# What is the latest book you have read? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 5, 2001, 7:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-latest-book-you-have-read/85535 "2001-10-05T07:15:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![tarragon918](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d26b3c/32.png) [@tarragon918](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tarragon918)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2001, 6:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-latest-book-you-have-read/85535/41 "2001-10-06T06:43:22Z")
First post here! šŸ™‚ Iā€™ve got a couple of novels going right now: a John Sandford one, ā€œThe Devilā€™s Codeā€ (I think _lol_ a bit late right now); Iā€™ve enjoyed his ā€œpreyā€ books; this one is one of the ā€œKiddā€ series, which I havenā€™t delved into until now. So Iā€™ll see how it goes. šŸ™‚ Iā€™ve also got a ST novel going, ā€œHome is the Hunterā€ ā€“ and it involves time travel, my favorite! šŸ™‚ And Iā€™ve finally broken down and bought the first Harry Potter book. _LOL_ I have to try to stay away from book stores, especially if Iā€™ve got money in my wallet! Most of my books I get from used/secondhand bookstores or thrift shops, so most are paperback. Iā€™ve recently gone through many of the Agatha Christie books, which are still quite good, though a bit dated! _lol_ especially when theyā€™re talking about roadsters! šŸ˜‰ Iā€™ve also got several books Iā€™d really like to read, including the Stephen King/Peter Straub collaborationā€¦ guess I should stay out of that thread here until I do get to read it! I could easily spend a couple of hundred dollars a month on books, though, if I let myself. Ah wellā€¦ maybe Iā€™ll hit the lottery! tarragon ---
**Author:** ![vivalostwages](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/d07c76/32.png) [@vivalostwages](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vivalostwages)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2001, 6:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-latest-book-you-have-read/85535/42 "2001-10-06T06:48:57Z")
In just a few days, I tore through a profoundly disturbing and extremely well written book called _Under the Skin_, by Michel Faber. It actually gave me insomnia. What could have been a lurid thriller turned out to be a thoughtful, horrifying examination ofā€¦Oh, I wonā€™t spoil it. šŸ˜‰ I havenā€™t picked up a book since then, but I do intend to read Stephen King/Peter Straubā€™s _Black House_. ---
**Author:** ![vivalostwages](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/d07c76/32.png) [@vivalostwages](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vivalostwages)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2001, 6:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-latest-book-you-have-read/85535/43 "2001-10-06T06:51:14Z")
A&\*!@#! Sorry for the explosion of italics. ---
**Author:** ![that\_darn\_cat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/59ef9b/32.png) [@that\_darn\_cat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/that_darn_cat)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2001, 7:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-latest-book-you-have-read/85535/44 "2001-10-06T07:55:20Z")
Just read _The Truth_, a Terry Pratchet Discworld novel, which I always devour. The most recent novel that I highly recommend is _Gates of Fire_ by Steven Pressfield. Itā€™s the story of the Greek defense of Thremopylae, from a infantry squires point of view. Excellent read. A must for SCAdians. So, how are 'yall liking Kingā€™s most recent stuff? Last I read was _Desperation_ and could hardly get through it. ---
**Author:** ![Primaflora](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/898d66/32.png) [@Primaflora](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Primaflora)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2001, 10:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-latest-book-you-have-read/85535/45 "2001-10-06T10:43:24Z")
Cranky, I recently read in some womanā€™s mag (sorry no cite) that Maeve Binchy is now retired as she has made her money and is finished as a writer. More power to her but what a bummer. ā˜¹ I just started the new Terry MacMillan, _A day Late and a Dollar Short_ and am enjoying it so far. Iā€™ve been on an indulgence of Barbara Michaels lately - theyā€™re tripe but fun tripe. I recently really enjoyed _e_ by Matt Beaumont a very cleverly constructed novel in email format. Nadia Wheatleyā€™s biography of Charmian Clift was excellent but I think I needed to do more background reading than I did. ---
**Author:** ![ruadh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/d2c977/32.png) [@ruadh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ruadh)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2001, 10:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-latest-book-you-have-read/85535/46 "2001-10-06T10:48:08Z")
Just finishing _Twenty Years On_, a collection of essays by people involved in the civil rights and republican movements of Northern Ireland in the late sixties/ early seventies. Of course itā€™s now about ten years out of date, but still interesting reading. When I finish this Iā€™ll start on _Dirty War, Clean Hands_ by Paddy Woodworth, about the Spanish governmentā€™s anti-ETA death squads of the 1980s. ---
**Author:** ![Sweet\_Sota\_Girl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a587f6/32.png) [@Sweet\_Sota\_Girl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sweet_Sota_Girl)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2001, 10:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-latest-book-you-have-read/85535/47 "2001-10-06T10:58:26Z")
[QUOTE] \*Originally posted by Jeff \* \*\*I finished **Great Expectations** (Dickens) and **A Clockwork Orange** (Anthony Burgess) not too long ago. Great books, both of them. I read "Great Expectations in high school, but bought it a while back because I wanted to read it again. But I havenā€™t been able to get into it this time. Iā€™m in the midst of ā€œOne Flew Over the Cuckoos Nestā€ and then Iā€™m going to start ā€œA Clockwork Orangeā€. Other than that Iā€™ve been reading the Earthā€™s Children Series by Jean Auel for the millionth time while I wait for her to finish the next oneā€¦ UGH! ---
**Author:** ![Caprese](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a9a28c/32.png) [@Caprese](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Caprese)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2001, 11:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-latest-book-you-have-read/85535/48 "2001-10-06T11:40:25Z")
Am in the final pages of The Bone People, a book by Kiwi author Keri Hulme. Somewhat difficult to read in terms of both subject matter and writing style, but very rewarding. Before that I read White Teeth by Zadie Smith, a sort of Dickens-style novel about modern immigrant life in London. Both really good reads. ---
**Author:** ![MyFootsZZZ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/myfootszzz/32/12580_2.png) [@MyFootsZZZ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MyFootsZZZ)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2001, 12:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-latest-book-you-have-read/85535/49 "2001-10-06T12:26:50Z")
Reading Dragons Of Eden by Carl Sagan ---
**Author:** ![Solomon7t](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Solomon7t](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Solomon7t)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2001, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-latest-book-you-have-read/85535/50 "2001-10-07T00:41:11Z")
woah, this thread went huge. Now we need to start a straightdope book club šŸ™‚ ---
**Author:** ![Ben](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/df788c/32.png) [@Ben](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ben)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2001, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-latest-book-you-have-read/85535/51 "2001-10-07T01:01:42Z")
Iā€™ve just finished Alice K. Turnerā€™s _History of Hell,_ which was a very fun read. Also, Iā€™m reading _The Hobbit,_ which I havenā€™t read since high school. And Robert L. Forwardā€™s very interesting _Indistinguishable from Magic,_ which is all about how we could build real starships and space elevators and whatnot. He claims that we could build a dedicated antimatter factory which would bring the price down so that it would be more cost-effective than conventional rocket fuel! I also suggest _They All Laughed,_ which is a very fun history of the invention of the blender, the fax machine, and so forth. -Ben ---
**Author:** ![croaker67](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/439d5e/32.png) [@croaker67](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/croaker67)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2001, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-latest-book-you-have-read/85535/52 "2001-10-07T01:19:01Z")
Hey Solomon. If you like Heinlein, try ā€œTime Enough For Loveā€. Lazarus Long is a character you just canā€™t miss. Hello White. Try ā€œThe Narrow Cornerā€ or ā€œCakes and Aleā€ by Maugham. Both are good. As for me, I just finished David and Leigh Eddings ā€œThe Redemption Of Althalusā€. Let me know of any good book. Thanks in advance. Croakerā€¦šŸ˜ƒ ---
**Author:** ![Solomon7t](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Solomon7t](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Solomon7t)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2001, 3:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-latest-book-you-have-read/85535/53 "2001-10-07T03:30:39Z")
I would recomend the _Riverworld_ series to anyone interested in science fiction. you should check that out. Ill look at that heinlein book. ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2001, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-latest-book-you-have-read/85535/54 "2001-10-07T14:58:57Z")
**The Blind Assassin** by Margaret Atwood. Atwood has that whole aging thing nailed. I really identified with the narrator. **Master of the Day of Judgment** by Leo Perutz ā€“ a 30ā€™s psychological detective story. Not sure where I heard about this writer ā€“ it was somewhere on line (I keep track of these things), but a virus took (renamed) my files at about the time I found the book. So if it was someone here on the Dope, **thank you**! I love this writer and have found more of his stuff. Just started **The Man Who Loved Children** by Christina Stead, in the Everymanā€™s Library edition. Iā€™m starting to think if I read all the Everymanā€™s books, I could consider myself well-read. What a great idea, reprinting good old stuff. The only downside is no dust jacket. ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2001, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-latest-book-you-have-read/85535/55 "2001-10-08T03:48:29Z")
**AuntiePam** - Hey again! I always seem to find you on the book threads. Re:Blind AsassinReally? Maybe itā€™s an age thing, because I could never identify with that protagonist, but my mom (obviously older than I) really could. I mean the book in general was good, I just didnā€™t really like that character. Hmm. Or any of them for that matter, actually. šŸ˜› Ah well. As for books Iā€™ve read recentlyā€¦I just finished The Franchise Affair by Josephine Tey. Itā€™s a mystery novel about a young girl who claims to be kidnapped and forced to do servantā€™s work by two women, before she escapes. Quite engrossing, I thought. ---
**Author:** ![Jet\_Jaguar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jet_jaguar/32/3562_2.png) [@Jet\_Jaguar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jet_Jaguar)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2001, 5:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-latest-book-you-have-read/85535/56 "2001-10-08T05:04:21Z")
Iā€™m currently reading **Journey to the West**. Itā€™s a very old (the current version was set down in the 1500ā€™s, and the story is much older than that) classic Chinese fantasy novel about a monk traveling with his three disciples (Monkey, Pig, and Friar Sand) to the Western Heaven to retrieve the Buddhist scriptures. Itā€™s stories are very popular and well-known in China, Iā€™d say they are roughly equivalent to Grimmā€™s fairy tales here. The book is quite long, 100 chapters and about 1,800 pages. I just finished chapter 50, so Iā€™m halfway done. ---
**Author:** ![Cy\_Coe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4da419/32.png) [@Cy\_Coe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cy_Coe)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2001, 6:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-latest-book-you-have-read/85535/57 "2001-10-08T06:29:43Z")
Iā€™ve been slacking off on m reading lately, but one of the 2 books Iā€™ve read most recently is Hubert Selby Jr.'s ā€œRequiem For A Dreamā€ā€¦a book to be read only with no sharp objects or alcohol around (the movie of the book was the first movie to ever stun me into complete silence and put me on edge. The other is Will Selfā€™s ā€œHow the Dead Liveā€, an utterly superb novel. Waiting to be started: Will Selfā€™s ā€œGreat Apesā€ Ray Kurtzweilā€™s ā€œThe Age of Spiritual Machinesā€ ---
**Author:** ![blur](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/dbc845/32.png) [@blur](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blur)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2001, 6:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-latest-book-you-have-read/85535/58 "2001-10-08T06:35:58Z")
With all thats gone on in the last few weeks, I havenā€™t read as much as normal, but I did manage to pick up The Dirt, which is the Motley Crue biography. Yeah, it was trashy, but it was the best freaking trash Iā€™ve ever read. Blows away any other ā€œtell allā€ biography Iā€™ve ever read. ---
**Author:** ![hardygrrl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a3d4f5/32.png) [@hardygrrl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hardygrrl)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2001, 11:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-latest-book-you-have-read/85535/59 "2001-10-10T11:53:26Z")
Just read **Heavier Than Heaven** , the new Kurt Cobain biography. Written using excerpts from Kurtā€™s journals, itā€™s fascinating. Now Iā€™m reading **You Are Being Lied To** , a collection of essays and reports about the media. For fun, between calls at work, Iā€™m reading Kurt Angleā€™s autobiography. Easy to read and to put down when a call comes in. As a sidebar, the Quality Paperback Book Club has a excellent selection of books, some obscure. Check them out sometime. ---
**Author:** ![TruePisces](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/truepisces/32/13628_2.png) [@TruePisces](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruePisces)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2001, 12:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-latest-book-you-have-read/85535/60 "2001-10-10T12:02:54Z")
I just finished _The Fellowship of the Ring_ by Tolkien and _A Kiss of Shadows_ by Laurell K Hamilton. Now Iā€™m reading _The Two Towers_ by Tolkien and _The Complete Adventures of Lucky Starr_ by Asimov. Iā€™ve got an anthology called _Zodiac Fantastic_ edited by Martin H Greenberg that I use as a ā€œbathroom bookā€. And this is far less than I usually read. Usually, I have about 4 books going at once. šŸ˜ƒ [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-latest-book-you-have-read/85535.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-latest-book-you-have-read/85535.md?page=4)