# What's the last book you read (and would you recommend it)? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 14, 2004, 11:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-last-book-you-read-and-would-you-recommend-it/229201 "2004-02-14T11:35:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Draelin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ce73a5/32.png) [@Draelin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Draelin)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2004, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-last-book-you-read-and-would-you-recommend-it/229201/61 "2004-02-16T16:40:27Z")
**Beth** , you know I feel the same way about Eddings, so I’ll just weigh in on that and call it good. 🙂 Sometimes you just want to be entertained, and I’ve always found those books to be pure escapism at its best. I’ve done a lot of research into the trashy romance genre lately, but I’m going to bypass all that and try for something at least a little dignified. I’ll cast another vote for Gregory’s _The Other Boleyn Girl_, I found it absolutely fascinating, and at times almost painfully real. I also recently read Neil Gaiman’s _American Gods_. I had been a little leery of it, because I had tried to read _Neverwhere_ and not made it, but _Gods_ is now on my list of books I must push on others. Especially for anyone with even the slightest interest in ancient mythology. I’m currently working my way through Charlaine Harris’ Southern Vampire series–the first book is called _Dead Until Dark_, followed by _Living Dead in Dallas_ and _Club Dead_. Thoroughly amusing take on the supernatural, with a good solid mystery behind it and a heroine with a realistic thought process, despite the fact that she’s a telepath. It’s not _War and Peace_, but I read to enjoy myself. ---
**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:** [February 16, 2004, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-last-book-you-read-and-would-you-recommend-it/229201/62 "2004-02-16T19:47:09Z")
Just finished _From These Ashes: The Complete Short Sci-Fi of Fredric Brown_. It included a story I always liked and hadn’t known the author of, called The Arena, so I was happy to run across that. There were also a lot of stories that were only a page or a paragraph long. Those were of limited effectiveness, but it was interesting to see what could be done in such a short form. ---
**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:** [February 16, 2004, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-last-book-you-read-and-would-you-recommend-it/229201/63 "2004-02-16T19:56:35Z")
> [@](#): > > Just finished From These Ashes: The Complete Short Sci-Fi of Fredric Brown. It included a story I always liked and hadn’t known the author of, called The Arena, so I was happy to run across that. There were also a lot of stories that were only a page or a paragraph long. Those were of limited effectiveness, but it was interesting to see what could be done in such a short form. I’m a big Fredric Brown fan. A book of his _complete_ short SF stories would have to be pretty big (even with the short length of his works). I have quite a large collection of his stuff, which extends to fantasy and crime fiction, as well. His crime fiction is well worth ferreting out. I highly recommend **The Fabulous Clipjoint** , which won an Edgar, and **Carnival of Crime** , a collection of his short crime fiction. In one story, the victim is — the Reader! You have to read it to see how he does it. ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2004, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-last-book-you-read-and-would-you-recommend-it/229201/64 "2004-02-16T20:13:24Z")
I just finished _An Open Book_ by Michael Dirda. It’s a memoir by a book reviewer and editor at _The Washington Post Book World_ (who, I should mention, I know slightly) of the first twenty years of his life. He grew up in a working-class family with parents neither of whom were big readers. Despite that, he eventually got a Ph.D. in comparative literature and won a Pulitzer for reviewing. I recommend it if you like memoirs of childhood or if, like me, you became a bookworm despite having parents who weren’t so themselves. ---
**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:** [February 16, 2004, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-last-book-you-read-and-would-you-recommend-it/229201/65 "2004-02-16T20:29:11Z")
**Cal Meacham** , my library doesn’t carry _Carnival of Crime_, but you did talk me into _The Fabulous Clipjoint_. ---
**Author:** ![Krisfer\_the\_Cat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Krisfer\_the\_Cat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Krisfer_the_Cat)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2004, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-last-book-you-read-and-would-you-recommend-it/229201/66 "2004-02-16T23:09:52Z")
I just finished _Dry_ by Augusten Burroughs. AND YES I would recommend it to anyone. It’s a moving look at the process of becoming dry… in other words quitting drinking. And at the same time he shows what alcoholism does to the famliy and loved ones of the alcoholic. I remember reading the end and thinking “God, this is exactly what **Scott\_evil** described in his thread about quitting!” It was a funny book and a moving one and I cried at the end. Now I am almost finished with \* Blood sucking Fiends \* by Christopher Moore. As usual it is beyong hilarious. And so much more fun than the moody, sulky baroque Anne Rice! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-last-book-you-read-and-would-you-recommend-it/229201.md?page=3)