# 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:** 5
**Author:** ![Dangerosa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Dangerosa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dangerosa)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2002, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-you-reading-now/104270/81 "2002-04-23T18:46:46Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by stankow \* > \*\*_Angry Lead Skies,_ by Glen Cook, who is a god and should be selling out stadiums just to watch him. This is the latest in the Garrett Files series, about a hard-boiled film-noir detective who happens to live in a fantasy world (like Ankh-Morpork, but less wacky). > \*\* Glen Cook is very shy. I don’t think he’d be comfortable having anyone watch him do anything. But he is a very nice man. If you go to SF Cons, he sometimes has a table selling used books. One of my girlfriends was the inspiration for Tinnie Tate (no kidding, you’d recognize her if you met her). I love the Garrett books. As to what I’m reading. Michael Moore’s Angry White Men (he reminds me that I am, unbelievably, a centrist). The Six Sigma Way. And Windy City Blues. (I’m a big Margaret Atwood fan. Blind Assasin is very good. If you like that and Handmaids Tale, try Robber Bride or Alias Grace. Sometimes she can get a little difficult). ---
**Author:** ![Jet\_Jaguar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jet_jaguar/32/3562_2.png) [@Jet\_Jaguar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jet_Jaguar)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2002, 3:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-you-reading-now/104270/82 "2002-04-24T03:43:05Z")
I’m finally finishing up _Journey to the West_, which I’ve been reading off and on (though admittedly more off than on) for the past 6 months. _Journey…_ is a classic Chinese fantasy novel about a monk traveling with his three disciples to the Western Heaven to retrieve the Buddhist scriptures. It’s stories are very popular and well-known in China, roughly equivalent to Grimm’s fairy tales in the western world. It’s quite long, 100 chapters and about 1,800 pages. I’m on Chapter 91 now. On deck, I’ve got _The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Chess_ and _How to Reassess your Chess_. I’m a rather poor casual chess player and I’ve finally decided to seriously study the game, play more, and get better. I’m already making some improvement, as my game has gone from embarrassingly incompetent to incompetent. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Ubiqitous\_Eeper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/278dde/32.png) [@Ubiqitous\_Eeper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ubiqitous_Eeper)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2002, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-you-reading-now/104270/83 "2002-11-10T16:13:51Z")
…why is no one mentioning anne rice? In the past week i’ve reread the vampire lestat and i just finished the bell jar (sylvia plath) both fiction… though the bell jar is put down as autobiographical fiction ---
**Author:** ![Fretful\_Porpentine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fretful_porpentine/32/2873_2.png) [@Fretful\_Porpentine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fretful_Porpentine)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2002, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-you-reading-now/104270/84 "2002-11-10T16:54:49Z")
Well, I’m taking my PhD orals in 28 hours, so obviously I _shouldn’t_ be reading the SDMB, but I am. I’ll probably spend the rest of the day slogging through _Piers Plowman_ once again (ugh) and reviewing sonnets. Real books: _The Forsyte Saga_ (slowly, so I don’t spoil the TV version) A book of short stories called _Shakespearean Mysteries_. Some gems, many of them truly awful – and both the historical research and the editing are appalling. (My favorite mistake was a reference to Marlowe’s “Homer and Leander” … which, come to think of it, probably _is_ the poem Marlowe would have liked to write if he could have gotten away with it, but obviously not what the author meant.) ---
**Author:** ![Jabba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/b5e925/32.png) [@Jabba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jabba)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2002, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-you-reading-now/104270/85 "2002-11-10T17:03:08Z")
Quoth **Fretful Porpentine** [quote] I’ll probably spend the rest of the day slogging through Piers Plowman once again (ugh)[/qoute] You have my sympathies. That is probably the dullest book I have ever read. I’m currently reading Philip Kitcher’s _Abusing Science: The Case Against Creationism_, very good but hardly an opponenet worthy of the man’s talents. ---
**Author:** ![Crusoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/49beb7/32.png) [@Crusoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crusoe)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2002, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-you-reading-now/104270/86 "2002-11-10T17:05:33Z")
_True Tales of American Life_ edited by Paul Auster. Not very good. ---
**Author:** ![Fretful\_Porpentine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fretful_porpentine/32/2873_2.png) [@Fretful\_Porpentine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fretful_Porpentine)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2002, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-you-reading-now/104270/87 "2002-11-10T17:10:35Z")
> [@](#): > > Quoth Fretful Porpentine > > > [@](#): > > > > I’ll probably spend the rest of the day slogging through Piers Plowman once again (ugh) > > You have my sympathies. That is probably the dullest book I have ever read. What’s worse, one of my committee members wrote a book about it – which begins with a reference to “the excitement one feels when opening _Piers Plowman_ …” Alas, he was not being sarcastic. ---
**Author:** ![Legomancer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/779978/32.png) [@Legomancer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Legomancer)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2002, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-you-reading-now/104270/88 "2002-11-10T17:13:26Z")
I’m still on my Victorian Sci-Fi/Fantasy/Horror kick (and before Team Pedantic shows up, yes I realize these are not all Victorian and perhaps none of them are, but most people understand what I’m talking about). Right now it’s **Dracula** by Bram Stoker, which is interesting and good, but is slow going. (The two previous entries were **Frankenstein** by Mary Shelley and **The Call of Cthulhu and Other Weird Tales** by H. P. Lovecraft. I find it difficult to read more than one book at a time. Next up I think I’ll take a break from the old stuff. I have a few books on Buddhism I want to look at, and I also have a collection of the Lord Darcy adventures by Randall Garret. There’s also **The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay** that I got halfway through before being distracted by something else, so I need to start over again. On the side I have a stack of EC Comics reprints I’m working through, some old issues of “Doctor Who Magazine” I’m reading largely for the comic strips, the **d20 Modern** RPG rulebook, and some other Doctor Who related books. ---
**Author:** ![Hanna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b3f665/32.png) [@Hanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hanna)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2002, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-you-reading-now/104270/89 "2002-11-10T17:24:43Z")
_Stone Of Farewell_, book two of the _Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn_ series by Tad Williams. I’ll probably slip _Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets_ in again before I start the third book of the _Memory , Sorrow, and Thorn_ series, since the movie is coming next week. And after the series, I will probably read _Tailchaser’s Song_ by Tad Williams. ---
**Author:** ![vivalostwages](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/d07c76/32.png) [@vivalostwages](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vivalostwages)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2002, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-you-reading-now/104270/90 "2002-11-10T18:23:01Z")
**Breaking Clean** , by Judy Blunt–memoir of a baby boomer who grew up on a Montana ranch. ---
**Author:** ![Drastic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Drastic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drastic)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2002, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-you-reading-now/104270/91 "2002-11-10T18:27:47Z")
Steven Pinker, \Words and Rules\. (My current read-during-lunch at work book.) Neil Gaiman, \Neverwhere\ Thich Naht Hanh, \Heart of the Buddha’s Teaching\ (I tend to multitask all my home reading.) ---
**Author:** ![LolaCocaCola](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7cd45c/32.png) [@LolaCocaCola](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LolaCocaCola)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2002, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-you-reading-now/104270/92 "2002-11-10T20:21:43Z")
I am suffering through Anne Lamott’s _Blue Shoe_ - what a tedious piece of crap it is… Next up is Julia Alvarez’s _How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents_. ---
**Author:** ![Arien](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Arien](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arien)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2002, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-you-reading-now/104270/93 "2002-11-10T22:48:30Z")
Right now, I’m reading _A Walk in the Woods_ by Bill Bryson where he recounts his attempt at walking the Appalachian Trail. It’s very funny, especially when he describes the antics of some of the people he meets. I just finished _Coraline_ by Neil Gaiman which is about a girl who goes through a door in her flat and finds another flat that is almost like her own, but different in a sinister way. She meets a woman with black button eyes and long, sharp fingernails who claims she is Coraline’s other mother, and she won’t allow her to leave. It’s unsettling and the writing is very evocative. ---
**Author:** ![xcheopis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/bc8723/32.png) [@xcheopis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xcheopis)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2002, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-you-reading-now/104270/94 "2002-11-10T23:14:49Z")
I’m still trapped in textbook purgatory and am currently reading Human Physiology and Mechanisms of Disease (Guyton and Hall), which is not particularly well written. I am, therefore, supplementing it with Human Anatomy & Physiology (Marieb), which presents the material in a more readable fashion and has far superior graphics. (I’m apparently a visual learner.) ---
**Author:** ![El\_Elvis\_Rojo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/898d66/32.png) [@El\_Elvis\_Rojo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Elvis_Rojo)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2002, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-you-reading-now/104270/95 "2002-11-11T00:15:56Z")
**The Barrytown Trilogy** by Roddy Doyle. It’s three books about this one little family in Barrytown, Ireland, and they’re great. **The Commitments** follow Jimmy Rabitte Jr. as he and his friends bring Soul to Dublin; **The Snapper** focuses on Jimmy’s sister, Sharon, who gets knocked up by what can best be describbed as her father’s “arch nemesis,” and the trials of hiding the father’s identity, as well as just being a single 21 year old dealing with pregnancy. The story I’m currently reading, **The Van** focuses more on Jimmy Sr. and his setting up a Fish and Chips van after being canned from his job. I haven’t gotten too far into the Van yet, but the entire trilogy so far has been a great delight, and a welcome departure from my typical fantasy stories. ---
**Author:** ![LolaCocaCola](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7cd45c/32.png) [@LolaCocaCola](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LolaCocaCola)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2002, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-you-reading-now/104270/96 "2002-11-11T00:32:07Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Arien \* > **Right now, I’m reading _A Walk in the Woods_ by Bill Bryson where he recounts his attempt at walking the Appalachian Trail. It’s very funny, especially when he describes the antics of some of the people he meets.** I love him! You should read _In a Sunburned Country_ ~ it’s about his travels down under. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Super\_Gnat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e274bd/32.png) [@Super\_Gnat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Super_Gnat)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2002, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-you-reading-now/104270/97 "2002-11-11T01:18:47Z")
Right now, **The Dream Cycle of H. P. Lovecraft**. Before that, **Midnight Robber** by Nalo Hopkinson and the Prydain Chronicles by Lloyd Alexander (I think). In the future, **Stalky and Co.** by Rudyard Kipling and **The Dispossessed** by Ursula K. Le Guin. ---
**Author:** ![rostfrei](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/7bcc69/32.png) [@rostfrei](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rostfrei)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2002, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-you-reading-now/104270/98 "2002-11-11T01:54:47Z")
Currently reading (for the 5th time) “A Bone In My Flute” by Holly Johnson. It’s the autobiography of Holly Johnson, the lead singer of the 80’s group “Frankie Goes To Hollywood”. It is one of the most enjoyable books I’ve ever read. AFAIK, it’s not available in the US. I bought my copy at Londons Heathrow airport. It made the time on my flight from London\>Washington D.C. go by so fast. ---
**Author:** ![Arien](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Arien](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arien)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2002, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-you-reading-now/104270/99 "2002-11-11T17:55:03Z")
> [@](#): > > I love him! You should read In a Sunburned Country ~ it’s about his travels down under. Actually, I checked that out, too. Thanks for the recommendation. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Judith\_Prietht](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/b19c9b/32.png) [@Judith\_Prietht](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Judith_Prietht)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2002, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-you-reading-now/104270/100 "2002-11-11T18:45:35Z")
Just finished **The Little Friend** by Donna Tartt, and this morning I started **Middlesex** by Jeffrey Eugenides. I am also forced to go back and reread Foucault’s **Discipline and Punish** to pump up a dissertation chapter. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-you-reading-now/104270.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-you-reading-now/104270.md?page=6)