# What Are You Reading Now? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 18, 2002, 5:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-you-reading-now/104270 "2002-04-18T05:20:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![LolaBaby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d2c977/32.png) [@LolaBaby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LolaBaby)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2002, 5:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-you-reading-now/104270/1 "2002-04-18T05:20:35Z")
Fiction, non-fiction, what are you reading? I’d like some suggestions. Right now I am starting on “Bird By Bird” by Anne Lamott. ---
**Author:** ![Caught\_Work](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/919ad9/32.png) [@Caught\_Work](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Caught_Work)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2002, 5:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-you-reading-now/104270/2 "2002-04-18T05:21:15Z")
errr, this thread. You tell me, is it fiction or non-fiction, 'cos it kinda sounds made up to me. ---
**Author:** ![LolaBaby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d2c977/32.png) [@LolaBaby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LolaBaby)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2002, 5:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-you-reading-now/104270/3 "2002-04-18T05:31:31Z")
It’s a non-fiction book, it’s about her trials ans tribulations on her way to her profession (writing). Sounds boring, but quite an interesting read. Can’t I ever get a straight answer here? ---
**Author:** ![Caught\_Work](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/919ad9/32.png) [@Caught\_Work](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Caught_Work)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2002, 5:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-you-reading-now/104270/4 "2002-04-18T05:35:50Z")
You can get the straight dope, but not necessarily a straight answer. Right now (well when I get home) I have about half a dozen books on the go, depending on which room I walk into and sit down. Library - Asimov’s Nine Tomorrows (fiction) Kitchen - Red Dwarf (fiction) Bedroom - The Rainmaker - Grisham (fiction) Dining Room - Lord of the Rings - JRRT (fiction) TV Room - Bananas in Pyjamas (for the kids) (fiction) Hmmmm, not much real happens in my world apparently, and I probably have too many rooms. ---
**Author:** ![Caught\_Work](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/919ad9/32.png) [@Caught\_Work](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Caught_Work)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2002, 5:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-you-reading-now/104270/5 "2002-04-18T05:38:39Z")
Ohhh, toilet - Readers Digest, 'cos it makes it easier to go … ---
**Author:** ![MarkyDeSade](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/35a633/32.png) [@MarkyDeSade](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MarkyDeSade)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2002, 5:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-you-reading-now/104270/6 "2002-04-18T05:39:23Z")
I just finished Carl Sagan’s “Demon Haunted World.” Great book. Non-fiction. Now I’m returning to Hawking’s “Universe in a Nutshell,” which, so far, isn’t as readable as “A Brief History of Time.” I’ll let you know if the pace picks up a bit. ---
**Author:** ![novacaine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/7ea924/32.png) [@novacaine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/novacaine)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2002, 5:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-you-reading-now/104270/7 "2002-04-18T05:48:10Z")
_My Father’s Daughter_ by Tina Sinatra. It’s a very informative biography of Frank Sinatra written by his daughter. After I finish that I will be starting on _Trick Baby_ by Iceberg Slim ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2002, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-you-reading-now/104270/8 "2002-04-18T13:50:01Z")
• Jan Morris’ new book on Wales • A new book on the Hope Diamond (turns out all the “curse” stories were fake!) • A corking good 1931 “lost generation” novel called “A Single Lady,” by John Monk Saunders ---
**Author:** ![Legomancer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/779978/32.png) [@Legomancer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Legomancer)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2002, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-you-reading-now/104270/9 "2002-04-18T14:02:28Z")
I’ve begun marathon of “going to the source”. I’ve read stuff that’s ripped off all of these books, but never the originals. I’m starting with War of the Worlds and will eventually hit: The Time Machine The Invisible Man First Men in the Moon 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea From the Earth to the Moon Around the World in 80 Days Frankenstein Dracula Various Lovecraft stories and some more I can’t think of at the moment. ---
**Author:** ![vanilla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/f19dbf/32.png) [@vanilla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vanilla)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2002, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-you-reading-now/104270/10 "2002-04-18T14:04:49Z")
I’ve been re reading all the Miss Manners books. ---
**Author:** ![auntie\_em](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5e9695/32.png) [@auntie\_em](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/auntie_em)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2002, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-you-reading-now/104270/11 "2002-04-18T14:14:53Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by LolaBaby \* > \*\*Fiction, non-fiction, what are you reading? I’d like some suggestions. > > Right now I am starting on “Bird By Bird” by Anne Lamott. \*\* **LolaBaby** , I haven’t even bothered to read any of the responses yet, because I have to tell you that I love _Bird by Bird_\*. It’s great for teaching, and kids love it when you ask them to read the “Shitty First Drafts” chapter out loud. 😉 As for Anne Lamott’s fiction, I really enjoyed _Rosie_. ---
**Author:** ![auntie\_em](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5e9695/32.png) [@auntie\_em](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/auntie_em)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2002, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-you-reading-now/104270/12 "2002-04-18T14:17:53Z")
Oops, sorry about the formatting. I just got so excited… Hey **novacaine** , have you read _Pimp_? Right now I’m re-reading all of the novels I’m including in my Master’s Thesis (to which I am returning after a THREE YEAR hiatus). At the moment I’m in the middle of James Baldwin’s _Tell Me How Long the Train’s Been Gone_. ---
**Author:** ![xcheopis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/bc8723/32.png) [@xcheopis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xcheopis)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2002, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-you-reading-now/104270/13 "2002-04-18T14:25:52Z")
Non-fiction; **Cell and Molecular Biology**. But that’s 'cause I have an exam next week. Were I left to my own devices, I’d be finishing off that pile of Dorothy Sayers books. ---
**Author:** ![Merlot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/3e96dc/32.png) [@Merlot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merlot)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2002, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-you-reading-now/104270/14 "2002-04-18T14:41:37Z")
The Feast of Love by Charles Baxter. ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2002, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-you-reading-now/104270/15 "2002-04-18T14:43:56Z")
I just finished Truman Capote’s _In Cold Blood_ and Gregory Macdonald’s _Fletch_. I might re-read Neal Stephenson’s _Cryptonomicon_ next. ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2002, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-you-reading-now/104270/16 "2002-04-18T14:48:34Z")
I just finished RIchard Matheson’s “I Am Legend,” and P.G. Wodehouse’s “Summer Moonshine,” and am now into Anthony Trollope’s “Can You Forgive Her?” ---
**Author:** ![gobear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8dc957/32.png) [@gobear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gobear)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2002, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-you-reading-now/104270/17 "2002-04-18T14:52:41Z")
Right now, I’m reading _The Years of Rice and Salt_ by Kim Stanley Robinson. It’s an alternate history novel based on the premise that the Black Plague wiped out all of Europe’s population, so that world history develops with the Chinese and the Muslims as the leading powers. It also has a heavily phosophical theme on how our destinies are shaped by our choices in life. I’m also reading _The Stone of Heaven : Unearthing the Secret History of Imperial Green Jade_. It’s a history of the trade in jadeite and its influence on Southeast Asian politics. ---
**Author:** ![pbrtallboy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f475e1/32.png) [@pbrtallboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pbrtallboy)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2002, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-you-reading-now/104270/18 "2002-04-18T14:56:28Z")
Non-fiction: A People’s History of the United States by Howard Zinn Perpetual War For Perpetual Peace: How We Got to be So Hated by Gore Vidal Fiction: The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay by Michael Chabon ---
**Author:** ![CrankyAsAnOldMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crankyasanoldman/32/11670_2.png) [@CrankyAsAnOldMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CrankyAsAnOldMan)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2002, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-you-reading-now/104270/19 "2002-04-18T14:57:37Z")
I have “Bird by Bird.” It’s a good thing to read when I’m struggling with my dissertation. I’m reading a book I cannot even remember the name of, but my next book will be “Girls” by Frederick Busch, for my book club. You know, the reason I can’t remember this book’s name or author is that it’s just like a half-dozen other books I’ve read this last year. Family history with some secrets, story told slightly out-of-order. Well-written, but ultimately forgettable because this theme has been overdone. I just read “Fall on Your Knees” which was just like it. I was absorbed at the time, but it felt a little too familiar and I’m starting to feel irritated by the whole business. ---
**Author:** ![HelloKitty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ecccb3/32.png) [@HelloKitty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HelloKitty)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2002, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-you-reading-now/104270/20 "2002-04-18T15:51:09Z")
I’m reading **Seabiscuit: An American Legend** by Laura Hillenbrand. I’m about half way through and can hardly put it down!! Don’t read much if any fiction these days. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-you-reading-now/104270.md?page=2)