# What are you Re-Reading? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 8, 2008, 4:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-you-re-reading/432697 "2008-01-08T04:01:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2008, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-you-re-reading/432697/21 "2008-01-08T17:27:03Z")
I’m not re-reading them right at the moment, but every five or six years I return to George R.R. Martin’s science-fiction masterpiece _Tuf Voyaging_ (about power, intrigue, ecological engineering, population control, psionic cats and the finer points of mushroom cuisine) and Gary Jenning’s historical novel _Aztec_ (about a long-lost and in many ways admirable civilization, warfare, human sacrifice, sex, cultural clashes and the Inquisition). Both are longtime favorites of mine - just wonderful books, well-written, witty and totally engrossing. ---
**Author:** ![misling](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/3ab097/32.png) [@misling](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/misling)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2008, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-you-re-reading/432697/22 "2008-01-08T19:26:00Z")
Rereading my Agatha Christies right now. They’re popcorn - I go through one every evening. Next up, probably the Rex Stout set. I’m on an ‘old mystery’ roll right now. ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2008, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-you-re-reading/432697/23 "2008-01-08T20:26:23Z")
_Ghost Story_ by Peter Straub, for a BOM at SFF World. I hope it holds up better than _Floating Dragon_, which was a disappointment. ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2008, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-you-re-reading/432697/24 "2008-01-08T21:35:45Z")
Put me on the list for re-reading The _Baroque cycle._ That means, though, that I read it first over about a year and a half, came back to it a year later and re-read _Quicksilver_ this past summer (actually, this one is my favorite. I must be odd!), and need to re-read the second two pretty soon when I finish all my Christmas books. I should re-read _Cryptonomicon_ too. Maybe this time I will be smarterer when I am done. ---
**Author:** ![Ro\_Carter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/7feea3/32.png) [@Ro\_Carter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ro_Carter)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2008, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-you-re-reading/432697/25 "2008-01-08T23:42:00Z")
I know this is a hijack, but could someone please enlighten me about what this Baroque Cycle is? Author, basic premise, etc? ---
**Author:** ![Malthus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/85f322/32.png) [@Malthus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malthus)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2008, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-you-re-reading/432697/26 "2008-01-08T23:57:45Z")
[QUOTE=Ro Carter] I know this is a hijack, but could someone please enlighten me about what this Baroque Cycle is? Author, basic premise, etc? [/QUOTE] Here is a link, with some basic information: [The Baroque Cycle - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baroque_Cycle) And here is one to the first book on Amazon: > **[Amazon.com: Quicksilver (The Baroque Cycle, Vol. 1): 9780060593087: Stephenson,...](https://www.amazon.com/Quicksilver-Baroque-Cycle-Vol-1/dp/0060593083)** > > Amazon.com: Quicksilver (The Baroque Cycle, Vol. 1): 9780060593087: Stephenson, Neal: Books My comment: this book is big in every possible way - big in theme, big in scope, and long; to me that is all _good_, but some people don’t like it - hence the cries of “he needs an editor”. Basic premise: nothing less than ‘how did the modern world emerge from the morass of violence and superstition’. Told with lots of robust historical fiction interacting with real historical events. Creative notes abound. One of my favorites: a chapter written in the style of a Restoration era play. ---
**Author:** ![Ro\_Carter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/7feea3/32.png) [@Ro\_Carter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ro_Carter)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2008, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-you-re-reading/432697/27 "2008-01-08T23:59:53Z")
Thanks! ---
**Author:** ![alphaboi867](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alphaboi867/32/3898_2.png) [@alphaboi867](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alphaboi867)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2008, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-you-re-reading/432697/28 "2008-01-09T00:35:19Z")
I recently bought the **World War Z** audiobook and have been listening to it in my car. This is actually my first experiance with audiobooks. ---
**Author:** ![Linty\_Fresh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Linty\_Fresh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Linty_Fresh)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2008, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-you-re-reading/432697/29 "2008-01-09T02:11:51Z")
I picked up Rudyard Kipling’s **Kim** for the first time in September '06, and I have just begun reading it for the fourth time. It’s just a _beautiful_ story, and the descriptions of Kim, the eternal outsider, along with the Grand Trunk Road and the hills and the cities could only have been written by a mournful genius who loved and pined for India without ever really having understood it. I’m actually thinking about learning Hindi and Urdu because of this book. It’s replaced **The Karla Trilogy** as the work I find myself compulsively re-reading over and over again. ---
**Author:** ![Landshark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/77aa72/32.png) [@Landshark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Landshark)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2008, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-you-re-reading/432697/30 "2008-01-09T02:58:52Z")
I’m in the middle of re-reading **Thud!** right now, Lobsang. As I remembered it from my first read, the whole thing is marvelous fun. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2008, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-you-re-reading/432697/31 "2008-01-09T03:28:21Z")
I reread a lot. Since this summer I reread all of Harry Turtledove’s _Timeline-191_ books and Peter Hamilton’s _Commonwealth_ books. I also reread _The Book of Lists: 1990 edition_ new years day. ---
**Author:** ![FoieGrasIsEvil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foiegrasisevil/32/16638_2.png) [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2008, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-you-re-reading/432697/32 "2008-01-09T03:57:36Z")
Pillars Of The Earth by Follet. ---
**Author:** ![commasense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/commasense/32/3017_2.png) [@commasense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/commasense)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2008, 4:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-you-re-reading/432697/33 "2008-01-09T04:56:40Z")
I was re-watching the first four seasons of _The Wire_ (which, IMHO, is very much equivalent to reading a great novel), and in the second season the character of D’Angelo Barksdale is discussing _The Great Gatsby_ in a prison reading group (led by author Richard Price, BTW). “D” had some interesting things to say about Gatsby, and since it had been quite a while since I read the book, and since I’m sure the series writers were drawing a parallel between him and Gatsby, I re-read the book. (Yes, there are parallels.) I definitely got a lot more from it this time than when I read it 10+ years ago. So I turned around an re-read it right away. ---
**Author:** ![Tenar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/35a633/32.png) [@Tenar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tenar)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2008, 6:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-you-re-reading/432697/34 "2008-01-09T06:06:58Z")
I’m re-reading Winston Graham’s \*Poldark \* series for the fourth or fifth time, although I’ll probably quit around book six or seven rather than slog all the way through to the end as I don’t care for the last few books. Right now I’m finishing up _Warleggan_ (the fourth book), and Ross has just dragged Elizabeth off to her room for some extremely ill advised and at least semi-forcible sex. I hate that scene, as it kind of screws up Ross’s good guy image, to say the least. I also have a set of old VHS tapes of both seasons of the BBC TV series from the '70s, which I re-watch periodically. ---
**Author:** ![Cazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cazzle/32/75_2.png) [@Cazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cazzle)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2008, 11:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-you-re-reading/432697/35 "2008-01-09T11:46:22Z")
I just finished re-reading _Making Money_. I re-read Pratchett over and over and over… ---
**Author:** ![LVBoPeep](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/858c86/32.png) [@LVBoPeep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LVBoPeep)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2008, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-you-re-reading/432697/36 "2008-01-09T13:47:34Z")
I’m re-reading Matthew Kneale’s _English Passengers_ for the third time since I bought it about two months ago. I just can’t get enough of it! I will probably retire it for the next year after this, mostly because I have a bunch of books I got for Christmas to read instead. I just love the story, the language and most of the characters. ---
**Author:** ![Sitnam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Sitnam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sitnam)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2008, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-you-re-reading/432697/37 "2008-01-10T21:26:55Z")
_A World Lit Only by Fire_ by William Manchester. I’m a history nut and have read plenty of books about the history of the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, but I’ve never read a book that does such a great job of describing what it **felt** like. Manchester’s extensive research supports an incredibly personal look into the dynamic forces of the powerful, the adventurous and the mundane characters of the time. If I was a high school history teacher this would be mandatory reading even though it has plenty of sex. ---
**Author:** ![Malthus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/85f322/32.png) [@Malthus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malthus)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2008, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-you-re-reading/432697/38 "2008-01-10T21:32:46Z")
[QUOTE=Smokinjbc] I’m re-reading Matthew Kneale’s _English Passengers_ for the third time since I bought it about two months ago. I just can’t get enough of it! I will probably retire it for the next year after this, mostly because I have a bunch of books I got for Christmas to read instead. I just love the story, the language and most of the characters. [/QUOTE] Haven’t read this at all yet, but I’m interested. ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2008, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-you-re-reading/432697/39 "2008-01-10T21:50:44Z")
[QUOTE=Sitnam] _A World Lit Only by Fire_ by William Manchester. [/QUOTE] This sounds awesome. I found a used edition at Amazon for $3.50. In some of the descriptions, the seller says “No CD”, so I’m thinking maybe this **has** been used as a textbook. The last book that made me feel a time period was _Someone Knows My Name_ by Lawrence Hill. It’s the mundane details that accomplish this, I think. Too many authors shy away from mundanities. Maybe they think it’s boring for the reader, the day to day stuff. **Malthus** , _English Passengers_ is a guaranteed good read. Several Dopers have read and loved it. ---
**Author:** ![Dangerosa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Dangerosa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dangerosa)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2008, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-you-re-reading/432697/40 "2008-01-10T21:54:36Z")
Re-reading Jane Eyre because I called her a wimp in a thread on these boards a few months ago and promised her defenders I’d reread to figure out why I think she’s a wimp. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-you-re-reading/432697.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-you-re-reading/432697.md?page=3)