# Whatcha Readin' Feb 2010 Edition **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 31, 2010, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-feb-2010-edition/527171 "2010-01-31T23:12:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**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:** [February 12, 2010, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-feb-2010-edition/527171/61 "2010-02-12T04:15:34Z")
I don’t think ILL is available over here. But Kinokunia, the big Japanese bookstore chain with branches in Bangkok, will often order a title for you. Since they carry other Harris books, that might be an option, but I keep waiting to see if they’re just out and will get more in soon. Then I forget to check again for long periods. ---
**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:** [February 12, 2010, 5:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-feb-2010-edition/527171/62 "2010-02-12T05:35:31Z")
“…_Often_ order a title for you” - not always? Any bookstore that wouldn’t order a particular book for me, and then hold it a reasonable time until I could come in, pay for it and take it home, is not a bookstore I’d care to patronize. ---
**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:** [February 12, 2010, 6:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-feb-2010-edition/527171/63 "2010-02-12T06:05:00Z")
I meant order if it’s available. Sometimes they’ve looked on their computer and seen a title is out of print and unavailable. Oddly, one time that happened, I soon found the book on the shelf in another branch in the city! Welcome to the Third World, even f it is a Japanese outfit. But the bookstore situation here has vastly improved ove the years. When I first came here, you pretty much had to rely on used-book shops in backpacker areas. Kinokuniya moved in in the 1990s, and they’re a top-of-the-line (usually) bookstore, up there with what’s in the US. There’s Asia Books too, but they’re really hit and miss. Not nearly the selection that Kinokuniya has. (The Kinokuniya in Siam Paragon shopping center is the largest bookstore in Southeast Asia.) ---
**Author:** ![yellowval](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/919ad9/32.png) [@yellowval](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yellowval)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2010, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-feb-2010-edition/527171/64 "2010-02-12T14:04:55Z")
I finished “The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian” by Sherman Alexie. I really, really liked it. I wonder how many people have tried to ban it in schools. Anyway, I’m glad I gave it a chance. I’m hoping that “Raven: The Untold Story of Jim Jones and His People” arrives for me at the library today. ---
**Author:** ![FoieGrasIsEvil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foiegrasisevil/32/16638_2.png) [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2010, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-feb-2010-edition/527171/65 "2010-02-12T19:45:12Z")
I just got done reading _The Book Of Illumination_ by Mary Ann Winkowski and Maureen Foley (meh) and _Road Dogs_ by Elmore Leonard. _Road Dogs_ was a pretty entertaining thriller. I am about halfway through Larry McMurtry’s _Rhino Ranch_, which is by far the best of these three books. Quite well-written, and a return to Thalia, Texas again. I really recommend that one. ---
**Author:** ![Surly\_Chick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ec9cab/32.png) [@Surly\_Chick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Surly_Chick)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2010, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-feb-2010-edition/527171/66 "2010-02-12T20:10:46Z")
I just finished Johan Theorin’s second novel _The Darkest Room._ It was better than his first and I highly recommend it if you’re looking for a little diversion. It’s part murder mystery and part ghost story. It’s translated from Swedish so sometimes the dialog is a bit weird but it can be overlooked. ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2010, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-feb-2010-edition/527171/67 "2010-02-13T18:21:53Z")
Finished Butcher Bird by Richard Kadrey. He wrote Sandman Slim which I enjoyed. I did not enjoy this one as much - the writing is mediocre. However, it wasn’t too bad and there were a few surprises. Spyder is a tattoo artist whose encounter with a demon opens his eyes to the magical worlds. He is saved by a blind swordswoman named Shrike and together they go off on a journey to Hell to save the world. I felt the he was trying too hard to be madcap. I was also distracted by the poor editing. Often I saw \*too \*where he should have used \*to \*and \*to \*where he should have used _too_. Another I caught was something like _You’re aren’t supposed to know that_. This is a nitpick I know, but it did distract me. In the end it was OK, but I’m not sure I would recommend it (as I did Sandman Slim.) ---
**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:** [February 13, 2010, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-feb-2010-edition/527171/68 "2010-02-13T22:08:45Z")
Just starting John Mortimer’s _Rumpole and the Reign of Terror_, about the curmudgeonly old London barrister coping with a post-9-11 terrorism-related case. So far it’s OK. ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2010, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-feb-2010-edition/527171/69 "2010-02-13T22:40:21Z")
> [@Surly\_Chick](#): > > I just finished Johan Theorin’s second novel _The Darkest Room._ It was better than his first and I highly recommend it if you’re looking for a little diversion. It’s part murder mystery and part ghost story. It’s translated from Swedish so sometimes the dialog is a bit weird but it can be overlooked. I love this guy! I liked his first novel too – it’s good that there was no “sophomore slump”. I’m still reading _The Mauritius Command_ (Aubrey/Maturin) and was going to go on to _Desolation Island_ but Dan Simmons’ new one arrived, _Black Hills_, so that’ll be next. ---
**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:** [February 13, 2010, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-feb-2010-edition/527171/70 "2010-02-13T23:49:03Z")
I’m probably going to be listening to _Cryptonomicon_ for the next several ‘Whatcha Reading’ threads. I’m on CD #13 of 34 (!). Thing must be almost as long as _Remembrance of Things Past_. Much more entertaining, though. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![BomTek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bomtek/32/21364_2.png) [@BomTek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BomTek)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2010, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-feb-2010-edition/527171/71 "2010-02-14T00:47:42Z")
Y’know, I’ve never seen myself as someone who has multiple books open at one time, but here’s a (partial?) list of the books I’m either reading right now, or will be reading in between now and when I get back from Iraq later this week. - _World War Z_ by Max Brooks. My second time through this one, but I found certain “interviews” incredibly fascinating the first time around. - _My Boring-Ass Life_ by Kevin Smith. Not sure how much of this I’ll read, but it was free at the base library so I grabbed it since I’ll be spending so much time in Qatar and on planes. Kevin Smith usually entertains me. - I picked up a bunch of Playaway books for the trip, too. _Three Cups Of Tea_; _Are You There, Vodka? It’s Me, Chelsea_; a Dave Barry book and a few others. I had no idea these things were so freaking expensive until I just looked them up on Amazon! Again, free in the base library, and I just grabbed 7 of them because they looked interesting. That’s $200+ worth of books! - _Frankenstein_ on the Stanza app on my iPod. Must be the fifth or sixth time I’ve read it, but it was free and it’s one of my favorites. If I manage to finish that one I’ve got _Great Expectations_ downloaded too. After all that, I’ll start reading _Harry Potter_ again to Mrs BomTek and BomTek Jr. We’re up to _Order Of The Phoenix_, and we were in the habit of reading a chapter or two a night before I came here. Anyone know how much reading time I’ll get with a 6-month-old? 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2010, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-feb-2010-edition/527171/72 "2010-02-14T02:27:52Z")
After weeks – months? – where I wasn’t reading anything worth writing home about, I’m about 100 pages into Mark Helprin’s _Winter’s Tale_. A bit slow starting, but I’m into it now. This is the third of his books I’ve read, due to **koeeoaddi** ’s passionate love for _A Soldier of the Great War_, which I liked, though I thought it fell apart in the last 100 pages. I also read _Antproof Case_ (not the exact title, but I’m too lazy to look it up) and liked it but didn’t love it. Helprin’s stuff is weird – it’s not exactly the world we live in, but it’s not exactly not the world we live in. Other than having heard the term “magical realism,” I don’t know what it means – is he an exemplar? ---
**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:** [February 14, 2010, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-feb-2010-edition/527171/73 "2010-02-14T22:00:25Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > Just starting John Mortimer’s _Rumpole and the Reign of Terror_, about the curmudgeonly old London barrister coping with a post-9-11 terrorism-related case. So far it’s OK. Just finished it. Rumpole is in fine form, bemoaning the loss of liberty after 9-11 but still striking a grumpy blow or two for justice when he represents a Pakistani doctor accused of terrorism. I’d seen the Rumpole series on PBS but never read any of the books before, and I liked it. Next up: Twain’s comic story _The £1,000,000 Bank Note_. ---
**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:** [February 15, 2010, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-feb-2010-edition/527171/74 "2010-02-15T14:04:25Z")
> [@Khadaji](#): > > I was also distracted by the poor editing. Often I saw \*too \*where he should have used \*to \*and \*to \*where he should have used _too_. Another I caught was something like _You’re aren’t supposed to know that_. This is a nitpick I know, but it did distract me. Ugh, I feel your pain. I’ve put aside books I was otherwise enjoying because the lack of editing had just ruined them for me. I’m reading Haunted Heart: the life and times of Stephen King, an unauthorized biography by Lisa Rogak. It isn’t the first I’ve read, so nothing new, but a decent job. ---
**Author:** ![Eleanor\_of\_Aquitaine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a88e4f/32.png) [@Eleanor\_of\_Aquitaine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eleanor_of_Aquitaine)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2010, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-feb-2010-edition/527171/75 "2010-02-15T15:24:14Z")
After finishing _Blackout_, I’m considering reading _To Say Nothing of the Dog_ again, as it’s been several years. A while back I bought a copy of Jerome K. Jerome’s _Three Men in a Boat (To Say Nothing of the Dog)_, so maybe I should read that first. I read: _e: A Novel_, by Matt Beaumont, because some folks were talking about it in last month’s thread. It’s entirely composed of emails between the employees of a London advertising agency. It reads like a mash-up of _Mad Men_ and the UK version of _The Office_. I enjoyed the first half of the book, but it lost me once the guys went off on that island photo shoot. I read _Those Who Hunt the Night_, by Barbara Hambly, which is a historical murder mystery with vampires - evil, murderous vampires, not sparkly romance vampires. It’s set in London and Paris in 1907, and it was very well written. I’ll have to look for more by Hambly. Now I’m reading _These Old Shades_, by Georgette Heyer. It’s one of her early, most popular novels, but so far I cannot love it. I can see glimpses of what I like about her other books (some witty dialogue) but I don’t like the main characters at all. I’m looking forward to reading her novel _An Infamous Army_, which is concerned with the Battle of Waterloo, and T_hese Old Shades_ is sort of a prequel. ---
**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:** [February 15, 2010, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-feb-2010-edition/527171/76 "2010-02-15T18:30:41Z")
> [@Eleanor\_of\_Aquitaine](#): > > Now I’m reading _These Old Shades_, by Georgette Heyer. It’s one of her early, most popular novels, but so far I cannot love it. I can see glimpses of what I like about her other books (some witty dialogue) but I don’t like the main characters at all. I’m looking forward to reading her novel _An Infamous Army_, which is concerned with the Battle of Waterloo, and T_hese Old Shades_ is sort of a prequel. I agree with your assessment of _These Old Shades_ overall – and I thought Leonie was extremely irritating – but I will tell you that the climactic moment that this builds to contains one of the most romantic lines I’ve ever read. I do believe I swooned. 🙂 That, and the next book in the trilogy – _The Devil’s Cub_ – is really good. Justin and Leonie show up quite a bit in that one, too, but Leonie is much less annoying, and the heroine comes from Heyer’s stable of plain and sensible girls. ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2010, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-feb-2010-edition/527171/77 "2010-02-15T19:30:14Z")
> [@Eleanor\_of\_Aquitaine](#): > > I read _Those Who Hunt the Night_, by Barbara Hambly, which is a historical murder mystery with vampires - evil, murderous vampires, not sparkly romance vampires. It’s set in London and Paris in 1907, and it was very well written. I’ll have to look for more by Hambly. You’ve convinced me to try this. I love that time period and haven’t read anything with vampires for a long time. I’m reading _Desolation Island_, the fifth Aubrey-Maturin. I’m excited, because Captain Bligh is in ths one. New books by Dan Simmons and Joe Hill are in the TBR but I’m having too much fun with Aubrey and Maturin to read anything else. ---
**Author:** ![TheMerchandise](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b487fb/32.png) [@TheMerchandise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheMerchandise)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2010, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-feb-2010-edition/527171/78 "2010-02-15T19:45:45Z")
Finished Charlie Huston’s _A Dangerous Man_ and so finished his Hand Thompson trilogy. He wrapped everything up well in this book, although it is a little bleak. Also read Alfred Bester’s _The Stars My Destination_ and enjoyed it and was surprised at how many things I consider to be modern sci-fi conceits were present in this book written in the 1950s. Even things like “bullet time” and cybernetic body enhancements. I’m currently reading Joe Haldeman’s _The Forever War_. I’m taking a comparative literature class this semester on science fiction. I’m not as geeky as I thought… I’ve never read a lot of these SF classics. ---
**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:** [February 15, 2010, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-feb-2010-edition/527171/79 "2010-02-15T20:53:06Z")
> [@TheMerchandise](#): > > …I’m currently reading Joe Haldeman’s _The Forever War_… One of my all-time SF faves. When you’re done, I hope you’ll read _A Separate War and Other Stories_, also by Haldeman; the title story is about Marygay’s experiences in the last years of the Forever War, told from her POV. Then check out John Scalzi’s _Old Man’s War_ series, which is sort of the spiritual successor to Haldeman’s classic: fun, exciting, and smartassed. ---
**Author:** ![TheMerchandise](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b487fb/32.png) [@TheMerchandise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheMerchandise)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2010, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-feb-2010-edition/527171/80 "2010-02-15T21:49:42Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > Then check out John Scalzi’s _Old Man’s War_ series, which is sort of the spiritual successor to Haldeman’s classic: fun, exciting, and smartassed. Scalzi wrote the introduction to my edition of _The Forever War_ and “fun and smartassed” summed up even that little piece of writing very well. I’ll check him out. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-feb-2010-edition/527171.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-feb-2010-edition/527171.md?page=5)