# Whatcha readin' December edition
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-december-edition/428298
**Category:** Cafe Society
**Created:** [November 30, 2007, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-december-edition/428298 "2007-11-30T13:22:08Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 6
### Author:  [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)
#### Post date: [December 12, 2007, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-december-edition/428298/101 "2007-12-12T17:05:23Z")
> [@](#):
>
> The Big Year A tale of three birders out to set the record for most species sighted…you guessed it, in a year.
I enjoyed this well enough, but I was surprised that there was no mention of Phoebe Snetsinger, whose remarkable life list is chronicled in her book _Birding on Borrowed Time_ (Amazon will tell you it’s out of print, but it’s not). You might also enjoy Koeppel’s _To See Every Bird on Earth,_ which was how I learned about Snetsinger. Ignore Blechman’s _Pigeons: The Fascinating Saga of the World’s Most Revered and Reviled Bird._ My reviews of _The Big Year, Birding on Borrowed Time,_ and _Pigeons_ are at [shoshanapnw.livejournal.com](http://shoshanapnw.livejournal.com).
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### Author:  [@chowder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chowder)
#### Post date: [December 12, 2007, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-december-edition/428298/102 "2007-12-12T18:50:25Z")
[QUOTE=ForumBot]
It sucks. Pick up Bill Bryson if you want someone who doesn’t know what they’re talking about pontificating on Big Ideas. At least he’s funny.
[/QUOTE]
He sure is funny but I wouldn’t go so far as to say he doesn’t know what he’s talking about.
Well, maybe I would 😃 on certain subjects, not all
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### Author:  [@Illuminatiprimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Illuminatiprimus)
#### Post date: [December 12, 2007, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-december-edition/428298/103 "2007-12-12T19:15:42Z")
Well I gave up on _The devil in amber_ as it nosedived into utter crapness after a promising start, even though at the time I was on the tube and the only alternative was to play “snake” on my Nokia phone. So onto monarch bashing with Johann Hari, hopefully it’ll be more entertaining.
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### Author:  [@HazelNutCoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HazelNutCoffee)
#### Post date: [December 12, 2007, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-december-edition/428298/104 "2007-12-12T19:16:59Z")
I just read a play called _The Pillowman_. It’s awesome. And creepy. And very short. Everyone should read it.
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### Author:  [@ForumBot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ForumBot)
#### Post date: [December 12, 2007, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-december-edition/428298/105 "2007-12-12T19:22:05Z")
[QUOTE=chowder]
He sure is funny but I wouldn’t go so far as to say he doesn’t know what he’s talking about.
[/quote]
Bill Bryson is perpetually clueless. He very happily admits this and has made a career out of it. And I love him for it.
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### Author:  [@Captain\_C](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_C)
#### Post date: [December 12, 2007, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-december-edition/428298/106 "2007-12-12T19:27:25Z")
I just picked up a copy of Dawkin’s _The God Delusion_ to get me through until Christmas.
Edit: (I meant that in a ‘give me something to read’ sense. Upon further consideration, that sentence made me chuckle).
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### Author:  [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)
#### Post date: [December 12, 2007, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-december-edition/428298/107 "2007-12-12T19:29:11Z")
An Amazon order came today, four hardcovers, loose in the box, no padding. If I was collecting, I’d be ticked – dust jackets bumped and one has a small tear.
Anyway, the books (chosen from an Amazon Best of 2007 list) are:
_Down River_ by John Hart, a thriller about a man charged with murder. After he’s acquitted, he leaves town for several years but comes back, and stuff ensues.
_The Shotgun Rule_ by Charlie Huston – small town kids get mixed up with some bad people.
_Someone Knows My Name_ by Lawrence Hill – historical about a slave woman in Revolutionary War times. The UK title for this is _The Book of Negroes_. I’m a bit disappointed that the title was changed in the US. I’ve looked around but can’t find anything that explains the change. I’m assuming political correctness. Unless the publisher thinks Americans are so stoopid they’d see the title and think “It’s a catalog! We can buy Negroes again? Cool!”
_The Name of the Wind_ by Patrick Rothfuss – epic series fantasy that I’ve heard a lot of good things about. High hopes.
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### Author:  [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)
#### Post date: [December 12, 2007, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-december-edition/428298/108 "2007-12-12T23:09:38Z")
[QUOTE=AuntiePam]
\
_The Name of the Wind_ by Patrick Rothfuss – epic series fantasy that I’ve heard a lot of good things about. High hopes.
[/QUOTE]
I quite enjoyed it. I can’t wait until the next one. Please let me know what you think of it.
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### Author:  [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)
#### Post date: [December 12, 2007, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-december-edition/428298/109 "2007-12-12T23:15:27Z")
I’ll do that. I’ve been unhappy with the last few new fantasy novels I’ve tried. Hated _Elantris_ and _Octavian Nothing_, wasn’t nuts about _The Blade Itself_ (but I’ve heard that one gets better), thought _Lies of Locke Lamora_ was overhyped. So fingers crossed for the Rothfuss!
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### Author:  [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)
#### Post date: [December 12, 2007, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-december-edition/428298/110 "2007-12-12T23:22:17Z")
[QUOTE=AuntiePam]
I’ll do that. I’ve been unhappy with the last few new fantasy novels I’ve tried. Hated _Elantris_ and _Octavian Nothing_, wasn’t nuts about _The Blade Itself_ (but I’ve heard that one gets better), thought _Lies of Locke Lamora_ was overhyped. So fingers crossed for the Rothfuss!
[/QUOTE]
I thought _Lies of Locke Lamora_ had real potential. I was excited about it when I started it. But in the end I thought the follow-through was a let down. None-the-less I’m going to give the next one a try (I \*think \*it is out and it was on my Christmas list.)
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### Author:  [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)
#### Post date: [December 12, 2007, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-december-edition/428298/111 "2007-12-12T23:49:26Z")
I thought _Lies_ was a little light, but that’s just me. I like my fantasy a bit darker, more intense. I never felt like anyone was in real danger with all those improbable capers, and I didn’t feel like I “knew” any of the characters. When one of them was finally killed, I should have cared, but I didn’t.
I did like Lynch’s writing style, which doesn’t make much sense, since I didn’t like the story. 🙂
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### Author:  [@Tapiotar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tapiotar)
#### Post date: [December 12, 2007, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-december-edition/428298/112 "2007-12-12T23:59:52Z")
[QUOTE=delphica]
Recent reads:
_Mystery Mile_, Marjery Allingham. This was a lot of fun, I haven’t read anything by Allingham before. Classic British mystery – manor house, a vicar, wacky gentry. Usually when the back of mystery novel says something like “Dorothy Sayers fans will love this!” it is the kiss of death for me, because really, Dorothy Sayers is a very high standard and it generally sets me up for disappointment, but I ended up loving this and am excited because Allingham wrote about a million books.
I like Margery Allingham. Oh, they aren’t all good, but you’ve got the best ones still to come. FWIW, my favorites are Death of a Ghost, Dancers in Mourning, The Fashion in Shrouds. This is in roughly chronological order. They are more serious and better written than Mystery Mile, but not as playful. Like the diffrerence between Whose Body and Murder Must Advertise, but never as lyrical as The Nine Tailors.
If you like classic British mystery, have you ever read much Ngaio Marsh? It looks like some of hers are coming back into print in the US. I think she wrote about 50 or so…
But if you like looney humor, Edmund Crispin’s Gervaise Fen mysteries are wonderful. The Moving Toyshop is my favorite.
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### Author:  [@Eleanor\_of\_Aquitaine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eleanor_of_Aquitaine)
#### Post date: [December 13, 2007, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-december-edition/428298/113 "2007-12-13T00:24:56Z")
[QUOTE=AuntiePam]
I’ll do that. I’ve been unhappy with the last few new fantasy novels I’ve tried…
[/QUOTE]
**AuntiePam** , have you tried Lois McMaster Bujold’s fantasy? I recently read and enjoyed _The Curse of Chalion_ and _Paladin of Souls_.
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### Author:  [@Catamount](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Catamount)
#### Post date: [December 13, 2007, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-december-edition/428298/114 "2007-12-13T00:55:29Z")
[This post](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=9265422&postcount=229) describes the current state of my Reading Pile.
Obviously, I’m on break. 🙂
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### Author:  [@Kythereia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kythereia)
#### Post date: [December 13, 2007, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-december-edition/428298/115 "2007-12-13T01:02:03Z")
I just finished off _Coraline_ by Neil Gaiman and _You Suck_ by Christopher Moore, and now I’m angling for _The Hippopotamus_ by Stephen Fry. I’ve got _Saving Fish from Drowning_ by Amy Tan and the fourth book of the Unfortunate Events series, _The Miserable Mill_, on my shelf…
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### Author:  [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)
#### Post date: [December 13, 2007, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-december-edition/428298/116 "2007-12-13T02:50:59Z")
[QUOTE=Eleanor of Aquitaine]
**AuntiePam** , have you tried Lois McMaster Bujold’s fantasy? I recently read and enjoyed _The Curse of Chalion_ and _Paladin of Souls_.
[/QUOTE]
No, but I will. I keep hearing about her, and it’s all good.
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### Author:  [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)
#### Post date: [December 13, 2007, 3:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-december-edition/428298/117 "2007-12-13T03:59:28Z")
I finished _Mr. American_, by George MacDonald Fraser. Very good, and for you Flashman fans, he makes some appearances in the story, at ages 87 and 92.
Today I will begin _Cities of the Plain_, Cormac McCarthy’s final installment in his Border Trilogy.
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### Author:  [@Shirley\_Ujest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shirley_Ujest)
#### Post date: [December 13, 2007, 12:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-december-edition/428298/118 "2007-12-13T12:19:11Z")
I picked up from my library rental pile: [21 balloons](http://www.amazon.com/Twenty-One-Balloons-William-Pene-Bois/dp/0140320970/ref=pd_bbs_sr_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1197547658&sr=8-2) and am in the third chapter. I would have read more last night but the cat decided to crawl up on my chest and…well…that always puts me to sleep.
I forget if a Doper recommended this book, but whomever, thanks!
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### Author:  [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)
#### Post date: [December 13, 2007, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-december-edition/428298/119 "2007-12-13T14:04:39Z")
[QUOTE=Shirley Ujest]
I picked up from my library rental pile: [21 balloons](http://www.amazon.com/Twenty-One-Balloons-William-Pene-Bois/dp/0140320970/ref=pd_bbs_sr_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1197547658&sr=8-2) and am in the third chapter. I would have read more last night but the cat decided to crawl up on my chest and…well…that always puts me to sleep.
I forget if a Doper recommended this book, but whomever, thanks!
[/QUOTE]
Omigod, that was one of my favorite books when I was a kid!
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### Author:  [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)
#### Post date: [December 13, 2007, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-december-edition/428298/120 "2007-12-13T15:56:23Z")
I loved _21 Balloons._ Also try _Peter Graves._ It has antigravity devices. Getting off the ground was clearly a concern for this author.
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