# Whatcha reading? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 18, 2005, 11:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-reading/304380 "2005-05-18T11:19:40Z")\ **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:** [May 18, 2005, 11:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-reading/304380/1 "2005-05-18T11:19:40Z")
Yes, boys and girls, it’s that time once again. I just started Yann Martel’s _Life of Pi_ – the novel about the boy adrift in a boat with a tiger. We haven’t gotten to the boat yet, but I’m already enthralled. What a wonderful writer! (And not in a “Look Ma, I’m _writing_!,” which drives me batshit.) And you? ---
**Author:** ![Athena](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/35a633/32.png) [@Athena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Athena)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2005, 12:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-reading/304380/2 "2005-05-18T12:28:34Z")
I just finished [Kazuo Ishiguro’s Never Let Me Go](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/1400043395/qid=1116419659/sr=8-1/ref=pd_csp_1/102-6855154-8200953?v=glance&s=books&n=507846). Incredibly well written, creepy, page-turner. The last thing I expected from Ishiguro was a page-turner - he’s a great writer, but his stuff tends to be a bit more on the High-Falootin’ Literary Fiction end than “OMG I can’t put this down!” end. This one, I blew through in a day or two. Really great read. ---
**Author:** ![Odinoneeye](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/97f17d/32.png) [@Odinoneeye](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odinoneeye)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2005, 12:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-reading/304380/3 "2005-05-18T12:34:38Z")
I’ve been on a Niven kick lately. So I’m reading The Mote in God’s Eye at home and The first Man Kzin War book at work. ---
**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:** [May 18, 2005, 12:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-reading/304380/4 "2005-05-18T12:37:06Z")
I’m finishing the last volume of Harry Turtledov’e **WorldWar** series, which I’m loving. I’m surprised I missed it when it came out. His **Colonization** series is apparemtly a sequel to this, but before I read that I’m reading a history of New York City told in maps that’s filled with wonderful little details I never read in other histories of New York. I’m also going to read **Shadows over Baker Street** , a collection of H.P. Lovecraft/Sherlock Holmes crossovers. ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2005, 12:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-reading/304380/5 "2005-05-18T12:48:22Z")
A new biography of [Charlotte Charke](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0805073140/qid=1116420913/sr=2-1/ref=pd_bbs_b_2_1/103-8041524-2786202), an 18th-century London actress notorious for her cross-dreesing both onstage and off. ---
**Author:** ![ShibbOleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@ShibbOleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShibbOleth)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2005, 12:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-reading/304380/6 "2005-05-18T12:58:04Z")
Mostly kiddie stuff, some recommended from folks here, and some business / work things. I do have _Freakonomics_ by Leavitt requested from the local library. ---
**Author:** ![melondeca](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5a626/32.png) [@melondeca](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/melondeca)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2005, 1:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-reading/304380/7 "2005-05-18T13:19:23Z")
I just finished the sixth _Lemony Snicket_ book and I am about a fourth of the way through **House of Sand and Fog** by _Andre Dubus III_. After that, I have _Terry Pratchett_’s **The Last Hero** and _Audrey Niffenegger_’s **The Time Traveler’s Wife** which has been mentioned on the boards. ---
**Author:** ![FlightlessBird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/cdc98d/32.png) [@FlightlessBird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FlightlessBird)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2005, 1:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-reading/304380/8 "2005-05-18T13:21:27Z")
I’m reading _Bel Canto_ a story about a birthday party that gets taken hostage by some revolutionaries. I read a bunch of it yesterday while sitting in Jury Duty. It was very apt:) ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2005, 1:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-reading/304380/9 "2005-05-18T13:21:56Z")
[The Children of the Lamp](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0439670195/qid=1116422870/sr=8-1/ref=pd_csp_1/103-1627231-4355034?v=glance&s=books&n=507846) for pleasure and on Sundays when I read things a little more serious I am reading: [On Intelligence](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0805074562/qid=1116422970/sr=2-1/ref=pd_bbs_b_2_1/103-1627231-4355034). I have a bunch in the queue, but I’m not sure what I’ll read next. ---
**Author:** ![velvetjones](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/5f9b8f/32.png) [@velvetjones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/velvetjones)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2005, 1:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-reading/304380/10 "2005-05-18T13:27:15Z")
Well, I’m currently trying to read _Swing Shift_ a book about the All Girl Bands of the 40s but it’s proving hard to plow through and I’m not sure if I’ll finish. I just finished _The Da Vinci Code_ and before that _Native Tongue_ by Carl Hiasson. Both very entertaining. I hear The Da Vinci Code is being made into a movie. That ought to be good. I found myself casting the characters as I read. ---
**Author:** ![wayward](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/a87d85/32.png) [@wayward](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wayward)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2005, 1:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-reading/304380/11 "2005-05-18T13:31:12Z")
[Fray](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/1569717516/qid=1116423197/sr=8-1/ref=pd_csp_1/104-1207676-9251938?v=glance&s=books&n=507846) by Joss Whedon of _Buffy_ fame. It’s a graphic novel about another vampire slayer a future where the rich are richer, the poor are poorer, and there are flying cars. I’ve only just started it but so far, it rocks like a bastard. ---
**Author:** ![Podkayne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/edb3f5/32.png) [@Podkayne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Podkayne)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2005, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-reading/304380/12 "2005-05-18T13:59:08Z")
Just started **To Say Nothing of the Dog** , by Connie Willis. I’m about to play in a role-playing game in a Victorian setting, and that’s where most of the action is supposed to take place. So far it’s eeriliy similar to the beginning _The Doomsday Book_. Time travel, mass confusion, one of the main characters is ill and delirious and thus not a reliable narrator. . . I’m a little leery. But I was dubious at the beginning of _Doomsday_, too, though, and it definitely won me over by the end. On deck (as in, already checked out from the library): **Canticle for Liebowitz**. I can’t hardly wait. 🙂 And **Through A Distant Mirror: The Calamitous 14th Century** is still on my nightstand. I read a few pages now and then, but lately I’ve been just crashing into bed with no energy for reading. ---
**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:** [May 18, 2005, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-reading/304380/13 "2005-05-18T14:08:52Z")
Well, I just last night finished _The Brentford Triangle_, and this morning I essayed a start on \*East of Ealing \* (books #2 & #3 of the Brentford Trilogy by **Robert Rankin** ). I also got the one-volume Keith Laumer collection _Imperium_ yesterday, and have started that. Next in the queue are \*Woad To Wuin \* by Peter David and about 50 others. Thank Og for summer vacation! 😃 ---
**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:** [May 18, 2005, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-reading/304380/14 "2005-05-18T14:10:23Z")
Well, I just last night finished **The Brentford Triangle** , and this morning I essayed a start on \*\*East of Ealing \*\* (books #2 & #3 of the Brentford Trilogy by Robert Rankin). I also got the one-volume Keith Laumer collection **Imperium** yesterday, and have started that. Next in the queue are **Woad To Wuin** by Peter David and about 50 others. Thank Og for summer vacation! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![One\_And\_Only\_Wanderers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/838e76/32.png) [@One\_And\_Only\_Wanderers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/One_And_Only_Wanderers)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2005, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-reading/304380/15 "2005-05-18T14:13:12Z")
Re-reading my _Robin Hobb_ books at the moment. Just polished off the _Farseer trilogy_ and am starting on the _Liveship Traders_. ---
**Author:** ![biscuithead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/f14d63/32.png) [@biscuithead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/biscuithead)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2005, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-reading/304380/16 "2005-05-18T14:27:42Z")
I finished Life of Pi a few weeks ago, made Mr Biscuithead read it 'cause I just HAD to talk to someone about it. He finished last night - it was late so we had a quick chat. I’d very much be into talking more about it with a more literary group - there’s several layers there I’d like to delve deeper into. Right now I’m reading Dune - want to do the whole series. I picked it up when I was grade 8 and promptly put it back on the shelf. The political intrigues bored me to tears. Reading it now, 20-some years later, I’m loving it. Can’t put it down. ---
**Author:** ![DfrntBreign](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f6c823/32.png) [@DfrntBreign](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DfrntBreign)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2005, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-reading/304380/17 "2005-05-18T14:33:38Z")
In the past month I finished **The Innocents** by Harlan Coben, **Blind Alley** by Iris Johansen, **no saints, no saviors my years with the Allman Brothers Band** by Willie Perkins, **Nothing’s Sacred** by Lewis Black, **Inside Out** by Nick Mason, **Drama City** by George Pelecanos, **Practical Demonkeeping** and **Bloodsucking Fiends** by Christopher Moore (as recommended on this very site) and **Ringworld’s Children** by Larry Niven. In my car are copies of **Best of Jack Williamson** and **Leo Laporte’s 2004 Technology Almanac**. I’m almost finished with \*\*Love All The People \*\* a collection of writings by the late Bill Hicks, satirist extraordinaire. Just started **Countdown** by Iris Johansen. Next up are **On Bullshit** by Harry G. Frankfurt (audioCD) and **Island of the Sequined Love Nun** by Christopher Moore. No, I haven’t been working. Why do you ask? ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2005, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-reading/304380/18 "2005-05-18T14:33:46Z")
> [@biscuithead](#): > > I finished Life of Pi a few weeks ago…I’d very much be into talking more about it with a more literary group - there’s several layers there I’d like to delve deeper into. Give me a week or so, and I’ll be in. Unless there is a thread already – try searching for “Martell,” since the title words are too short to be useful. ---
**Author:** ![slortar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6bbea6/32.png) [@slortar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/slortar)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2005, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-reading/304380/19 "2005-05-18T14:36:47Z")
Reading _Last Call_ by Tim Powers. Interesting book, but it’s slow going because I’m obsessively watching Buffy the Vampire Slayer season 2 (for the first time) at the moment and it’s eating my time like you wouldn’t believe. After that I’ve got Bryson’s _Short History of Nearly Everything_, _Pompeii_, Sagan’s _Demon-Haunted World_, _Haunting of Hill House_, Barker’s _Great and Secret Show_ and several other novels lined up. Yeah, no shortage of things to read any time soon. ---
**Author:** ![DeVena](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/dec6dc/32.png) [@DeVena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DeVena)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2005, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-reading/304380/20 "2005-05-18T14:45:47Z")
_Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell_, which is a pretty cool follow-up to re-reading Books 1-5 of the Harry Potter series. My between book for several months has been _Mary, Queen of Scots and the Murder of Lord Darnley_. Slow going. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-reading/304380.md?page=2)