# Whatcha readin' April (08) edition
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-april-08-edition/443455
**Category:** Cafe Society
**Created:** [March 31, 2008, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-april-08-edition/443455 "2008-03-31T21:50:14Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 2
### Author:  [@Eleanor\_of\_Aquitaine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eleanor_of_Aquitaine)
#### Post date: [April 1, 2008, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-april-08-edition/443455/21 "2008-04-01T14:30:41Z")
I’m trying to finish Joseph J. Ellis’s _Founding Brothers_ before my next batch of considerably more frivolous books arrive in the mail. I’m expecting a new Maryjanice Davidson book and Kelley Armstrong’s new novel _Personal Demon_.
I just finished another of Georgette Heyer’s Regency romances, _Lady of Quality_. I really enjoy her writing, but this story wasn’t as satisfying as \*Frederica \*or _The Grand Sophy_.
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### Author:  [@TheMerchandise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheMerchandise)
#### Post date: [April 1, 2008, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-april-08-edition/443455/22 "2008-04-01T16:13:34Z")
[QUOTE=Pollux Oil]
I just read _Bloodsucking Fiends_ by Christopher Moore. I thought it was a hilariously written book and that was the first I’ve read of him, so I’m going to pick up a few of his other books soon and dive into them. 🙂
In the interim, my friend recommended a Piers Anthony book to me and I’ve never read any of his stuff, so I’ll probably hit that next. _A Spell for Chameleon_ is the name of it.
[/QUOTE]
I would recommend both of these things. Piers Anthony is kind of a hack, but he’s a fun hack.
I actually finished\*\* all\*\* the books I was reading in March over the weekend, during a bout of flu and fever. I am a clean slate! I believe I will start Ian Fleming’s _Moonraker_ this evening, though. I’m slowly making my way through the James Bond series.
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### Author:  [@uncle\_squeegee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/uncle_squeegee)
#### Post date: [April 1, 2008, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-april-08-edition/443455/23 "2008-04-01T17:11:42Z")
A book of short stories called _[Twilight of the Superheros](http://www.amazon.com/Twilight-Superheroes-Stories-Deborah-Eisenberg/dp/0312425937/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1207069738&sr=8-1)_ by Deborah Eisenberg. Haven’t gotten to far into it but it’s decent so far (it’s a book club selection, so I have to finish by 4/7, read faster!).
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### Author:  [@Gulo\_gulo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gulo_gulo)
#### Post date: [April 1, 2008, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-april-08-edition/443455/24 "2008-04-01T17:13:08Z")
I’m about 100 pages into _Don Quixote_ and it’s not grabbing my interest very much. Of course I’ll slog my way through it like the bibliomasochist I am.
So on the side I’m reading some ‘fluff’ fiction that was given to me. A whole box full of John Grisham and other such authors I’d never think to read if it weren’t free. They’ll get me some credits on paperbackswap I hope.
I also need to read a book manuscript written by a friend of mine. I’m saving that for the weekend.
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### Author:  [@Dr.Rieux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Rieux)
#### Post date: [April 1, 2008, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-april-08-edition/443455/25 "2008-04-01T17:24:00Z")
_The Count of Monte Cristo_
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### Author:  [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)
#### Post date: [April 1, 2008, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-april-08-edition/443455/26 "2008-04-01T17:48:19Z")
[QUOTE=TheMerchandise]
I would recommend both of these things. Piers Anthony is kind of a hack, but he’s a fun hack.
[/QUOTE]
In the early Xanth, yes. In the Phaze/Proton world, yes. In later Xanth, no…I’m still reading them as they come out, because they’re like Chef Boyardee to me…I know I used to like them a lot, so I try again whenever a new one comes out, and for about two chapters it’s nice, but by the time I finish the book I realize that it was mostly junk and now I feel all bloated and ill.
Wow…that was asking an awful lot out of that metaphor, wasn’t it?
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### Author:  [@Sunrazor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunrazor)
#### Post date: [April 1, 2008, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-april-08-edition/443455/27 "2008-04-01T18:18:03Z")
Sorry, still slogging through Derrida, Freud, Foucault et al for the lit-crit class. And I’ve read The Handmaid’s Tale about six times this semester. But I’m looking forward to summer – gonna’ go back and revisit some old friends from my undergrad days.
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### Author:  [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)
#### Post date: [April 1, 2008, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-april-08-edition/443455/28 "2008-04-01T18:19:59Z")
Jules Verne’s **The Invasion of the Sea** (translated into English for the first time only in 2001; I just saw a copy this weekend)
Philip Jose Farmer’s **The Gates of Creation** , the seconf in his World of Tiers series. I read the first one 25 years ago this summer, and never read any of the others. I figured it’s about time to give them a shot.
“Lemony Snicket’s” **The Miserable Mill**. MilliCal insists that both Pepper and I read the entire Series of Unfortunate Events.
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### Author:  [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)
#### Post date: [April 1, 2008, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-april-08-edition/443455/29 "2008-04-01T19:03:08Z")
[QUOTE=CalMeacham]
“Lemony Snicket’s” **The Miserable Mill**. MilliCal insists that both Pepper and I read the entire Series of Unfortunate Events.
[/QUOTE]
You’d probably enjoy them more if you could listen to Tim Curry do the audiobooks. I liked that, but I’m not sure how I’d have fared just reading them.
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### Author:  [@Kythereia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kythereia)
#### Post date: [April 1, 2008, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-april-08-edition/443455/30 "2008-04-01T20:41:36Z")
[QUOTE=Pollux Oil]
I just read _Bloodsucking Fiends_ by Christopher Moore. I thought it was a hilariously written book and that was the first I’ve read of him, so I’m going to pick up a few of his other books soon and dive into them. 🙂
[/QUOTE]
Jumping back in, sorry: _You Suck: A Love Story_ is _brilliant_–pick that one up first! 😃
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### Author:  [@TheMerchandise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheMerchandise)
#### Post date: [April 1, 2008, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-april-08-edition/443455/31 "2008-04-01T21:12:49Z")
[QUOTE=jayjay]
In the early Xanth, yes. In the Phaze/Proton world, yes. In later Xanth, no…I’m still reading them as they come out, because they’re like Chef Boyardee to me…I know I used to like them a lot, so I try again whenever a new one comes out, and for about two chapters it’s nice, but by the time I finish the book I realize that it was mostly junk and now I feel all bloated and ill.
Wow…that was asking an awful lot out of that metaphor, wasn’t it?
[/QUOTE]
No, no… I’m actually right with you there.
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### Author:  [@well\_he\_s\_back](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/well_he_s_back)
#### Post date: [April 1, 2008, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-april-08-edition/443455/32 "2008-04-01T21:28:19Z")
Just finishing two really funny books - “Stop dressing your six-year-old like a skank : and other words of delicate Southern wisdom” by Celia Rivenbark, and “Smile when you’re lying : confessions of a rogue travel writer” by Chuck Thompson.
Also reading some interesting YA fantasy stuff: “The Book of a Thousand Days” by Shannon Hale, “The Time Travellers” by Linda Buckley-Archer. and “Flight” by Sherman Alexie. I can recommend all. Newest by Clare Dunkle “Sky Inside” was a disappointment tho.
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### Author:  [@Catamount](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Catamount)
#### Post date: [April 1, 2008, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-april-08-edition/443455/33 "2008-04-01T22:37:17Z")
[QUOTE=well he’s back]
Just finishing two really funny books - “Stop dressing your six-year-old like a skank : and other words of delicate Southern wisdom” by Celia Rivenbark
[/QUOTE]
The title is so good I had to go over to Amazon to “Search Inside This Book!” Now I must find it and read it all. ALL!
_sigh_ Mount ToBeRead will never shrink. It will only get larger, like Mount Everest.
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### Author:  [@mcott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mcott)
#### Post date: [April 1, 2008, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-april-08-edition/443455/34 "2008-04-01T23:36:03Z")
Chiming in to subscribe and get more ideas.
Have a few books on the go.
_Night Blitz_, John Ray
_The Cannon_, Natale Angier (reread)
_Twinkie, Deconstructed_, Steve Ettinger
Eagerly anticipating my shipment of _How to Fossilize your Hamster_, Mick O’Hare and New Scientist magazine.
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### Author:  [@Bibby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bibby)
#### Post date: [April 2, 2008, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-april-08-edition/443455/35 "2008-04-02T01:54:33Z")
Hah, believe it or not, I’m reading War and Peace. Tried reading it about 20 yrs ago and couldn’t get through what I saw as banality; but strangely, now I’m actually enjoying it! So is it maturity, or being satisfied with banality?! 😛
Bibby
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### Author:  [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)
#### Post date: [April 2, 2008, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-april-08-edition/443455/36 "2008-04-02T03:52:50Z")
I thoroughly enjoyed _War and Peace_. It gets a bad rep. A little background knowledge of Russia and the Napoleonic era does help.
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### Author:  [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)
#### Post date: [April 2, 2008, 4:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-april-08-edition/443455/37 "2008-04-02T04:07:21Z")
[QUOTE=Bibby]
Hah, believe it or not, I’m reading War and Peace.
[/QUOTE]
Heh…I can’t even think of the title of _War and Peace_ without picturing Snoopy’s puppet version…
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### Author:  [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)
#### Post date: [April 2, 2008, 12:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-april-08-edition/443455/38 "2008-04-02T12:41:46Z")
[QUOTE=twickster]
_The Year of Living Biblically_, by A.J. Jacobs (the guy who read the entire Encyclopedia Britannica). I’m liking it a lot.
[/QUOTE]
Finished it last night – the Dope (one of the columns) got a shout-out in the footnotes, which was pretty cool.
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### Author:  [@Larry\_Borgia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Borgia)
#### Post date: [April 2, 2008, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-april-08-edition/443455/39 "2008-04-02T14:19:25Z")
_The Space Opera Renaissance_, edited by David Hartwell and Kathryn Cramer. A collection of short and not so short stories of epic science fiction.
_Descartes’ Error_, a book on the neurological underpinnings of rational thought. Pretty interesting, and driving a spike into the last tattered remnant of my dualistic beliefs.
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### Author:  [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)
#### Post date: [April 3, 2008, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-april-08-edition/443455/40 "2008-04-03T22:28:18Z")
Hurrah, I’m finally actually reading books for pleasure and not for researching Wikipedia articles! I just finished _Hustler Days: Minnesota Fats, Wimpy Lassiter, Jersey Red, and America’s Great Age of Pool_ by R.A. Dyer. It’s a history of pool in the US told through biographical sketches of the three titular players. Good quick read, very interesting and informative. Although I ended up using it for Wikipedia anyway to beef up a couple of articles.
Next up I think is going to be _Lost and Found_ by Carolyn Parkhurst. It’s about an “Amazing Race”-type race around the world.
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