# What was the last book, new or used, that you bought? Have you read it yet? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 22, 2010, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-last-book-new-or-used-that-you-bought-have-you-read-it-yet/530051 "2010-02-22T23:44:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![DrFidelius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drfidelius/32/3447_2.png) [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2010, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-last-book-new-or-used-that-you-bought-have-you-read-it-yet/530051/21 "2010-02-23T01:25:36Z")
Something called **The Outback Stars** by some young lady whose name has made no impression on me. Picked it up on Saturday with about five other books at the library sale and am half-way done with it already. Not bad. **Starstrike** about Marines on Mars. Haven’t opened it yet, but it looks like a pointless fun read. Also **The Fox on the Rhine** about Patton and Rommel joining forces to beat the hell out of the Russians. And **Arc Light** , the story of the impeachment proceedings against the President after a nuclear exchange. Two Jimmy Buffet books, to be saved for warmer weather. Pretty much a light set of books. My taste in entertainment reading tends towards violent crap. ---
**Author:** ![sulamith](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f08c70/32.png) [@sulamith](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sulamith)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2010, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-last-book-new-or-used-that-you-bought-have-you-read-it-yet/530051/22 "2010-02-23T01:26:35Z")
I bought a new copy of Angela’s Ashes because I loaned my well-worn copy to someone who has never given it back. I want that book as part of my Irish heritage section in my personal library, so since it was a replacement for a book I have already read, I guess I cannot say I have read this copy. But I will one day, because I always re-read my fav books every few years. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2010, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-last-book-new-or-used-that-you-bought-have-you-read-it-yet/530051/23 "2010-02-23T01:30:51Z")
> [@Ichbin\_Dubist](#): > > **GuanoLad,** I think _Inkheart_ is the only book that my daughter ever gave up on, and were were about two-thirds of the way through. I’m not sure why she didn’t want to keep reading, but I found it humorless and needlessly grim. I watched the movie, and liked it, but felt there was a lot of story missing. It moved too fast and brushed over important points that would have made me empathise with the characters. Like any story should. So I read the book to try and find those missing elements. Or rather, I have gotten through a third of the book, and can’t be bothered with reading any further. Very very slow, with nothing interesting really going on, and a lot of miserable introspection with nobody giving any answers. And, worst of all, I know nothing of the kid’s Mother, just like the movie doesn’t tell me anything about her, and yet surely she’s the sole motivation for the entire plot! I wonder if something got lost in the translation from German, or if it is just a badly written story. ---
**Author:** ![GameHat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ed655f/32.png) [@GameHat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GameHat)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2010, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-last-book-new-or-used-that-you-bought-have-you-read-it-yet/530051/24 "2010-02-23T01:32:16Z")
Off a glowing review from The Onion’s AV Club, I downloaded [From Eternity To Here](http://www.avclub.com/articles/sean-carroll-from-eternity-to-here,38327/) I felt mightily tricked when I got a third of the way through and the book dropped this little horror from my past: S = k Log W That got a proper FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU Deeply ironic that the field I had the most trouble with getting my degree (thermodynamics) I am now reading for “fun”. Still, the book is fairly enjoyable. Good sense of humor, some new insights (to me) on the nature of time. Plenty of tasty physics (with the odd foray into metaphysics) written in a mostly casual style. I did smile when shortly after dropping that abomination of an equation the author playfully noted that his colleagues had warned him, “Every equation in your book drops the sales by half” or something to that effect. Probably wouldn’t give it the A the Onion did, but it’s a solid B. I’m about halfway through. ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2010, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-last-book-new-or-used-that-you-bought-have-you-read-it-yet/530051/25 "2010-02-23T01:40:28Z")
I bought both of these last week at Recycle Bookstore: [The Mojave: A Portrait of the Definitive American Desert](http://www.amazon.com/Mojave-Portrait-Definitive-American-Desert/dp/0805055940/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1266888899&sr=1-1) [Adventures of a Continental Drifter: An Around-the-World Excursion into Weirdness, Danger, Lust, and the Perils of Street Food](http://www.amazon.com/Adventures-Continental-Drifter-Around-World/dp/0312312423/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1266888936&sr=1-1) Haven’t finished either one yet…I’m kind of going back and forth between the two, reading a dozen or so pages at a time. ---
**Author:** ![hamwater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/0ea827/32.png) [@hamwater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hamwater)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2010, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-last-book-new-or-used-that-you-bought-have-you-read-it-yet/530051/26 "2010-02-23T01:40:29Z")
[quote=“Skald\_the\_Rhymer, post:1, topic:530051”] The last new book I bought was Pat Conroy’s latest novel, South of Broad, early this month. Haven’t read it yet; I’m waiting for a long weekend. I’d like to hear what you thought of it when you’ve finished. ---
**Author:** ![Lethal\_Babydoll](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/3be4f8/32.png) [@Lethal\_Babydoll](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lethal_Babydoll)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2010, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-last-book-new-or-used-that-you-bought-have-you-read-it-yet/530051/27 "2010-02-23T01:50:58Z")
> [@Justin\_Credible](#): > > That sounds good. Can the novella be found in any anthology, or online perhaps? The best would be [**[COLOR=“Red”][COLOR=“Red”]Cryptic[/COLOR][/COLOR]**](http://www.amazon.com/Cryptic-Best-Short-Fiction-McDevitt/dp/1596061952/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1266889608&sr=8-2), a collection of McDevitt’s best short work (and it’s some great stuff. He won the Nebula for best novel a few years ago. I’ve seen it in other collections (it’s considered one of the best short-work in sf from recent decades), including [**here**](http://www.amazon.com/Time-Machines-Greatest-Stories-Written/dp/0786704934/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1266889550&sr=1-3) ---
**Author:** ![LH75](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lh75/32/4438_2.png) [@LH75](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LH75)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2010, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-last-book-new-or-used-that-you-bought-have-you-read-it-yet/530051/28 "2010-02-23T02:36:25Z")
I downloaded Honor of Spies by W.E.B. Griffin last week. ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2010, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-last-book-new-or-used-that-you-bought-have-you-read-it-yet/530051/29 "2010-02-23T02:44:32Z")
Picked up two used books a week ago, neither of which has been touched yet: John McPhee, _The Survival of the Bark Canoe_ and Kim Todd, _Tinkering with Eden: A Natural History of Exotics in America_. ---
**Author:** ![Lethal\_Babydoll](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/3be4f8/32.png) [@Lethal\_Babydoll](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lethal_Babydoll)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2010, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-last-book-new-or-used-that-you-bought-have-you-read-it-yet/530051/30 "2010-02-23T03:09:33Z")
> [@ToeJam](#): > > I just ordered the first 5 books in the _Wild Cards_ Series Edited by George R R Martin. I hope they’re good! Those are fun ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2010, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-last-book-new-or-used-that-you-bought-have-you-read-it-yet/530051/31 "2010-02-23T03:12:54Z")
Currently reading _The Truth_, the last of the latest batch of Discworld books I bought. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2010, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-last-book-new-or-used-that-you-bought-have-you-read-it-yet/530051/32 "2010-02-23T03:18:01Z")
On the recommendation of some of you guys, I bought \*Watership Down \*a while back. Haven’t started reading it though. ---
**Author:** ![In\_Winnipeg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/a8b319/32.png) [@In\_Winnipeg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/In_Winnipeg)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2010, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-last-book-new-or-used-that-you-bought-have-you-read-it-yet/530051/33 "2010-02-23T04:00:14Z")
Last week, I was at a book sale at one of the malls sponsored by Children’s Hospital. There I picked up Iris Chang’s _The Rape of Nanking_. Haven’t read it yet, because I have a book on Jack the Ripper on the go as well as one called _Killer Twins_ by Michael Benson, a true crime about a pair of brothers from Rochester, NY. When I am done these two, I’ll get to the Nanking one. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2010, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-last-book-new-or-used-that-you-bought-have-you-read-it-yet/530051/34 "2010-02-23T04:05:31Z")
James Mitchener’s _Tales of the South Seas_, Franklin Library edition. Just started reading it. ---
**Author:** ![AppallingGael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b9bd4f/32.png) [@AppallingGael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AppallingGael)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2010, 4:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-last-book-new-or-used-that-you-bought-have-you-read-it-yet/530051/35 "2010-02-23T04:14:51Z")
The last nine books (all used) I bought were Kingsley Amis’s “One Fat Englishman”, Saul Bellow’s “Mr. Sammler’s Planet”, something by Edna O’Brien, some short stories by Liam O’Flaherty, Three plays by Ben Jonson inclusing “Sejanus” and “Every Man in His Humour”, some history of famous practical jokes, something about the Oscars, some other film book, and some word use/misuse thing by Richard Lederer. I have not read any nor am I likely to, as I left the bag on the subway. I only spent five dollars on the lot but I’m sure I’d have to spend a lot more to replace them, even if I remembered their titles. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2010, 4:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-last-book-new-or-used-that-you-bought-have-you-read-it-yet/530051/36 "2010-02-23T04:19:00Z")
> [@LH75](#): > > I downloaded Honor of Spies by W.E.B. Griffin last week. I finished that one last week. ---
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2010, 4:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-last-book-new-or-used-that-you-bought-have-you-read-it-yet/530051/37 "2010-02-23T04:24:11Z")
I was in Hannibal, Missouri on Saturday, and bought _A Tramp Abroad_, which I’ve never read. I will read it as soon as I finish the library books due this Saturday. ---
**Author:** ![Paranoid\_Randroid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/paranoid_randroid/32/18_2.png) [@Paranoid\_Randroid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paranoid_Randroid)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2010, 4:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-last-book-new-or-used-that-you-bought-have-you-read-it-yet/530051/38 "2010-02-23T04:44:35Z")
The last book I bought was White’s Asymptotic Theory for Econometricians, which I’m about a third of the way through. I suppose that’s not very interesting. The last book of fiction I actually bought, with the intention of reading myself? Good question, as I tend to do most of my reading in the public domain using my phone or computer (through which I last read Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland). Pride and Prejudice, maybe? Which I finished on my phone. If magazines count, I picked up an Asimov’s a few weeks ago but haven’t made my way through it yet. ---
**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:** [February 23, 2010, 5:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-last-book-new-or-used-that-you-bought-have-you-read-it-yet/530051/39 "2010-02-23T05:07:58Z")
Almost all of the books I read come from the library, but last week I did buy [_A New Geography of Poets_](http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/844443.A_New_Geography_of_Poets). Read it. Loved it. ---
**Author:** ![FriarTed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/friarted/32/1052_2.png) [@FriarTed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FriarTed)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2010, 1:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-last-book-new-or-used-that-you-bought-have-you-read-it-yet/530051/40 "2010-02-23T13:20:01Z")
The novelization of THE WOLFMAN- No. “Real” books- C. R. Dickey’s ONE MAN’S DESTINY (an intro to British-Israelism)- Yes; The Ferrar Fenton translation of The Bible- I’ve read from it. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-last-book-new-or-used-that-you-bought-have-you-read-it-yet/530051.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-last-book-new-or-used-that-you-bought-have-you-read-it-yet/530051.md?page=3)