# What ya reading?? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [April 27, 2001, 12:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-ya-reading/63526 "2001-04-27T12:12:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![yojimbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yojimbo/32/232_2.png) [@yojimbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yojimbo)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2001, 12:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-ya-reading/63526/1 "2001-04-27T12:12:31Z")
I like finding out what other people are reading. I’m always on the look out for a good read so here’s the place to have a chat about what you’re reading at the moment. I’m reading "_A Bridge Too Far"_ by Cornelius Ryan. I love this book and have read it at least 6 times before. It’s about the disastrous attempt of the Allies during WWII to capture the bridges on the Rhine in Holland. This plan called “Operation Market Garden” led to a huge loss of soldiers. The book goes into great detail and really brings home to you what it was like to be involved in those fateful events around Arnham. Another great read from the same author is “_The Longest Day_” which is about D-Day. So what ya reading? ---
**Author:** ![Agrippina](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8797f3/32.png) [@Agrippina](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Agrippina)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2001, 12:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-ya-reading/63526/2 "2001-04-27T12:18:16Z")
_Watership Down_ by Richard Adams. My dad has suggested it to me for months after I kept raving about the Harry Potter books. He said that if I liked fantasy, I should give this book a try and so I am. ---
**Author:** ![yojimbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yojimbo/32/232_2.png) [@yojimbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yojimbo)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2001, 12:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-ya-reading/63526/3 "2001-04-27T12:20:48Z")
I never read the book but the animated flick was really good. I found it very shocking as a kid. Some of the fight scenes are very graphic. Enjoy. ---
**Author:** ![Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e36b37/32.png) [@Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Airman_Doors_USAF)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2001, 12:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-ya-reading/63526/4 "2001-04-27T12:21:32Z")
“The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich”, by William L Shirer. “Battle Born”, by Dale Brown. Plato’s Republic. “The Crystal Cave”, by Mary Stewart. And the list goes on and on… that’s just what’s right in front of me. I usually read anywhere from 10 to 15 books at a time. I just spread them around the house and pick up whichever one is closest. ---
**Author:** ![Francesca](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/9fc348/32.png) [@Francesca](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Francesca)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2001, 12:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-ya-reading/63526/5 "2001-04-27T12:27:05Z")
I’m currently reading _The Green Mile_ by Steven King. I’m on a bit of a King/Koontz kick at the moment and I haven’t seen the film so i bought as a concession to myself for not yet caving and buying “On Writing” until it comes out in paperback. I also, as ever, have a John Irving novel on the go. At the moment it’s _Hotel New Hampshire_ (again) but it’ll soon be time to give _A Prayer for Owen Meany_ (my favourite) another go. Also thinking of picking up _Catcher in the Rye_ again. It’s been almost a year and a half since my last read of it. I love that book. My SO always has _at least_ 5 books on the go, but i like to concentrate on just a few at a time. Fran ---
**Author:** ![BlackKnight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/eb8c5e/32.png) [@BlackKnight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlackKnight)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2001, 12:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-ya-reading/63526/6 "2001-04-27T12:41:23Z")
Plato’s Republic A collection of stories by H.P. Lovecraft The Camel Book (you know, the PERL programming book published by O’Reilly) Re-reading “Godel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid” ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2001, 12:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-ya-reading/63526/7 "2001-04-27T12:52:41Z")
Chester Himes’s _Cotton Comes to Harlem._ It’s not really very good. Well, it’s OKAY, writingwise, but if it was a 1965 cop/crime novel written by a WHITE guy, it would have been out of print and completely forgotten by, oh, 1966. There’s a sort of self-congratulatory air about the blurbs and review excerpts printed in it: “SLASHING GENIUS FICTION BY AN ACTUAL BLACK GUY WHO ACTUALLY SPENT TIME IN AN ACTUAL JAIL! IT’S TH’ VOICE OF TH’ _STREETS,_ MAN!!!” – _Thumbass Journal_ I’m also trying to finish that immense tome, _Do What Thou Wilt: A Life of Aleister Crowley_ by Lawrence Sutin. Started it last year, put it down about page 380, but picked it up again yesterday. It’s 1933 and Uncle Al’s just lost a libel suit against Nina Hamnett, the woman who won renown as the model for the sculpture “Laughing Torso” by Henri Gaudier-Brzeska. It really is more than _anyone_ needs to know about Aleister Crowley. ---
**Author:** ![Lyllyan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/b2d939/32.png) [@Lyllyan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lyllyan)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2001, 12:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-ya-reading/63526/8 "2001-04-27T12:54:10Z")
I have hit a dry spell and and currently reading pure tripe. As much as I would like to say, "oh, well, I am on my 3rd re-read of Steven Hawkings **“History of the Universe”** , I am actually slogging thru Mary Higgins Clark’s latest, and **“The Princess Bride”** when I can get it away from my daughter, Caleb Carr’s **“Killing Time”** , finished Jude Deveraux’s **“A Knight In Shining Armour”** (yeah, yeah, I know) and Orson Scott Card’s **“Speaker for the Dead”** (NOT tripe) on Tuesday. ---
**Author:** ![Lucki\_Chaarms](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/9de0a6/32.png) [@Lucki\_Chaarms](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucki_Chaarms)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2001, 12:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-ya-reading/63526/9 "2001-04-27T12:58:57Z")
I am currently reading “ **Temporary Autonomous Zone** ” By Hakim Bey. It rules. MarxBoy ---
**Author:** ![gobear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8dc957/32.png) [@gobear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gobear)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2001, 1:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-ya-reading/63526/10 "2001-04-27T13:08:01Z")
I usually have several books going at once. Right now, I’m reading _Unweaving The Rainbow_; a debunking of pseudoscience by Richard Dawkins, _Wide As The Waters_, a history of attempts at translating the Bible into English leading up to the King James Bible, by Benson Bobrick; _The Dark Valley_, a history of the 1930s by Piers Brendon; and _Black Lotus_, a mystery novel set in 17th century Japan by Laura Joh Rowland. ---
**Author:** ![hardygrrl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a3d4f5/32.png) [@hardygrrl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hardygrrl)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2001, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-ya-reading/63526/11 "2001-04-27T13:22:17Z")
Right now… At home Napalm and Silly Putty by George Carlin The Rachel Papers by Martin Amis for about the 20th time At work-between calls and emails 🙂 The Divine Comedy by Dante-about a third of the way through the Inferno. ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2001, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-ya-reading/63526/12 "2001-04-27T13:35:24Z")
I’m reading this thread about what books various people are reading. I just started _The Mist of Avalon_. I have just finished _The Stranger_. ---
**Author:** ![Arden\_Ranger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b487fb/32.png) [@Arden\_Ranger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arden_Ranger)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2001, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-ya-reading/63526/13 "2001-04-27T13:44:49Z")
From now until May 10th when finals are over, I’m reading textbooks and _The Psychology of the Internet_ by Patricia Wallace. Joy. ---
**Author:** ![Astroboy14](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/df705f/32.png) [@Astroboy14](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Astroboy14)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2001, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-ya-reading/63526/14 "2001-04-27T13:47:00Z")
Right now I am reading A Game of Thrones by George R. R. Martin (fantasy, and pretty damn good, too!), Undaunted Courage, by Stephen E. Ambrose (histoy: the story of Meriwether Lewis, Thomas Jefferson, and the opening of the American West. Pretty dry so far, but I just started it…), and the Bible (an on-going project… takes me forever to make sense of a paragraph! But I swear I’ll get through it!). ---
**Author:** ![Rosebud](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ea666f/32.png) [@Rosebud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rosebud)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2001, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-ya-reading/63526/15 "2001-04-27T13:48:49Z")
Whoa, **Zebra** , freaky… I opened this thread to add that I was re-reading _The Mists of Avalon_ yet again. I wanted to have it fresh in my mind for when the mini-series hits TNT in July. There’s a couple of prequels, in case you didn’t know (ignore me if you did!): _The Forest House_ and _Lady of Avalon_. And another prequel coming out in May, finished by Diana Paxton after Bradley died. I’m also reading _Witchcraft: The Old Religion_ by Leo Martello, and _Tales From the Couch_, an anthology of pieces by writers who’ve been in therapy. Me in a nutshell! Hey, _Ike_, I think my school’s library subscribes to the _Thumbass Journal_. ---
**Author:** ![Milossarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Milossarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Milossarian)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2001, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-ya-reading/63526/16 "2001-04-27T14:03:54Z")
I just got my _Christmas_ bonus from work (I work in a satellite office 50 miles away from the main office, and my boss kept forgetting to give it to me, and I didn’t know I got one, so I didn’t ask about it.) Anyway, it was gift certificates that had to be used at a downtown merchant down where the main office is, so I bought a couple of books at the bookstore: _You are Being Lied To_ - "This book acts as a battering ram against the distortions, myths and outright lies that have been shoved down our throat by the government, the media, corporations, organized religion, the scientific establishment and others who want to keep the truth from us. An unprecedented group of researchers - investigative reporters, political dissidents, academics, media watchdogs, scientist-philosophers, social critics and rogue scholars - paints a picture of a world where crucial stories are ignored or actively suppressed and the official version of events has more holes in it than Swiss cheese. A world where real dangers are downplayed and nonexistant dangers are trumpeted. In short, a world where you are being lied to." I figure I’ll either come back to the SDMB loaded for bear, or I’ll make a helluva caller for the Art Bell show. Either way, the book should be entertaining. I also got _Desire of the Everlasting Hills_ - by Thomas Cahill. It’s about the life of Jesus, the world before him and after him, using not only the Bible but historical context. I have an interest in the history of religion, and Cahill is damn good. ---
**Author:** ![TroubleAgain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e480ec/32.png) [@TroubleAgain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TroubleAgain)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2001, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-ya-reading/63526/17 "2001-04-27T14:07:05Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Lyllyan \* > \*\*I have hit a dry spell and and currently reading pure tripe. As much as I would like to say, "oh, well, I am on my 3rd re-read of Steven Hawkings **“History of the Universe”** , I am actually slogging thru Mary Higgins Clark’s latest, and **“The Princess Bride”** when I can get it away from my daughter, Caleb Carr’s **“Killing Time”** , finished Jude Deveraux’s **“A Knight In Shining Armour”** (yeah, yeah, I know) and Orson Scott Card’s **“Speaker for the Dead”** (NOT tripe) on Tuesday. \*\* Lyllyan, don’t be so hard on yourself. “Princess Bride” and “Knight in Shining Armour” are pretty darned good. In fact, “Princess Bride” is _classic!_ “Knight in Shining Armor” is really a good on in the romance/fiction/fantasy type category. I am reading (and just dying to finish) The Empty Chair" by Jeffrey Deaver. It’s the third book with Lincoln Rhyme as the main character (The first was “The Bone Collector” and the second was “The Coffin Dancer”) and I’m just pages from the end and hope to finish it at lunch. I’m also currently re-reading the “Wheel of Time” series from Robert Jordan, as a refresher to what happened 7 books ago :rolleyes:. ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2001, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-ya-reading/63526/18 "2001-04-27T14:11:30Z")
A lot of research-related books, as usual, and (as seen in another thread), I am chafing at the bit waiting for “Double Fold.” But for pleasure reading, I am just starting Joe Laurie Jr.'s “Vaudeville” (1953), a chatty personal history of same. Just read about a wire-walker named Kartella who stood on his head on a slack wire while playing the clarinet. ---
**Author:** ![vix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/a88e4f/32.png) [@vix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vix)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2001, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-ya-reading/63526/19 "2001-04-27T14:26:42Z")
Would you believe I just read _Ender’s Game_ and _Speaker for the Dead_ for the first time? At age 28 - I could practically be the parent of the usual readers… I finished _Speaker_ on the way to my destination last night and I didn’t have a backup book for the way back. Argh! This morning I started a collection of recent stories by Ray Bradbury (_Quicker than the Eye_) but the first one stunk. Next up for my book group is J. Robert Janes’ _Sandman_. Next up for me is _The Tin Drum_ by Gunter Grass. ---
**Author:** ![London\_Calling](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@London\_Calling](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/London_Calling)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2001, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-ya-reading/63526/20 "2001-04-27T14:41:28Z")
I’m reading Peter Ackroyd’s _‘London: The Biography’_. I really, really got into his biography of William Blake (beautiful) and enjoyed ‘The Life of Thomas More’ but I approached this with a little trepidation. As an outrageously insightful biographer with a beautiful turn of phrase (and, also, as a native Londoner), this was set to be Ackroyd’s Big One. I hoped he would pull off the not insignificant job of encapsulating 1,000 years of history and character with his usual aplomb. The detailed knowledge is wonderful and I like the treatment of London as a living entity – from childhood to maturity - but…well, it’s early days. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-ya-reading/63526.md?page=2)