# What Book Are You Reading Now? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [September 21, 1999, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-book-are-you-reading-now/8516 "1999-09-21T21:15:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Misanthrope](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/779978/32.png) [@Misanthrope](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Misanthrope)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 1999, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-book-are-you-reading-now/8516/1 "1999-09-21T21:15:00Z")
This group seems like a very intelligent lot. I would wager that most of you are reading a book in your spare time right now. I’m reading a book called “Virtual History.” It takes a certain event in history and describes what could have happened if that event had not occurred. For instance, what would have happened if John F. Kennedy had not been assassinated. * * * D’oh ---
**Author:** ![Coldfire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a587f6/32.png) [@Coldfire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Coldfire)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 1999, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-book-are-you-reading-now/8516/2 "1999-09-21T21:19:00Z")
“Everything you know is wrong”, by Lloyd Pye (sp?). Debunks Darwinism, to a large extent. Still don’t know what to think of it, entertaining though. Coldfire * * * “You know how complex women are” - Neil Peart, Rush (1993) ---
**Author:** ![Frankie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/258eb7/32.png) [@Frankie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frankie)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 1999, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-book-are-you-reading-now/8516/3 "1999-09-21T21:25:00Z")
10 lb Penalty by Dick Francis. then probably Jitterbug Perfume by Tom Robbins and then I’m back in school so Ill have no time to read anything but textbooks Im sure! =( ---
**Author:** ![divemaster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/divemaster/32/78_2.png) [@divemaster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/divemaster)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 1999, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-book-are-you-reading-now/8516/4 "1999-09-21T21:28:00Z")
I’ll always be working through a book of old (‘classic’) SF short stories. Got enough on my shelf to last me a lifetime. Just finished “To Kill a Mockingbird” About to start “Brave New World” and two books on Korean history and culture (one focusing on pre-Korean War, one on post-war) Now if I could just break my newspaper addiction, I’d have much more time for reading books! ---
**Author:** ![Pickman\_s\_Model](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/b9bd4f/32.png) [@Pickman\_s\_Model](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pickman_s_Model)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 1999, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-book-are-you-reading-now/8516/5 "1999-09-21T21:38:00Z")
_H.P. Lovecraft and Others: Tales of the Cthulhu Mythos._ It’s an anthology that contains reprints from _Weird Tales_ and other old pulp mags; some of the authors include Clark Ashton Smith, Robert E. Howard, Frank Belknap Long, August Derleth, and Robert Bloch. It’s okay, I guess, and some of the stories are interesting, but I’ll tell you this much: they ain’t Lovecraft. ---
**Author:** ![pluto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f08c70/32.png) [@pluto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pluto)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 1999, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-book-are-you-reading-now/8516/6 "1999-09-21T21:49:00Z")
_Undaunted Courage_, about the Lewis and Clark (mostly Clark) expedition. I’m only making intermittent progress since I keep stopping to read murder mysteries. Best book I’ve read in a while – _How the Irish Saved Civilization_. Surprisingly enjoyable and interesting. * * * “non sunt multiplicanda entia praeter necessitatem” – William of Ockham ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d26b3c/32.png) [@Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Blue_Sky)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 1999, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-book-are-you-reading-now/8516/7 "1999-09-21T22:15:00Z")
Orson Scott Card’s “Earthborn”, the concluding chapter of the Homecoming saga. A pain in the ass as far as character names go. None are “normal” and it’s difficult to tell males from females without proper context. Still, it has been an intriguing series I’ve been reading for about 4 years. ---
**Author:** ![Girl\_Next\_Door](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/977dab/32.png) [@Girl\_Next\_Door](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Girl_Next_Door)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 1999, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-book-are-you-reading-now/8516/8 "1999-09-21T22:17:00Z")
_LINDBERGH_ by A. Scott Berg. It won the Pulitzer last year, and deserved it. It’s a bio of Charles Lindbergh. Fascinating. I highly recommend it. I just got _'Tis_ by Frank McCort. It’s a follow-up to _Angela’s Ashes_. Looking forward to reading it next. ---
**Author:** ![Gaudere](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e495f1/32.png) [@Gaudere](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gaudere)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 1999, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-book-are-you-reading-now/8516/9 "1999-09-21T22:30:00Z")
Geez, I’m glad I’m not the only one who had trouble with the names, Trumpy. I started that series and I never finished it, which is almost unprecendented for me. I even really like Orson Scott Card, but I couldn’t figure out who was who. If he’d have just started out with a few characters I would have done OK, but I felt like I got hit with 50 names/nicknames in the first chapter. I’m currently reading _The Year’s Best Horror and Fantasy_and Nietzsche’s _Better than Human_. Then I’ll probably move on to _Visual Intelligences_, about how we perceive what we see. * * * “Eppur, si muove!” - Galileo Galilei ---
**Author:** ![eden](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5f9b8f/32.png) [@eden](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eden)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 1999, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-book-are-you-reading-now/8516/10 "1999-09-21T22:36:00Z")
Just finished Sophie’s World by Jostein Gaarder…my new favorite Norwegian author! I know very little about the history of western philosophy (despite all those years in school) and this was a fascinating way to catch up. Also I just read a biography of Alf Wight, the real James Herriot. It was very interesting, but I wish I had not read it as it turns out so much of what I loved about the Herriot books and considered autobiographical was in fact pure fiction. A friend has recommended The Weight of Water (blanking on author right now) to me as a good light read. I’ll start on that next… ---
**Author:** ![system](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/original/2X/e/e489c3b7d8fce19c4b355dd4fc3f88cc39c34b87.png) [@system](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/system)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 1999, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-book-are-you-reading-now/8516/11 "1999-09-21T22:42:00Z")
Jon Krakauer’s _Into the Wild_, per recommendation of someone on the SDMB, no less. 🙂 On an earlier thread, I mentioned how much I enjoyed his _Into Thin Air_; someone told me about this book, and off to Borders I went! Very interesting book, thus far. It tells of a young man who went off to live a Tolstoyan/Jack London existence in Alaska, only to have his decomposed body found a few short months later inside an abandoned bus he’d made “home.” * * * “Me fail English? That’s unpossible!” “English? Who needs that? I’m never going to England.” ---
**Author:** ![Poto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7ab992/32.png) [@Poto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Poto)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 1999, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-book-are-you-reading-now/8516/12 "1999-09-21T22:46:00Z")
About 10 books. Last one opened: Dave Barry novel Big Trouble.Entertaining.Not the standard Barry. ---
**Author:** ![eden](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5f9b8f/32.png) [@eden](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eden)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 1999, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-book-are-you-reading-now/8516/13 "1999-09-21T22:46:00Z")
LauraRae: I just read Into Thin Air this summer…I could not put it down! But it was pretty intense, I felt dizzy in parts (particularly where he describes oxygen deprivation). Did you see the documentary on the making of that IMAX film three or four weeks ago? I can’t remember what channel; they had an interview with Beck Weathers, so often left for dead in the book. It was great closure for me as I wondered what happened to the guys. ---
**Author:** ![UncleBeer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/977dab/32.png) [@UncleBeer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleBeer)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 1999, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-book-are-you-reading-now/8516/14 "1999-09-21T22:47:00Z")
Actually, I am reading a book on RF design for CATV systems. Pretty dull shit. I have found some time recently to browse through some of my old National Geographics though. I think the ideal job would be photographer for the NG. It would combine my love of travel, photography and I could use the technical stuff stuff I enjoy. * * * One complete set of morals for sale to highest bidder, new in box. ---
**Author:** ![ChrisCTP](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e36b37/32.png) [@ChrisCTP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ChrisCTP)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 1999, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-book-are-you-reading-now/8516/15 "1999-09-21T22:53:00Z")
Well, if you were paying attention in the BBQ, you know I’ve been reading “The Secret Language of Birthdays”… but I’m never reading just one book. My attention generally gets split between three or four at a time. Currently, in addition to the birthday book: -_A Season in Hell & The Drunken Boat_ by Arthur Rimbaud -_Shopping in Space: Essays on America’s Blank Generation Fiction_ (again) by Elizabeth Young and Graham Caveney -_The Feminist Companion to Mythology_ edited by Carolyne Larrington All as well as “2715 One-Line Quotations for Speakers, Writers and Raconteurs”, “Feng Shui”, and all the thousands of magazines that come in. * * * Veni, Vidi, Visa … I came, I saw, I bought. ---
**Author:** ![Globe-trotter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/cab0a1/32.png) [@Globe-trotter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Globe-trotter)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 1999, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-book-are-you-reading-now/8516/16 "1999-09-21T22:54:00Z")
I’m currently reading “Angela’s Ashes” by Frank McCourt, a book I bought over two years ago. I have a bad habit of buying books, even when I already have plenty to read. Next up? I haven’t decided yet. I want some “airplane reading”…any suggestions? (no Arthur Hailey plane disaster novels, if you please!) 😉 * * * I prefer rogues to imbeciles because they sometimes take a rest. Alexandre Dumas the Younger (1824-1895) ---
**Author:** ![OldBroad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ed655f/32.png) [@OldBroad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OldBroad)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 1999, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-book-are-you-reading-now/8516/17 "1999-09-21T22:56:00Z")
Slogging through a “History of Poland” and just starting Tom Brokaw’s “The Greatest Generation” Also reading the manuals for my recently acquired Adobe graphics studio s/w. Question: Anyone know the title of Mark Twain’s book about Ste. Joan of Arc? I heard about the book recently from someone who couldn’t recall the title. Sounds interesting * * * | | | | | | | | | | Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit. ---
**Author:** ![Persephone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ecc23a/32.png) [@Persephone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Persephone)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 1999, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-book-are-you-reading-now/8516/18 "1999-09-21T22:59:00Z")
I just finished Tom Clancy’s _Rainbow Six._ I had to give my brain a little rest, so yesterday I started _Dave Barry’s Bad Habits._ ---
**Author:** ![KCB615](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ea666f/32.png) [@KCB615](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KCB615)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 1999, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-book-are-you-reading-now/8516/19 "1999-09-21T23:02:00Z")
Debt of Honor by Tom Clancy. Again. For what seems like the 25th time. I needed something to read at work during the hurricane/tropical storm/wimpy fizzle that came through last week, and realized it on the way out of the house, so I grabbed it. And now I’m stuck reading it. Again. Damn Clancy, I can’t stop reading his stuff once I’m more than halfway through the book. ## \<\\> Jeremy… I can think of no more stirring symbol of man’s humanity to man than a fire engine - Kurt Vonnegut ---
**Author:** ![SuperNerd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@SuperNerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SuperNerd)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 1999, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-book-are-you-reading-now/8516/20 "1999-09-21T23:10:00Z")
How about Exchange Server 5.5 Unleased (I think, I tossed it in a corner a few hours ago and don’t have the energy to go dig it out …). Turns out it should have been a ‘Dummies’ book but the name was already copywrit (copywrited? copywritten? copywrote?). Spend sixty bucks on a book, you’d expect some useful information, grumble, grumble, grumble. Anyway, Frakie: Tom Robbins - have you read much of his stuff? I loved ‘Still Life with Wookpecker’, figure that the earlier books are just drafts and the later stuff is just a restatement. Other favorites (who haven’t released any new stuff lately, if they’re even still alive) are Kurt Vonnegaut (any book - pick one, I’ll swear it’s my favorite); John Crowley (especially ‘Little, Big’, and always always always ‘Engine Summer’); John Irving - ‘Cider House Blues’ sent chills up and down my spine. Okay, okay - John Irving actually has a new book out that I haven’t read yet, so we know he’s not (or **very** recently has become) dead. -E- [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-book-are-you-reading-now/8516.md?page=2)