# Whatcha Readin' April 2012 Edition **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 31, 2012, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-april-2012-edition/617388 "2012-03-31T15:36:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Stauderhorse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce7236/32.png) [@Stauderhorse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stauderhorse)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2012, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-april-2012-edition/617388/21 "2012-04-03T17:50:17Z")
Re-reading Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. A short history of nearly everything by Bill Bryson. The collected poems of W.B. Yeats. ---
**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:** [April 3, 2012, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-april-2012-edition/617388/22 "2012-04-03T18:05:25Z")
> [@Le\_Ministre\_de\_l\_au-dela](#): > > I just started _Mistress of the Art of Death_ by Ariana Franklin. This is everything I liked about Brother Cadfael only MUCH better written and without the predictable formulae. I’ve been gobbling it up - she has written three other books, and I foresee myself reading through them all before the year is up. I read those not long ago and enjoyed them very much, despite being annoyed by the author’s dreadfully unflattering portrayal of Eleanor - mostly in the second book. On the other hand, I loved the scenes with Henry II, whom Franklin obviously admired - and there is much to admire. ---
**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:** [April 3, 2012, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-april-2012-edition/617388/23 "2012-04-03T18:26:49Z")
> [@Politzania](#): > > …Working my way thru Joe Hill & Gabriel Rodriguez’s Locke and Key graphic novel series - have _**[Crown of Shadows](http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7202841-locke-and-key-vol-3)**_ sitting at the top of my ToRead pile. Wonderfully creepy story & the illustrations are a perfect match. I may have to buy these once all is said & done. I’ve been reading those, too, and have really enjoyed them. A great story, lots of dark humor, and beautifully drawn. ---
**Author:** ![Malthus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/85f322/32.png) [@Malthus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malthus)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2012, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-april-2012-edition/617388/24 "2012-04-03T18:35:34Z")
> [@Larry\_Borgia](#): > > 2/3 through David Mitchell’s _Cloud Atlas_, which is awesome. It is indeed. An awesome talent on display in that book. I just finished _The Devil All The Time_, second book by Donald Ray Pollock, the author of _Knockemstiff_. I liked it well enough - sort of like a cross between Cormac McCarthy and Joe Lansdale. The parade of horribles was amusing enough, but sometimes seemed a trifle one-note - as if simply _everyone_ inhabiting this guy’s literary world was corrupt, a lunatic, a pervert or a murderer. The problem with this is that the horribles tend to lose impact after awhile, if they are a constant diet. That said, the guy can tell a story and keep one entertained, which is the main thing. ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2012, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-april-2012-edition/617388/25 "2012-04-03T19:30:43Z")
I’m currently reading \*\*\*Henderson the Rain King \*\*\*by Saul Bellow. ---
**Author:** ![Barkis\_is\_Willin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a183cd/32.png) [@Barkis\_is\_Willin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Barkis_is_Willin)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2012, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-april-2012-edition/617388/26 "2012-04-03T20:08:44Z")
\*Replay \*by Ken Grimwood was very good. It might even have been great, but I did have a couple issues with it. _Fevre Dream_ by George RR Martin was great. Yes, there are vampires, but the history with the Mississippi River steamboats was equally entertaining. I’m currently reading _The Art of Fielding_ by Chad Harbach, which after 70 or so pages is pretty decent. ---
**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:** [April 3, 2012, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-april-2012-edition/617388/27 "2012-04-03T20:29:24Z")
> [@Barkis\_is\_Willin](#): > > \*Replay \*by Ken Grimwood was very good. It might even have been great, but I did have a couple issues with it. > > _Fevre Dream_ by George RR Martin was great. Yes, there are vampires, but the history with the Mississippi River steamboats was equally entertaining… I like both of those books very, very much. Glad you did too. ---
**Author:** ![Omar\_Little](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omar_little/32/269_2.png) [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2012, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-april-2012-edition/617388/28 "2012-04-03T20:54:25Z")
Working my way through Lee Child’s _Jack Reacher_ series. I’m on the 5th one right now. Also working my way through Harlan Coben’s _Myron Bolitar_ series, I’m on the 5th one in that series also. I love the Win Lockwood character. ---
**Author:** ![koeeoaddi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/koeeoaddi/32/408_2.png) [@koeeoaddi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/koeeoaddi)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2012, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-april-2012-edition/617388/29 "2012-04-03T21:15:43Z")
I’m reading [Started Early, Took My Dog](http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/8719736-started-early-took-my-dog), by Kate Atkinson. This is book four in the series and, without giving anything vital away about the plot, I’ve got to say that there is a knock-out punch near the beginning that just made Jackson Brody my favorite flawed, brooding, angsty, detective, …ever! ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2012, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-april-2012-edition/617388/30 "2012-04-04T00:33:52Z")
I’m about 1/3rd through _All Fall Down_ by Megan Hart. So far it’s loads better than the only other [post-cult mass suicide novel](http://www.amazon.com/The-Twelve-Howard-Kaminsky/dp/0312206011/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1333499520&sr=8-2) I’ve ever read. ---
**Author:** ![lisiate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f05b48/32.png) [@lisiate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lisiate)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2012, 4:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-april-2012-edition/617388/31 "2012-04-04T04:07:47Z")
I’ve almost finished _The Iron Wars_, the third part of Paul Kearney’s _Monarchies of God_ fantasy series. I’ve been enjoying the ride so far, and it’s nice to read a series that is complete and relatively brief - you can get all five parts in a two volume compilation, starting with _[Hawkwood & the Kings](http://www.amazon.com/Hawkwood-Kings-Monarchies-Paul-Kearney/dp/1906735719/ref=pd_sim_b_2)_. I guess you could describe the setting as similar to a fantastical 1492, the world’s equivalent to Constantinople has fallen, an expedition sets off for the fabled Western continent, and the church is riven by a religious schism. Oh and there’s magic, werewolves and gunpowder. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Borgia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/larry_borgia/32/156_2.png) [@Larry\_Borgia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Borgia)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2012, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-april-2012-edition/617388/32 "2012-04-04T14:57:52Z")
> [@Malthus](#): > > It is indeed. An awesome talent on display in that book. I’ll say, the way he moves from style to style while sounding completely authentic is astonishing. Each story has it’s own voice and genre, from thriller to black comedy to dystopian SF. Each story is compelling on it’s own, and made greater by the way they are linked together. And just his simple ability to put a noun and a verb together is astonishing. Sometimes I’ll read a thriller or something and think “You know, if I had the discipline and time, I could crank out a book as good as this. I probably won’t but I think I could.” Sometimes I think this even when the book is clever and well written. Even if I had all the time in the world and some of the greatest living writers coaching me I could never come up with anything close to _Cloud Atlas_. ---
**Author:** ![Malthus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/85f322/32.png) [@Malthus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malthus)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2012, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-april-2012-edition/617388/33 "2012-04-04T17:55:42Z")
> [@Larry\_Borgia](#): > > I’ll say, the way he moves from style to style while sounding completely authentic is astonishing. Each story has it’s own voice and genre, from thriller to black comedy to dystopian SF. Each story is compelling on it’s own, and made greater by the way they are linked together. And just his simple ability to put a noun and a verb together is astonishing. > > Sometimes I’ll read a thriller or something and think “You know, if I had the discipline and time, I could crank out a book as good as this. I probably won’t but I think I could.” Sometimes I think this even when the book is clever and well written. Even if I had all the time in the world and some of the greatest living writers coaching me I could never come up with anything close to _Cloud Atlas_. Holy shit, I had the exact same reaction! 😃 [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=578109&highlight="cloud+atlas"](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=578109&highlight=%22cloud+atlas%22) > [@](#): > > Heh, I’ve said it before - Cloud Atlas is one of those rare books that don’t create writer’s envy, for the simple reason that one cannot fool oneself into thinking that, if one devoted oneself to writing, one could have written it. > > Other books in that indescribable category, I think: > > - The Master and Margarita by Bugalikov > > - Invisible Cities and If on a winter’s night a traveller by Italo Calvino; > > - Ficciones by Jeorge Luis Borges > > - The Periodic Table by Primo Levi > > - The Man Who was Thursday by Chesterton (already recommended above) ---
**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:** [April 4, 2012, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-april-2012-edition/617388/34 "2012-04-04T18:57:59Z")
Sounds like it could be a helluva movie: [Cloud Atlas (film) - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cloud_Atlas_(film)) ---
**Author:** ![Sigmagirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c89c15/32.png) [@Sigmagirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigmagirl)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2012, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-april-2012-edition/617388/35 "2012-04-04T19:24:06Z")
> [@Sigmagirl](#): > > Going to start _Catch Me When I Fall_ by Nicci French, just something I grabbed from the shelf. I’m about a quarter done with this and it’s fascinating. I thought it was a mystery but it’s not, at least so far. It’s about a woman who shows signs of bipolar disorder – she goes on spending sprees, drinking, promiscuity; then can’t get out of bed and go to work. She becomes convinced that someone is stalking her, and it may be true, but how much is paranoia? It is very convincingly written. ---
**Author:** ![Malthus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/85f322/32.png) [@Malthus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malthus)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2012, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-april-2012-edition/617388/36 "2012-04-04T20:08:47Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > Sounds like it could be a helluva movie: [Cloud Atlas (film) - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cloud_Atlas_(film)) Woah. ---
**Author:** ![Barkis\_is\_Willin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a183cd/32.png) [@Barkis\_is\_Willin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Barkis_is_Willin)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2012, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-april-2012-edition/617388/37 "2012-04-04T20:40:15Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > I like both of those books very, very much. Glad you did too. I think Replay started out very strong and then got a little rocky before it ended. The end was pretty satisfying, though. My one big complaint is… …that they only ever met the one other replayer, the serial killer. I was expecting a great pay off from that anonymous letter from Australia in response to their search for other replayers that said something like “not yet.” The foreshadowing was so strong there and then it was forgotten like a storyline from Lost. Big let down. But yeah, overall very good book. It really makes you think about your own history. ---
**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:** [April 5, 2012, 3:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-april-2012-edition/617388/38 "2012-04-05T03:51:22Z")
As to _Replay_, I didn’t mind what you spoiled. Not every detail needs to be wrapped up. A little ambiguity, even a few loose threads are a good thing IMHO. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Borgia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/larry_borgia/32/156_2.png) [@Larry\_Borgia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Borgia)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2012, 5:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-april-2012-edition/617388/39 "2012-04-05T05:15:51Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > Sounds like it could be a helluva movie: [Cloud Atlas (film) - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cloud_Atlas_(film)) I don’t see the point. The book gains much of it’s magic from it’s prose style, which will be lost on the big screen. It’s in many ways about stories. Also a faithful adaptation would have to be filmed in multiple locations, use a ton of FX, and cost as much as _Avatar_ Unnecessary film adaptations are a pet peeve of mine. We didn’t need a watchmen adaptation and we don’t need a Cloud Atlas adaptation. Both things were fine as they were and weren’t improved by inferior movies. If something is perfect in it’s own medium, leave it there. That said, here’s Io9 with some leaked concept art. [http://io9.com/5871341/cloud-atlas-concept-art-shows-us-the-wachowskis-vision-of-2144-seoul?tag=cloudatlas](http://io9.com/5871341/cloud-atlas-concept-art-shows-us-the-wachowskis-vision-of-2144-seoul?tag=cloudatlas) ---
**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:** [April 5, 2012, 12:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-april-2012-edition/617388/40 "2012-04-05T12:44:59Z")
I finished Flashman and the Mountain of Light. Decent book, as they all are in this series. I notice Flashman’s gotten a lot nicer since he raped a girl in one of those early books. In this one, I was actually a bit moved by his interactions with little Dalip (okay, moved by the kid mostly, but still). Next up: [Winter’s Bone](http://www.amazon.com/Winters-Bone-Novel-Daniel-Woodrell/dp/031605755X) by Daniel Woodrell. It’s a tale of a troubled white-trash girl in the Ozarks. There are a lot of reviews raving about this author’s magical, lyrical prose, but I’m going to read it anyway. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-april-2012-edition/617388.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-april-2012-edition/617388.md?page=3)