# 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:** 8\ **Page:** 6
**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:** [January 18, 2007, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/watcha-readin/384804/101 "2007-01-18T19:12:45Z")
I’m having an unsatisfying book week. I just finished and vaguely disliked _The Sun Also Rises_. I was expecting a great story like _For Whom the Bell Tolls_ or _Farewell to Arms_, not a chatty but tedious 250 page bender punctuated by bullfights. I was surprised at how bored I was. I thought the Lost Generation would be loads more fun. I’ve also been reading _Sabriel_ by Garth Nix and really enjoying it, too. Until yesterday, when suddenly I hit my all-death-all-the-time saturation point. Now I’m not sure I can finish it. I’m going to start _The Woman in Black_ tonight. Maybe I should clear my head first – play a few hundred games of solitaire, maybe knit something. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2007, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/watcha-readin/384804/102 "2007-01-18T21:11:40Z")
[QUOTE=koeeoaddi] I’m having an unsatisfying book week. I just finished and vaguely disliked _The Sun Also Rises_. I was expecting a great story like _For Whom the Bell Tolls_ or _Farewell to Arms_, not a chatty but tedious 250 page bender punctuated by bullfights. I was surprised at how bored I was. I thought the Lost Generation would be loads more fun. I’ve also been reading _Sabriel_ by Garth Nix and really enjoying it, too. Until yesterday, when suddenly I hit my all-death-all-the-time saturation point. Now I’m not sure I can finish it. I’m going to start _The Woman in Black_ tonight. Maybe I should clear my head first – play a few hundred games of solitaire, maybe knit something. ☹ [/QUOTE] I encourage you to keep reading Sabriel. It was worth the read. ---
**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:** [January 18, 2007, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/watcha-readin/384804/103 "2007-01-18T21:28:53Z")
[QUOTE=Khadaji] I encourage you to keep reading Sabriel. It was worth the read. [/QUOTE] It definitely is, though I can understand if it gets to someone. It’s got a lot of death in it. ---
**Author:** ![wonderlust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonderlust/32/7237_2.png) [@wonderlust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonderlust)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2007, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/watcha-readin/384804/104 "2007-01-18T22:25:25Z")
Just wondering, is that true of the second two books in the _Abhorsen Trilogy_ also? I’ve read _Sabriel_, but was thinking of reading _Lirael_ soon, if it wasn’t too much about death. ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2007, 7:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/watcha-readin/384804/105 "2007-01-20T07:36:22Z")
Done with _Strange Piece of Paradise._ I figured that \*The Sociopath Next Door \* would be a good segue, plus both covers feature the same shade of orange, which means they’re magically related. I just read the Abhorsen Trilogy. Death is a pretty heavy theme all the way through. I’m reviewing what I read at [shoshanapnw.livejournal.com](http://shoshanapnw.livejournal.com) if you’re interested. Low to no spoilers. ---
**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:** [January 20, 2007, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/watcha-readin/384804/106 "2007-01-20T15:33:13Z")
[QUOTE=Shoshana] I just read the Abhorsen Trilogy. Death is a pretty heavy theme all the way through. [/QUOTE] I finished _Sabriel_ last night. Thank you **Khadaji** and **jsgoddess** for the encouragement. It really was very good. I won’t be continuing on, though. The dead vs. the living cosmology of that world makes it a place I’m not in a hurry to get back to. Don’t know why it bothers me more than anything other doomfest. I _did_ get all the way through _The House of Sand and Fog_ without kicking away the stool. Next up, _finally_, _The Woman in Black_. ---
**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:** [January 20, 2007, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/watcha-readin/384804/107 "2007-01-20T15:52:35Z")
[QUOTE=koeeoaddi] Next up, _finally_, _The Woman in Black_. [/QUOTE] If you’re like me, that’ll only take a couple of hours. 🙂 Lemme see, of my big stack o’ books I mentioned above, I’m reading _The Oracle Betrayed_, _The Ill-Made Mute_, and _The Mabinogion Tetralogy_. Oh, and I just finished reading through all of Laura Ingalls Wilder for the first time ever. What delightful books. If anyone has any recommendations for books that are similar, I’d be delighted. ---
**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:** [January 20, 2007, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/watcha-readin/384804/108 "2007-01-20T15:55:41Z")
[QUOTE=Shoshana] I’m reviewing what I read at [shoshanapnw.livejournal.com](http://shoshanapnw.livejournal.com) if you’re interested. Low to no spoilers. [/QUOTE] I am interested. Thanks for the link. I do a similar thing (though shorter reviews) with Chain Reading (which is finally back up), and I review at Epinions when I feel like really exploring a review. I love reading book reviews. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/watcha-readin/384804.md?page=5)