# Whatcha Readin' August 2012 Edition **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 31, 2012, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-august-2012-edition/629986 "2012-07-31T19:52:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Snickers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5daacb/32.png) [@Snickers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snickers)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2012, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-august-2012-edition/629986/61 "2012-08-09T17:17:33Z")
Hmmm. That does look pretty good, **AuntiePam** - I’ll have to check it out! ---
**Author:** ![Sigmagirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c89c15/32.png) [@Sigmagirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigmagirl)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2012, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-august-2012-edition/629986/62 "2012-08-10T13:43:53Z")
_Purgatory Chasm_ was quite good, and I’ll be looking for his other books. The premise: a recovering alcoholic and parolee belongs to an AA group whose members will do anything for each other, and they call on him when somebody needs a little ass whuppin’. One old guy says he took his classic car into a restoration shop for some work, and they’ve had it for a long time and haven’t done any work and won’t give him his money back, and he want the narrator to go over there and get his car and money back. But _things aren’t always what they seem!_ and he steps in a big ol’ pile o’shit. I like imaginative plots instead of just the usual “I’m a PI and this is my case,” unless those are extremely well written. Now starting _A Fountain Filled with Blood_ by Julia Spencer-Fleming, second in a series about a female Episcopal priest; here, one of her acquaintances has been the victim of a gay-bashing. I’m just starting so I don’t know if that’s the main plot. ---
**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 10, 2012, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-august-2012-edition/629986/63 "2012-08-10T14:25:03Z")
Starting today on [Cold in July](http://www.amazon.com/Cold-July-Joe-R-Lansdale/dp/0446404306), by Joe R. Lansdale, who continues to cement his place as my second favorite living author. ---
**Author:** ![gallows\_fodder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8c91f0/32.png) [@gallows\_fodder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gallows_fodder)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2012, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-august-2012-edition/629986/64 "2012-08-10T15:57:35Z")
> [@Alice\_The\_Goon](#): > > _The Crimson Petal And The White_. I’m enjoying it. One of my very favorites. 🙂 Let me know if you want to discuss it! I’ve been reading some YA books to compensate for my weakened attention span. Last week, I finished Kristin Cashore’s **Bitterblue** , which started out gripping and…uh…ended up dripping (with overwrought emotion). What a let-down. I just finished the second book in James Dashner’s Maze Trilogy, **The Scorch Trials** , which was a disappointment after the really decent first book, **The Maze Runner.** Same “kids trying to survive in a post-apocalyptic world in a rigged scenario” vibe as the Hunger Games, but much better written (and the similarities end there). Today I’ve started Patrick Ness’ **The Knife of Never Letting Go**. ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2012, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-august-2012-edition/629986/65 "2012-08-10T17:00:58Z")
> [@Sigmagirl](#): > > I like imaginative plots instead of just the usual “I’m a PI and this is my case,” unless those are extremely well written. Then you’d probably like _Hell or High Water_ by Joy Castro. I’m not finished yet but it’s shaping up to be a five-star read. The main character isn’t a PI (and doesn’t want to be), but as she does a newspaper story on registered sex offenders, she’s asking around about an active serial killer. Mixed in with this are her memories of growing up in a housing project, being neither black nor white in a black or white society, having friends with privileged backgrounds, and being sexual but so afraid of relationships that she carries condoms and picks up guys in bars. The interviews with the RSO’s are intriguing, and scary, and educational without being preachy or judgmental. ---
**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 11, 2012, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-august-2012-edition/629986/66 "2012-08-11T01:35:09Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > Over the weekend I got sidelined by _The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Volume III: Century_, written by Alan Moore and illustrated by Kevin O’Neill. The first two are set in 1910 and 1969. Not as good as the earlier volumes, I’d say, but still pretty interesting, with so many British pop-culture allusions, I’m sure many are going over my head. Finished this, and also Robert Lacey’s _The Queen: A Life in Brief_, a very short (166 pages) bio of Elizabeth II. If you want a once-over-lightly of Her Majesty’s life, this is a good one. ---
**Author:** ![Malthus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/85f322/32.png) [@Malthus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malthus)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2012, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-august-2012-edition/629986/67 "2012-08-11T23:06:31Z")
> [@RandMcnally](#): > > I’m about a quarter of the way through _Cloud Atlas_. It’s a book I would never read myself, but my friend raved about it over and over, so I’m pushing my way through it. I’m liking it so far. It’s…different. Oddly enough, there is a film version being made. Has a trailer out: [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/hWnAqFyaQ5s/maxresdefault.jpg "Cloud Atlas Extended Trailer #1 (2012) - Tom Hanks, Halle Berry, Wachowski Movie HD") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hWnAqFyaQ5s) ---
**Author:** ![LVBoPeep](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/858c86/32.png) [@LVBoPeep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LVBoPeep)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2012, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-august-2012-edition/629986/68 "2012-08-12T00:45:05Z")
> [@Malthus](#): > > Oddly enough, there is a film version being made. Has a trailer out: > > [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hWnAqFyaQ5s](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hWnAqFyaQ5s) Wow, that will be something if they can pull it off. ---
**Author:** ![Alice\_The\_Goon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ed8c4c/32.png) [@Alice\_The\_Goon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alice_The_Goon)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2012, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-august-2012-edition/629986/69 "2012-08-12T00:50:58Z")
> [@gallows\_fodder](#): > > One of my very favorites. 🙂 Let me know if you want to discuss it! Okay- I am almost done with it and I’ll PM you. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Malthus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/85f322/32.png) [@Malthus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malthus)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2012, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-august-2012-edition/629986/70 "2012-08-12T13:23:30Z")
> [@LVBoPeep](#): > > Wow, that will be something if they can pull it off. The trailer looks great - but how they plan to put it all together, I dunno. I am cautiously optimistic … ---
**Author:** ![Allatsea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Allatsea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Allatsea)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2012, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-august-2012-edition/629986/71 "2012-08-12T13:49:18Z")
> [@yellowval](#): > > I finished #4 in the Laura Ingalls Wilder series, “On the Banks of Plum Creek,” and started “By the Shores of Silver Lake.” I love how the writing in the series gets more mature as Laura does. “Silver Lake” started out really sad and I was sobbing in the first chapter. ☹ > > I’m also reading “The Terror” by Dan Simmons but am having a bit of a hard time getting into it. Has anyone else read this one? Does it get better or am I better calling it quits before I get 350 pages in and feel like I have to slog through the rest? It gets better - hang in there! I read it about two years ago and it’s still in my head when many I’ve read since have flown. ---
**Author:** ![Sigmagirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c89c15/32.png) [@Sigmagirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigmagirl)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2012, 2:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-august-2012-edition/629986/72 "2012-08-13T02:32:42Z")
> [@AuntiePam](#): > > Then you’d probably like _Hell or High Water_ by Joy Castro. Ha! I had this on reserve at the library and picked it up yesterday! I finished _A Fountain Filled with Blood_ – don’t bother – and am about 2/3 through _The House at Sea’s End_ by Elly Griffiths, third in a series about an English anthropologist who works with police. I’ll look up her previous books. And I’ll start _Hell or High Water_ tomorrow! ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2012, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-august-2012-edition/629986/73 "2012-08-13T02:41:22Z")
Mostly through _New Cthulhu: The Recent Weird_, a compilation of new(er) Cthulhu stories. The Neil Gaiman story _A Study in Emerald_ is excellent and can be found on-line for free. I also liked _Old Virginia_ and _Another Fish Story_, among others. Down to 4 stories left. ---
**Author:** ![Rollo\_Tomasi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/58956e/32.png) [@Rollo\_Tomasi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rollo_Tomasi)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2012, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-august-2012-edition/629986/74 "2012-08-13T02:41:29Z")
I finished Khaled Hosseini’s _A Thousand Splendid Suns_ earlier this month, and I actually liked it more than _The Kite Runner_. I found the historical material interesting but the characters rather flat in _Kite Runner_, but I thought this one was much more well rounded and compelling. I’m now working on _Cosmopolis_ by Don DeLillo. The movie is coming out in a few weeks, and I like to read the book first whenever possible. So far, it’s . . . interesting. DeLillo’s style might not be quite my thing, but I do like the writing, even if I’m rarely ever sure of What It All Means. ---
**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 13, 2012, 3:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-august-2012-edition/629986/75 "2012-08-13T03:59:21Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > There’s always the vaginal bottle-opening trick. “Ya looked like ya might be thirsty!” Old joke. ---
**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 13, 2012, 12:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-august-2012-edition/629986/76 "2012-08-13T12:30:36Z")
I’m reading [Beany Malone](http://www.amazon.com/Beany-Malone-Lenora-Mattingly-Weber/dp/0963960741/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1344860470&sr=1-1&keywords=beany+Malone), by Lenora Mattingly Weber, a teen read published in 1948. Cozy and wholesome to the max. ---
**Author:** ![TheMerchandise](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b487fb/32.png) [@TheMerchandise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheMerchandise)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2012, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-august-2012-edition/629986/77 "2012-08-13T13:56:38Z")
I just finished listening to the audiobook version of[The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet](http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7141642-the-thousand-autumns-of-jacob-de-zoet). Jacob de Zoet, a stubbornly honorable clerk, is at the center of the story, as he tries to acquaint himself with Japan of the year 1799. It’s an exotic land, both geographically and psychologically. Jacob is surrounded by an unsavory lot of fellow tradesman, a group of sycophantic Japanese interpreters and the beguiling burned midwife Orito. This was my first experience with David Mitchell and I’m incredibly impressed with him as a craftsman. The amount of research that he must of done to create this novel is astounding. ---
**Author:** ![Snickers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5daacb/32.png) [@Snickers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snickers)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2012, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-august-2012-edition/629986/78 "2012-08-13T14:47:04Z")
I finished [The Diary of Anne Frank](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diary_of_anne_frank) last week - a really good read. I do rather wish that she would’ve focused more on politics and what was going on for Jews, but she was also a) 13 - 14 and b) stuck in the Annex all of the time, and thus might not have known. Very sobering, and very tragic. ---
**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 13, 2012, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-august-2012-edition/629986/79 "2012-08-13T16:41:31Z")
> [@Mrs.Cake](#): > > Getting ready to re-read _Tales of the City_ for the first time in maybe 20 years. Wonder what it will read like now? I read the first four books in the series again a few years ago and thought they were fun and nostalgic, rather than dated, though I think the second and third books (_More Tales_ and _Further Tales_) hold up better than the first. I’m reading _The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo_ and listening to _The Limpopo Academy of Private Detection_. No, not at the same time, but when I fall asleep listening to The Limpopo Academy, I have dark violent dreams in hot lyrical locations. ---
**Author:** ![yellowval](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/919ad9/32.png) [@yellowval](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yellowval)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2012, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-august-2012-edition/629986/80 "2012-08-13T16:42:39Z")
Two more Laura Ingalls Wilder books down—The Long Winter and Little Town on the Prairie. Working on These Happy Golden Years now, then just The First Four Years to go. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-august-2012-edition/629986.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-august-2012-edition/629986.md?page=5)