# What are you reading right now? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 29, 2003, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-you-reading-right-now/178353 "2003-05-29T20:14:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Largo62](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/45deac/32.png) [@Largo62](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Largo62)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2003, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-you-reading-right-now/178353/61 "2003-05-30T16:18:19Z")
I’m in a John Grisham phase recently. I had read **The Firm** some time ago, but I picked up **The Chamber** a few weeks ago, and followed it with **The Summons** and **The Runaway Jury** , all great legal and courtroom stuff. Now I’m about 2/3 finished with **A Painted House** , which is the best of the lot so far. This novel is as far from the courtroom scene as you can get. It follows a picking season of Arkansas cotton farmers in 1952, as seen through the eyes of a seven-year-old boy. The writing is just wonderful. Grisham, at least in this book, reminds me very much of Steinbeck, not just in subject matter, but in his genuine love for the people in his story. The Chandlers, though their struggles are different, remind me of the Joads, and Grisham’s writing style is as clean and as gripping as Steinbeck’s. I just bought a paperback of **The Pelican Brief** , which will be the next Grisham book on my list (unless I can get a paperback or a library copy of **The King of Torts** first). Grisham’s stuff makes for good movies, but the books are always better. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Man\_With\_The\_Golden\_Gun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/dc4da7/32.png) [@The\_Man\_With\_The\_Golden\_Gun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Man_With_The_Golden_Gun)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2003, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-you-reading-right-now/178353/62 "2003-05-30T20:44:23Z")
I’ve been going on a Michael Crichton binge lately. I’ve read The Andromeda Strain, Timeline, Prey, and now Congo. So far, The Andromeda Strain was the best. Definetly a recommended author. ---
**Author:** ![Largo62](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/45deac/32.png) [@Largo62](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Largo62)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2003, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-you-reading-right-now/178353/63 "2003-05-30T21:07:46Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by The Man With The Golden Gun \* > \*\*I’ve been going on a Michael Crichton binge lately. I’ve read The Andromeda Strain, Timeline, Prey, and now Congo. So far, The Andromeda Strain was the best. Definetly a recommended author. \*\* Check out **Disclosure**. It’s a real page-turner. ---
**Author:** ![catnoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7ab992/32.png) [@catnoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/catnoe)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2003, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-you-reading-right-now/178353/64 "2003-05-30T23:03:01Z")
I’d been meaning to re-read it and then someone brought up the idea of casting the characters for a movie, so when I went to get my hair done today I took along **Atlas Shrugged** by Ayn Rand. ---
**Author:** ![Grim\_Beaker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/46a35a/32.png) [@Grim\_Beaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grim_Beaker)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2003, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-you-reading-right-now/178353/65 "2003-05-30T23:03:43Z")
Recently finished **The RunAway Jury** and **Flags of our Fathers** (Flags especially was gripping). Am currently reading **Bowling Alone** by Robert Putnam which talks about the decline in social capital in the US in the last half of the 20th century, why it’s happened, and the very real affects we’re all experiencing because of it. Fascinating book. Especially recommended for those with an interest in sociology. Grim ---
**Author:** ![Katisha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/bcef8e/32.png) [@Katisha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Katisha)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2003, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-you-reading-right-now/178353/66 "2003-05-30T23:18:46Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by moonstarssun \* > \*\*_Sarum_ by Edward Rutherford. It’s historical fiction, set in Salisbury Plain. It begins with the end of the ice age and drops in periodically to show what’s happening in the area. Each era is described in a novella that’s completely absorbing by itself. As a whole, the book is very impressive so far (I’m a little over half way through). \*\* Ah…I’ve read that, and some of his other novels (which work along similar lines). The trouble with them is that they’re generally not nearly as interesting once you get through the Middle Ages – but that might be my own bias showing through. 😉 I’m reading Langland’s _The Vision of Piers Plowman_ – hey, it’s long and it’s in Middle English, so it takes a while 😉 – and about to start on Edith Pargeter’s _A Bloody Field by Shrewsbury,_ which is a novel about the same events Shakespeare covered in _Henry IV, part 1_. I actually started it a while back, and never finished; I’m not sure why, as it was pretty good (though it’s not quite the same without Falstaff ;)). (If you’ve heard of the Brother Cadfael mysteries, this is the same author, although she wrote them under the name Ellis Peters.) ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2003, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-you-reading-right-now/178353/67 "2003-05-30T23:22:17Z")
Um, I actually am a sociologist (albeit of religion, and albeit no longer in the biz), so this is kind of an embarassing quesion – but what do you mean by social capital, **Grim**? ---
**Author:** ![Wolfian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/7ea924/32.png) [@Wolfian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wolfian)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2003, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-you-reading-right-now/178353/68 "2003-05-31T01:10:35Z")
I’m re-reading the **Harry Potter** series. Plenty of little things that I missed or make more sense than the first time thru. ---
**Author:** ![rocking\_chair](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rocking_chair/32/2918_2.png) [@rocking\_chair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rocking_chair)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2003, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-you-reading-right-now/178353/69 "2003-05-31T01:18:56Z")
blanx, white city is awesome. a really good read esp if you are into architecture. ---
**Author:** ![Michele\_in\_SoCal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Michele\_in\_SoCal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Michele_in_SoCal)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2003, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-you-reading-right-now/178353/70 "2003-05-31T01:37:40Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by AuntiePam \* > \*\*Everything I can find by **Robertson Davies**. Can’t believe I got so old and just discovered this guy. \*\* I love **Robertson Davies** too. I’ve only read the three books in the **Deptford Trilogy** so far. The book I just finished is **Girl’s Poker Night** a first novel by Jill Davis. It is a light-hearted story about a woman and her friends. I characterize it as a cross betwwen **Bridget Jones’s Diary** and the TV show _Sex and the City_. I am looking forward to her next book. I am currently reading **The Poisonwood Bible** by Barbara Kingsolver, on the recommendation of a co-worker. I am 1/4 of the way through it. It is the story of a southern preacher and his family who go to the Belgian Congo in 1959. It is written in the voices of his wife and his four daughters. The character development is extraordinary, the language beautiful. It is quite a departure from my normal read, but I am enjoying it emmensly. Once I have finished it I plan to reread the **Harry Potter** series in anticipation #5. ---
**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:** [May 31, 2003, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-you-reading-right-now/178353/71 "2003-05-31T01:51:51Z")
“A Random Walk Down Wall Street” and “Florence: A Portrait”. ---
**Author:** ![vivalostwages](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/d07c76/32.png) [@vivalostwages](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vivalostwages)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2003, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-you-reading-right-now/178353/72 "2003-05-31T02:03:41Z")
**The Book of Illusions** , fiction by Paul Auster. And **The Demon in the Freezer** , nonfiction by Richard Preston. ---
**Author:** ![teemingONE](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b4bc9f/32.png) [@teemingONE](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/teemingONE)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2003, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-you-reading-right-now/178353/73 "2003-05-31T02:27:17Z")
I am reading Paul Zindel’s _Harry and Hortense at Hormone High_, I think thats the name. I’ve jus been on a Zindel trip since finishing _The Pigman and Me_. okay so maybe they’re a little kiddy, but they’re still great and revive my faith in humanity. ( except in _The Amazing and Death-Defying Diary of Eugene (i forgot last name)_, which i finished a couple days ago. I will never forgive her for what she did to poor Eugene. ---
**Author:** ![gobear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8dc957/32.png) [@gobear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gobear)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2003, 5:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-you-reading-right-now/178353/74 "2003-05-31T05:20:28Z")
At the moment, I’m on page 72 of _Altered Carbon_, a hard-boiled science fiction detective novel in which the central “what-if” is that in the future dvices inserted in the cerebral cortex can record a person’s consciousness and insert it into another body, so that physical death is just a momentary pause. Fascinating, well-thought-out novel. ---
**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:** [May 31, 2003, 5:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-you-reading-right-now/178353/75 "2003-05-31T05:49:01Z")
I just finished _Kindred_ by Olivia Butler. It’s about a black woman is the mid 70s who becomes unstuck in time and winds up in the Antebellum South. It was a harrowing book - just riveting. Tonight I’m starting _The Century’s Daughter_ by Pat Barker. ---
**Author:** ![kitarak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/898d66/32.png) [@kitarak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kitarak)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2003, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-you-reading-right-now/178353/76 "2003-05-31T17:05:35Z")
I’m attempting to read ‘Paradise Lost’ at the moment. I haven’t got very far into it (5 pages, after two weeks ‘reading’ it) as it’s exam term, and whenever I have time for reading my brain is too fatigued to handle the writing. That’s not to say it’s badly written - it’s not - but it’s in a relatively archaic form of English. So far all I’ve read is the events immediately after The Fall, and the war in heaven. ---
**Author:** ![MC\_Master\_of\_Ceremonies](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/bb73d2/32.png) [@MC\_Master\_of\_Ceremonies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MC_Master_of_Ceremonies)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2003, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-you-reading-right-now/178353/77 "2003-05-31T17:16:08Z")
I’m reading _Confederacy of Dunces_ by John Kennedy O’Toole and _Küçük Tilki_ by Marie Duval (_The Little Fox_ in Turkish!). ---
**Author:** ![Nichol\_storm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Nichol\_storm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nichol_storm)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2003, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-you-reading-right-now/178353/78 "2003-06-01T01:54:43Z")
I just devoured Ennis’ _Preacher: Ancient History_ \read it! read it!\ and am currently re-reading George R.R. Martin’s _A Game of Thrones_ \read it also! read it also!\ .:Nichol:. ---
**Author:** ![pantom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/34f0e0/32.png) [@pantom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pantom)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2003, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-you-reading-right-now/178353/79 "2003-06-01T01:57:03Z")
_ **Musashi** _, by Eiji Yoshikawa. This was referenced in the last book I read, _ **By the Sword** _, as the most popular book ever published in Japan. It follows the life of the man who was supposedly the greatest swordsman ever in Japan. Anyway, after that reference about it being the most popular book ever in Japan, I asked my son if he had ever read it, as he’s taking Japanese on the side, and he said no. So I got it, let him read it first, and now I’m on it. Not too far in yet, but it’s a page turner. ---
**Author:** ![pantom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/34f0e0/32.png) [@pantom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pantom)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2003, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-you-reading-right-now/178353/80 "2003-06-01T01:59:08Z")
Reading it in English translation of course, just to clarify that. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-you-reading-right-now/178353.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-you-reading-right-now/178353.md?page=5)