# 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:** 7
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2012, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-dec-2012-edition/642625/121 "2012-12-23T15:24:03Z")
Finished _Trapped_ the latest in the Iron Druid series. It was a serviceable entry in the series, neither good nor bad. I can’t put my finger on exactly why, but much of it felt forced to me - and I’m not even sure what I mean by “forced.” But I still enjoyed it as an over-all part of the series and I will of course, read the next. ---
**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 23, 2012, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-dec-2012-edition/642625/122 "2012-12-23T17:23:51Z")
I started **Boneshaker** by Cherie Preist yesterday. I’m not certain if it’s a good sign that the intro narration was more interesting than the actual 10 pages of storyso far… ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2012, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-dec-2012-edition/642625/123 "2012-12-23T19:18:31Z")
Waging Heavy Peace, Neil Young’s autobiography. ---
**Author:** ![Maeglin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8baadc/32.png) [@Maeglin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maeglin)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2012, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-dec-2012-edition/642625/124 "2012-12-24T00:16:48Z")
I’m reading _Underworld_ by Don DeLillo. **CalMeacham** , it sounds like you are getting ready for _The Fall of Arthur_ in May! ---
**Author:** ![Doctor\_Who](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ed8c4c/32.png) [@Doctor\_Who](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doctor_Who)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2012, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-dec-2012-edition/642625/125 "2012-12-24T00:44:03Z")
> [@LawMonkey](#): > > If you are absolutely panting for more footnotes when you finish Strange & Norrell, you might look at _**[City of Saints and Madmen](http://www.amazon.com/City-Saints-Madmen-Jeff-Vandermeer/dp/0553383574)**_, by Jeff Vandermeer. _The Hoegbotton Guide to the Early History of Ambergris_ uses them to good effect–the central conceit being that the author is a Serious Scholar who is rather annoyed at being asked/required to write a pamphlet for tourists, and he has therefore decided to put all of the most interesting material in the footnotes, which he knows the average reader will ignore. 😛 The Bartimaeus Trilogy by Jonathan Stroud also uses footnotes to great effect. ---
**Author:** ![movingfinger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@movingfinger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/movingfinger)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2012, 7:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-dec-2012-edition/642625/126 "2012-12-24T07:46:04Z")
The footnotes in the \*\*Flashman \*\*series are frequently hilarious. ---
**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 27, 2012, 4:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-dec-2012-edition/642625/127 "2012-12-27T04:08:54Z")
Recently finished _The City’s End_ by Max Page, about Americans’ abiding interest (since an 1812 book) in the fictional destruction of New York City - in writing, radio, games, TV and movies. Good concept for a book, but poorly edited and didn’t quite reach its full potential. Also finished _Bonhomme Richard vs. Serapis_ by Mark Lardas, a small, nicely-illustrated book about John Paul Jones’s great 1779 triumph off the British coast. Had some interesting background stuff on naval design and shipbuilding that I’d never read before. ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2012, 5:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-dec-2012-edition/642625/128 "2012-12-27T05:04:34Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > Recently finished _The City’s End_ by Max Page, about Americans’ abiding interest (since an 1812 book) in the fictional destruction of New York City - in writing, radio, games, TV and movies. Good concept for a book, but poorly edited and didn’t quite reach its full potential. > > Also finished _Bonhomme Richard vs. Serapis_ by Mark Lardas, a small, nicely-illustrated book about John Paul Jones’s great 1779 triumph off the British coast. Had some interesting background stuff on naval design and shipbuilding that I’d never read before. How do you find stuff like that? Do you hear about it and go looking for it? Are you browsing bookstores? I’ve at least heard of most of the books in these threads, but those two are kinda different. **jsgoddess** , the footnotes were my favorite part of _Strange & Norrell_ too. ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2012, 12:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-dec-2012-edition/642625/129 "2012-12-27T12:39:36Z")
I hated the footnotes. Many times they spilled over into the next page and often they filled more of the page than the actual text. For me it was a conceit that greatly took away from the book, and as I mentioned upthread (I think) I kept waiting for a plot to develop. I never finished the book. I think it might have been clever had it been more judiciously used. But because of how annoying I found it in _Strange & Norrell_\*. \*I make sure now that I check to see if a book has them \*before \*I buy 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:** [December 27, 2012, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-dec-2012-edition/642625/130 "2012-12-27T13:53:43Z")
I finished Jim Butcher’s latest Dresden Files…now I am sad, because I think it will be awhile before I enjoy a book that much again, and it takes so long for the next one to come out, and what if something happens to Mr. Butcher before the end of the series? :eek: Yesterday I read Frances Hodgson Burnett’s _A Lady of Quality_, which in a way, was awful, but also bizarre and compelling. I’m not going to recommend it, but I can’t say I didn’t have a blast with it myself. I’m starting now on [Homegrown in Florida](http://www.amazon.com/Homegrown-Florida-William-McKeen/dp/0813042054/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1356615875&sr=8-1&keywords=homegrown+in+florida), a collection of stories about growing up in Florida. I mostly picked it up for Tom Petty’s contribution (he lived in the same city I do). I was born in Florida in 1970 and have lived in several places within the state, so I expect I’ll recognize lots of stuff mentioned, and hopefully it’ll be worth reading for more than that. ---
**Author:** ![wei\_ji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e9a140/32.png) [@wei\_ji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wei_ji)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2012, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-dec-2012-edition/642625/131 "2012-12-27T19:26:17Z")
–“Hell to Pay” by D.M. Giangreco It’s the story of Operation Downfall, the planned invasion of Japan in 1945-1947, and the Japanese counter plan to resist it. The issue being weighed is whether the Atomic bombings were justified historically and the decision to employ them made rationally. It’s written to counter revisionists who say “No.” –“Novus Ordo Seclorum” by Forest McDonald I’m still slowly working through this one, making sure I “get it.” It’s a scholar’s detailed (and dendritic) exploration of the intellectual origins of the U.S. Constitution; a study of the Framers’ assumptions as understood in their own context–“Where they were coming from,” to put a modern spin on it. ---
**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 28, 2012, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-dec-2012-edition/642625/132 "2012-12-28T01:23:07Z")
> [@AuntiePam](#): > > How do you find stuff like that? Do you hear about it and go looking for it? Are you browsing bookstores? I’ve at least heard of most of the books in these threads, but those two are kinda different… I read a review of the destroying-New-York book, and saw the _Bonhomme Richard_ book listed in a catalog of military and naval history books. I ordered both from my local library (which has a very efficient interlibrary loan program) since I knew they probably weren’t the kind of books I’d want to keep on my already-groaning shelves. I do have pretty eclectic interests, though. ---
**Author:** ![tellyworth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/977dab/32.png) [@tellyworth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tellyworth)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2012, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-dec-2012-edition/642625/133 "2012-12-28T01:51:05Z")
I received a nice edition of The Hobbit as a gift. I’m hoping to finish that in time before I go see the movie. It’s been many years since my last read, so I’ve forgotten all but a few scenes. ---
**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 28, 2012, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-dec-2012-edition/642625/134 "2012-12-28T02:06:40Z")
Finished _The Poet_, by Michael Connelly. A Denver journalist mourns the death of his twin brother, a homicide detective who committed suicide … or did he? To work through the grieving process, he decides to write a feature about police suicides and in conducting research uncovers a serial killer who travels around the country murdering homicide detectives and making it look like suicide. An excellent read, as always with Connelly Next up and still on Connelly: _Chasing the Dime_. I’ll be taking that with me upcountry this weekend. ---
**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 28, 2012, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-dec-2012-edition/642625/135 "2012-12-28T02:54:48Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > Finished _The Poet_, by Michael Connelly. A Denver journalist mourns the death of his twin brother, a homicide detective who committed suicide … or did he? To work through the grieving process, he decides to write a feature about police suicides and in conducting research uncovers a serial killer who travels around the country murdering homicide detectives and making it look like suicide. An excellent read, as always with Connelly > > Next up and still on Connelly: _Chasing the Dime_. I’ll be taking that with me upcountry this weekend. Ouch, that was kind of a spoiler… ---
**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 28, 2012, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-dec-2012-edition/642625/136 "2012-12-28T03:08:57Z")
> [@DZedNConfused](#): > > Ouch, that was kind of a spoiler… Not at all. It becomes apparent _very_ early what’s going on. And the blurb on the book cover tells it as well. I mean, come on, it _is_ a _murder_ mystery. That’s no spoiler. The story is the hunt for the killer. And is it killer or killers? ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2012, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-dec-2012-edition/642625/137 "2012-12-28T03:33:19Z")
Finished \*The 100-Year-Old Secret (Sherlock Files) \*purchased for me for Christmas by a well-meaning friend who knows of my interest in Sherlock Holmes, but (apparently) did not read the description very well. Xena and Xander Holmes are direct descendants of Sherlock Holmes and when they move to London from the US they come into possession a notebook full of Sherlock’s unsolved case files. They then proceed to go about solving one of the mysteries. If I were in the target age-group it was probably a passable read. (Even though I will read young-adult books, this was targeted at even younger.) If you know someone _Age Level: 8 and up_ who enjoys mysteries, I will recommend this. As it is, I will not be reading more from the series. ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2012, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-dec-2012-edition/642625/138 "2012-12-28T23:26:48Z")
Finished _Split-Second Persuasion: The Ancient Art and New Science of Changing Minds_. It was an interesting read regarding why and how we are persuaded to do things. I had hoped there might be more teaching of the practice than there was, but it was still interesting enough. ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2012, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-dec-2012-edition/642625/139 "2012-12-29T22:57:11Z")
Right now, I’m a bit more than midway through Thornton Wilder’s _ **The Bridge of San Luis Rey.** _ Short novel, and fast reading. Should be finished by tonight. ---
**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 30, 2012, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-dec-2012-edition/642625/140 "2012-12-30T03:52:06Z")
I just raced through _Tool of the Trade_ by Joe Haldeman, a fantastic Cold War/sf espionage novel that’s long been a favorite of mine. I must reread it every four or five years. I’m also on the last hundred pages of _Stolen Lives_ by Malika Oufkir, a memoir about an elite Moroccan family imprisoned for almost 20 years after their father is implicated in a coup attempt against King Hassan II. It’s just so-so. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-dec-2012-edition/642625.md?page=6) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-dec-2012-edition/642625.md?page=8)