# 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:** 5
**Author:** ![voguevixen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b5ac83/32.png) [@voguevixen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/voguevixen)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2003, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-you-reading-right-now/178353/81 "2003-06-01T02:34:19Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by DesertGeezer \* > \*\*Now I’m about 2/3 finished with **A Painted House** , which is the best of the lot so far. > \*\* See, my take on that book was he thumbed through some Oprah Book Club picks and said “oh please, anyone could churn this crap out” so he did, and that’s what it felt like to me. (I actually like a lot of the “Oprah” books, but they all have a certain feel to them.) For my money the best Grisham book is **The Rainmaker**. It’s really comical and the movie really didn’t do it justice. (Interestingly a friend of mine saw an early test screening of the movie and loved it. Later when it was released he saw it and told me it was completely different – they’d taken out all the funny stuff to make it more “Grisham-like!”) Boo to Hollywood, as usual! ---
**Author:** ![Jeff](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19b73/32.png) [@Jeff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jeff)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2003, 7:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-you-reading-right-now/178353/82 "2003-06-01T07:46:30Z")
Reading right now; A complete collection of Hemingway’s short stories, and (this seems to be a popular choice lately) **The Alienist**. I haven’t read far enough to recommend it to anyone else (only 50 pages in), but it seems good so far. And of course Hemingway can do no wrong. I also recently read Raymond Chandler’s **The Big Sleep**. To be honest I always thought he was just a pulp writer, but I was (very) pleasantly surprised by the quality of his prose (the story was top-notch too). Just before that I read **The Club Dumas** by Arturo Perez-Reverte. That movie “The Ninth Gate” was based on this book, but please don’t let that stop you from checking it out. The movie ditched the entire Dumas/Three Musketeers story-line (something like half the bloody book) not to mention the best parts. So go read it. ---
**Author:** ![minega](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ac91a4/32.png) [@minega](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/minega)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2003, 9:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-you-reading-right-now/178353/83 "2003-06-01T09:38:47Z")
Reading ‘Blind assasin’ by Margaret Artwood…hard to like, but her writing is superb. Im not really enjoying it though, story is going nowhere. ---
**Author:** ![Zoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a4c791/32.png) [@Zoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zoe)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2003, 11:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-you-reading-right-now/178353/84 "2003-06-01T11:11:58Z")
**JessEnigma** and **Jeff** , our books have a connection. I am reading _Shakespeare & Co._ by Sylvia Beach. She owned a bookstore in Paris where the Lost Generation used to hang out. I first read about it in _A Moveable Feast_ by Hemingway. Sylvia Beach published James Joyce’s _Ulysses_. Just a couple of weeks ago, at the suggestion of **Davebear** and a couple of other Dopers, I read _Perfume_. It is so creepy and fascinating! ---
**Author:** ![Grey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b782af/32.png) [@Grey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grey)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2003, 11:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-you-reading-right-now/178353/85 "2003-06-01T11:16:30Z")
I’ve finished a small stack that had been sitting on the bedside table. **Ivanhoe** by Sir Walter Scot. Turned out to be a much better read than I expected. **How the Scots Invented the Modern World** by Arthur Herman. Dry as hell for the first few chapters but it gets more interesting as he moves into Adan Smith and company. **Our Religions: The Seven World Religions …** Edited by Arvind Sharma. Really interesting coverage of Hinduism, Buddhism, Confucianism, Taoism, Judaism, Christianity and Islam ---
**Author:** ![Lok](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e8c25b/32.png) [@Lok](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lok)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2003, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-you-reading-right-now/178353/86 "2003-06-01T21:02:18Z")
**Conquistador** by S. M. Stirling. In 1946, a soldier in Oakland, just returned from the Pacific, accidently creates a gate into a parallel world where the Old World has not yet reached the Western Hemisphere. He and some of his army buddies decide to keep things a secret. Most of the story takes place in 2009, with flashbacks to important happenings in the history of the Commonwealth of New Virginia. Lots of fun so far. **Cartoon History of The Universe III** by Larry Gonick. The third collection of this series. A very interesting look at history. **Races of Faerun** by various writers. A gaming sourcebook that explores the history of both the various fantasy races and the differing human cultures of the Forgotten Realms campaign world. Very world specific, but could be adapted to a different world. ---
**Author:** ![Govindha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/5fc32e/32.png) [@Govindha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Govindha)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2003, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-you-reading-right-now/178353/87 "2003-06-02T01:25:04Z")
fiddlesticks, I just finished drop city. It’s neat that someone else on here wants to read that. I wont spoil it for you, but it’s fair. I wouldn’t read it twice, but it’s worth one time around… ---
**Author:** ![CurlyD](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ee7513/32.png) [@CurlyD](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CurlyD)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2003, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-you-reading-right-now/178353/88 "2003-06-02T02:38:33Z")
I’m rereading my Ferrol Sams books. He grew up in rural Georgia in the 1930-40’s, and his books, for the most part, are set in that time period. His fiction is beautiful. If you are interested, start with these: **Run With the Horseman The Whisper of the River When All the World Was Young** ---
**Author:** ![Necromancer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ac91a4/32.png) [@Necromancer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Necromancer)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2003, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-you-reading-right-now/178353/89 "2003-06-02T02:47:59Z")
The Poet by Michael Connelly. ---
**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:** [June 2, 2003, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-you-reading-right-now/178353/90 "2003-06-02T15:58:04Z")
**twickster** > [@](#): > > 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? Sorry this is a bit late (I usually don’t check the boards over the weekend). The term “Social Capital” as used by the book is roughly to describe the richness of our social networks individually and as members of society and their very tangible effects. In other words, a person with few social connections in their life (few work place acquaintances, does not go to church, does not, or rarely, participates in a club, etc. ) is “poor” in social capital while someone who is active in many organizations or who has many acquaintances might be “rich” social capital wise. Putnam’s book documents a trend over the past 4 decades showing that Americans as a whole trust other people less, donate to charity less as a percentage of their income, participate in community projects less, vote less, and a whole host of other community based activities. He argues (convincingly IMHO) that these things are a direct result of American’s continuing tendencies to prefer less and fewer associations. He shows this by reporting study data which covers territory across a broad spectrum, from membership in various community groups, to bridge clubs, to sports fan’s to dinner parties. Good reading. Grim ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2003, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-you-reading-right-now/178353/91 "2003-06-02T16:05:23Z")
Thanks, **grim**! I was guessing it was something along those lines, but the advantage of anonymity is the anonymity to ask dumb questions! I think I’ve heard of this guy’s work – you’re right, it sounds fascinating. ---
**Author:** ![NE\_Texan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/e99b99/32.png) [@NE\_Texan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NE_Texan)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2003, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-you-reading-right-now/178353/92 "2003-06-02T21:00:24Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by NE Texan \* > I’ve picked up _The Drawing of the Dark_ by Tim Powers. Set in the 1500s, Powers mixes mythology and an idiosyncratic type of magic into a historic setting. Along the way, he seriously abuses the main character (an Irishman turned mercenary), as Powers so often does. But even as the main character learns the truth about the Fisher King, he may have to learn something new about himself as well. (I’m about a third of the way through it.) I finished the Powers book, which was really good - I’ll recommend it to everyone. Next, I’ll start _The Son of the Shadows_, by Marillier, which is a sequel to the book I read before the Powers one. ---
**Author:** ![Davebear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bcef8e/32.png) [@Davebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Davebear)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2003, 10:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-you-reading-right-now/178353/93 "2003-06-03T10:59:37Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Loneraven \* > \*\*Also **Three Men in a Boat** , another one which I’ve read before but I’m reading it as antidote to Prozac Nation. It’s the only book that can make me cry laughing. \*\* I assume you’re referring to the Jerome K. Jerome classic? If so, you should branch out into some P.G. Wodehouse, if you haven’t read any of his books. Very similar style, and at least as funny. Well, most of them. He was incredibly prolific, and some are better than others, but they’re all good. And, I’d second the nomination of Caleb Carr’s _The Alienist_, and add his _The Angel of Darkness_. Both are extremely well-written. > [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Zoe \* > \*\*Just a couple of weeks ago, at the suggestion of Davebear and a couple of other Dopers, I read Perfume. It is so creepy and fascinating! \*\* Glad you liked it, **Zoe**. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![tastycorn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bcef8e/32.png) [@tastycorn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tastycorn)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2003, 11:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-you-reading-right-now/178353/94 "2003-06-03T11:36:49Z")
**Steinbeck, Travels with Charley** Very cool 1959 road trip without all the annoying beat crap. Also, just finished **Christopher Moore, Lust Lizard of Melancholy Cove** Very freaking funny. ---
**Author:** ![dantheman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dantheman/32/9421_2.png) [@dantheman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dantheman)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2003, 11:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-you-reading-right-now/178353/95 "2003-06-03T11:47:27Z")
This thread. And just finished _The Portrait of Dorian Gray_. ---
**Author:** ![Gumbercules](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a183cd/32.png) [@Gumbercules](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gumbercules)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2003, 11:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-you-reading-right-now/178353/96 "2003-06-03T11:54:45Z")
_Modeling a Character in 3D Studio Max 4_ by Paul Steeds. This is **the** book to get anyone started on character modeling. I’m about halfway through and my Callisto is looking pretty good, I must say. ---
**Author:** ![insomnia4AM](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/4bbf92/32.png) [@insomnia4AM](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/insomnia4AM)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2003, 12:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-you-reading-right-now/178353/97 "2003-06-03T12:09:46Z")
I am plugging through the Lord of the Rings books. I managed to get through The Hobbit, and now I am trying desperately to hang on through the first installment. ---
**Author:** ![NE\_Texan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/e99b99/32.png) [@NE\_Texan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NE_Texan)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2003, 1:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-you-reading-right-now/178353/98 "2003-06-03T13:09:38Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by dantheman \* > **This thread.** You know, **dantheman** , not only did I do my level best to forestall that joke in the OP, but **Rabid\_Squirrel** beat you to it on the previous page. But that’s OK, every good joke bears repeating. And so did this one. ---
**Author:** ![dantheman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dantheman/32/9421_2.png) [@dantheman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dantheman)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2003, 1:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-you-reading-right-now/178353/99 "2003-06-03T13:15:53Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by NE Texan \* > \*\*You know, **dantheman** , not only did I do my level best to forestall that joke in the OP, but **Rabid\_Squirrel** beat you to it on the previous page. > > But that’s OK, every good joke bears repeating. > > And so did this one. \*\* Nuh-uh. He said “this post”; but me, I’m reading this thread. I’m much more well read, apparently! [sub](Besides, I searched all three pages for “this thread” and found nothing! so there!)[/sub] ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2003, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-you-reading-right-now/178353/100 "2003-06-03T22:27:44Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by koeeoaddi \* > \*\* > Tonight I’m starting _The Century’s Daughter_ by Pat Barker. \*\* I’m about halfway through this one – Pat Barker is just awesome. Maybe you could come back to this thread (or start another one) and say what you thought of it. Anything of Barker’s is just wonderful. Painful and raw, sometimes – she doesn’t gloss over anything. **Michele in So Cal** - Another Davies fan, cool. Glad I’m not the only one. I swear, I’d have read him sooner if not for those awful covers. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-you-reading-right-now/178353.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-you-reading-right-now/178353.md?page=6)