# Whatcha Readin' Dec 2012 Edition **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 30, 2012, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-dec-2012-edition/642625 "2012-11-30T23:38:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**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:** [December 12, 2012, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-dec-2012-edition/642625/81 "2012-12-12T23:09:09Z")
> [@AuntiePam](#): > > Started _Dawn:Xenogenesis_ by Octavia Butler. I like the concept – aliens have rescued humans after a nuclear war, and are helping them repopulate the planet (which the aliens have made habitable again), but for a price… What’s the price? Spoiler it, please. ---
**Author:** ![DZedNConfused](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dzednconfused/32/15991_2.png) [@DZedNConfused](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DZedNConfused)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2012, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-dec-2012-edition/642625/82 "2012-12-12T23:35:36Z")
> [@jsgoddess](#): > > I love Alan Garner. Check him out. > > 50 books a week? No, I’m not going to believe that one. That doesn’t even make sense. Agree on Garner. And agreed on the 50 books a week, I can’t suspend my disbelief that far either. I started **Murder Most Medieval** yesterday. Martin H Greenburg is one of my favorite anthologists, I’ve collected every one I can find… ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2012, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-dec-2012-edition/642625/83 "2012-12-12T23:47:58Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > What’s the price? Spoiler it, please. Since spoilers appear in e-mail notifications, I’ll leave some extra space. As near as I can tell, the price involves an exchange/sharing of genetic material. I’d have to re-read the pages where the alien explains it to Lilith. (Which is another thing that bugged me – naming the main character Lilith.) Anyway, the aliens have already tampered with the humans they’re helping. The man who tries to rape Lilith says he’s fathered/donated sperm for 70 children that he’s never seen. ETA: Some of the Amazon reviewers say that the first book is the weakest of the trilogy, that the second and third are better. ---
**Author:** ![wonderlust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonderlust/32/7237_2.png) [@wonderlust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonderlust)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2012, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-dec-2012-edition/642625/84 "2012-12-13T00:05:35Z")
I loved the Xenogenesis Trilogy (Lilith’s Brood omnibus)! I thought it was fascinating. It made me an Octavia Butler fan. _Mea culpa!_ As for Jo Walton’s presumed prolific reading as a teen: upon re-reading that passage, I realize that her character was ordering 50 books a week, not sure if she was reading them all. But hey, _there be fairies_, so anything’s possible. I’d be happy to finish one book a week, and can’t for the life of me understand how people finish a typical book in 4-5 hours. But I’m probably wrong about that too. 😛 As for Alan Garner and other fantastic early works in general: I buy them, know they’re great, but am constantly tempted by newer stuff. In response to this tendency, this afternoon I’ve gathered all my unread, older or YA books into a prominent location where I will be reminded to read them. I literally have a floor-to-ceiling bookcase of “To be read sooner”, prioritized books to help me sift through all the unread books I have on my other shelves, when choosing my next read. Having so many books on hand to choose from thrills me, but also makes me despair of ever reading them all. ---
**Author:** ![LawMonkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d6d6ee/32.png) [@LawMonkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LawMonkey)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2012, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-dec-2012-edition/642625/85 "2012-12-13T01:28:03Z")
Wrapped up _ **Hallucinations** _ today. Good, but didn’t knock my socks off. A step behind _ **Musicophilia** _, IMO. Who would’ve thought hallucinations would be so mundane? On the other hand, I learned that apparently I’m fairly special in being able to imagine smells. Last week I discovered that the Brit oddball Robert Rankin’s books were available on Kindle. Before, I only got to read them when my local B&M happened to get a UK edition by accident. The wacky Monty Python-style surreal humor and the constant winks at Crowleyan occultism make these perfect for me. I picked up _ **The Book of Ultimate Truth** _s and have barely cracked it. ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2012, 2:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-dec-2012-edition/642625/86 "2012-12-13T02:16:31Z")
Finished _Whitechapel: The Final Stand of Sherlock Holmes by Bernard J. Schaffer_. Purists of Sherlock Holmes fans (as I am) will probably not like this. Mr Schaffer seemed to be trying to combine Conan Doyle’s and Thomas Harris’ genres and in doing so, did neither one justice. For most of the book Holmes is a pathetic drugged loser, Watson is a wimpy sad-sack, and Lestrade is a brutish thug who beats his prisoners. Schaffer goes into way too much detail of Jack The Rippers crimes - and IMO, spoils the “feel” of a good Holmes mystery. Had this not been a birthday gift, I would have likely put it down. While I stand by my review - I did not enjoy the book overall - I will say that the last few chapters where quite touching. They did not redeem the book for me, but still I liked them. This quote from the author should have been a clue: > [@](#): > > “Bill Thompson edited ‘Whitechapel,’ and his first question to me was, “Why in God’s name do you want to bring down Superman?” And my answer was, and remains, by breaking down Holmes as this untouchable machine, it gives him the chance to become the hero we need him to be.” As I have said in the past, if you cannot properly honor the original, why bother? Why not create your own characters? I will certainly avoid anything by this author in the future. ---
**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:** [December 13, 2012, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-dec-2012-edition/642625/87 "2012-12-13T18:41:33Z")
Thanks, **AuntiePam** , for the spoiler. You might like Butler’s short story “Bloodchild,” as well. I read it in the mid-Eighties and it’s stuck with me. For those who enjoyed _Cloud Atlas_, here’s a new trailer for the movie: [Cloud Atlas - Extended First Look [HD] - YouTube](http://www.youtube.com/watch?NR=1&v=UmJVFOKaGUY&feature=endscreen) ---
**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:** [December 14, 2012, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-dec-2012-edition/642625/88 "2012-12-14T01:14:22Z")
> [@Ian\_D.Bergkamp](#): > > I love Eco generally, and while all of his books tend toward the esoteric, _The Prague Cemetery_ is farther along that line than some and is probably not the best introduction to his work. Personally, I thought it was disappointingly dry. [The Name of the Rose](http://www.amazon.com/Name-Everymans-Library-Classics-Contemporary/dp/0307264890/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1355350636&sr=8-2&keywords=name+of+the+rose) is probably his most accessible work, followed (at some distance) by [Foucault’s Pendulum](http://www.amazon.com/Foucaults-Pendulum-Umberto-Eco/dp/015603297X/ref=la_B000APW210_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1355350701&sr=1-2). So if you do get the urge to read other books by him, I’d recommend either of those. Yes, do read _The Name of the Rose_. A wonderful book. ---
**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:** [December 14, 2012, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-dec-2012-edition/642625/89 "2012-12-14T13:23:02Z")
I’ve been travelling, so I’ve been reading a lot. I finished **Arthur, King of Britain** , that collection of original texts and criticism that I’ve been looking for, for ages. I also read Thomas Jefferson’s **Notes on the State of Virginia**. I picked up Bill Maher’s **When you Drive Alone, You Ride with Osama** , only a decade after it came out. And the anthology **By Any Other Fame** , a collection of alternate-history stories that looked promising (Franz Kafka visits Marie Curie’s lab and is bitten by a radioactive cockroach! Mae Westt as an Abbess (with W.C. Fields as bishop)! Groucho Marx plays Rhett Butler!), but it was disappointing ---
**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:** [December 17, 2012, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-dec-2012-edition/642625/90 "2012-12-17T13:54:27Z")
I also read **The Tangram Book** by Jerry Slocum. For years I’ve heard how the stories told about the ancient roots of this puzzle aren’t really true\*, but I’ve therefore wondered how old it really is. Jerry Slocum, the author, was apparently a puzzle lover and collector with money enough to buy and store lots of old puzzles and the wherewithal and connectrions to research it. He turns up how old the puzzle really is, what its origins were, where the name “tangrams” really comes from, whether or not it really was “Napoleon’s favorite game”, and lots of other tantalizing questions. He also includes a LOT of tangram puzzles, and their solutions. High;ly recommended. > **[The Tangram Book: The Story of the Chinese Puzzle with Over 2000 Puzzles to...](https://www.amazon.com/Tangram-Book-Chinese-Puzzle-Puzzles/dp/1402716885)** > > The Tangram Book: The Story of the Chinese Puzzle with Over 2000 Puzzles to Solve \[Slocum, Jerry, Botermans, Jacob, Gebhardt, Dieter, Ma, Monica, Ma, Xiaohe, Raizer, Harold, Sonneveld, Dic, van Splunteren, Carla\] on Amazon.com. \*FREE\* shipping on... \*Robert H. Van Gulik included Tangrams among the games played by his fictional version of the historical Judge Dee, but the game didn’t exist in T’ang dynasty China – although such rearrangement puzzles DO have a long history in East and West. For those who need some of the answers fast, see the Wikipedia page, which doesn’t give them all: [Tangram - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tangram) ---
**Author:** ![DZedNConfused](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dzednconfused/32/15991_2.png) [@DZedNConfused](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DZedNConfused)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2012, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-dec-2012-edition/642625/91 "2012-12-17T16:19:42Z")
I finished **Murder Most Medieval** this morning. I’m impressed there was really only one story in the collection that I thought wasn’t up to the rest of the collection. And I enjoyed the Margaret Frazer story far more than any of the Dame Frevisse books, so I’m rather interested in hunting up one of her Joffrey books now. ---
**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:** [December 17, 2012, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-dec-2012-edition/642625/92 "2012-12-17T18:38:00Z")
I just finished _Hitler Victorious_, a pretty uneven collection of alt hist short stories edited by Gregory Benford and Martin H. Greenberg; the best stories in it are “Thor Meets Captain America” by David Brin, and “Valhalla” by Benford himself. Then this morning I finished _Report to JFK_ by Richard Neustadt, about the 1962 Skybolt Crisis in U.S.-British relations. It seemed padded and almost plodding by the end. Meh. Still reading and enjoying Robert A. Heinlein’s _The Rolling Stones_ with my son, and have just begun _The City’s End_ by Max Page, about pop culture’s enduring fascination - in books, short stories and movies - with the destruction of New York City. ---
**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:** [December 19, 2012, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-dec-2012-edition/642625/93 "2012-12-19T15:31:16Z")
Finished _A Mencken Chrestomathy_, edited and annotated by HL Mencken. A selection of his essays from 1912 into the 1940s. I took my time reading it, as I didn’t like it as much as I had hoped. Much of it was okay, but even in his early 30s he was just a Cranky Old Man. He hated the New Deal, hated FDR. His seeming contempt for higher education prompted me to look him up to see if he’d actually had any. No he didn’t, but he did take a class from one of the early correspondence schools, and oddly enough he lit into how useless such schools and their students are in one of his essays. I didn’t care at all for his references to FDR as the Fuehrer. Granted, it was before World War II broke out, but I suspect he privately kept thinking of him that way even after. Claimed at one point that he was thankful not to be a Republican, but he sure sounded like one, except that – and to his credit – he also had absolutely no use for religion. All in all, it was okay to read, but I don’t think I need to read any more of him. Checked out a bunch more Michael Connelly from the library, and next up is _The Poet_ (1996), his first novel featuring Jack McEvoy. ---
**Author:** ![DZedNConfused](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dzednconfused/32/15991_2.png) [@DZedNConfused](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DZedNConfused)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2012, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-dec-2012-edition/642625/94 "2012-12-19T16:07:21Z")
I started **SPQR 5 Saturnalia** John Maddox Robert’s 5th book in his mystery series set in Ancient Rome. Well not _too_ ancient it’s the time just before Julius Caesar took power right now. I loved the two short stories about Decius Metellus so I bought some of the books to read. I loved book 1, hated 2& 3 and ripped through 4 like wild fire, laughing the whole way through it. 5 seems to fall somewhere left of love and right of hate… Roberts does seem to be rather on and off as far as humour and character attitude goes. I’m hoping he brings back the snark for book 6. ---
**Author:** ![LawMonkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d6d6ee/32.png) [@LawMonkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LawMonkey)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2012, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-dec-2012-edition/642625/95 "2012-12-19T16:28:51Z")
Finished _**[The Book of Ultimate Truths](http://www.amazon.com/Book-Ultimate-Truths-Robert-Rankin/dp/055213922X/)**_ a few days ago. I’m finding that Rankin is quite uneven–sometimes he knocks it out of the park, like _**[The Hollow Chocolate Bunnies of the Apocalypse](http://www.amazon.com/Hollow-Chocolate-Bunnies-Apocalypse-Gollancz/dp/0575074019)**_ or _**[Waiting for Godalming](http://www.amazon.com/Waiting-Godalming-Robert-Rankin/dp/0552147427)**_, and sometimes it’s a snoozefest, like _**[Knees Up Mother Earth](http://www.amazon.com/Knees-Mother-Earth-Brentford-Trilogy/dp/0575076496)**_. This was somewhere in the middle–hilarious bits with the heroes displaying brilliant genre savvy, and rather pedestrian stretches. Lots of those latter, really. Decent read, but not really recommended. Now I’m starting in on _**[Chasing Doctor Dolittle: Learning the Language of Animals](http://www.amazon.com/Chasing-Doctor-Dolittle-Learning-Language/dp/031261179X)**_. Listened to a Diane Rehm episode with the author and found it fascinating, and as a critter-lover who’s dreamed every day of being able to talk to the animals, it was too good to resist. Aside: Has anyone had problems with the Goodreads iPad app? I was at my local having a beer and decided to try to write my review of the Rankin novel. Unfortunately, when it brought up the review entry dialog, it wouldn’t accept any typing! This is the second time this has happened, and I’m curious if it’s the app or peculiar to me. ---
**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:** [December 19, 2012, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-dec-2012-edition/642625/96 "2012-12-19T16:32:40Z")
I’m about three-quarters of the way through **Tuf Voyaging**. It’s more of a collection of novellas than one entire novel. The stories are entertaining, but I could not care less about the main character (Tuf). He may as well be a robot. ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2012, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-dec-2012-edition/642625/97 "2012-12-19T16:48:37Z")
I’m really enjoying _Up Jim River_ by Michael Flynn. The main character is a former agent/spy of some sort. His brain was tampered with and there are several personalities in his head. There’s a Brute, a Pedant, an Inner Child. A woman (also an agent) has disappeared and he’s helping the woman’s daughter look for her. They’re traveling to different worlds, all settled by humans but without any sense of unity. It seems that when we went to space, we took our prejudices with us. Flynn’s having a lot of fun with this, especially with language. One of the major civilizations is on Eireann (Ireland, I’m guessing) and the language is Gaelactic. I wish I knew more languages, because I’m sure I’m missing a lot. It’s a long time in the future, and apparently a lot of human history was lost, or transferred orally. I think the plot involves DNA but they don’t know it’s DNA, and there’s talk of the mighty Kondrians. I think there was an earlier book with these characters, but I don’t feel like I’m missing a lot by not having read it. ---
**Author:** ![wonderlust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonderlust/32/7237_2.png) [@wonderlust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonderlust)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2012, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-dec-2012-edition/642625/98 "2012-12-19T18:19:53Z")
> [@AuntiePam](#): > > I’m really enjoying _Up Jim River_ by Michael Flynn. The main character is a former agent/spy of some sort. His brain was tampered with and there are several personalities in his head. There’s a Brute, a Pedant, an Inner Child. A woman (also an agent) has disappeared and he’s helping the woman’s daughter look for her. > > They’re traveling to different worlds, all settled by humans but without any sense of unity. It seems that when we went to space, we took our prejudices with us. Flynn’s having a lot of fun with this, especially with language. One of the major civilizations is on Eireann (Ireland, I’m guessing) and the language is Gaelactic. I wish I knew more languages, because I’m sure I’m missing a lot. > > It’s a long time in the future, and apparently a lot of human history was lost, or transferred orally. I think the plot involves DNA but they don’t know it’s DNA, and there’s talk of the mighty Kondrians. > > I think there was an earlier book with these characters, but I don’t feel like I’m missing a lot by not having read it. Did you read _The January Dancer_? I reluctantly gave up on that, and am wondering if _Up Jim River_ is better. ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2012, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-dec-2012-edition/642625/99 "2012-12-19T18:23:26Z")
> [@wonderlust](#): > > Did you read _The January Dancer_? I reluctantly gave up on that, and am wondering if _Up Jim River_ is better. No. Is that the one that ties in with _Up Jim River_? The only downside to this book is that I don’t care if they find the girl’s mother or not. But I’m not sure if I’m supposed to care. I’m very entertained – by the language, by the people in this guy’s head, and by visiting all these different worlds. I’m about halfway through and haven’t been bored for a second. ---
**Author:** ![yellowval](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/919ad9/32.png) [@yellowval](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yellowval)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2012, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-dec-2012-edition/642625/100 "2012-12-19T20:07:31Z")
I finished “The Time Machine” last night. It was a fun read. I’m now on to “Watership Down.” I’ve joined a new book club at the library and it’s our first selection. It’s not something I probably would have chosen for myself (rabbits?), but I’m hoping I enjoy it anyway. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-dec-2012-edition/642625.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-dec-2012-edition/642625.md?page=6)