# Whatcha reading, December Edition **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 11, 2004, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-reading-december-edition/279359 "2004-12-11T22:28:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Crimmsy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c89c15/32.png) [@Crimmsy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crimmsy)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2004, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-reading-december-edition/279359/41 "2004-12-14T01:08:34Z")
> [@liirogue](#): > > Ooooh that one is also on my list, but it keeps getting bumped down because I’m afraid it will be a little derpressing or dry. You seem pretty enthusiastic, so maybe I’ll read it sooner. Well, given the subject matter, I’d agree that it is depressing at times but dry it is not. ---
**Author:** ![TheInterruptingCow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e9c0ed/32.png) [@TheInterruptingCow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheInterruptingCow)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2004, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-reading-december-edition/279359/42 "2004-12-14T02:38:33Z")
I’ll admit it; I like escapist crap. Pulp of the worst kind. I recently finished **Anonymous Rex** by Eric Garcia…it was actually pretty good, but I absolutely refuse to watch the made-for-TV version. Despite my love of garbage I occasionally get the urge to read something more serious (Steinbeck, Clemens…) which may help to explain my current masochistic choice: Joyce’s **Ulysses** ---
**Author:** ![easy\_e](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/eb8c5e/32.png) [@easy\_e](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/easy_e)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2004, 4:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-reading-december-edition/279359/43 "2004-12-14T04:41:22Z")
My reserved copy of [The Dark Tower](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1880418622/qid=1102999075/sr=2-1/ref=pd_ka_b_2_1/104-4687030-3651905) became available at the library last week, and I need to finish it before it comes due (no renewals allowed). It shouldn’t be hard–I’m nearly done already. While at the library, I was checking their new books and a copy of [Theodora: Empress of Byzantium](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0865652376/qid=1102999148/sr=2-1/ref=pd_ka_b_2_1/104-4687030-3651905) caught my eye. Granted, I’m still quite early in the book, but I’m not liking it as much as I thought I would. The author engages in a lot of “let’s imagine” and “I think her life was like this” which seems rather inappropriate in a nonfiction book. Perhaps something was lost in translation (it was originally written in Italian) or perhaps it’s because Theodora’s early days were not well documented. I haven’t reached the parts where she’s actually an Empress. I’m also working on [Blue Mars](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0553573357/qid=1102999273/sr=2-1/ref=pd_ka_b_2_1/104-4687030-3651905). I sped through the trilogy in high school and didn’t like it too much. But then, on try #2 I read Robinson’s **The Years of Rice and Salt** and really liked it. So I thought I’d try his Mars trilogy again. I’m liking it a lot better this time. I need to get to [The Red Queen: Sex and the Evolution of Human Nature](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0060556579/qid=1102998983/sr=8-1/ref=pd_csp_1/104-4687030-3651905?v=glance&s=books&n=507846). I bought it to read on a flight around the 4th of July. I got a bit through it, saw that the author referenced **The Selfish Gene** a lot, and decided I should read that before I finished the book. I never got back to it. ---
**Author:** ![CBCD](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9fc348/32.png) [@CBCD](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CBCD)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2004, 1:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-reading-december-edition/279359/44 "2004-12-14T13:31:38Z")
I am currently reading two books. The first is the very silly [**The Pirates! In an Adventure with Scientists: A Novel**](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0375423214/qid=1103030407/sr=1-3/ref=sr_1_3/102-6299570-4656954?v=glance&s=books). It a lot of fun if you like the kind of story where pirates get in battles with cowboys - and who doesn’t? I recommend it to anyone who ever played \*\*Monkey Island \*\* and laughed at the jokes in the game. I am also re-reading, very slowly, Dickens’ magnificant [\*\* Bleak House\*\*](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0679405682/qid=1103030681/sr=2-2/ref=pd_ka_b_2_2/102-6299570-4656954). I was inspired to read \*\*Bleak House \*\* again after I read [\*\*Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell: A Novel \*\*](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1582344167/qid=1103030748/sr=2-1/ref=pd_ka_b_2_1/102-6299570-4656954), which I thought was like Bleak House with Magicians instead of Lawyers. ---
**Author:** ![Genghis\_Bob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/45deac/32.png) [@Genghis\_Bob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Genghis_Bob)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2004, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-reading-december-edition/279359/45 "2004-12-14T15:30:39Z")
Just finished \*\*\*The Many Aspects of Mobile Home Living \* \*\* by Martin Clark. Just started \*\*\*The Fringes of Power: Downing Street Diaries, 1939-1955 \* \*\* by John Colville. I’m trying really really hard not to buy any books between now and Christmas. I always get in trouble when I do that. ---
**Author:** ![El\_Cid\_Viscoso](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/41988e/32.png) [@El\_Cid\_Viscoso](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Cid_Viscoso)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2004, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-reading-december-edition/279359/46 "2004-12-14T17:03:35Z")
> [@Genghis Bob](#): > > Just started \*\*\*The Fringes of Power: Downing Street Diaries, 1939-1955 \* \*\* by John Colville. That’s funny, Bob, I just picked this one up myself. Hardcover, Army surplus store, $3. How do you like it? ---
**Author:** ![Genghis\_Bob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/45deac/32.png) [@Genghis\_Bob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Genghis_Bob)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2004, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-reading-december-edition/279359/47 "2004-12-14T17:20:36Z")
> [@El Cid Viscoso](#): > > That’s funny, Bob, I just picked this one up myself. Hardcover, Army surplus store, $3. How do you like it? I’m not very far into it, but so far so good. It’s very interesting to read his early entries about Winston Churchill, written before he had spent much time in Churchill’s presence. I’ll be interested to see how long it takes the young Colville to moderate his opinion (if he does). I had not know, either, about the high-level debates regarding whether to attack Russia. That one sparked some dinner-table discussion about what if . . . ---
**Author:** ![susan\_foster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d9b06d/32.png) [@susan\_foster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan_foster)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2004, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-reading-december-edition/279359/48 "2004-12-14T18:48:03Z")
> [@CBCD](#): > > [**The Pirates! In an Adventure with Scientists: A Novel**](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0375423214/qid=1103030407/sr=1-3/ref=sr_1_3/102-6299570-4656954?v=glance&s=books). It a lot of fun if you like the kind of story where pirates get in battles with cowboys - and who doesn’t? I recommend it to anyone who ever played \*\*Monkey Island \*\* and laughed at the jokes in the game. I have that one on my shelves - almost started it, but wasn’t in the right mood. I am currently reading **[Joan of Arc](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0898702682/qid=1103050042/sr=8-12/ref=sr_8_xs_ap_i12_xgl14/102-4755647-5662521?v=glance&s=books&n=507846)** by **Mark Twain**. My sister gave it to me last Christmas - right before I moved. Just found it again, so I thought I’d give it a read. I waver back and forth on it - it’s my first reading of the Joan of Arc story, so it is fascinating in that aspect. On the other hand, I read the intro, and agree with what many reviewers said - it is a little too much hero-worship, even though it is written as if it were a biography by someone who was with her. Not sure what to do with it when done - it was a gift, so I feel like I should hold on to it - but I know I won’t re-read, so I might donate to the library. Susan [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-reading-december-edition/279359.md?page=2)