikson’s excellent fantasy series, starting with Gardens of the Moon. But other than those people, if I want good horror, I read the old stuff. I’m about to re-read **Anything for Billy** by Larry McMurtry. I hear there’s a movie version in the works. Terry Gilliam! ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2006, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/watcha-readin/384804/35 "2006-12-20T16:08:16Z")
[QUOTE=Bridget Burke] I just finished _Adventures in Unhistory_ by the late Avram Davidson. This collection of interlinked essays on arcane topics was previously released in a limited edition; used copies occasionally became available at slightly less than $1,000. If you’ve read Davidson & enjoyed his unique style, you might enjoy this discursive & erudite collection. In fact, you might be thrilled to finally have this well-produced volume in your mitts. And then you’ll devour it greedily; or more slowly, as this is rich stuff. > **[Adventures in Unhistory: Conjectures on the Factual Foundations of Several...](https://www.amazon.com/Adventures-Unhistory-Conjectures-Factual-Foundations/dp/076530760X)** > > Adventures in Unhistory: Conjectures on the Factual Foundations of Several Ancient Legends \[Davidson, Avram\] on Amazon.com. \*FREE\* shipping on qualifying offers. Adventures in Unhistory: Conjectures on the Factual Foundations of Several Ancient... [/quote] 🙂 If you like Davidson, you’ll love [_The Adventures of Doctor Eszterhazy._](http://www.amazon.com/Adventures-Doctor-Eszterhazy-Avram-Davidson/dp/0913896284/sr=1-1/qid=1166630605/ref=sr_1_1/103-5733463-8947052?ie=UTF8&s=books) And check out [The Avram Davidson Website.](http://www.avramdavidson.org/) [QUOTE=Bridget Burke] Re-reading S M Stirling’s \*The Peshawar Lancers \* on the commute. Quite the ripping yarn. > **[Amazon.com: The Peshawar Lancers: 9780451458735: Stirling, S. M.: Books](https://www.amazon.com/Peshawar-Lancers-S-M-Stirling/dp/0451458737)** > > Amazon.com: The Peshawar Lancers: 9780451458735: Stirling, S. M.: Books [/QUOTE] Stirling has two new books out this month: [_A Meeting at Corvallis_](http://www.amazon.com/Meeting-at-Corvallis-S-M-Stirling/dp/0451461118/sr=1-1/qid=1166630768/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/103-5733463-8947052?ie=UTF8&s=books) and [_The Sky People._](http://www.amazon.com/Sky-People-Sci-Essential-Books/dp/0765314886/sr=1-1/qid=1166630802/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/103-5733463-8947052?ie=UTF8&s=books) See his [website.](http://hem.bredband.net/b108107/stirling/) ---
**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:** [December 20, 2006, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/watcha-readin/384804/36 "2006-12-20T16:43:22Z")
I just finished Elizabeth Peters’s _Tomb of the Golden Bird_, Robin Hobb’s _Royal Assassin_, Barbara Hambly’s _Circle of the Moon_, and Caroline Stevermer’s _College of Magics_. Currently reading Clinton McKinzie’s _Badwater_, Jennifer Colt’s _The Butcher of Beverly Hills_, and the Dave Barry/Ridley Pearson novel _Peter and the Starcatchers_. I’m also in the home stretch with the Laura Ingalls Wilder books, which are great to read while walking on a treadmill. ---
**Author:** ![Bridget\_Burke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7cd45c/32.png) [@Bridget\_Burke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bridget_Burke)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2006, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/watcha-readin/384804/37 "2006-12-20T16:59:58Z")
[QUOTE=BrainGlutton] 🙂 If you like Davidson, you’ll love [_The Adventures of Doctor Eszterhazy._](http://www.amazon.com/Adventures-Doctor-Eszterhazy-Avram-Davidson/dp/0913896284/sr=1-1/qid=1166630605/ref=sr_1_1/103-5733463-8947052?ie=UTF8&s=books) And check out [The Avram Davidson Website.](http://www.avramdavidson.org/) Stirling has two new books out this month: [_A Meeting at Corvallis_](http://www.amazon.com/Meeting-at-Corvallis-S-M-Stirling/dp/0451461118/sr=1-1/qid=1166630768/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/103-5733463-8947052?ie=UTF8&s=books) and [_The Sky People._](http://www.amazon.com/Sky-People-Sci-Essential-Books/dp/0765314886/sr=1-1/qid=1166630802/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/103-5733463-8947052?ie=UTF8&s=books) See his [website.](http://hem.bredband.net/b108107/stirling/) [/QUOTE] I love Davidson & have visited the website. Since he died a few years ago, many of his books are back in print. I’ll definitely get another copy of Dr Eszterhazy. And another copy of the minor but amusing _Clash of the Star Kings_, although I’ll keep my ratty paperback with the Frazetta cover (an Aztec warrior battling a plumed serpent.) (Time to refresh my R A Lafferty library, as well. He died in 2002; catch the books while they are in print.) And thanks for the info on Stirling! ---
**Author:** ![dangermom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e274bd/32.png) [@dangermom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dangermom)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2006, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/watcha-readin/384804/38 "2006-12-20T17:14:30Z")
I just finished **The faith club** , about three women, a Christian, a Muslim, and a Jew, who walk into a bar…no wait, they start a club to discuss and understand each other. Very interesting. I’m reading \*\*Malory: the knight who became King Arthur’s chronicler \*\*, which is sort of a biography, but since no one knows all that much about Malory, it has rather a lot about 15th-century life and some speculation as well. **Three cups of tea** is about a mountain-climbing bum guy who decides to build a school in a remote Pakistani village, and eventually winds up with a whole organization and 53 schools, etc. Am looking forward to borrowing Pterry’s new one **Wintersmith** off my sister when she’s done with it. ---
**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:** [December 20, 2006, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/watcha-readin/384804/39 "2006-12-20T17:14:52Z")
Actually, _A Meeting At Corvallis_ has been out for a while now. A good read, and a nice conclusion to the trilogy. ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2006, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/watcha-readin/384804/40 "2006-12-20T17:37:01Z")
Just finished a decent novel titled **Goodnight Texas** - pretty well-written with an interesting cast of characters in a down-on-it’s luck town on the Texas coast. Currently in the middle of **The Blue Taxi** , a novel set in E. Africa in the 70s - a different setting than most of what I read. Next up, **The Concord Four** , a slim volume about early transcendentalists. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/watcha-readin/384804.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/watcha-readin/384804.md?page=3)