# 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:** 5
**Author:** ![Sublight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/439d5e/32.png) [@Sublight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sublight)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2005, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-you-reading-now/290187/82 "2005-02-25T15:39:28Z")
Al Franken’s _Lies, and the Lying Liars who Tell Them_ _Odd Gods: Alternative Religions and the Cult Controversy_, by a number of different writers and edited by someone whose name I can’t find at the moment. ---
**Author:** ![BurnMeUp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/91b2a8/32.png) [@BurnMeUp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BurnMeUp)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2005, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-you-reading-now/290187/83 "2005-02-25T16:05:38Z")
Was that question referring to Cook Off? ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2005, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-you-reading-now/290187/84 "2005-02-25T16:18:09Z")
> [@BurnMeUp](#): > > Was that question referring to Cook Off? My question? Yes – what’s the author’s tone? (sorry – my boss walked by and I clicked out of the thread without realizing there was an intervening post.) ---
**Author:** ![Lao\_Tsu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e79b87/32.png) [@Lao\_Tsu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lao_Tsu)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2005, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-you-reading-now/290187/85 "2005-02-25T16:36:33Z")
I just finished up \*\*A Certain Chemistry[\b] by Mil Milington. Laugh out loud funny at times, has some great points. Seemed like it could have been edited a little better, but worth the effort. Halfway through \*\*Conan of Venarium[\b] by Harry Turtledove. It’s a blast, but only if you’re inclined that way. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![BurnMeUp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/91b2a8/32.png) [@BurnMeUp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BurnMeUp)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2005, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-you-reading-now/290187/86 "2005-02-25T16:43:07Z")
> [@twickster](#): > > My question? Yes – what’s the author’s tone? (sorry – my boss walked by and I clicked out of the thread without realizing there was an intervening post.) She’s very professional, she approaches it in an informative and investigative way. Almost more of a documentarian than anything else. She does mention how a lot of the larger media people refer to the participants as “white trash” and make fun of them but so far (1/3 of the way through) the author doesn’t seem judgemental at all. ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2005, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-you-reading-now/290187/87 "2005-02-25T16:46:42Z")
> [@BurnMeUp](#): > > She’s very professional, she approaches it in an informative and investigative way. Almost more of a documentarian than anything else. She does mention how a lot of the larger media people refer to the participants as “white trash” and make fun of them but so far (1/3 of the way through) the author doesn’t seem judgemental at all. **adds title to “books to keep an eye out for at the library” list** ---
**Author:** ![Genghis\_Bob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/45deac/32.png) [@Genghis\_Bob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Genghis_Bob)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2005, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-you-reading-now/290187/88 "2005-02-25T16:54:08Z")
> [@Ooner](#): > > . . . It’s taken me 4 Palahniuk books to realize I really really really don’t like him. . . I’m with you, **Ooner**. He presents a world that is unremittingly depressing, brutal and ugly. Even if his description is accurate, I don’t wanna know about it! That said, I’m currently reading **Lord Foul’s Bane** ; I read The \*\*Power That Preserves \*\* many many years ago, and I thought I’d start at the beginning this time. It’s a little bit of a rough go - the milieu is so Tolkien-ish, it’s hard to lose myself in the story; I’m too aware that Donaldson is _Writing_. Prior to this one, I read \*\*Coldheart Canyon \*\* by Clive Barker, and ended up liking it more than I thought I would; before that, **The Time Traveler’s Wife** , which I loved and recommend wholeheartedly. Next up: **Brave New World** ; believe it or not, I’ve never read it. And then Mary Doria Russel’s latest - I loved **The Sparrow** and **Children of God** ; anything she writes, I’ll buy. ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2005, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-you-reading-now/290187/89 "2005-02-25T17:35:36Z")
Just finished **Assassin’s Apprentice** and a novella in Legends II by **Robin Hobb**. Absolutely fell in love with this writer. While I’m waiting for more Hobb books to get here, I started a short story collection by **William Gay** called **I Hate to See That Evening Sun Go Down**. Excellent writer, described as “Southern”, but his characters are universal. I guess most Southern characters are. ---
**Author:** ![JeffyDMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9fc29f/32.png) [@JeffyDMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JeffyDMan)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2005, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-you-reading-now/290187/90 "2005-02-25T17:44:11Z")
I’m currently reading the **SDMB**. :wally As far as what I’m reading on paperback… the Tom Clancy “Power Plays” series. Rather underwhelming, but it’s something to do at work. Maybe I should go back to reading the dictionary. ---
**Author:** ![js\_africanus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/87869e/32.png) [@js\_africanus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/js_africanus)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2005, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-you-reading-now/290187/91 "2005-02-25T18:28:30Z")
_Cities in Civilization_ by Sir Peter Hall ---
**Author:** ![Hypno-Toad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b2d939/32.png) [@Hypno-Toad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hypno-Toad)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2005, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-you-reading-now/290187/92 "2005-02-25T19:49:13Z")
Right now it’s “1215: The Year of the Magna Carta” by Danziger and Gillingham. Before that it was “Tea: Addiction, Exploitation, and Empire” by Roy Moxham. In my “IN” box: “America: Democracy Inaction” by John Stewart, “Making A Living In The Middle Ages” by Chris Dyer, “The Complete Roman Army,” and others. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2005, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-you-reading-now/290187/93 "2005-02-25T19:50:45Z")
_America_, by Studs Terkel. It might only be train reading, I’m not sure. Last night I finished _The Da Vinci Code_ for laughs, and a few days earlier I read _Portnoy’s Complaint_ by Philip Roth. ---
**Author:** ![Lobsang](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobsang/32/4067_2.png) [@Lobsang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobsang)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2005, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-you-reading-now/290187/94 "2005-02-25T21:47:56Z")
I am nearly at the end of ‘i, robot’ and I begun ‘Robots and Empire’ this morning. I am also about two thirds into ‘Foundation’. and have read the first few pages of ‘Rest of the Robots’. Yes I’m binging on Asimov. ---
**Author:** ![Ephemera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8baadc/32.png) [@Ephemera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ephemera)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2005, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-you-reading-now/290187/95 "2005-02-26T00:25:22Z")
**Charlie and the Chocolate Factory** for no real reason. ---
**Author:** ![Torgo\_ate\_my\_hamster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/71c47a/32.png) [@Torgo\_ate\_my\_hamster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Torgo_ate_my_hamster)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2005, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-you-reading-now/290187/96 "2005-02-26T00:52:03Z")
**Dung Beetle** thank you for mentioning The Know-It-All. I’ve checked the sample pages at Amazon and decided to try to find it. I’ve just read two nice satires. The first was _Ben Elton_’s This Other Eden. I got acquainted with Elton’s writing through Dead Famous and out of the four of his books I’ve read so far this one is my favourite. The story is set in an ecologically destroyed world where everybody is waiting for the inevitable moment when they would have to seal themselves in domes called claustrospheres in order to survive. We follow intermingling stories of a superstar actor, an aspiring script writer, and a leader of an ecological terrorist group. Elton is not afraid to ridicule anything from celebrity sex to the non-unified leadership of the EU. One of the best satires I’ve ever read. The other is _Christopher Buckley_’s Thank You For Smoking, about a tobbacco lobbyist in the middle 1990’s. I wouldn’t place it anywhere near the list of my favourite books but IMO it’s worth a read. Now I’ve started reading _Toby Litt_’s Finding Myself which I bought on the grounds of being familliar with his Adventures in Capitalism and an interesting take on the book which is written in the form of a manuscript with editor’s notes spreaded all over the book. ---
**Author:** ![Lissla\_Lissar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8491ac/32.png) [@Lissla\_Lissar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lissla_Lissar)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2005, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-you-reading-now/290187/97 "2005-02-26T03:32:57Z")
Oooh! Oooh! _Sabriel_ is great. I’m reading \*_Alphabet of Thorns_, by Patricia McKillip. I started it yesterday, and I’m about half-finished. I just re-read _For The Time Being_, by Annie Dillard, which I love. I just lent _Pilgrim at Tinker Creek_ to the friend who lent me _Alphabet_. We’re mutually reading each other’s favorite books. He lent me a couple of McKillip books, and _The Years Of Rice And Salt_, so I’m ploughing through them. My father-in-law lent me _The Way Of A Pilgrim_, about Eastern Orthodox prayer, and _Confederacy of Dunces_. I also have a Flannery O’Connor complete short story collection and Connie Willis’s _To Say Nothing Of The Dog_ out from the library. Okay, the books I have actually started reading are the aformentioned _Alphabet_, the Flannery O’Connor, and _The Way Of The Pilgrim_. I’m really enjoying all of them- McKillip’s writing reminds me of Robin McKinley, and _Way_ is just beautiful. It’s like reading about the Desert Fathers. The O’Connor is fascinating. Yes, I am a book addict. Just don’t get between me and the library, and nobody will get hurt. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![YellowTail](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/b5ac83/32.png) [@YellowTail](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YellowTail)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2005, 4:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-you-reading-now/290187/98 "2005-02-26T04:47:13Z")
_Possession_ by Ann Rule. True crime is my guilty pleasure. It’s only between more legitimate works, believe me!!! ---
**Author:** ![easy\_e](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/eb8c5e/32.png) [@easy\_e](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/easy_e)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2005, 5:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-you-reading-now/290187/99 "2005-02-26T05:04:17Z")
I just finished _American Gods_ by Neil Gaiman. It took me mayb e 60 pages to get into it, but I loved it. I’m currently re-reading _The Handmaid’s Tale_ by Margaret Atwood and \*_The Silence of the Lambs_ by Thomas Harris. I hope to check out _Red Dragon_ soon (I haven’t read it yet). ---
**Author:** ![jabiru](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/bbce88/32.png) [@jabiru](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jabiru)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2005, 7:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-you-reading-now/290187/100 "2005-02-26T07:29:45Z")
I’ve just finished Sue Grafton’s latest, _R is for Richochet_, somewhat disappointing. Have just started _God Under Howard: The Rise of the Religious Right in Australia_. Next on the pile is _Time Out of Joint_ by Philip K. Dick. I just know I’m going to regret opening this thread. I’ve already noted down several titles to add to the pile. ---
**Author:** ![dearissues](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/919ad9/32.png) [@dearissues](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dearissues)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2005, 11:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-you-reading-now/290187/101 "2005-02-26T11:18:14Z")
> [@Alias](#): > > I’m re-reading Stephen King’s Dark Tower series right now. Yay! I’m not the only one who felt the urge to start over again. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-you-reading-now/290187.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-you-reading-now/290187.md?page=6)