# Whatcha Readin' August 09 Edition **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 31, 2009, 10:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-august-09-edition/504858 "2009-07-31T10:39:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2009, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-august-09-edition/504858/81 "2009-08-15T16:18:54Z")
Finished _Voice For Princess_ a quick easy and light fantasy. Even though I have a ton of books in the queue I went out and bought 6 more… You see, I had 5 dollars in Borders bucks that had to be used before the end of the month and a 40% off coupon and a long flight coming up and - well anyway all 6 only ended up costing me 15 dollars out of pocket. ---
**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:** [August 15, 2009, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-august-09-edition/504858/82 "2009-08-15T20:38:20Z")
> [@Enterprise](#): > > …I’m also done with Lovecraft. I liked the 3rd Omnibus much better – “The Colour out of Space” and “The Haunter in the Dark” were actually quite scary. I’m going to read “Herbert West, Re-Animator” in a zombie lit anthology next, and then wait a little before going into more Lovecraft… Did you read “The Whisperer in Darkness” or “The Thing on the Doorstep”? I think those are two of his best. I’m now more than halfway through Joseph J. Ellis’s _American Creation_ and have really gotten into it. Still not as good as _Founding Brothers_, but pretty good. The chapter on Washington’s attempt to establish a mutually-beneficial treaty with the Creek Indians was quite interesting - I’d never heard about that before. ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2009, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-august-09-edition/504858/83 "2009-08-15T21:33:36Z")
_[Nixonland: The Rise of a President and the Fracturing of America](http://www.amazon.com/Nixonland-Rise-President-Fracturing-America/dp/074324303X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1250371475&sr=8-1)_ by Rick Perlstein. I’m a boomer, so this isn’t “history” to me. I was a wee twickster at the time of the 1960 election, but everything from 1968 on I definitely remember. Anyway, it’s taking me a while to get into it – the author has a kind of Tom-Wolfe-esque vibe to his prose, which I’m not entirely sure I like – but the friend who loaned it to me recommended it highly, so I’m hanging in. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2009, 8:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-august-09-edition/504858/84 "2009-08-16T08:49:20Z")
Finished _The Time Traveler’s Wife_, by Audrey Niffenegger. Enjoyed it very much. The wife will read it now; I told her I thought she would enjoy it. Next up: _Deception Point_, by Dan Brown. This is last of Brown’s novels we have yet to read, not counting his new one coming out next month. ---
**Author:** ![Stan\_Shmenge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/94ad74/32.png) [@Stan\_Shmenge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stan_Shmenge)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2009, 9:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-august-09-edition/504858/85 "2009-08-16T09:54:54Z")
Read _The Fountainhead_ earlier this summer. What a slog. Just finished _Ender’s Game_. Was ok, but I don’t get the hype. Now reading _The Making of 2001_, no not that one, [this one](http://www.amazon.com/Making-2001-Odyssey-Modern-Library/dp/0375755284/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1250416089&sr=1-1). Starts out interesting, but I don’t need to reread _The Sentinel_, which, for some reason, is included as the second chapter. Non fiction: PHP and MySQL for Dummies. Good treatment of the basics. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2009, 4:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-august-09-edition/504858/86 "2009-08-17T04:12:02Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > Finished _The Time Traveler’s Wife_, by Audrey Niffenegger. Enjoyed it very much. The wife will read it now; I told her I thought she would enjoy it. > > Next up: _Deception Point_, by Dan Brown. This is last of Brown’s novels we have yet to read, not counting his new one coming out next month. My favorite movie reviewer, Roger Ebert, didn’t really like the film version of _The Time Traveler’s Wife_ that just came out. Review [here](http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20090812/REVIEWS/908129993/1001). But he didn’t hate it, and it sounds like he never read the book. He would have “got it” more if he had, I think. It’s scheduled to come to Bangkok, so we’ll see it. ---
**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:** [August 17, 2009, 12:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-august-09-edition/504858/87 "2009-08-17T12:35:56Z")
Finished Nation, by Terry Pratchett. I liked the narrator’s constant doubt and questioning of the gods, which I thought was pretty refreshing in a children’s book. The story itself was just okay. I’m just starting on Pat Conroy’s South of Broad. I like Conroy’s melodramatic style, but so far I’m not feeling that this will be one of his best. ---
**Author:** ![delphica](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e9a140/32.png) [@delphica](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/delphica)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2009, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-august-09-edition/504858/88 "2009-08-17T13:46:20Z")
_The Whiskey Rebels_ by David Liss. This was … eh, okay. Historical fiction/action/kind of a mystery set just after the American Revolution during the formation of Alexander Hamilton’s Bank of the United States. There wasn’t really anything wrong with it, but it doesn’t stand out, either. _In the Woods_, by Tana French. This was great. It’s one of those books that is what it is, a police procedural mystery, but made even better by really sharp writing and interesting characters. Two detectives start investigating a young girl’s murder outside of Dublin, and then it turns out that the crime may be related to a cold case that one of the detectives had been a victim of as a child. The best part is that it’s often _funny_, which I wasn’t really expecting from a book about a child murder. ---
**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:** [August 17, 2009, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-august-09-edition/504858/89 "2009-08-17T14:21:35Z")
I’m sucked into another Robin Hobb trilogy, starting with _Ship of Magic_. I’ve been in an unusual mood for traditional fantasy this year, and something about her writing really mesmerizes me. Even the fact that very single character is utterly miserable doesn’t put me off them. ---
**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:** [August 17, 2009, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-august-09-edition/504858/90 "2009-08-17T19:37:54Z")
Almost forgot, I also got through the latest Darwin Awards book this weekend. It _was_ rather forgettable, though. ---
**Author:** ![Gangster\_Octopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a8b319/32.png) [@Gangster\_Octopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gangster_Octopus)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2009, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-august-09-edition/504858/91 "2009-08-17T23:54:17Z")
Just finished _Last Chance to See_, written by Douglas Adams as he travels around the globe to see endangered species (Form about 20 years ago). I just picked up _Human Smoke_, the author escapes me, but it is kind of a funky tapestry of events that lead up to and start WWII. ---
**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:** [August 18, 2009, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-august-09-edition/504858/92 "2009-08-18T00:41:00Z")
I’m reading Daniel Silva’s new Gabriel Allon book, [_The Defector_](http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/5739373.The_Defector). It’s a decent sequel to the last one, _Moscow Rules_, and I’m still fascinated by the Israeli spy/assassin/art restorer main character, but man, is it ever brutal. I’m going to have to read something comic next. Or, at least something light on torture, kidnapping, insanity, murder and revenge. ---
**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:** [August 18, 2009, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-august-09-edition/504858/93 "2009-08-18T01:39:29Z")
> [@Gangster\_Octopus](#): > > Just finished _Last Chance to See_, written by Douglas Adams as he travels around the globe to see endangered species (Form about 20 years ago)… My book club read that about five years ago, and it really stuck with me. The Chinese river dolphins were a particularly sad story - but Douglas can find humor even in environmental tragedy. ---
**Author:** ![TheMerchandise](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b487fb/32.png) [@TheMerchandise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheMerchandise)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2009, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-august-09-edition/504858/94 "2009-08-18T14:34:52Z")
I’m reading \*The Bernini Bust \*by Iain Pears. It’s a unassuming little paperback that’s been sitting on my bookshelf forever. I’m really not sure where it came from, because mysteries aren’t my normal fare. But it’s fast-paced and cute and full of art references. I feel like I’ll finish it and then promptly forget everything about it. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2009, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-august-09-edition/504858/95 "2009-08-18T14:57:01Z")
Now I’m on **Portrait of An Unknown Woman** , about Thomas More told through the eyes of his ward. It’s a little too modern in its tone right now, but I’m interested in it. ---
**Author:** ![Loisseau](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/2bfe46/32.png) [@Loisseau](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loisseau)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2009, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-august-09-edition/504858/96 "2009-08-18T15:52:32Z")
I’m working my way through all the Lee Child-Jake Reacher books -just finished “_Bad Luck and Trouble_”. If you like action, and plot twists with a larger than life protagonist, the Reacher novels are hard to resist for beach reading. L. ---
**Author:** ![StGermain](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stgermain/32/2868_2.png) [@StGermain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StGermain)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2009, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-august-09-edition/504858/97 "2009-08-18T15:53:23Z")
I’m reading Julia Child’s _My Life in France_, after seeing _Julie and Julia_ and wishing it was all Julia all the time. I read _Relentless_ and was sorely disappointed. I’m wondering if Koontz is really a conspiracy theory nutjob, or if that’s what he writes because it sells. StG ---
**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:** [August 18, 2009, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-august-09-edition/504858/98 "2009-08-18T17:10:05Z")
> [@StGermain](#): > > I’m reading Julia Child’s _My Life in France_, after seeing _Julie and Julia_ and wishing it was all Julia all the time… My wife’s book club just read _My Life in France_, and then saw _Julie and Julia_ last night! When we were in Washington two weeks ago, we saw Julia’s recreated kitchen at the National Museum of American History, and then she was mentioned in an exhibit at the International Spy Museum. So this has been The Summer of Julia for us in many ways… ---
**Author:** ![Gangster\_Octopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a8b319/32.png) [@Gangster\_Octopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gangster_Octopus)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2009, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-august-09-edition/504858/99 "2009-08-18T18:36:09Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > My book club read that about five years ago, and it really stuck with me. The Chinese river dolphins were a particularly sad story - but Douglas can find humor even in environmental tragedy. Yeah, sadly it seems that the Baiji is now “functionally extinct”. No confirmed sitings since 2002. ---
**Author:** ![Enterprise](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/76d3ee/32.png) [@Enterprise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enterprise)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2009, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-august-09-edition/504858/100 "2009-08-19T14:00:41Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > Did you read “The Whisperer in Darkness” or “The Thing on the Doorstep”? I think those are two of his best. > > I’m now more than halfway through Joseph J. Ellis’s _American Creation_ and have really gotten into it. Still not as good as _Founding Brothers_, but pretty good. The chapter on Washington’s attempt to establish a mutually-beneficial treaty with the Creek Indians was quite interesting - I’d never heard about that before. I did indeed read “The Thing on the Doorstep” – that was very good indeed. I picked the Omnibus up again just now for “The Whisperer in Darkness”. Apart from that, I again got a little sidetracked. Over the weekend, I read C.S. Forester’s _The Happy Return_, which I enjoyed quite a bit. I also finished Naomi Novik’s _Throne of Jade_, the second Temeraire novel. Her writing could sustain that more intrigue-centered novel quite well, I have to say. Thirdly, I read _Royqal Flash_, the second Flashman novel. I wasn’t as thrilled with this as I was with the first one, but I liked it enough to put the third volume in my next batch of books. I’m still moving slowly through _The Pilot_, and I’ll have to pick a book to take on holiday soon… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-august-09-edition/504858.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-august-09-edition/504858.md?page=6)