# Whatcha reading? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 13, 2006, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-reading/348111 "2006-03-13T00:58:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Stuffy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f17d59/32.png) [@Stuffy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stuffy)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2006, 6:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-reading/348111/21 "2006-03-13T06:51:28Z")
Nothing serious here. I’m halfway through **Judas Unchained** by Peter F. Hamilton. Enjoyable if you like the human condition; humans as natural warriors type faire. Next up is a colaboration between Arthur C. Clarke and Stephen Baxter series **A Time Odyssey** I have both; books one (Time’s Eye) and two (Sunstorm) of a two book series. This one is susposed to take place in Clarke’s **2001: A Space Odyssey** time line but seems to share a great deal with Baxter’s \*\*Manifold \*\*series. ---
**Author:** ![Cyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a88e4f/32.png) [@Cyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cyn)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2006, 6:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-reading/348111/22 "2006-03-13T06:57:20Z")
Trading Up by Candace Bushnell ---
**Author:** ![Dusty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a183cd/32.png) [@Dusty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dusty)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2006, 7:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-reading/348111/23 "2006-03-13T07:19:06Z")
Just finished _Three Men in a Boat_, by Jerome Jerome Before that, Ovid’s _Metamorphoses_. My copy’s in both English and Latin (even and odd pages). My intent was struggle through the Latin side in an effort to improve my Latin reading skills, but I mostly just read the translation while glancing over and muttering “oh yeah, I see that.” Before that, “Part the First” of _Don Quixote_. Most enjoyable, but it took for-freakin’-ever to get through. Whoever translated it didn’t seem to realize paragraph breaks were his friend (I swear, one of those chapters was a single 30 page long paragraph), and that, while you can often drop the subject in a sentence where it’s clear what’s being spoken of, you don’t want to do that for _every_ sentence. Next up, either part the second of _Quixote_ or a curious dark green book, late 19th century, with two silhouettes facing one another on its cover. I don’t know its title or author and that’s on purpose–I like selecting books randomly and surprising myself with new things. In the meantime, I’ll read a few short stories from _Idle Thoughts of an Idle Fellow_ (Jerome Jerome again). ---
**Author:** ![Sublight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/439d5e/32.png) [@Sublight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sublight)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2006, 7:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-reading/348111/24 "2006-03-13T07:24:59Z")
For the first time in a long, long while… nothing. I finished Jared Diamond’s _The Third Chimpanzee_ yesterday, and because I just started biking to work, I didn’t grab a new book to read on the train this morning. I suppose I should start on those baby books I bought last month, but I figure I still have another 5 months to go. ---
**Author:** ![Whifton\_Polekitty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/97f17d/32.png) [@Whifton\_Polekitty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whifton_Polekitty)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2006, 7:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-reading/348111/25 "2006-03-13T07:29:17Z")
Re-re-re-re-re-re-re-reading a now VERY battered copy of William Gibson’s _Neuromancer_ . Took me flipping forever to find too… Just moved recently, so many things are still in boxes, and for a while now I’d had a few passages stuck in my head. Tore open about half of my still-unsettled library open and found all my OTHER Gibson books, but eventually found it in a box of stuff that had accumulated on my side of the bed in the bedroom… ---
**Author:** ![SurrenderDorothy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/surrenderdorothy/32/1221_2.png) [@SurrenderDorothy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SurrenderDorothy)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2006, 9:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-reading/348111/26 "2006-03-13T09:24:12Z")
Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. I’ve just started it. I can’t believe I didn’t read it sooner (Sci-fi isn’t really my favorite genre and when I was a kid, I thought it was an astronomy textbook with a creative name. :smack: ) I’m amazed at how many references I’m seeing now that I’ve actually started reading the book. ---
**Author:** ![wayward](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/a87d85/32.png) [@wayward](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wayward)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2006, 9:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-reading/348111/27 "2006-03-13T09:44:32Z")
[The 13 1/2 Lives of Captain Blue Bear](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1585677248/sr=8-2/qid=1142242839/ref=pd_bbs_2/102-4941918-9874502?%5Fencoding=UTF8) by Walter Moers. It’s really very silly. _V for Vendetta_ is on it’s way from Amazon; I want to read it before the movie comes out (On Friday, I think, so I hope it gets here soon). ---
**Author:** ![Enterprise](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/76d3ee/32.png) [@Enterprise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enterprise)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2006, 9:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-reading/348111/28 "2006-03-13T09:56:42Z")
> [@wayward](#): > > [The 13 1/2 Lives of Captain Blue Bear](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1585677248/sr=8-2/qid=1142242839/ref=pd_bbs_2/102-4941918-9874502?%5Fencoding=UTF8) by Walter Moers. It’s really very silly. I like to think that this is because of my persistent recommendation of the book, but I’m probably wrong. 🙂 Anyway, I’m currently reading Richard Dawkins _The Ancestor’s Tale_, which is hefty and difficult and interspersed with odd political ramblings, but worthwhile. I’ll have to read it again after I finish, mainly because I didn’t focus well on a couple of passages and am starting to get lost… In my backpack is _The Command of the Ocean_ by N.A.M. Rodger, a naval history of Great Britain from the Commonwealth to 1815. Excellent, exciting and informative read. Unfinished fiction includesRalph Ellison _The Invisible Man_ and William Golding’s _To the End of the Earth_. Not sure which of those will be done first, the non-fiction is really taking up my time. ---
**Author:** ![wayward](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/a87d85/32.png) [@wayward](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wayward)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2006, 11:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-reading/348111/29 "2006-03-13T11:03:15Z")
> [@Enterprise](#): > > I like to think that this is because of my persistent recommendation of the book, but I’m probably wrong. 🙂 Heh. Nope, sorry. I don’t think I’d heard of it before either here or anywhere else, but a month or so ago I was wandering around a book shop with a voucher to spend but no idea of what I wanted and it just jumped out at me. I’m about halfway through so far and I’m enjoying it immensely. Do you know if there’s any plans for a sequel about his remaining lives? ---
**Author:** ![Shirley\_Ujest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shirley\_Ujest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shirley_Ujest)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2006, 12:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-reading/348111/30 "2006-03-13T12:15:19Z")
I have somehow found a really good writer of paranormal romance by the name of **Marjorie Liu**. I’m reading her books ( three to day) in reverse order as that is how I have found them. [Shadow Touch](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0505526301/sr=8-1/qid=1142251730/ref=pd_bbs_1/103-2429548-7323019?%5Fencoding=UTF8) Which the hero is one of the most interesting characters I’ve ever come across. He is a physic that has the ability to read the history of every person in what he touches.A telepath. The female lead has the ability to heal, but is no pollyanna. It gets dark ( for a romance novel) and has actual murder in it. What is also intriguing is the fact the Bad Guy is actually a woman . An old paralyzed woman. I like it. [Tiger’s Eye](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0505526263/sr=8-2/qid=1142251730/ref=pd_bbs_2/103-2429548-7323019?%5Fencoding=UTF8) About a woman who ends up buying and opening a Genie’s Box and setting him free. It isn’t as retarded and predictable as it sounds. Actually has a nice plot. Both are a bit more meatier than your average romance novel. You folks need to down grade your standards once in awhile. ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2006, 12:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-reading/348111/31 "2006-03-13T12:20:32Z")
[The Vesuvius Club](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0743283945/qid=1142251955/sr=2-1/ref=pd_bbs_b_2_1/002-9178506-1204811?s=books&v=glance&n=283155) the blurb said: > [@](#): > > Meet Lucifer Box: Equal parts James Bond and Sherlock Holmes, with a twist of Monty Python and a dash of Austin Powers, Lucifer has a charming countenance and rapier wit that make him the guest all hostesses must have. And most do. It did not live up to the hype and I was quite bored. I am in the middle of Wicked on tape, which I listen to while working out. At first I hated it, and could not find one character that I liked. It has gotten somewhat better, but I would still not put this is a recommend category. I just started [Grave Sight](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0425205681/qid=1142252165/sr=2-1/ref=pd_bbs_b_2_1/002-9178506-1204811?s=books&v=glance&n=283155) last night after finishing Vesuvius Club. So far it is a solid read and I’m enjoying it. > [@](#): > > Since being hit by lightning, Harper has a strange gift: she can find dead people and reveal how they died. Harper is so down-to-earth and delivers the story in such a straightforward way that even the most hardened realist eventually will accept the premise. In this first outing, Harper and her manager and stepbrother Tolliver travel to a small town in Arkansas to determine what happened to a local teenager. Once there, they learn that someone is willing go to great lengths–even murder–to bury a secret. It is better than I had anticipated and I am glad that I picked it up. ---
**Author:** ![HazelNutCoffee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ac91a4/32.png) [@HazelNutCoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HazelNutCoffee)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2006, 12:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-reading/348111/32 "2006-03-13T12:27:29Z")
Currently re-reading _Pride and Prejudice_ by Jane Austen, but before that I finished reading _Myrren’s Gift_ by Fiona McIntosh. The best new fantasy I’ve read in some time - I was a bit disappointed with Sarah Douglass. ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2006, 12:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-reading/348111/33 "2006-03-13T12:57:16Z")
_Stiff_ by Mary Roach. Now calm down, I quote from the blurb: _Stiff_ lifts the lidon exactly what happensto our bodies after we die. In addition to dissecting the ins and outs of decomposition, it unearths the many uses of a human corpse, frm ballistics practice to body farms, crash test dummiesto composting, and, in the process, digs up a wealth of ghoulishly compelling detail - from the experiment to weigh the human soul and the history of bady snatching to the true story of the human dumpling. ---
**Author:** ![An\_Arky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/87869e/32.png) [@An\_Arky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Arky)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2006, 1:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-reading/348111/34 "2006-03-13T13:06:35Z")
I just finished reading **Paul Theroux** ’s [Happy Isles of Oceania: Paddling the Pacific](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0449908585/sr=8-6/qid=1142254762/ref=pd_bbs_6/002-8114529-9925635?%5Fencoding=UTF8). I liked it OK, but had a few gripes. He was really harsh in his treatment of Australia and New Zealand, he was going through a divorce and seemed down through much of the book, which I didn’t find terribly entertaining. He seems to have that New England cold fish thing going on, as well. Would y’all reccomend any of his other books? I’d like to know what you think about his stuff. I also just re-read **William Least Heat-Moon** ’s [River Horse](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0395636264/sr=8-2/qid=1142255106/ref=pd_bbs_2/002-8114529-9925635?%5Fencoding=UTF8), which is one of my favorite books. He put out a short tome on Columbus’ logs, which was OK, but I’m anxiously waiting to see what he does next. ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2006, 1:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-reading/348111/35 "2006-03-13T13:20:34Z")
> [@An Arky](#): > > I just finished reading **Paul Theroux** ’s [Happy Isles of Oceania: Paddling the Pacific](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0449908585/sr=8-6/qid=1142254762/ref=pd_bbs_6/002-8114529-9925635?%5Fencoding=UTF8)…Would y’all reccomend any of his other books? I’d like to know what you think about his stuff. I’m not familiar with his more recent stuff, but liked a couple of his earlier books – _Great Railway Bazaar_ and _The Old Patagonian Express_. (BTW, check out Bruce Chatwin’s [_In Patagonia_](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0142437190/qid=1142255724/sr=2-3/ref=pd_bbs_b_2_3/102-7317544-2540909?s=books&v=glance&n=283155) also if you start moving (sic) in that direction.) > [@](#): > > I also just re-read **William Least Heat-Moon** ’s [River Horse](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0395636264/sr=8-2/qid=1142255106/ref=pd_bbs_2/002-8114529-9925635?%5Fencoding=UTF8), which is one of my favorite books. He put out a short tome on Columbus’ logs, which was OK, but I’m anxiously waiting to see what he does next. I read his _Prairyerth_ a couple of months ago, and liked it quite a bit – have you read that? (I got it from **RTFirefly** in the Gettysdope Book Exchange last summer – if you’d like a copy and are coming again this summer, I can pass it on.) ---
**Author:** ![An\_Arky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/87869e/32.png) [@An\_Arky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Arky)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2006, 1:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-reading/348111/36 "2006-03-13T13:24:50Z")
Yeah, I’ve got PrairyErth. I liked it, though not as much as Blue Highways or River-Horse. I’m going to re-read it soon to make sure. The Columbus thing seemed like a phone-in to me. Since he’s starting to get up there in age, I doubt there’s going to be another epic travel book in him, but you never know. I’d like to see something new from him. ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2006, 1:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-reading/348111/37 "2006-03-13T13:31:19Z")
Should have known you’d’ve read it already. Okay, here’s another recommendation, then: [Blue Latitudes](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0312422601/qid=1142256525/sr=2-1/ref=pd_bbs_b_2_1/102-7317544-2540909?s=books&v=glance&n=283155). The author travels around retracing Captain Cook’s steps, so it’s both about Captain Cook (a truly amazing figure who I knew practically zero about going in) and his own adventures. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Big\_Cheese](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8baadc/32.png) [@The\_Big\_Cheese](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Big_Cheese)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2006, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-reading/348111/38 "2006-03-13T13:50:49Z")
Neard the author on NPR one day, so I picked up the book. [Losing Iraq](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0813343046/qid=1142257719/sr=2-1/ref=pd_bbs_b_2_1/002-4427081-6986426?s=books&v=glance&n=283155) by David Phillips. I’ve only read 2 pages, so we’ll see how it goes. ---
**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, 2006, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-reading/348111/39 "2006-03-13T13:59:14Z")
I just finished **Entities: Selected Novels by Eric Frank Russell** , unjustly forgotten SF writer, whose **Sinister Barrier** alone ought to get him remembered. I’d never read **Wasop** before, which is supposed to be his classic. I highly recommend the book: [http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1886778337/qid=1142258115/sr=1-1/ref=sr\_1\_1/104-0786995-7827951?s=books&v=glance&n=283155](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1886778337/qid=1142258115/sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_1/104-0786995-7827951?s=books&v=glance&n=283155) I’ve just started **Founding Myths** by Ray Raphael. I’ve long known that a lot of stories of the founding of the US were enhanced, but this book goes much farther than others in researching and showing just how fictitious much of these stories are. Growing up in New Jersey, I’d heard of Molly Pitcher, and been to her well. But I had no idea that she was completely mythical: [http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1565849213/qid=1142258339/sr=2-1/ref=pd\_bbs\_b\_2\_1/104-0786995-7827951?s=books&v=glance&n=283155](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1565849213/qid=1142258339/sr=2-1/ref=pd_bbs_b_2_1/104-0786995-7827951?s=books&v=glance&n=283155) ---
**Author:** ![Trunk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/87869e/32.png) [@Trunk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trunk)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2006, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-reading/348111/40 "2006-03-13T14:28:03Z")
_Serpent on the Rock_ by Kurt Eichenwald. Non-fiction about a securities scandal involving Prudential-Bache in the 1980s. Not very good until about 250 pages in. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-reading/348111.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-reading/348111.md?page=3)