# Whatcha Readin' February 2012 Edition **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 31, 2012, 11:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-february-2012-edition/611296 "2012-01-31T11:21:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2012, 11:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-february-2012-edition/611296/1 "2012-01-31T11:21:13Z")
Happy Ground Hog’s day and, to all you Super Bowl watchers, good luck to your team… I’m reading: _The Grimrose Path (Trickster, Book 2)_ the second in Rob Thurman’s Trickster series. The first was fast-paced and enjoyable and I’m still liking the series. I’m kinda reading Dracula on my kindle, but really only in waiting rooms, so I will probably take a long time to finish it. I have so many in the queue I’m not sure what I’ll read next. I have been reading mind-candy fantasy for so long I am kind of looking for something more meaty. But I don’t know if I’ll get to it. On the kindle, I’m reading _Oceanic Mind - The Deeper Meditation Training Course_ because I have found that meditation has helped some with my chronic fatigue. If I practice it often enough (which I’m bad at.) The jury is out on it. It seems more dedicated the spiritual side of meditation than I am interested in right now (but that doesn’t mean I won’t be interested in it later.) [Link](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=636789)to last month’s thread. ---
**Author:** ![KarlGauss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/karlgauss/32/3713_2.png) [@KarlGauss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KarlGauss)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2012, 11:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-february-2012-edition/611296/2 "2012-01-31T11:54:09Z")
Last night, I opened up [Potsdam Station by David Downing](http://www.amazon.com/Potsdam-Station-David-Downing/dp/1569479178/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1328009681&sr=1-1). Actually, that was quite unusual for me - I almost _never_ read fiction, enjoying instead a steady diet of history, biography, ‘physics for the layman’ books and the like. Still, this one sounded right up my ally taking place as it was in Germany in the closing days of WWII, with the Soviet army growing nearer by the hour. Why, the protagonist is even a German! What’s not to like? (I’ll answer that question shortly!) ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2012, 11:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-february-2012-edition/611296/3 "2012-01-31T11:57:12Z")
Ken Jennings’ \*Maphead. \*(Duh.) A lot of Dopers would like this book. You can read it in two evenings. If you like maps, it’s a must (though some of the material will be familiar). If you just have a passing interest in maps, it could still be interesting and, in parts, funny. ---
**Author:** ![Blackberry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ecd19e/32.png) [@Blackberry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blackberry)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2012, 11:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-february-2012-edition/611296/4 "2012-01-31T11:57:17Z")
I’m all ADD about reading lately, for some reason. So among other books I’ve started and may never finish, I’m reading **Nothing to Envy: Ordinary Lives in North Korea** , **The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle** , and **Complete Stories** by Dorothy Parker. They’re all good, but not good enough to keep me from cycling between them. ---
**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:** [January 31, 2012, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-february-2012-edition/611296/5 "2012-01-31T15:15:04Z")
I started on a YA book called _Plain Kate_. Plain-faced girl with great woodcarving talent, the villagers are starting to think she’s a witch, so she sells her shadow to a magic man and hits the road with her talking cat…that’s as far as I got. Someone here may enjoy it, but I didn’t feel it would be my cup of tea. Now I’m on to _Jumper_, by Steven Gould (which I know damn well was recommended by someone here, but I can’t seem to search it up again). This is a fast-paced sci-fi novel about a boy who can teleport. ---
**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:** [January 31, 2012, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-february-2012-edition/611296/6 "2012-01-31T17:22:00Z")
A little over a third of the way through _The Confession_, by John Grisham. An innocent man is days away from being executed for a kidnap/rape/murder in Texas for which the body was never found. Up in Kansas, the real murderer is dying of a brain tumor and wants to come clean. But how do you stop a Texas execution? Very good so far. ---
**Author:** ![Le\_Ministre\_de\_l\_au-dela](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/le_ministre_de_l_au-dela/32/12181_2.png) [@Le\_Ministre\_de\_l\_au-dela](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Le_Ministre_de_l_au-dela)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2012, 3:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-february-2012-edition/611296/7 "2012-02-01T03:29:50Z")
I’m still waiting for my copy of Confessions to show up in the library - meanwhile, I’m reading ‘The Germanicus Mosaic’ by Rosemary Rowe. I’m only on the second chapter, but I’m left with the distinct impression that this is going to be a pale imitation of Lindsay Davis, Ellis Peters and Steven Saylor. You know how there are mystery writers that you recommend, even to people who don’t like mysteries at all? Writers whose literary merit is at least as interesting, if not more so, than the actual puzzle they’ve constructed? I’m thinking of writers like Dorothy Sayers or P. D. James; this is not one of those writers… Still going through a dual language book of Italian short stories - quite fun. ---
**Author:** ![Sophistry\_and\_Illusion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b3f665/32.png) [@Sophistry\_and\_Illusion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sophistry_and_Illusion)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2012, 5:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-february-2012-edition/611296/8 "2012-02-01T05:12:12Z")
I’m about 250 pages into Elizabeth Kostova’s [The Historian](http://www.amazon.com/Historian-Elizabeth-Kostova/dp/0316011770), which so far is great. Sadly, I am going to have to put it aside for a couple of weeks to read Tim Judah’s [Kosovo: War and Revenge](http://www.amazon.com/Kosovo-War-Revenge-Tim-Judah/dp/0300097255) for a class I am teaching. Not that the latter isn’t a good book, but I’ve read it before, and of course the story of Kosovo is a bit depressing. And I am really enjoying _The Historian_. ---
**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:** [February 1, 2012, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-february-2012-edition/611296/9 "2012-02-01T14:46:15Z")
Finished **They Dying Earth** by Jack Vance the other day. The prose is very pretty and Vance is very eloquent, indeed, with a vast vocabulary, but the stories and the plotting are horrible. So why, you may wonder, am I now reading **The Eyes of the Overwold** , the 2nd book in they Dying Earth series? I was too excited when I found all 4 books at a used bookstore and so I feel somewhat obligated. That’s why. This second book, so far, seems more coherent, although the story is still wildly ludicrous. So far, I do not recommend this series even though I’m determined to march forward with it. ---
**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 1, 2012, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-february-2012-edition/611296/10 "2012-02-01T22:33:35Z")
I’m reading _Leviathan Wakes_, which is a new space opera by James S.A. Corey (a pen name for Daniel Abraham and a collaborator). It’s set within our solar system, where every decent-sized rock is densely populated and there’s no warp drive or artificial gravity. There’s major conflict and prejudice between the populations on the inner planets and those in the Belt, and a war is brewing. There are evil corporations, and there’s a hard-boiled divorced alcoholic detective who’s become obsessed with his newest case, a missing rich girl. It’s light stuff, certainly, but so far I’m enjoying it. I’m also reading _A Great and Terrible King: Edward I and the Forging of Britain_, by Marc Morris. It’s pretty good so far, too. I’m up to Edward vs. Llywelyn the Last and it makes me want to re-read Sharon Kay Penman’s Welsh trilogy again. I tried _Ready Player One_ and I just couldn’t stand the writing style. I was disappointed, because everyone else seems to like it. I recognized all of the 80’s stuff and the sci-fi and fantasy references, but I’ve never been a gamer, so maybe that’s part of the problem. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2012, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-february-2012-edition/611296/11 "2012-02-02T01:42:03Z")
I’m interleaving, as usual. I’m reading a Classics Club edition of Aristotle from 1943 which I picked up at an Irvine Library sale for a buck. I finished Ethics and am about to begin on Politics. As I do, I’m also reading **The Green Rust** by Edgar Wallace, relatively recent - first published in four parts in a British pulp magazine in 1919. While it is hardly a classic, I’m appreciating the way he moves the story along and keeps suspense - even as to the identity of the hero. ---
**Author:** ![carnut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnut/32/3531_2.png) [@carnut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnut)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2012, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-february-2012-edition/611296/12 "2012-02-02T03:09:00Z")
About to dig into Garth Stein’s “How Evan Broke His Head”. ---
**Author:** ![Invisible\_Chimp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/f05b48/32.png) [@Invisible\_Chimp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Invisible_Chimp)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2012, 3:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-february-2012-edition/611296/13 "2012-02-02T03:51:47Z")
I just started _The Wives of Henry VIII_ by Antonia Fraser. I am starting from almost total ignorance. I am vaguely familiar with their names, but I don’t know what ordered they married him, which ones died or were divorced, etc. ---
**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 2, 2012, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-february-2012-edition/611296/14 "2012-02-02T03:55:40Z")
> [@JKellyMap](#): > > Ken Jennings’ \*Maphead. \*(Duh.) A lot of Dopers would like this book. You can read it in two evenings. If you like maps, it’s a must (though some of the material will be familiar). If you just have a passing interest in maps, it could still be interesting and, in parts, funny. His _Brainiac_ was very, very good - an ode to the joys of trivia, and some interesting and funny behind-the-scenes stuff on his long _Jeopardy!_ run. > [@Dung\_Beetle](#): > > …Now I’m on to _Jumper_, by Steven Gould (which I know damn well was recommended by someone here, but I can’t seem to search it up again). This is a fast-paced sci-fi novel about a boy who can teleport. Haven’t read the book. Although it got so-so reviews, I mostly enjoyed the movie based on it. I’m about a fourth of the way through George R.R. Martin’s _A Dance with Dragons_, which is quite good. I’m just starting _The Lost City of Z_ by David Grann for my book club. It’s nonfiction about Amazon rainforest exploration in the 1920s. OK so far. I’m also reading Isaac Asimov’s _I, Robot_ aloud with my 12-year-old son, who’s digging it. We both agree it’s pretty dated - casual male chauvinism, lots of smoking (even on asteroid stations!) and practically no computers. ---
**Author:** ![Cunctator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/43a26b/32.png) [@Cunctator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cunctator)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2012, 5:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-february-2012-edition/611296/15 "2012-02-02T05:08:55Z")
_Israel Rank: the Autobiography of a Criminal_, by Roy Horniman. It’s the novel on which the film \*Kind Hearts and Coronets \*was based. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2012, 5:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-february-2012-edition/611296/16 "2012-02-02T05:12:50Z")
The fourth Jackson Brody novel by Atkinson, “Left Home, Took The Dog”. ---
**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:** [February 2, 2012, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-february-2012-edition/611296/17 "2012-02-02T14:24:34Z")
> [@Eleanor\_of\_Aquitaine](#): > > I tried _Ready Player One_ and I just couldn’t stand the writing style. I was disappointed, because everyone else seems to like it. I recognized all of the 80’s stuff and the sci-fi and fantasy references, but I’ve never been a gamer, so maybe that’s part of the problem. I’ve never been a gamer, either, but I really enjoyed the book. I’m curious what you meant about the writing style. I found the style somewhat bland, nothing earth shattering or award winning, but certainly not annoying or distracting, either. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2012, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-february-2012-edition/611296/18 "2012-02-02T15:36:51Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > The fourth Jackson Brody novel by Atkinson, “Left Home, Took The Dog”. That should be “Started Early, Took My Dog”. :rolleyes: ---
**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 2, 2012, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-february-2012-edition/611296/19 "2012-02-02T18:49:14Z")
> [@Barkis\_is\_Willin](#): > > I’ve never been a gamer, either, but I really enjoyed the book. I’m curious what you meant about the writing style. I found the style somewhat bland, nothing earth shattering or award winning, but certainly not annoying or distracting, either. There’s no accounting for taste, you know, but I did find the author’s style to be distracting. I thought the writing was simplistic, there was a ton of exposition, and the dialog was awful. There was a lack of subtlety that bothered me. After the first couple of chapters I checked to see if it was a young adult book. It’s not advertised as such on Amazon, but some readers on Goodreads have it shelved as YA. I don’t usually like YA stuff. I see lots of good reviews for this book, so obviously I’m in the minority. I also didn’t finish it, so maybe the book takes off just after the point I where I gave up. ---
**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:** [February 2, 2012, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-february-2012-edition/611296/20 "2012-02-02T19:36:04Z")
Yeah, I can see where you coming from. I actually agree that the writing was somewhat simple and I could totally see it classified as YA if not for the strong language. For the record, I typically do not care for YA stuff, either. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-february-2012-edition/611296.md?page=2)