# You're on a READ poster;What book are you holding? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 31, 2008, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-on-a-read-poster-what-book-are-you-holding/443399 "2008-03-31T16:50:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![well\_he\_s\_back](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/3ab097/32.png) [@well\_he\_s\_back](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/well_he_s_back)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2008, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-on-a-read-poster-what-book-are-you-holding/443399/1 "2008-03-31T16:50:28Z")
To further explain - the American Library Association has a series of posters showing famous peeps from many fields. The individual is shown holding up a book and the poster encourages “READ”. Now, if you were on such a poster and could choose any one book to promote, what would it be? I could make this harder by saying don’t take a book that already taken (Orlando Bloom holds LOTR; Keira Knightley holds Pride&Prejudice), but that’s no fun. ---
**Author:** ![DianaG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7ab992/32.png) [@DianaG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DianaG)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2008, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-on-a-read-poster-what-book-are-you-holding/443399/2 "2008-03-31T16:51:31Z")
_A Supposedly Fun Thing I’ll Never Do Again_ I _heart_ irony! ---
**Author:** ![Jayn\_Newell](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Jayn\_Newell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jayn_Newell)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2008, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-on-a-read-poster-what-book-are-you-holding/443399/3 "2008-03-31T16:55:27Z")
If they’ll let me, _Kushiel’s Dart_. Otherwise, _Ender’s Game_. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Rieux](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@Dr.Rieux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Rieux)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2008, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-on-a-read-poster-what-book-are-you-holding/443399/4 "2008-03-31T16:58:02Z")
_The Lord of the Rings_ ---
**Author:** ![NightRabbit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/bbce88/32.png) [@NightRabbit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NightRabbit)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2008, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-on-a-read-poster-what-book-are-you-holding/443399/5 "2008-03-31T16:58:27Z")
I would hold up Moby Dick. I have a special place for it in my heart- I first read it in one whirlwind month a few years ago. It particularly spoke to me at the time because I felt like I was in a period of chase, myself, and bound to some personal grudges I had a hard time letting go of. I’ve since read it a couple more times and the language of it just wraps me up like a cupcake and frosts the top of my head. Er, figuratively, that is. ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2008, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-on-a-read-poster-what-book-are-you-holding/443399/6 "2008-03-31T17:01:39Z")
God, I love the READ posters. I’d have a hard time choosing between _Brideshead Revisited_, _The Stars My Destination_, and _A Canticle for Leibowitz_. ---
**Author:** ![Steve\_MB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steve_mb/32/5339_2.png) [@Steve\_MB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_MB)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2008, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-on-a-read-poster-what-book-are-you-holding/443399/7 "2008-03-31T17:06:26Z")
The thread makes me think of [this poster](http://www.warehouse23.com/item.html?id=QOW3001). ---
**Author:** ![Frosted\_Glass](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/frosted_glass/32/3926_2.png) [@Frosted\_Glass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frosted_Glass)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2008, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-on-a-read-poster-what-book-are-you-holding/443399/8 "2008-03-31T17:12:50Z")
This is a cool idea. My choice would be _The Vintage Bradbury_. ---
**Author:** ![OtakuLoki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ac8455/32.png) [@OtakuLoki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OtakuLoki)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2008, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-on-a-read-poster-what-book-are-you-holding/443399/9 "2008-03-31T17:41:35Z")
What I’d really like to do would be to hold up _two_ books: Starship Troopers and The Forever War. ---
**Author:** ![Dumbguy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/2bfe46/32.png) [@Dumbguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dumbguy)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2008, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-on-a-read-poster-what-book-are-you-holding/443399/10 "2008-03-31T17:43:04Z")
[QUOTE=DianaG] _A Supposedly Fun Thing I’ll Never Do Again_ [/QUOTE] David Foster Wallace rules. I’ll go with _Infinite Jest_ ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2008, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-on-a-read-poster-what-book-are-you-holding/443399/11 "2008-03-31T17:51:37Z")
Probably **The Carpet Makers** by Andreas Eschbach. Second choice would be Ken Grimwood’s **Replay** ---
**Author:** ![feppytweed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/feppytweed/32/4280_2.png) [@feppytweed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/feppytweed)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2008, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-on-a-read-poster-what-book-are-you-holding/443399/12 "2008-03-31T18:07:21Z")
1984 ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2008, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-on-a-read-poster-what-book-are-you-holding/443399/13 "2008-03-31T18:07:44Z")
Probably The Stand by Stephen King. I would, of course, not be sitting, in the picture. ---
**Author:** ![Antigen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/848f3c/32.png) [@Antigen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antigen)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2008, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-on-a-read-poster-what-book-are-you-holding/443399/14 "2008-03-31T18:08:09Z")
I’d be holding _A Prayer for Owen Meany_. ---
**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 31, 2008, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-on-a-read-poster-what-book-are-you-holding/443399/15 "2008-03-31T18:10:11Z")
_Medusa_, of course. ---
**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 31, 2008, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-on-a-read-poster-what-book-are-you-holding/443399/16 "2008-03-31T18:10:19Z")
Either George McDonald Fraser’s _The Pyrates_ or Larry McMurtry’s _Somebody’s Darling_. ---
**Author:** ![Sunshine\_and\_Smiles](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a5b964/32.png) [@Sunshine\_and\_Smiles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunshine_and_Smiles)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2008, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-on-a-read-poster-what-book-are-you-holding/443399/17 "2008-03-31T18:11:25Z")
Catch-22. ---
**Author:** ![eleanorigby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee7513/32.png) [@eleanorigby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eleanorigby)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2008, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-on-a-read-poster-what-book-are-you-holding/443399/18 "2008-03-31T18:13:01Z")
_The Phantom Tollbooth_ or\* Barchester Towers\*. I’d love to be on a READ poster. ---
**Author:** ![Orual](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/779978/32.png) [@Orual](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Orual)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2008, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-on-a-read-poster-what-book-are-you-holding/443399/19 "2008-03-31T18:25:15Z")
**American Gods** , **Jane Eyre** , or **Till We Have Faces**. ---
**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 31, 2008, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-on-a-read-poster-what-book-are-you-holding/443399/20 "2008-03-31T18:33:39Z")
The Shining, by Stephen King, or The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-on-a-read-poster-what-book-are-you-holding/443399.md?page=2)