# Whatcha readin' gang? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 21, 2006, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-gang/369518 "2006-08-21T00:17:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Stuffy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f17d59/32.png) [@Stuffy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stuffy)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2006, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-gang/369518/41 "2006-08-21T20:53:35Z")
> [@pinkfreud](#): > > I am reading _The Ruins_, Scott Smith’s second novel. Smith’s first novel, _A Simple Plan_, bowled me over, and I have very high hopes for this one. Can’t read much at a time because of eye problems, but so far it’s quite creepy. I read it years ago and it’s very good. Do yourself a favor and don’t watch the movie. In the last week I’ve finished **Lady of Mazes** (Sci-Fi) kind of Ringworld meets the Matrix and **Sudden Death** courtroom/murder mystery, kind of light and not enough mystery, but funny nonetheless. Up next **Transcendent** by Stephen Baxter a series I’ve been reading out of order, **Fury** by Robert Tanenbaum. ---
**Author:** ![E.Thorp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/898d66/32.png) [@E.Thorp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E.Thorp)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2006, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-gang/369518/42 "2006-08-21T22:01:56Z")
> [@Trunk](#): > > In a related note, I also just read a recent issue of “Outsider” magazine that was sort of an “Everest 10 Years Later” issue. They talked to some of the people that Krakauer highlighted in “Into Thin Air”. Thanks for the tip! I just finished **Into Thin Air** (my Krakauer jag is in preparation for a trip to Utah in a few weeks). I’ll look for the magazine. ---
**Author:** ![Gordon\_Urquhart](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/db5fbb/32.png) [@Gordon\_Urquhart](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gordon_Urquhart)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2006, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-gang/369518/43 "2006-08-21T22:14:04Z")
I’m really enjoying Richard Dawkins’ _[The Ancestor’s Tale](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/061861916X/sr=8-1/qid=1156197688/ref=pd_bbs_1/002-7119485-3659205?ie=UTF8)_. I’ve read some of his essays and have seen him in interviews, but this is the first book of his I’ve read. Especially considering the subject matter, Dawkins has a very accessible writing style – he has frequent and very interesting comments on a great many topics in natural history. His asides – not particularly snarky, just pre-emptive – to creationists who are reading the book are pretty good as well. I didn’t realize _The Ruins_ was already out – gonna have to pick that little number up. ---
**Author:** ![LawMonkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d6d6ee/32.png) [@LawMonkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LawMonkey)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2006, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-gang/369518/44 "2006-08-21T22:24:05Z")
> [@biqu](#): > > My last two books were The World Is Flat: A Brief History of the 21st Century by Thomas Friedman, and The Price of Privilege: How Parental Pressure and Material Advantage Are Creating a Generation of Disconnected and Unhappy Kids by Madeline Levine, so I’m taking a break from nonfiction by reading George Orwell’s 1984. I feel as if I ought to warn you that a co-worker of mine was once put off reading for several months by _1984_; not because it was poorly written, mind you, but simply because it was so depressing. Read at your own risk. :dubious: > [@Alessan](#): > > I’m reading Perdido Street Station by China Miéville, after seeing it recommended here on the board. I’m about half way through. Interesting book: intellegent, well written but also unremittingly bleak (can someone tell me why English writers loathe London?), and at the same time about three dry witticisms away from being a Terry Pratchett rippoff. I’d like to see how it turns out, so please don’t spoil the ending. Odd. It seems to me as if Mieville rather loves London and cities in general; look at how much New Crobuzon is a character in the novel, after all; that doesn’t seem to me to spring from hatred. But then, he doesn’t shirk from showing his beloved is she is, warts and all, as they say. I think I’m reading in a little from later New Crobuzon books, as well as one of his short stories. You do know that he’s a bit of a Marxist, yes? Not that he hides it or anything. Aside from school reading, I’m nosing at James Burke’s _Circles_. I really dig this guy and his approach to science (and other) history, but it does seem that he has a few particular individuals/events that he returns to over and over again. Perhaps I ought to enjoy my Burke in moderation. Next on the list would either be one of Oliver Sacks’s anecdotal neurology works or a return to Jeff VanderMeer’s _City of Saints and Madmen,_ which I’ve set aside for a while. ---
**Author:** ![YellowTail](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/b5ac83/32.png) [@YellowTail](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YellowTail)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2006, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-gang/369518/45 "2006-08-21T22:26:09Z")
_The Game: Inside the Life of a Pick-up Artist_ by Neil Strauss. Supposedly it’s a true story but I question its veracity. Before that was _Give Me a Break_ by John Stossel. A shallow, quick read provided by an unimpressive intellect. ---
**Author:** ![biqu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7feea3/32.png) [@biqu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/biqu)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2006, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-gang/369518/46 "2006-08-21T22:57:31Z")
> [@Lemur Catta](#): > > I feel as if I ought to warn you that a co-worker of mine was once put off reading for several months by _1984_; not because it was poorly written, mind you, but simply because it was so depressing. Read at your own risk. :dubious: It’s not my first time reading 1984, and I don’t remember having as strong a reaction as your co-worker when I read it many years ago. But if I can recover from the [depression](http://jquah.freeshell.org/news/getnews.cgi?20060704) I’ll forever associate with reading Crime and Punishment earlier this summer, I’m sure I can handle 1984. ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2006, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-gang/369518/47 "2006-08-21T23:21:30Z")
I had picked up Guns, Germs & Steel based on the numerous times I’ve seen it cited in General Questions but I’m having a devil of a time getting into it. The premise fascinates me but Jared Diamond’s writing is about as exciting as the back of a shampoo bottle. I picked up a copy of Inquisition by John Edwards yesterday (about the Spanish Inquisition, naturally) and think I’ll try that instead. And I have a biography of Abigail Adams sitting here yet that I need to dive into. ---
**Author:** ![RikWriter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/49beb7/32.png) [@RikWriter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RikWriter)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2006, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-gang/369518/48 "2006-08-21T23:23:35Z")
At the moment, Flash, by LE Modessit JR. ---
**Author:** ![RikWriter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/49beb7/32.png) [@RikWriter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RikWriter)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2006, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-gang/369518/49 "2006-08-21T23:23:49Z")
At the moment, Flash, by LE Modesitt JR. ---
**Author:** ![RikWriter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/49beb7/32.png) [@RikWriter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RikWriter)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2006, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-gang/369518/50 "2006-08-21T23:24:39Z")
Crap, thought I caught it in time to correct the spelling, but instead I just double-tapped. ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2006, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-gang/369518/51 "2006-08-21T23:32:12Z")
> [@YellowTail](#): > > _The Game: Inside the Life of a Pick-up Artist_ by Neil Strauss. Supposedly it’s a true story but I question its veracity. \ Every year for XMas I get a “How to pick up women” book from friends. I suppose it is meant to be funny, since everyone laughs. Anyway, that was the one I got last year. It wasn’t really a “how-to” book (although he did talk about it.) It was kinda interesting, but I can’t really say I would recommend it to others. ---
**Author:** ![pinkfreud](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pinkfreud/32/17603_2.png) [@pinkfreud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pinkfreud)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2006, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-gang/369518/52 "2006-08-21T23:32:14Z")
> [@Stuffy](#): > > I read it years ago and it’s very good. Do yourself a favor and don’t watch the movie. You may have misunderstood my post. I am reading _The Ruins_, by Scott Smith, which was just published. There isn’t a movie version of this yet, although I’m sure there will be one eventually. ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2006, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-gang/369518/53 "2006-08-22T00:42:24Z")
Just finished E.L. Doctorow’s _City of God_ (recommended by **Kalhoun** – liked it very much), and am starting Darwin’s _Voyage of the Beagle_. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2006, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-gang/369518/54 "2006-08-22T00:59:57Z")
I’ve decided to try and make some progress in reducing my sf book backlog, so I’ve eschewed the library for a while. I’m doing Rudy Rucker. I finished Software and I’m about 3/4 done with Wetware. I guess GAs were startling back when they were written, I’m not very impressed, especially by his habit of not writing significant scenes. Next I think I’m going to work on my set of original Tom Swifts. I’ve read the first two, and I’m waiting to find my first Tom Swiftie. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2006, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-gang/369518/55 "2006-08-22T01:02:22Z")
I’m halfway through [_Marriage of the Living Dark,_](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000DT7C8G/sr=8-1/qid=1156208281/ref=sr_1_1/103-3687223-1351864?ie=UTF8) eighth and final volume of David Wingrove’s [Chung Kuo](http://www.bobnewell.net/chungkuo/wingrove.html) SF series. Published in 1997, but for some reason I’ve never been able to discover, almost impossible to get in the U.S. (when most of the other volumes were released as mass-market paperbacks) – the copy I’m reading is on inter-library loan from a public library in Island County, Washington. [Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chung_Kuo) sheds no light on this mystery. ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2006, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-gang/369518/56 "2006-08-22T01:40:30Z")
Tort law, contract law, property law, and civil procedure. ---
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2006, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-gang/369518/57 "2006-08-22T01:51:37Z")
I’m rereading _Wicked_, trying to find what I missed five years ago that indicated the book could be turned into an inane Broadway musical (I’m still not seeing it.), and meanwhile thinking about how I’d make a movie out of it. I’ve also got a J.J.Marric Gideon book on my nightstand. ---
**Author:** ![Jodi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/7feea3/32.png) [@Jodi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jodi)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2006, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-gang/369518/58 "2006-08-22T01:53:51Z")
Someone’s a 1L! You think 11 years after graduation I’d be past snickering at first-years (_Suckers! Better you than me!_). You’d be wrong. 😉 Seriously, good luck, my friend. ---
**Author:** ![Jodi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/7feea3/32.png) [@Jodi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jodi)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2006, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-gang/369518/59 "2006-08-22T01:54:53Z")
FRANK, you thought _Wicked_ was inane? Dang, I’m sorry to hear that. I loved it. :o ---
**Author:** ![Jodi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/7feea3/32.png) [@Jodi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jodi)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2006, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-gang/369518/60 "2006-08-22T01:55:54Z")
The musical, I mean. The book’s good too. [sub]Three posts in two minutes . . . time to exit the thread.[/sub] [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-gang/369518.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-gang/369518.md?page=4)