# 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:** 13\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![chowder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/977dab/32.png) [@chowder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chowder)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2006, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-gang/369518/81 "2006-08-25T18:28:46Z")
I’ve just finished “Lust in a Lesbian Lavatory” I’m now reading (again) Arc Light by Eric L Harry. _just kidding, I read it years ago_ 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Chance\_the\_Gardener](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eada6e/32.png) [@Chance\_the\_Gardener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chance_the_Gardener)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2006, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-gang/369518/82 "2006-08-25T18:53:30Z")
> [@Eleanor of Aquitaine](#): > > **Chance** : I was really sad to finish that series too. In fact, I started reading them over again from the beginning slowly, in between other books. Have you tried Bernard Cornwell’s Sharpe series, and the Horatio Hornblower books? They’re not as good as O’Brian, but I enjoyed them. **Eleanor** —No, the O’Brian books are the first wooden navy series I’ve ever read. I first heard about them when Patrick O’Brian was interviewed on NPR in 1999, and I made a note to check out his books. They reran the interview in 2000, right after O’Brian died, which is when I remembered the note and finally checked him out. I think I read the first four books right after the other, but I came to the opinion that that’s much like eating chocolate cake: it’s good, but there’s twenty slices, and the enjoyment diminishes if you eat them all at once! I’ve heard it suggested that the Hornblower series isn’t as good as O’Brian’s, which I guess could be considered blasphemous, but I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s true. I’ve been thinking I’ll check those out next, after I, with a heavy heart, put down _Blue at the Mizzen_. I haven’t heard of the Sharpe series, but I’ll look into it. Thanks for the tip, **Eleanor**. I’m sure I’ll run through the O’Brian series again, one of these days. ---
**Author:** ![joyfool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/df788c/32.png) [@joyfool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/joyfool)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2006, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-gang/369518/83 "2006-08-25T23:26:31Z")
Just finished _S is for Silence_ and am about to try another Caleb Carr book… _The Italian Secretary_. ---
**Author:** ![joyfool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/df788c/32.png) [@joyfool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/joyfool)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2006, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-gang/369518/84 "2006-08-25T23:29:34Z")
… and I cut off the rest of my reply. ::: sigh ::: **The Swan** , I’ve also read _The Alienist_ and _The Angel of Darkness_, which I liked very, very much. However, like you noted, just in my first couple of pages (or so) this is going incredibly slow and isn’t, thus far, interesting at all. I’m so disappointed. I hope it improves. ---
**Author:** ![lizardling](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f4b2a3/32.png) [@lizardling](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lizardling)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2006, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-gang/369518/85 "2006-08-25T23:35:38Z")
Rereading David Weber’s **The War God’s Own** as an ebook, and wondering once again to myself whether I really want to try the third one. I’ve heard that it’s a pretty poor showing in comparison to the first two… I also just finished rereading **Oath of Swords** , and Bujold’s **Paladin of Souls**. I like Bujold’s Chalion books much more. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2006, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-gang/369518/86 "2006-08-28T20:52:17Z")
Finished The Ruins. Comments: [spoiler]Not nearly as good as his first book. I found it very predictable. Once I had decided they weren’t going to make it, the only thing left was to see in what order they would go. In Jeff’s case, I even predicted the manner of his death. And _of course_, in the end, another batch of people shows up and gets trapped. It seems to me that they should have made some effort, however vain, to destroy the plant. I suppose the Molotov cocktail scene will have to do. However, I did enjoy the book. It kept me interested all along, and I would definitely like to see more from this author.[/spoiler] ---
**Author:** ![wonderlust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonderlust/32/7237_2.png) [@wonderlust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonderlust)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2006, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-gang/369518/87 "2006-08-28T23:18:07Z")
Yikes! In the email I received notifying me of the previous post, it contained all the above spoiler text without any spoiler alert!!! Oh well, one less book I’ll need to buy. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![YellowTail](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/b5ac83/32.png) [@YellowTail](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YellowTail)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2006, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-gang/369518/88 "2006-08-28T23:53:41Z")
Ha! I seem to have triggered the Google ads at the bottom of the page. They’re all about pick-up artist crap! 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Lobsang](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobsang/32/4067_2.png) [@Lobsang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobsang)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2006, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-gang/369518/89 "2006-08-28T23:55:29Z")
I just finished re-reading Going Postal, and I have just started reading The Truth. I _should_ be reading ASP2.0 Net for Dummies. ---
**Author:** ![the\_chicken\_of\_exeter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ac8455/32.png) [@the\_chicken\_of\_exeter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/the_chicken_of_exeter)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2006, 3:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-gang/369518/90 "2006-08-29T03:39:57Z")
i just finished The Outsider, and it is 4.40am. my head is in a very weird place right now. ---
**Author:** ![the\_chicken\_of\_exeter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ac8455/32.png) [@the\_chicken\_of\_exeter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/the_chicken_of_exeter)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2006, 3:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-gang/369518/91 "2006-08-29T03:43:09Z")
i just finished The Outsider/ The Stranger, and it is 4.40am. my head is in a very weird place right now. ---
**Author:** ![myskepticsight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/cc9497/32.png) [@myskepticsight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/myskepticsight)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2006, 3:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-gang/369518/92 "2006-08-29T03:58:40Z")
**Wasted** by Marya Hornbacher. It’s actually for my Abnormal Psych class, but it’s a book I’ve been meaning to read anyway. I like it. It’s about the author’s struggles with bulimia/anorexia. ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2006, 12:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-gang/369518/93 "2006-08-29T12:07:12Z")
> [@wonderlust](#): > > Yikes! In the email I received notifying me of the previous post, it contained all the above spoiler text without any spoiler alert!!! > > Oh well, one less book I’ll need to buy. ☹ Ah, crap. Sorry about that. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-gang/369518.md?page=4)