# What's everyone reading? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 27, 2006, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-everyone-reading/341868 "2006-01-27T17:44:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Kythereia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e8c25b/32.png) [@Kythereia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kythereia)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2006, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-everyone-reading/341868/21 "2006-01-27T19:34:31Z")
The _Gormenghast_ trilogy, _The Amber Spyglass_ by Phillip Pullman, _Uppity Women of Medieval Times_ by Vicki Leon, _Mists of Avalon_ by Marion Zimmer Bradley, and _The Long Dark Teatime of the Soul_ by Douglas Adams. ---
**Author:** ![Crusoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/49beb7/32.png) [@Crusoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crusoe)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2006, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-everyone-reading/341868/22 "2006-01-27T19:36:30Z")
Most recently finished Stewart O’Nan’s **The Night Country** : an excellent read, best described as a ghost story written by Douglas Coupland. On a wet and cold Halloween, ghosts gather to watch their friend, the only survivor of the car crash that killed them, prepare to commit suicide on the anniversary. Other recent reads that entertained or informed: **The Winter War** (William Trotter), a thorough and readable history of the 1939-1940 war between Finland and Russia; **The Subterranean Railway** , a meticulous - if occasionally overly dry - history of the London underground, and David Maine’s **The Flood** , an amusing and sad account of the Great Flood, written from the points of view of the unnamed wives of Noah’s sons (a literary equivalent of _Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead_). Currently trying to read Richard Holmes’ reprinted **Acts of War** , a study of the psychology of soldiers in and out of war, and Richard Dawkins’ **Unweaving The Rainbow** , his paean to science. The former reads occasionally like a university essay - lots of quotes and little critical analysis - and the latter has passion, but has failed to grip me so far (it’s occasionally a little too evangelical, even though I agree on pretty much every point he makes). ---
**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:** [January 27, 2006, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-everyone-reading/341868/23 "2006-01-27T20:05:24Z")
I recently finished The Mad Cook of Pymatuning : a novel by Christopher Lehmann-Haupt, which I read because Stephen King supposedly enjoyed it. I thought it sucked ass. It’s a story about a boy’s camp where one of the counselors is a psycho, but the narrator was just a whiner from the get-go. There was a lot of “I felt something was wrong, but I couldn’t put my finger on it, and I didn’t want to tell anybody.” :rolleyes: Also, there was something which I think was meant to be a twist, but I saw it coming a mile away. > [@Sampiro](#): > > I just finished **Glass Castle** , a memoir by Jeanette Walls that I recommend highly. She describes her childhood with brilliant but dangerously & negligently eccentric parents, two people you really like except for when you want to kill them with a brick and take their kids to safety. I liked Glass Castle too. Speaking of parents you’d like to wallop with a brick, I just finished Angela’s Ashes and 'Tis, by Frank McCourt. Angela’s Ashes was decent, 'Tis, not so much. I’m liking Frank less as he gets older and follows in his father’s footsteps. I’ll still read Teacher Man, though. I’m about halfway through the Chronicles of Prydain, which I’m reading for the first time. And like **Auntie Pam** , I am about to read Cell, so tomorrow I will put all else aside and blaze through that. Oh, it’s going to be a _fine_ weekend. ---
**Author:** ![Future\_Londonite](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/9dc877/32.png) [@Future\_Londonite](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Future_Londonite)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2006, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-everyone-reading/341868/24 "2006-01-27T20:21:53Z")
> [@ddgryphon](#): > > Just finished Bill Bryson, [a short history of nearly everything](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/076790818X/qid=1138386412/sr=8-1/ref=pd_bbs_1/104-7209332-9580737?n=507846&s=books&v=glance). I’m 3/4th into this one and loving it…with every chapter I feel like emailing/calling my friends and share the things I read about. The only thing preventing is the backlash I’d get from my friends ---
**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:** [January 27, 2006, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-everyone-reading/341868/25 "2006-01-27T20:23:32Z")
> [@furthur](#): > > I’m currently reading _Monkeyluv_ by Robert Sapolsky. He’s fantastic, whatever he writes. A Primate’s Memoir is one of my all-time favorite books. This is a collection of his essays – currently in the midst of one about Munchausen by Proxy. > > Mrs. Furthur These look great! I just came from the library website, where I snapped up all the Sapolsky I could find. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![JThunder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e95f7d/32.png) [@JThunder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JThunder)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2006, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-everyone-reading/341868/26 "2006-01-27T20:38:53Z")
_Philosophy for Dummies_ and _Philosophy Made Slightly Less Difficult_. ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2006, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-everyone-reading/341868/27 "2006-01-27T20:40:44Z")
> [@Eleanor of Aquitaine](#): > > I’m also halfway through Owen Parry’s **Faded Coat of Blue** , the first of a mystery series set during the Civil War. I love this series! I have six of them and have read the first four. The series strength is (IMHO) the character of Abel Jones, and a weakness might be Parry’s penchant for including snippets of famous historical figures. He could leave those out. I love his digs at the French. He doesn’t apologize for those, like he apologizes for his other prejudices. > [@](#): > > **AuntiePam** , have you tried Sharon Kay Penman’s Welsh trilogy? I really enjoy all of her books. The trilogy starts with **Here be Dragons** , where King John’s illegitimate daughter Joanna marries Llewelyn. I loved Here Be Dragons, but I don’t remember if I’ve read the others. There were so many different Llewellyns – three or four in the book I just finished, and I think Penman’s Llewellyn came later. Or maybe earlier. ---
**Author:** ![Don\_Draper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b2d939/32.png) [@Don\_Draper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_Draper)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2006, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-everyone-reading/341868/28 "2006-01-27T20:41:09Z")
I’m reading **Harold Pinter - Collected Works, Vol. 1: 1959 - 63**. I read the first volume just prior to this, and James Joyce’s **Ulysses** before that. It’s great stuff, but my brain is going into ‘ponderous heady intellectual overload’ mode. After all this heady, cerebral British lit, i’m due to read something mindlessly fluffy next - along the lines of a Jackie Suzanne novel or even a ‘Star Trek’ novelization. ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2006, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-everyone-reading/341868/29 "2006-01-27T20:44:50Z")
> [@Crusoe](#): > > Most recently finished Stewart O’Nan’s **The Night Country** : an excellent read, best described as a ghost story written by Douglas Coupland. On a wet and cold Halloween, ghosts gather to watch their friend, the only survivor of the car crash that killed them, prepare to commit suicide on the anniversary. Well, now I wonder who Doug Coupland might be. Have you read any other O’Nan books? **Prayer for the Dying** creeped me out so bad I couldn’t keep the book in the house. **Speed Queen** is good too. O’Nan never goes quite where I expect him to go – I’ve learned to stop being a back-seat reader and just let him drive. ---
**Author:** ![Crusoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/49beb7/32.png) [@Crusoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crusoe)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2006, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-everyone-reading/341868/30 "2006-01-27T21:01:10Z")
It’s the first O’Nan book I’ve read. Coupland’s the author of **Generation X** , among many other books: not everyone’s cup of tea, but I love his writing. Usually writes about disaffection and indecision in modern life; not in a depressing way, but snappy and easily quotable novels that date quickly (although his later novels have seemed far more mature). ---
**Author:** ![UncleBeer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/977dab/32.png) [@UncleBeer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleBeer)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2006, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-everyone-reading/341868/31 "2006-01-27T21:07:27Z")
> [@twickster](#): > > I’ve been thinking I need to go back to the source on Darwin – do you recommend _Voyage of the Beagle_? Have you read _Origin of Species_? I’ve not read _Origin_, or anything else by Darwin. _Voyage of the Beagle_ is pretty decent. A nice travelogue. The thing that strikes me most about it, is Darwin’s keen eye for detail and his ability to describe exactly what he’ seeing in a clear concise manner. And also Darwin’s vast knowledge of geology. I’m thinking I might try _Island Life_ by Alfred Russel Wallace soon. Maybe get a bit broader picture of natural selection. After reading _Dodo_, I’m thinking Wallace was a pretty fascinating guy. On the other hand, I’ve got Brian Greene’s, _The Elegant Universe_ sitting around. And a history of Gutenberg and his little invention. And Victor Stenger’s _Has Science Found God_. And about a hundred other books I’ve purchased but not read yet. So who knows. ---
**Author:** ![Crusoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/49beb7/32.png) [@Crusoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crusoe)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2006, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-everyone-reading/341868/32 "2006-01-27T21:14:01Z")
For those interested in Darwin, I highly recommend [**This Thing of Darkness**](http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/0755327144/qid=1138396256/sr=8-1/ref=sr_8_xs_ap_i1_xgl/026-7963233-3417205) by Harry Thompson. It’s a dense, thorough dramatisation of the voyages, careers and later lives of Darwin and Robert FitzRoy. It’s more focused on the latter - the upright moralist who slips into decline and death while Darwin’s star rises. A bit drawn out in places, but nonetheless a fascinatingly evocative read. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2006, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-everyone-reading/341868/33 "2006-01-27T21:20:51Z")
I just finished two novels I got for Christmas: _Anansi Boys_ by Neil Gaman and _Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norell_ by Susanna Clarke. Now I’m working on _The Emerging Democratic Majority_ by John B. Judis and Ruy Teixeira. ---
**Author:** ![photopat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e95f7d/32.png) [@photopat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/photopat)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2006, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-everyone-reading/341868/34 "2006-01-27T21:48:32Z")
I’m about halfway through [The Ancestor’s Tale](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0618005838/qid=1138398272/sr=2-1/ref=pd_bbs_b_2_1/002-0966894-2872028?s=books&v=glance&n=283155) by Richard Dawkins. Fascinating reverse history of life, starting with Homo Sapiens and tracing our evolution backwards to points of divergence from other species. Next up will probably be **Voodoo Science**. ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2006, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-everyone-reading/341868/35 "2006-01-27T21:55:22Z")
> [@Crusoe](#): > > For those interested in Darwin, I highly recommend [**This Thing of Darkness**](http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/0755327144/qid=1138396256/sr=8-1/ref=sr_8_xs_ap_i1_xgl/026-7963233-3417205) by Harry Thompson. It’s a dense, thorough dramatisation of the voyages, careers and later lives of … Thanks – I’ve added it to my wishlist! ---
**Author:** ![Invisible\_Chimp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/f05b48/32.png) [@Invisible\_Chimp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Invisible_Chimp)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2006, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-everyone-reading/341868/36 "2006-01-27T22:02:07Z")
I currently reading _The Voyage of the Beagle_ by Charles Darwin (a popular choice right now, it seems) and _American Gods_ by Neil Gaiman. ---
**Author:** ![Lucretia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/13edae/32.png) [@Lucretia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucretia)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2006, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-everyone-reading/341868/37 "2006-01-27T22:05:00Z")
I’ve been on a ‘polar explorers’ kick lately. Lately, I’ve read _Alone_ by Richard Byrd, _Endurance_, about Shackleton’s last voyage, and now I’m almost finished with _Tragedy and Triumph, The Journals of Captain R.F. Scott’s Last Polar Expedition_. Next up, I have _Ice Bound_, by Dr. Jeri Neilson, the female doctor who had to give herself a mastectomy at the South Pole. ---
**Author:** ![mamboman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ecb155/32.png) [@mamboman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mamboman)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2006, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-everyone-reading/341868/38 "2006-01-27T22:34:34Z")
“The Service of Clouds” by Delia Falconer. My word, it is magnificent. mm ---
**Author:** ![Balance](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ccd318/32.png) [@Balance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balance)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2006, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-everyone-reading/341868/39 "2006-01-27T23:05:32Z")
I’ve been on a Manly Wade Wellman binge lately. I’m currently reading _The Devil Is Not Mocked (and Other Warnings)_. I’ve always enjoyed his John (often called Silver John or John the Balladeer) stories in particular, and I finally went online and bought all 5 books of collected stories (including the John Thunstone, Lee Corbett, and Judge Pursuivant stories as well as Silver John). For those not familiar with his work, Wellman wrote mainly occult/horror stories, and featured prominently in the horror pulps during their heyday. His stories are a mix of classic occult investigation pulp and distinctly regional horror set in the southern U.S. John Thunstone and Judge Pursuivant commonly dealt with vampires, werewolves, and urbane diabolists. Silver John tended toward more homely horrors rooted in Appalachian folklore–things like gardinels, hoodoo men, and plain old haunts. ---
**Author:** ![Jet\_Jaguar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jet_jaguar/32/3562_2.png) [@Jet\_Jaguar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jet_Jaguar)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2006, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-everyone-reading/341868/40 "2006-01-27T23:11:39Z")
I’ve been reading stuff from [Project Gutenberg](http://www.promo.net/pg/) lately, and right now mostly the travelogues of various travellers and explorers of the 19[sup]th[/sup] and early 20[sup]th[/sup] centuries. I just finished [_How I Found Livingstone_](http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/5157) by Sir Henry Morton Stanley, and am currently working on [_The Art of Travel or Shifts and Contrivances Available in Wild Countries_](http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/14681) by Francis Galton, a sort of 19[sup]th[/sup] century “how-to” manual on the organization of a gentleman explorer’s caravan, and various techniques useful in wilderness areas. A neat perspective on the technologies of the day available to the traveller. The one thing that strikes me about all of these accounts is the absolute utter contempt the European traveller had for the indigenous peoples of the countries they explored. I had planned on reading [_The Last Journals of David Livingstone_](http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/17024) by David Livingstone next, it overlaps the time period both before and after Stanley’s work and it would be interesting to see their encounter and time together as told from Livingstone’s perspective. But since so many are reading _The Voyage of the Beagle_, and the fact it’s [available through Gutenberg](http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/3704), I may read that one next instead. Definitely on my short list. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-everyone-reading/341868.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-everyone-reading/341868.md?page=3)