# Whatcha Reading, Spring Has Sprung Edition **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 13, 2007, 12:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-reading-spring-has-sprung-edition/395734 "2007-03-13T12:47:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2007, 12:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-reading-spring-has-sprung-edition/395734/1 "2007-03-13T12:47:29Z")
I’m almost done with Paul Quarrington’s [_The Boy on the Back of the Turtle: Seeking God, Quince Marmalade, and the Fabled Albatross on Darwin’s Islands_](http://www.amazon.com/Boy-Back-Turtle-Marmalade-Albatross/dp/1550547011/ref=sr_1_9/103-4680401-8502242?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1173789727&sr=8-9), which might have been a Doper recommendation at some point – or not, it’s been on my “to be read” list for eons. It’s a first-person narrative, bits of memoir, bits of travelogue as he goes to the Galapagos with his father and his daughter, some stuff on evolution, some stuff on God – etc. There’s a fine line between engaging and annoying, and he doesn’t always stay on the good side of it – but parts of it are charming and funny. Overall I’m enjoying it and would recommend it. You? ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2007, 1:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-reading-spring-has-sprung-edition/395734/2 "2007-03-13T13:00:54Z")
I just finished **The Great Mortality: An Intimate History of the Black Death** by John Kelly. Great book, with some eminently quotable lines. I’d quote it, except I don’t have it here. > **[The Great Mortality: An Intimate History of the Black Death, the Most...](https://www.amazon.com/Great-Mortality-Intimate-History-Devastating/dp/0060006935)** > > The Great Mortality: An Intimate History of the Black Death, the Most Devastating Plague of All Time \[Kelly, John\] on Amazon.com. \*FREE\* shipping on qualifying offers. The Great Mortality: An Intimate History of the Black Death, the Most Devastating... This is the first book I’ve read in which I’ve read all the authors of blurbs on the back. I’ve read all the books cited in those blurbs, except one, which I’m now finishing; **Krakatoa: The Day the World Exploded** by Simon Winchester (of “The Professor and the Madman” fame). It’s a good book, but I’m disappointed that so little is spent on the experiences of that actual day of the explosion. Winchester does a great job of setting it up and providing background, and tying this event in unexpected ways to current situations, but I want to read about what happened to those on the scene at the time, and he has precious little of that > **[Krakatoa: The Day the World Exploded: August 27, 1883: Winchester, Simon:...](https://www.amazon.com/Krakatoa-World-Exploded-August-1883/dp/0060838590)** > > Krakatoa: The Day the World Exploded: August 27, 1883 \[Winchester, Simon\] on Amazon.com. \*FREE\* shipping on qualifying offers. Krakatoa: The Day the World Exploded: August 27, 1883 For my next, I’ve got lots of possibilities. I’ve taken Robert Buderi’s **Engines of Tomorrow: How the World’s Best Companies are usiung their Research Labs to Win the Future** out of the library, because it seemed to me to be the opposite of the trend I’ve observed, which is the closing of research labs. The book was published in 2000, and I notice that some of these winning labs aren’t around anymore. A lot of the book seems to be devoted to the history of these labs (GE, Bell Labs, IBM especially), rather than who’s still here and tooling for the future. I also have **Greek Mythography in the Roman World** by Alan Cameron that I picked up at the annual convention of the New England Classical Association, and which touches on the sources I’ve used for my work on mythology. I also have stacks of Christmas books and science fiction from the last 'con I attended, so I i’m not sure where I’ll go next. I have **The Count of Monte Cristo** and **To Kill a Mockingbird** on CD from the library for my commute (having just finished Rex Stout’s Nero Wolfe mystery **the Father Hunt** on audio.) ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2007, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-reading-spring-has-sprung-edition/395734/3 "2007-03-13T13:26:26Z")
_Point Counter Point_, by Aldous Huxley. I’m not really into it, but it’s not awful and I hate quitting on books. It’s occurred to me that I don’t like British novels most of the time. After this, I plan to read _All the King’s Men_, and maybe Joan Didion’s _The Year of Magical Thinking_. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2007, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-reading-spring-has-sprung-edition/395734/4 "2007-03-13T13:28:10Z")
I’m currently reading Paul Park’s **A Princess of Romania** , which is quite different from what the title implies (though accurate). I’m also reading T.C. Boyle’s **World’s End**. As a timekiller, I’m going through **The Rocklopedia Fakebandica** by T. Mike Childs. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2007, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-reading-spring-has-sprung-edition/395734/5 "2007-03-13T13:55:33Z")
The current novel on the stand by the easy chair is **Off Armegeddon Reef** by David Weber. Otherwise my reading material is way too many DBQs by my AP kids. ---
**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:** [March 13, 2007, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-reading-spring-has-sprung-edition/395734/6 "2007-03-13T13:58:54Z")
I’m currently reading and enjoying A Girl Named Zippy : growing up small in Mooreland, Indiana, by Haven Kimmel. Someone recommended it in a recent funny books thread, and I’m getting some snickers out of it. Next up, the sequel: She Got Up Off The Couch. Shortly after that will be The Poo Bomb, also a recommendation from that thread (sorry, can’t recall the author). I glanced at the introduction and it looks pretty good; in fact, I almost got sucked right in. I read a couple of paragraphs to my daughter and she insisted on reading it too. In the car, I’m listening to a young adult novel: The Goats by Brock Cole. It’s about some kids at camp who are stripped naked and marooned on an island as a joke. The Goats was a recommendation from another book I read recently: 500 Great Books for Teens, by Anita Silvey. This is the book I really want to rave about! It has short plot synopses of each book, organized by genre. Some people might be thrown off by the idea of reading books for young people, but a lot of the books listed were things that would be great for anyone to read, such as To Kill A Mockingbird. My daughter decided to give The Haunting of Hill House a shot based on its entry, and she loved it so much she asked me to buy her a copy of her own. She would never have read it on my word alone. As for me, I read this book with a pencil in hand, checking off things I hadn’t read that sounded good and reading the entries for books I already knew with great interest. I then went to my library web site with a nice long list and brought home stacks of wonderful new stuff to read. My librarians are probably just about ready to kill me, but I am rubbing my hands together and cackling over my juicy to-be-read pile. I think when I get home I’ll spread them all out on the floor and roll about in them… ---
**Author:** ![Eleanor\_of\_Aquitaine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a88e4f/32.png) [@Eleanor\_of\_Aquitaine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eleanor_of_Aquitaine)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2007, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-reading-spring-has-sprung-edition/395734/7 "2007-03-13T14:12:38Z")
Right now I’m reading **Princesses: The Six Daughters of George III** , by Flora Fraser. I have lots of books on the Tudors, and lots of books on Victoria and her descendants, but I don’t know much about the Stuarts or the Hanoverians yet. I’m still in mourning because last month I finished all of Bujold’s Miles Vorkosigan books. Whenever I finish reading a really good series I’m always convinced that I’ll never find anything that good again. I just read the first of David Weber’s Honor Harrington series, **On Basilisk Station**. I liked it well enough to buy the next two books, so I’ll read those next. ---
**Author:** ![DeadlyAccurate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ac91a4/32.png) [@DeadlyAccurate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DeadlyAccurate)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2007, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-reading-spring-has-sprung-edition/395734/8 "2007-03-13T14:25:10Z")
I’m reading Barry Eisler’s John Rain series, book two (sorry, all of the first few have Rain in the title, and I can’t remember the names.) John Rain is a half-Japanese, half-American assassin in Tokyo. I also have Jackie Kessler’s _Hell’s Belles_ started, I’m in the middle of Sara Douglass’s _The Troy Game_ book one, and when I finish the current Eisler book, I’m going to read Dave Grossman’s \*On Killing: The Psychological Cost of Learning To Kill In War and Society. \* ---
**Author:** ![koeeoaddi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/koeeoaddi/32/408_2.png) [@koeeoaddi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/koeeoaddi)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2007, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-reading-spring-has-sprung-edition/395734/9 "2007-03-13T14:37:34Z")
I’m reading **Parade’s End** by Ford Madox Ford. So far it’s, um… long. (Four novels in one, actually). I’m not far enough along yet to decide if it’s way more FMF than I bargained for, not not. ---
**Author:** ![DurbBook](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/94ad74/32.png) [@DurbBook](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DurbBook)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2007, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-reading-spring-has-sprung-edition/395734/10 "2007-03-13T14:41:17Z")
I’m reading _The Doctors’ Plague: Germs, Childbed Fever, and the Strange Story of Ignac Semmelweis_ by Sherwin Nuland. Semmelweis traced the high mortality rate from childbed fever to the medical doctors, who went straight from dissecting cadavers to delivering babies without washing their hands. Every year my goal was to read 25 new books. Now that I’m a bookseller, I’ve increased the goal to at least 40–gotta stay ahead of my customers. ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2007, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-reading-spring-has-sprung-edition/395734/11 "2007-03-13T14:41:43Z")
[The Ragwitch](http://www.amazon.com/Ragwitch-Garth-Nix/dp/0007174993/ref=pd_bbs_1/002-4071462-4793634?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1173796810&sr=8-1) by Garth Nix. I bought it for my operation specifically because I liked his Abhorson trilogy. While I’m not hating it, I’m not going to recommend it either. I have several others in the queue, but haven’t decided what I’ll start. ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2007, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-reading-spring-has-sprung-edition/395734/12 "2007-03-13T14:48:30Z")
Psst – yo, **koeoaddi** – I recently bought Helprin’s _Soldier of the Great War_ based on your incessant recommendations – a used hardback for $1.89, how could I not? ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2007, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-reading-spring-has-sprung-edition/395734/13 "2007-03-13T17:12:18Z")
[QUOTE=CalMeacham] I just finished **The Great Mortality: An Intimate History of the Black Death** by John Kelly. Great book, with some eminently quotable lines. I’d quote it, except I don’t have it here. [/QUOTE] I read this last year and agree about the quotable lines. I was a bit surprised at all the wit and irony in a book about such a dark subject. I stuck those little colored tabs in my copy and would be glad to share some of my favorite quotes, but I loaned the book and it was lost, dammit. I’ve been reading Tad Williams’ **Memory, Sorrow and Thorn** series, but **Heart-Shaped Box** by Joe Hill is coming from Amazon and I’ll probably set Williams aside. Also getting Joe Lansdale’s new one, **Lost Echoes**. Also reading a recommendation from another board – **Kitchener’s Mob** – written by a US soldier who fought in France in WWI. I didn’t know that trenches were more than deep ditches. The book has the standard trench plan on the endpapers. ---
**Author:** ![Lightray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lightray/32/391_2.png) [@Lightray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lightray)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2007, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-reading-spring-has-sprung-edition/395734/14 "2007-03-13T17:16:41Z")
Halfway through the **A Rendezvous in Averoigne** collection of Clark Ashton Smith stories (finished the Averoigne stories; into the Hyperboria stories). Nothing else on my “to be read” shelf is catching my interest, so it’s time to visit the bookstore once more, methinks. ---
**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:** [March 13, 2007, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-reading-spring-has-sprung-edition/395734/15 "2007-03-13T17:17:08Z")
I’ve got Heart-Shaped Box in my pile too, **Auntie Pam**! 🆒 _rolls around in books some more_ ---
**Author:** ![Skammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skammer/32/143_2.png) [@Skammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skammer)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2007, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-reading-spring-has-sprung-edition/395734/16 "2007-03-13T17:28:18Z")
> [@](#): > > **Krakatoa: The Day the World Exploded** by Simon Winchester (of “The Professor and the Madman” fame). It’s a good book, but I’m disappointed that so little is spent on the experiences of that actual day of the explosion. Winchester does a great job of setting it up and providing background, and tying this event in unexpected ways to current situations, but I want to read about what happened to those on the scene at the time, and he has precious little of that. Hey, I just finished this also. I agree with your comments. I really enjoyed it. Right now, I’ve finally gotten around to reading _Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West_ by Gregory Maguire. I’m about 3/4 of the way through it so far. I like it, and it has reminded me that I’ve always meant to go back and read Baum’s original series of Oz books. I need to do that. ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2007, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-reading-spring-has-sprung-edition/395734/17 "2007-03-13T17:46:21Z")
[QUOTE=Dung Beetle] I’ve got Heart-Shaped Box in my pile too, **Auntie Pam**! 🆒 _rolls around in books some more_ [/QUOTE] :eek: But the dust jackets will get all wrinkled! If you like short stories, Joe’s collection is excellent. It’s called 20th Century Ghosts, and every story is a winner. Joe was interviewed on our local NPR station last week. [Link](http://www.woi.org/). Scroll down on the right side to the Talk of Iowa Joe Hill link. He came off as natural, intelligent, witty – somebody you could sit and drink a beer with. ---
**Author:** ![Hung\_Mung](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a88e4f/32.png) [@Hung\_Mung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hung_Mung)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2007, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-reading-spring-has-sprung-edition/395734/18 "2007-03-13T17:54:48Z")
Currently reading: **Lost in a Good Book** , by Jasper Fforde. I’m splitting time with my fiance on this one right now. It’s quite good but not as excellent as **The Eyre Affair**. **Another Roadside Attraction** , by Tom Robbins. Weird stuff, reminds me a little bit of Robert A. Wilson. **The Histories** , by Herodotus. Recommended by someone in the **300** thread along with Gates of Fire. On the docket: **A Long Way Down** , by Nick Hornsby. **Tempting Faith** , by David Kuo. **Gates of Fire** , by Steven Pressfield (yeah, 300 got me fired up about Thermopylae and Greek history in general). **The Fourth Bear** , by Jasper Fforde. I’ve also got about nine editions of Gardner Dozois’ **Year’s Best Science Fiction** laying about waiting to be cracked open. I discovered some real treasures in the three volumes I already own so hope abounds for those recently purchased. I’m considering getting a few more of Steinbeck, Vonnegut, Hemingway and Dorothy Parker. ---
**Author:** ![Dunawake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/85f322/32.png) [@Dunawake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dunawake)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2007, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-reading-spring-has-sprung-edition/395734/19 "2007-03-13T17:55:53Z")
**The Areas of My Expertise** by John Hodgeman - Amusing book so far, but not really laugh out loud funny to me. **Cosmos** by Carl Sagan - Very cool book about the history of life, the universe, and everything. **The Algebraist** by Iain M. Banks - Just started it, but it looks to be pretty good. Won “Best Sci-Fi Book of 2006” from the [Amazon.com](http://Amazon.com) editors, so I’m hopeful. ---
**Author:** ![koeeoaddi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/koeeoaddi/32/408_2.png) [@koeeoaddi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/koeeoaddi)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2007, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-reading-spring-has-sprung-edition/395734/20 "2007-03-13T18:36:03Z")
[QUOTE=twickster] Psst – yo, **koeoaddi** – I recently bought Helprin’s _Soldier of the Great War_ based on your incessant recommendations – a used hardback for $1.89, how could I not? [/QUOTE] Wow, persistent nagging works. Who knew? Hope you enjoy it, **twicks**. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-reading-spring-has-sprung-edition/395734.md?page=2)