# 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:** 3
**Author:** ![melondeca](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5a626/32.png) [@melondeca](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/melondeca)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2006, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-reading/348111/41 "2006-03-13T14:35:04Z")
I am in the proccess of reading [this](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1556115016/qid=1142259826/sr=2-3/ref=pd_bbs_b_2_3/104-6673502-0839117?s=books&v=glance&n=283155) , [this](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0385516681/qid=1142259887/sr=2-1/ref=pd_bbs_b_2_1/104-6673502-0839117?s=books&v=glance&n=283155) , [this](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0684195488/qid=1142259962/sr=2-2/ref=pd_bbs_b_2_2/104-6673502-0839117?s=books&v=glance&n=283155) , and [this](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/158322713X/qid=1142260027/sr=2-1/ref=pd_bbs_b_2_1/104-6673502-0839117?s=books&v=glance&n=283155) . Nothing but the Vonnegut book has been able to keep my interest long enough to read straight through, although they are all good so far. I just wasn’t in the right mood when I started them. ---
**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, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-reading/348111/42 "2006-03-13T14:44:34Z")
> [@twickster](#): > > 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. Ooooh, thanks! Yeah, that’s right up my alley. I’ve been wanting to read more about Cook. ---
**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, 2006, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-reading/348111/43 "2006-03-13T14:45:36Z")
God help me, I’m reading Laurell K. Hamilton’s _Anita Blake: Vampire Hunter_ series. I know it’s bad (when I’m embarrassed to describe the plot to my husband, I can tell it’s bad) but I keep reading anyway. Finished three of them over the weekend. ---
**Author:** ![middleman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9a140/32.png) [@middleman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/middleman)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2006, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-reading/348111/44 "2006-03-13T14:48:25Z")
I’m reading _Eyewitness to Power: The Essence of Leadership Nixon to Clinton_ by David Gergen. Good stuff, but I have had so little time and energy lately that I am churning slowly. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2006, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-reading/348111/45 "2006-03-13T14:53:53Z")
Just finished _The Kite Runner_ by Khaled Hosseini, about two Afghan boys divided by social class, the Soviet invasion/civil war/Taliban takeover, and the attemps of one to atone for his childhood sins. A sad and compelling book. Also just finished Joss Whedon’s _Serenity_, an illustrated companion to the movie. Lots of good pictures, behind-the-scenes tidbits, and the complete screenplay. Right now I’m reading David McCullough’s _1776_, about that tumultuous year in American history. I’m only about 30 pages into it, but so far, so good. I’m a big George Washington fan (as many of my fellow Dopers know), and McCullough seems to have a pretty good grasp of GW’s flaws and strengths, and what made him great. ---
**Author:** ![Podkayne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/edb3f5/32.png) [@Podkayne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Podkayne)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2006, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-reading/348111/46 "2006-03-13T16:39:25Z")
After reading [Way Station](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1882968271/sr=8-6/qid=1142267347/ref=sr_1_6/102-3181472-9749712?%5Fencoding=UTF8) by Clifford Simak as part of my Hugo-novels reading project, I picked up [Ring Around the Sun.](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0881848522/sr=8-15/qid=1142267347/ref=sr_1_15/102-3181472-9749712?%5Fencoding=UTF8) I’ve found Simak’s work intruiging, because it’s so un-clichéd. I don’t know if it’s just because he’s an early SF writer, and it hadn’t yet been established, that _this_ is how you write an alien-contact novel, and _this_ is how you write a time-travel novel, etc., or if he’s just one of those writers who bring a unique perspective to everything they approach. Anyway, I haven’t got the first freakin’ clue what’s going on in _Ring Around the Sun._ At first I just assumed it was time travellers, then I thought it maybe it was aliens, and now they’re hinting about “mutants,” and I don’t know what to believe anymore. I’m also reading _Half-Blood Prince_ a pages at a time at bedtime, and the hubby has lured me into picking up _V for Vendetta_. ---
**Author:** ![August\_West](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/august_west/32/18069_2.png) [@August\_West](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/August_West)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2006, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-reading/348111/47 "2006-03-13T17:16:20Z")
I read Blue Latitudes a couple months ago and second the recommendation. Along similar lines, I just finished Two Years Before The Mastby Richard Henry Dana. Nonfiction of what life was really like on a merchant sailing ship. It was absolutely fascinating, but if you read it print out a sheet showing you the names and locations of all the sails and masts on a tall ship or you will be bewildered when he starts talking about sky-sails and royal yards and such. I need to get to the library bcause I’m out of books, have been reading some gardening stuff and re-reading some of Emerson’s essays just because I haven;t picked it up in a while. ---
**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, 2006, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-reading/348111/48 "2006-03-13T18:19:26Z")
Welcome to \*\*Dung Beetle’s \*\* to be read pile: Bodies we’ve buried : inside the National Forensic Academy, the world’s top CSI training school by Jarrett Hallcox. I’ll probably finish this today. I find the tone of the writing rather smug and condescending, but I considered this a worthwhile read if only for the very detailed description of an autopsy. **don’t ask** , take note! 🙂 A primate’s memoir by Robert Sapolsky. Recommended by Mrs. **furthur**. I know it’s going to be good because I just finished Monkeyluv and it was fabulous. Thank you! Leave me alone, I’m reading : finding and losing myself in books by Maureen Corrigan. The unquiet dead : a psychologist treats spirit possession by Edith Fiore. I expect to look this one over, roll my eyes, and send it back to the library, but that’s fun sometimes! Self-made man : one woman’s journey into manhood and back again by Norah Vincent. A Black Like Me kinda thing. World as laboratory : experiments with mice, mazes, and men by Rebecca M. Lemov The politically incorrect guide to science by Tom Bethell Teacher man : a memoir by Frank McCourt. Greatest secrets of the coupon mom by Stephanie Nelson. Y’all just hush! We’re all in this together : a novella and stories by Owen King. Son of Stephen; another board recommendation. This day in the life : diaries from women across America by Joni B. Cole The evening dress by Alexandra Black. Coffee table book with pictures of pretty dresses. I’m going to look at this one with my daughter. Suburban safari : a year on the lawn by Hannah Holmes. My fundamentalist education : a memoir of a divine girlhood by Christine Rosen The Quincunx by Charles Palliser. I’m a little scared to start this because it’s a big thick book with a complicated plot and I have almost no time to read these days. Another board recommendation. The demon-haunted world : science as a candle in the dark by Carl Sagan. I don’t want to be the only one here who hasn’t read it! ---
**Author:** ![Syntropy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/65b543/32.png) [@Syntropy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Syntropy)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2006, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-reading/348111/49 "2006-03-13T18:57:28Z")
Four currently with several in the “to be read” pile. I need a new bookshelf, too. [Snow White & the Seven Samurai](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1857239881/qid=1142275495/sr=1-9/ref=sr_1_9/103-6706900-7603021?s=books&v=glance&n=283155). I love Tom Holt. Very skewed sense of humor. [Love & Other Near Death Experiences](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0812973488/qid=1142275688/sr=2-1/ref=pd_bbs_b_2_1/103-6706900-7603021?s=books&v=glance&n=283155) by Mil Millington. I’ve been a fan since i accidentally happened upon his [website](http://www.thingsmygirlfriendandihavearguedabout.com/). [We Wish to Inform You That Tomorrow We Will be Killed With Our Families: Stories from Rwanda](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0312243359/sr=8-1/qid=1142275946/ref=pd_bbs_1/103-6706900-7603021?%5Fencoding=UTF8) which is very intense, very good and very depressing. Also re-reading To Kill A Mockingbird because my daughter has to read it for school and we’re reading it together and discussing it as we go along. I still love it. ---
**Author:** ![Misnomer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/misnomer/32/14897_2.png) [@Misnomer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Misnomer)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2006, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-reading/348111/50 "2006-03-13T19:10:23Z")
I’m currently in the middle of [_ **Wicked** _](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0060987103/qid=1142275071/sr=2-1/ref=pd_bbs_b_2_1/104-2536974-5875914?s=books&v=glance&n=283155) by Gregory Maguire; I’m familiar with the cast recording but haven’t seen the show. I’m really enjoying this book! (Maybe it’s different in print than on tape, **Khadaji**?) Before this were [_ **Empire Falls** _](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0375726403/qid=1142275245/sr=2-1/ref=pd_bbs_b_2_1/104-2536974-5875914?s=books&v=glance&n=283155) and [_ **Straight Man** _](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0375701907/qid=1142275278/sr=2-1/ref=pd_bbs_b_2_1/104-2536974-5875914?s=books&v=glance&n=283155) by Richard Russo, thanks to recommendations I saw in a previous “what are you reading” thread. 🙂 I enjoyed both of them, but liked _Straight Man_ a little more. I wound up at Borders on Saturday and picked up 3 books to add to my “to be read” pile: [_ **Cell** _](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0743292332/qid=1142275477/sr=2-1/ref=pd_bbs_b_2_1/104-2536974-5875914?s=books&v=glance&n=283155) (Stephen King), [_ **Rage** _](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0345467078/qid=1142275395/sr=2-3/ref=pd_bbs_b_2_3/104-2536974-5875914?s=books&v=glance&n=283155) (Jonathan Kellerman), and [_ **The Best American Erotica 2006** _](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0743258525/qid=1142275512/sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_1/104-2536974-5875914?s=books&v=glance&n=283155) (Susie Bright, ed.). They join [_ **The Lighthouse** _](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/030726291X/qid=1142276069/sr=2-1/ref=pd_bbs_b_2_1/104-2536974-5875914?s=books&v=glance&n=283155) (P.D. James), [_ **Live From New York: An Uncensored History of Saturday Night Live, as Told By Its Stars, Writers and Guests** _](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/search-handle-url/ref=br_ss_hs/104-2536974-5875914?platform=gurupa&url=index%3Dstripbooks%3Arelevance-above%26dispatch%3Dsearch%26results-process%3Dbin&field-keywords=live+from+new+york&Go.x=0&Go.y=0&Go=Go) (James A. Miller and Tom Shales), [_ **Beyond the Down Low: Sex, Lies, and Denial in Black America** _](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0786714344/qid=1142276172/sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_1/104-2536974-5875914?s=books&v=glance&n=283155) (Keith Boykin), and [_**The Waste Lands (The Dark Tower, Book 3)**_](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0670032565/ref=pd_sim_b_2/104-2536974-5875914?%5Fencoding=UTF8&v=glance&n=283155) (Stephen King). > [@Shirley Ujest](#): > > I have somehow found a really good writer of paranormal romance by the name of **Marjorie Liu**. Sounds interesting … I’ve just added _Shadow Touch_ to my wish list. 🙂 > [@don't ask](#): > > Stiff by Mary Roach. I read that a few months ago – I quite liked it! In fact, I’ve been thinking about picking up her new book, _Spook_. > [@Eleanor of Aquitaine](#): > > God help me, I’m reading Laurell K. Hamilton’s Anita Blake: Vampire Hunter series. Heh. But actually, the early part of the series was very good! I used to really love her books. It’s only the last 2-3 that became pure porn, and badly-written porn at that. While at Borders on Saturday I saw _Micah_ on the shelves, and this is the first book of hers in the Anita Blake series that I’m deliberately not reading. ---
**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, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-reading/348111/51 "2006-03-13T19:27:06Z")
> [@wayward](#): > > 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? Nope, sorry. There’s been three more books set on the same continent, in German: _Ensel und Krete_, _Rumo und die Wunder im Dunkeln_, and _Die Stadt der träumenden Bücher_. All of those are excellent, if none can match Blue Bear for its humor, they are all very gripping. Very different, each from the other, as well. Rumo has definitely been translated, I’ve seen it recently. Not a bad investment by any means, but don’t expect a follow on exactly true to the predecessor. ---
**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, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-reading/348111/52 "2006-03-13T23:22:51Z")
> [@Misnomer](#): > > I’m currently in the middle of [_ **Wicked** _](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0060987103/qid=1142275071/sr=2-1/ref=pd_bbs_b_2_1/104-2536974-5875914?s=books&v=glance&n=283155) by Gregory Maguire; I’m familiar with the cast recording but haven’t seen the show. I’m really enjoying this book! (Maybe it’s different in print than on tape, **Khadaji**?) > \ It is the unabridged audio cassette version. > **[Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West (Wicked Years, 1):...](https://www.amazon.com/Wicked-Life-Times-Witch-Years/dp/0061350966)** > > Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West (Wicked Years, 1) \[Maguire, Gregory\] on Amazon.com. \*FREE\* shipping on qualifying offers. Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West (Wicked Years, 1) I very much disliked the first third or so. There was just not one sympathetic character in it. Turtle Heart was the least detestable, and maybe Nanny. But I didn’t really like one of them. It got somewhat better as they entered college, but in the end, I still just don’t care what happens. One thing to note though: Perhaps reading it makes it better. Reading and listening are, after all, two different experiences. I am winding down now, with the Wicked Witch of the East having just been killed. Glynda is still annoying, although Elfaba is not as much. I guess I don’t hate it, but I can’t say that I enjoyed it enough to recommend. ---
**Author:** ![LawMonkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d6d6ee/32.png) [@LawMonkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LawMonkey)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2006, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-reading/348111/53 "2006-03-14T00:02:05Z")
> [@Kyla](#): > > Do you hate yourself or something? I read that for my senior seminar and it made me want to pound my head against the wall. I can’t imagine anyone wanting to read that unless forced by a cruel professor. No, no. If I hated myself I’d be reading Kant. I tried that once; didn’t work out so well. Aside from curiousity as to what post-Nietzschean types are up to, I think I’m trying to work off some of my mental flab to get ready for law school; it’s been a while since I’ve had to -think- about reading. ---
**Author:** ![LawMonkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d6d6ee/32.png) [@LawMonkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LawMonkey)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2006, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-reading/348111/54 "2006-03-14T00:06:35Z")
> [@Tortuga](#): > > _ChiRunning_ by Danny Dreyer and _The Amber Spyglass_ by Philip Pullman. Various textbooks. > > It’s the second time for reading His Dark Materials and it still blows my mind that it’s considered a children’s series. > > Dreyer’s book is interesting with an approach that seems to make sense. I really want to regain the sense of joy, fun, and speed of running I had when I was a little girl. I’m not really into self-help books though, and there is enough of that element to make it a shortburst read. What blows my mind is not the thrill that’ll getcha when you get your picture on the cover of the Rolling Stone, but that Harry Potter arouses the ire of the fundamentalist book-banners while His Dark Materials slips by almost unnoticed. I’ve never read the Potter books, but I find it hard to believe that they could even approach the level of anti-clericalism/anti-Christianity that HDM attains. ---
**Author:** ![YellowTail](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/b5ac83/32.png) [@YellowTail](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YellowTail)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2006, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-reading/348111/55 "2006-03-14T00:37:00Z")
Recently finished In the Belly of the Beast by Jack Abbott, which was recommended on these boards. I marvelled at how someone with such an effed-up life could be so preachy. The story of his (short) life after prison is actually more interesting and instructive. It put his self-righteousness in perspective for me. Now I’m about half way through Ginger Man by J.P. Donleavy. Sebastien, the main character, is an absolute ass but I can’t wait for his next altercation and to see how the story ends. It’s mind-boggling to read about just how poor those people are and still manage to get by. ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2006, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-reading/348111/56 "2006-03-19T01:35:13Z")
> [@twickster](#): > > Just started the latest Julian Barnes novel, [Arthur and George](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/030726310X/qid=1142211109/sr=2-1/ref=pd_bbs_b_2_1/102-7317544-2540909?s=books&v=glance&n=283155), telling the story of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and some other guy (the significance of whom is not yet clear) in alternating chapters. So far I’m really enjoying it. Update: Finished it this evening – it’s very good, I’ll second **Judith Prietht** ’s recommendation. First book I’ve read by that author; I’d definitely check out other stuff by him. ---
**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 19, 2006, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-reading/348111/57 "2006-03-19T03:01:25Z")
I’ve got three books going right now. **Rivers of War** - Eric Flint _The first of a projected two-volume series, Flint’s witty, tightly written alternative history presents a subtly revised version of events in the final year of the War of 1812._ **Grantville Gazette II** - edited by Eric Flint _The second volume of Grantville Gazette also contains factual articles which explain some of the technical background for the 1632 series, including articles on practical geology, telecommunications, and seventeenth-century swordsmanship._ **The Big Oyster** - Mark Kurlansky \*Here’s a chatty, free-wheeling history of New York City told from the humble perspective of the once copious, eagerly consumed, now decimated eastern oyster (Crassostrea virginicas). \* ---
**Author:** ![supervenusfreak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@supervenusfreak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/supervenusfreak)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2006, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-reading/348111/58 "2006-03-19T03:22:41Z")
“ **Wolves Eat Dogs** ” by Martin Cruz Smith - I just love his Arkady Renko crime novels “ **Teacher Man** ” by Frank McCourt - Just in time for St Paddy’s Day! ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2006, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-reading/348111/59 "2006-03-19T03:41:57Z")
This afternoon I finished **The Gathering Storm** by Kate Elliott, which is the fifth book of the Crown of Stars. I’m sort of confused about what happened in the last couple chapters, since what \*I think \* happened seems to gloss over something pretty important, and if so I’m not sure what’s left to have written the last two books about. With luck the sixth book will come in through inter-library loan this week. I’m also a little more than halfway through **Obsidian Butterfly** by Laurell Hamilton. I’ve owned it, and the two books that follow (and I’ve ordered the last two as well) for a long time, but never got around to reading them. Now I’m tempted to go back and reread all the older books again 🙂 Next up will be **Dry** by Augustine Burroughs. I hope that this follow up to \*\*Running With Scissors \*\* will be just as entertaining, and I’m fairly sure it will be just as lurid. ---
**Author:** ![Raguleader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/258eb7/32.png) [@Raguleader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raguleader)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2006, 6:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-reading/348111/60 "2006-03-19T06:23:45Z")
> [@supervenusfreak](#): > > “ **Wolves Eat Dogs** ” by Martin Cruz Smith - I just love his Arkady Renko crime novels Wait… another Arkady Renko novel :eek: I thought Havana Bay was the last one! Must find this! 😃 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-reading/348111.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-reading/348111.md?page=4)