# 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:** 8
### Author:  [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)
#### Post date: [December 23, 2007, 1:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-december-edition/428298/141 "2007-12-23T13:27:12Z")
It\* was very pleasant – finished it off in a couple of hours.
Walked over to the library to get a couple movies, and they had a table with “NYT’s Best Books of 2007,” so I picked up Vargas Llosa’s newest, _The Bad Girl,_ which I’d heard zero about – but the blurb was intriguing and he’s written a couple of books that have blown me away, so it’s worth a try. I got a chapter into it before bed – so far so good.
\*Edited to explain what “it” is – the book I described in the post immediately above this one.
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### Author:  [@Abraca\_Deborah](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Abraca_Deborah)
#### Post date: [December 23, 2007, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-december-edition/428298/142 "2007-12-23T14:35:32Z")
From the Hinges of History series by Thomas Cahill I am reading “Sailing the Wine-Dark Sea: Why the Greeks Matter”. It is quite good; he makes the Iliad and the Odessey come alive.
Also on deck: “The Book of Lost Things” by John Connolly. It is a story about a boy who enters a wood populated by numerous well-known fairytale characters and his bid to survive and return home. Is is a perfect ‘hero’ tale for those of you wo enjoy Joseph Campbell.
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### Author:  [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)
#### Post date: [December 23, 2007, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-december-edition/428298/143 "2007-12-23T14:46:49Z")
Holidays are Hell. Several short supernatural holiday stories.
It is mediocre at best, but it is light and easy to read which is needed with my busy holiday schedule.
I’m expecting to get some good books for Christmas, so I’ll decide what to read Tuesday.
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### Author:  [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)
#### Post date: [December 23, 2007, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-december-edition/428298/144 "2007-12-23T18:39:36Z")
Reading\* Lethem’s Gun, with Occasional Music.\*
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### Author:  [@Hostile\_Dialect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hostile_Dialect)
#### Post date: [December 23, 2007, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-december-edition/428298/145 "2007-12-23T19:32:43Z")
Just picked up O’Reilly’s Learning Python book, which, yes, does count because I’m reading it cover-to-cover.
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### Author:  [@Pixilated](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pixilated)
#### Post date: [December 24, 2007, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-december-edition/428298/146 "2007-12-24T01:53:59Z")
I am currently reading Luna (sci-fi) by Garon Whited as well as an occassional glimpse of in-progress Nightlord:Midnight, which is the second book in the projected sci-fi/fantasy Nightlord Trilogy (the first book, Nightlord:Sunset is a wonderful and kid friendly read).
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### Author:  [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)
#### Post date: [December 26, 2007, 6:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-december-edition/428298/147 "2007-12-26T06:25:10Z")
Finished _Gun, with Occasional Music_ and Stroud’s _The Last Siege._ I have _The Italian Secretary, The Reality Bug_ (Pendragon #4), _The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, The Gods Drink Whiskey: Stumbling Toward Enlightenment in the Land of the Tattered Buddha,_ and _Temptations of the West: How to Be Modern in India, Pakistan, Tibet, and Beyond_ going but I don’t know which I’ll finish in 2007. At some point I have to answer e-mail and write a brief article, two formal professional letters, some graduate school reference letters, and my winter syllabi, right?
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### Author:  [@movingfinger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/movingfinger)
#### Post date: [December 26, 2007, 6:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-december-edition/428298/148 "2007-12-26T06:43:01Z")
I am working my way through **Heat** by Bill Buford. It got good reviews, but I am not all that impressed by it. The author wrote an excellent book a few years ago about English football hooligans called **Among the Thugs** , and I think that was a better book.
I will just make it to 90 books read this year, albeit some of them trashy whodunnits. If there was more design work out there for me to do I would be reading less and enjoying it more as I would have more money to spend on books.
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### Author:  [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)
#### Post date: [December 26, 2007, 11:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-december-edition/428298/149 "2007-12-26T11:48:16Z")
Finished Holidays are Hell. It was mediocre, but not unexpectedly so. It fit the bill for what I wanted for the last few days.
I got tons of books for Christmas, plus lots more book gift certificates. I will have a hard time decided what to start!
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### Author:  [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)
#### Post date: [December 26, 2007, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-december-edition/428298/150 "2007-12-26T17:21:31Z")
_The Secret River_ by Kate Grenville. Early 1800’s, the story of a felon transported to Australia. It’s quite good. I half expect him to meet up with some of the folks from _English Passengers_. 😃
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### Author:  [@Gulo\_gulo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gulo_gulo)
#### Post date: [December 26, 2007, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-december-edition/428298/151 "2007-12-26T19:47:01Z")
Finished " The Known World" by Edward P. Jones which was a horrible chore.
Started “The Far Traveler: Voyages of a Viking Woman” by Nancy Marie Brown which has so far been extremely interesting and fun. (Especially if you know a lot of Norse SCA-dians).
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### Author:  [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)
#### Post date: [December 28, 2007, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-december-edition/428298/152 "2007-12-28T14:10:27Z")
Finished _WebMage_. Was OK, but I doubt I will read the rest. I can’t say that I recommend it. If you were interested in a light read combining magic and programming, this might fit the bill (although I think Rick Cook’s stuff was better.) In some ways it reminded me of Simon R. Green. Not in writing style. But whenever I thought that we had met all the baddest bad-asses, it always seemed to introduce yet another bad guy even badder than the last one. And the new bad-ass would somehow get the hero out of trouble (and sometimes into the next bit of trouble.) It was dissatisfying to me.
Am 1/3 of the way through _The Last Guardian of Everness_. It was bought for me for Christmas of '06 and even though there are books in my queue that I want to read more, I figure a year in the queue is enough. It is OK so far, but will have to get better for me to recommend it.
In the queue: The Dark River (Fourth Realm Trilogy, Book 2). I read and liked the first and am excited about this one. Twelvehawks, I’ve come to believe, is batshit crazy in as much as it seems he really believes what he writing. (I read a short by him on how to live “off the grid” that makes it seem he really believes there is a secret government agency that monitors our every move.)
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### Author:  [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)
#### Post date: [December 28, 2007, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-december-edition/428298/153 "2007-12-28T15:59:49Z")
Last night I finished King Solomon’s Mines, by H. Rider Haggard. It was wonderfully engrossing, and I’m just kicking myself for not having discovered his books earlier. If he’s one of those authors you’ve always meant to get around to, go ahead and start enjoying him now.
I should probably have allowed some time for afterglow, but I immediately picked up Out of the frying pan : a chef’s memoir of hot kitchens, single motherhood, and the family meal, by Gillian Clark, and I just couldn’t get into it. I’ve read several books about working in high-end kitchens, but they’re all much the same. It’s hot, it’s impossibly difficult, and everyone acts like an asshole. I tossed it aside.
Next will most likely be Inferno: new tales of terror and the supernatural, edited by Ellen Datlow. I won’t be posting anything about it till next month’s thread.
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### Author:  [@Eleanor\_of\_Aquitaine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eleanor_of_Aquitaine)
#### Post date: [December 28, 2007, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-december-edition/428298/154 "2007-12-28T16:30:41Z")
I finished _Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell_, which I liked very much. This kind of whimsical, fantastical story is not the type I usually enjoy but the writing was charming. I was enchanted with every page of the first volume but unfortunately the book is too long and the charm began to wear thin around page 500 or so. Still, I thought it was very good overall.
I read the new short story in Diana Gabaldon’s _Lord John and the Hand of Devils_, and it was a little better than the first two stories in the collection. I’m looking forward to the next book, _Lord John and the Scottish Prisoner_, which is what I really want to read about.
Right now I’m in the middle of \*Eifelheim \*- so far it’s great.
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### Author:  [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)
#### Post date: [December 28, 2007, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-december-edition/428298/155 "2007-12-28T17:15:25Z")
[QUOTE=Eleanor of Aquitaine]
Right now I’m in the middle of \*Eifelheim \*- so far it’s great.
[/QUOTE]
Isn’t it? I’m tempted to check out Flynn’s other books.
I just finished _The Secret River_ by Kate Grenville. It’s based on Grenville’s family, early settlers in Australia. It’s the story of William Thornhill, a felon transported in 1802, with his family. It’s excellent, but harsh, very harsh.
Now I’m on _Shotgun Rule_ by Charlie Huston. I’m enjoying it. I’m starting to hear reviewers describe books as having “muscle”, and this one has muscle.
After this, I’m all out of new books, so I’ll be digging into some stuff that’s been languishing in the TBR – maybe a Malazan book.
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### Author:  [@wonderlust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonderlust)
#### Post date: [December 28, 2007, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-december-edition/428298/156 "2007-12-28T18:38:48Z")
[QUOTE=AuntiePam]
Isn’t it? I’m tempted to check out Flynn’s other books.
[/QUOTE]
Do check out The Wreck of the River of Stars! It’s amazing.
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### Author:  [@Hostile\_Dialect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hostile_Dialect)
#### Post date: [December 28, 2007, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-december-edition/428298/157 "2007-12-28T18:59:25Z")
Finished _I Am Legend_ by Richard Matheson. It’s good, but I have to say that with all the hype surrounding the book and the various movie adaptations, I was a little bit disappointed. The skin glue was worth a thousand :rolleyes: and I expected a little more fight out of Neville.
Just started on _God is Not Great_ by Christopher Hitchens. _The Language Instinct_ has been put on hold for a little while and I may be abandoning _Giovanni’s Room_ – I just can’t identify with the way every damn character in that book can read everyone else’s specific emotions on their faces like a book. It feels like a cop-out.
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### Author:  [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)
#### Post date: [December 28, 2007, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-december-edition/428298/158 "2007-12-28T19:08:15Z")
I’ll finish _The Italian Secretary_ today, I think. Then I might mop up _The Reality Bug._
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### Author:  [@Wargamer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wargamer)
#### Post date: [December 28, 2007, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-december-edition/428298/159 "2007-12-28T19:19:28Z")
I’m working my way through Rick Atkinson’s **Day of Battle** , the second volume of his trilogy about the US Army in the ETO during World War II. Quite an interesting portrait of Mark W. Clark, perhaps the most controversial US commander of WW2. I feel that I am gaining an understanding of the general at least.
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### Author:  [@zamboniracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zamboniracer)
#### Post date: [December 28, 2007, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-december-edition/428298/160 "2007-12-28T19:25:03Z")
I’m in the middle of Sarah Vowell’s [Assassination Vacation](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assassination_Vacation) .
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