# What are you reading now? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 15, 2005, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-you-reading-now/290187 "2005-02-15T14:06:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2005, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-you-reading-now/290187/21 "2005-02-15T16:37:02Z")
As of this morning, I’m reading _I, Robot_. This is a great case of sloppy seconds: my roommate rented it, and I watched it after he did. He saw me watching it and offered to lend me the book, so now I am. After that it’s back to the Studs Terkel book. ---
**Author:** ![supervenusfreak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@supervenusfreak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/supervenusfreak)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2005, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-you-reading-now/290187/22 "2005-02-15T16:42:44Z")
> [@klaus\_vonBarrenbeiser](#): > > Almost done with Ghost Rider by Neil Peart. True story of how he put his life back together after his only child and his wife both died within a year. That one sounds like a very good read Klaus. Right now, I am reading "_The Kid_ ", a memoir by Dan Savage. It is about his, and his partner’s road through adoption. If anyone is a fan of his sex advice column "_Savage Love_, I would highly recommend it. It is very un PC, very funny (in a wry sort of way), and offers solid advice to anyone considering adoption. ---
**Author:** ![DeVena](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/dec6dc/32.png) [@DeVena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DeVena)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2005, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-you-reading-now/290187/23 "2005-02-15T16:44:20Z")
\*Winter Solstice \* by Rosamunde Pilcher and _Mary, Queen of Scots and the Murder of Lord Darnley_ by Alison Weir. ---
**Author:** ![Podkayne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/edb3f5/32.png) [@Podkayne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Podkayne)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2005, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-you-reading-now/290187/24 "2005-02-15T16:44:40Z")
I’m going to set aside _A Distant Mirror: The Calamitous 14th Century,_ by Barbara Tuchman. I like it a lot, and I’m learning gobs, but it’s just not the sort of book that I say, “Ooooh, yippee, I have some free time to read! I’ll read a couple of chapters!” so I’ve been slogging through it, reading a couple of pages at a time while waiting in line or otherwise killing time, for months. In its place, I’ve picked up _A Deepness in the Sky_ by Vernor Vinge. I really loved _A Fire Upon the Deep_, so I’m looking forward to diving in. For bedtime reading, I’m about halfway through _Many Waters_ by Madeline L’Engle. I decided to reread the Murray books a while ago, and got up to _A Swiftly Tilting Planet_ but got bored with that one. (I don’t know why; it was my favorite when I was a kid.) I finally finished it and launched into _Many Waters_, then stalled on that and read something else for a while. I restarted it a week or so ago. When it’s done, I’ll probably put _A Distant Mirror_ on my night stand and see if it isn’t too heavy for bedtime reading. I’m also skipping and jumping back and forth through _A Knitter’s Almanac_ by Elizabeth Zimmerman (much-acclaimed author of _Knitting Without Tears_.) It’s a very fun book, and I’m already mentally planning about four projects, which is the hazard in reading a book like that. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2005, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-you-reading-now/290187/25 "2005-02-15T16:48:39Z")
> [@Maeglin](#): > > I thought that the only thing more brilliant than **The Knight** was its sequel. I admit, I am a die-hard Wolfean, but **The Wizard** damn near knocked my block off. I have The Wizard. Would it make any sense to read it without finishing The Knight? (I loved The Book of the New Sun.) ---
**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:** [February 15, 2005, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-you-reading-now/290187/26 "2005-02-15T16:56:33Z")
I second **supervenusfreak** ’s recommendation. ---
**Author:** ![vibrotronica](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/a9a28c/32.png) [@vibrotronica](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vibrotronica)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2005, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-you-reading-now/290187/27 "2005-02-15T16:58:35Z")
I’m juggling three books right now. _Perdido Street Station_ by China Meivile. I read lots of good things about it, but it has yet to really grab me. I’m going to stick with it, though. _Preludes and Nocturnes_, book one of _Sandman_ by Neil Gaiman. I’ve never been too into comics, but this is really good, and I enjoy Gaiman’s prose writing. _Extreme DV at Used Car Prices_ by Rick Schmidt. It’s the bible of the ultra-low-budget filmmaker, but so far I’m underwhelmed. ---
**Author:** ![CandidGamera](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/candidgamera/32/2878_2.png) [@CandidGamera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CandidGamera)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2005, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-you-reading-now/290187/28 "2005-02-15T17:01:21Z")
_Time Travellers Only Cash_, by Spider Robinson. ---
**Author:** ![Maeglin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8baadc/32.png) [@Maeglin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maeglin)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2005, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-you-reading-now/290187/29 "2005-02-15T17:08:06Z")
> [@AuntiePam](#): > > I have The Wizard. Would it make any sense to read it without finishing The Knight? > > (I loved The Book of the New Sun.) My first response would be an absolute NO. However, after finishing The Wizard, I am desperate to go back and reread The Knight. I wouldn’t necessarily _recommend_ it, but it might actually make an interesting reading experience. If you are at least aware of the one or two main plot drivers, you should be able to follow it. Well, at least read the last few pages of The Knight first, as they are key. New Sun was my first exposure to Wolfe and it remains my favorite. I have read them a bunch of times. ---
**Author:** ![Meurglys](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/258eb7/32.png) [@Meurglys](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Meurglys)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2005, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-you-reading-now/290187/30 "2005-02-15T17:20:31Z")
I’m really enjoying _The Geographer’s Library_ by \*\* Jon Fasman\*\* right now. It’s unfolding too slowly to justify being called a thriller but it has all the elements; a small town reporter writing an obit uncovers more and more oddities about the deceased. Interleaved with his present day story are chapters describing various alchemical objects, their history and the circumstances behind their disappearance. The reader is well ahead of the hero in figuring some of what’s going on but it’s a very well written book - and I still expect surprises! ---
**Author:** ![CBCD](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9fc348/32.png) [@CBCD](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CBCD)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2005, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-you-reading-now/290187/31 "2005-02-15T17:49:37Z")
I’m reading [State-Building: Governance and World Order in the 21st Century](http://www.sais-jhu.edu/Faculty/fukuyama/State-Building) by Francis Fukuyama. I also say ‘Bravo!’ for Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell, English Pasengers, and Crimson Petal and the White. After finishing Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell, I decided to re-read Charles Dickens’ wonderful Bleak House. Why? Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell is like Bleak House with wizards. ---
**Author:** ![Nightwatch\_Trailer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/9dc877/32.png) [@Nightwatch\_Trailer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nightwatch_Trailer)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2005, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-you-reading-now/290187/32 "2005-02-15T17:52:48Z")
I’m most of the way through Vladimir Nabokov’s **Lolita**. It’s quite good so far. After that I’ve got **Empire Falls** by Richard Russo, and after _that_ I need to hit up [Amazon.com](http://Amazon.com). ---
**Author:** ![AwSnappity](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a3d4f5/32.png) [@AwSnappity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AwSnappity)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2005, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-you-reading-now/290187/33 "2005-02-15T17:59:42Z")
> [@supervenusfreak](#): > > That one sounds like a very good read Klaus. Right now, I am reading "_The Kid_ ", a memoir by Dan Savage. It is about his, and his partner’s road through adoption. If anyone is a fan of his sex advice column "_Savage Love_, I would highly recommend it. It is very un PC, very funny (in a wry sort of way), and offers solid advice to anyone considering adoption. Last year I read _Skipping Towards Gomorrah: The Seven Deadly Sins and the Pursuit of Happiness in America_ by him. I highly recommend it. I loved it. I used to read all the time when I was younger, but I stopped having time for it when school got harder. Now I’m forcing myself to make time. In the past three weeks I have read: _Magical Thinking_ by Augusten Burroughs (memoirs; very, very funny) _Running with Scissors_ by Augusten Burroughs (memoirs, specifically about his screwed-up childhood; funny, but also depressing since it really happened) _Barrel Fever_ by David Sedaris (stories and essays; absolutely hilarious, one of the best things I’ve ever read) _Epileptic_ by David B (a graphic novel about his brother’s experience with epilepsy and the lengths his family went to to try treating it) Great books, all of those. The memoirs are good if you don’t have time for long, uninterrupted blocks of reading, since you can just read a chapter at a time and not have to worry about remembering a whole lot. Right now I’m reading _Dry_ by Augusten Burroughs about battling his alcoholism. It’s good, but so far I don’t like it as much as his other stuff. As soon as I finish this, I have his novel _Sellevision_, _The Heart is Deceitful Above All Things_ by JT Leroy, and _Middlesex_ by Jeffrey Eugenides. ---
**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:** [February 15, 2005, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-you-reading-now/290187/34 "2005-02-15T18:05:33Z")
> [@Dung Beetle](#): > > I just finished English Passengers, by Matthew Kneale, and that was really good too. Thanks **twickster**! Well, I’m not thanking **twickster**. I’ve been a zombie at work for a week, staying up till 2 a.m. every night reading the damn thing.¹ When I finish it, I’ll probably not be thanking **AuntiePam** for suggesting **The Good House** by Tananarive Due. It’s up next. ¹ **English Passengers** is the best book I’ve read in Og knows how long. ---
**Author:** ![Tracy\_Lord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@Tracy\_Lord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tracy_Lord)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2005, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-you-reading-now/290187/35 "2005-02-15T18:23:49Z")
I’ve just finished **Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell** , and I was so pleased with it that I didn’t pick up another book for a week or so, just sort of floated around in a pleasant haze. Now, however, I’m working my way through two simultaneously: a reread of \*\*The Phantom of the Opera[/a], which I’d forgotten is (a) more Raoul’s story than anyone else’s and (b) a very effective mood piece, and **Vanity Fair** , which I am in love with the narrative voice. ---
**Author:** ![Tracy\_Lord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@Tracy\_Lord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tracy_Lord)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2005, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-you-reading-now/290187/36 "2005-02-15T18:28:04Z")
:smack: Please to ignore the inane coding in the post above. ---
**Author:** ![Ephemera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8baadc/32.png) [@Ephemera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ephemera)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2005, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-you-reading-now/290187/37 "2005-02-15T20:04:10Z")
I’m alternating between **The Broken Spears: The Aztec Account of the Conquest of Mexico** by Miguel Leon-Portilla; **The Legends of the Ferengi** by Ira Steven Behr and Robert Hewitt Wolfe; **The Zimmerman Telegram** by Barbara W. Tuchman; and a cultural anthropology textbook entitled simply **Cultural Anthropology** by Fred Plog and Daniel G. Bates. ---
**Author:** ![Page\_Fault](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ad7895/32.png) [@Page\_Fault](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Page_Fault)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2005, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-you-reading-now/290187/38 "2005-02-15T20:27:54Z")
**Lord Foul’s Bane** , the first book of the Chronicles of Thomas Covenant. A hard read, not because it’s written particularly complex… but because of a very difficult scene near the beginning, and the inundiation of names and the way things are described. I’m sure a lot of dopers have read the entire series, but this is my first time through. ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2005, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-you-reading-now/290187/39 "2005-02-15T21:28:59Z")
I haven’t decided. I just finished (last night) _The Patient’s Eyes_ by David Pirie. It is > [@](#): > > a novel twist on the Sherlock Holmes pastiche. It wasn’t bad. I have the second one in the queue, but I’m not sure I want to jump right into it. I am thinking maybe _Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell: A Novel_. Sundays are devoted to “deep” reading which often means books on religion or philosophy, but can be any non-fiction. I just finished one this past Sunday and I am thinking _On Intelligence_ by Jeff Hawkin. ---
**Author:** ![Necros](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/necros/32/11086_2.png) [@Necros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Necros)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2005, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-you-reading-now/290187/40 "2005-02-15T21:42:18Z")
I’ve been reading “Battle Royale” by Kousun Takumi. In Japanese. I guess I can’t reccommend that to you, though. 😉 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-you-reading-now/290187.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-you-reading-now/290187.md?page=3)