# 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:** 4
**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 11, 2012, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-february-2012-edition/611296/61 "2012-02-11T23:21:09Z")
I just finished two books: _Sweetness: The Enigmatic Life Of Walter Payton_ by Jeff Pearlman , a well-written biography of the late, great and flawed Walter Payton and also _The Rise Of The Iron Moon_ by Stephen Hunt, a steampunk novel that I really enjoyed. Both books are recommendable. > **[Amazon.com: Sweetness: The Enigmatic Life of Walter Payton: 9781592406531:...](https://www.amazon.com/Sweetness-Enigmatic-Life-Walter-Payton/dp/159240653X)** > > Amazon.com: Sweetness: The Enigmatic Life of Walter Payton: 9781592406531: Pearlman, Jeff: Books > **[The Rise of the Iron Moon (Jackelian, #3)](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/5886162-the-rise-of-the-iron-moon)** > > From the author of The Court of the Air and The Kingdom… ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2012, 4:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-february-2012-edition/611296/62 "2012-02-12T04:07:48Z")
Just finished reading _Bad Prince Charlie_ by John Moore earlier today. Moore writes good light comedy fantasy. ---
**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 12, 2012, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-february-2012-edition/611296/63 "2012-02-12T16:53:41Z")
Still reading Augustine’s _Confessions_; just finished re-reading Lindsey Davis’ _The Course of Honour_, an historical fiction/biography of Caenis, who was the freedwoman mistress of the Roman emperor Vespasian. There was much made about how even as emperor, they could never marry. Thoroughly enjoyed it, though I’m a sucker for well-written historical fiction. ---
**Author:** ![EvilMinion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/35a633/32.png) [@EvilMinion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EvilMinion)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2012, 7:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-february-2012-edition/611296/64 "2012-02-14T07:28:36Z")
I’m reading “The Great Mortality” by John Kelly, after learning about it here during my lurking days. I’m really enjoying it. ---
**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 14, 2012, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-february-2012-edition/611296/65 "2012-02-14T18:26:14Z")
I’m a little more than a quarter of the way through **The Way of Shadows** by Brent Weeks. It’s the first in the Night Angel trilogy. So far it’s not bad. Lots of action and dialogue keep things moving at a nice pace even if the writing isn’t going to win any awards. ---
**Author:** ![BetsQ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/fbc32d/32.png) [@BetsQ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BetsQ)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2012, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-february-2012-edition/611296/66 "2012-02-14T18:30:49Z")
I’m reading Neil Gaiman’s Stardust to my nine-year-old. We’ve just started, so I’m not sure he’s all that into it, but I’m hoping he’ll enjoy it. We’ve had to stop several times to define words he was unfamiliar with, which is both a good thing and very distracting. ---
**Author:** ![delphica](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e9a140/32.png) [@delphica](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/delphica)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2012, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-february-2012-edition/611296/67 "2012-02-14T21:08:29Z")
> [@Antigen](#): > > I’m currently on **The Family That Couldn’t Sleep** , by D.T. Max. It’s about prion diseases, and it’s _fascinating_. That sounds CREEPY, I must read it! I’m still slogging my way through the Game of Thrones books, I’m about 1/2 through _Dance with Dragons_. I am enjoying this A LOT, but in some ways I’m glad to be seeing the light at the end of the tunnel (at least in terms of books that are published) because I am starting to feel a bit held hostage by the series. I also managed to read _The Lock Artist_ by Steve Hamilton, which I originally heard of when someone posted about it in one of these threads. It’s about a teenager with a skill for cracking safes and picking locks, who of course get mixed up with the wrong people. It was a nice, quick read, and despite a few quibbles with the plot, I enjoyed the overall voice of the protagonist. ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2012, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-february-2012-edition/611296/68 "2012-02-14T21:28:30Z")
Finished _Bayou Moon_ the second in _The Edge_ series by Ilona Andrews. I liked it better than the first and have ordered the third. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2012, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-february-2012-edition/611296/69 "2012-02-14T21:29:20Z")
I’ve finished **A Storm of Swords** and am reading Jeffery Deaver’s James Bond reboot **Carte Blanche**. I’ve also finished an 1860 **History of the United States** , which is very interesting. I’ve also finished the last sanctioned Nero Wolfe novel, **The Missing Chapter** by Robert Golsborough. I’ve been looking for it for years. Appropriately enough, the victim is an author who “continued” the detective novel series of a long-running series ny a noted, deceased author. I’ve also completed **The Gentle Art of Making Enemies** by the artist James Abbot MacNeill Whistler, who was best known (probably for all the wrong reasons) for his _Composition in Grey and Black Number 1_, better known as _Whistler’s Mother_. Sentimental the man was not – he had a snark streak a mile wide, and would have fit in well on the SDMB. He took on Oscar Wilde in bare-knuckles insulting, and seems to have come out ahead (of course, he edited the book, too, so I shouldn’t be surprised) This is another of those books I’ve looked for a long time, and finally got my mitts on. My main complaint is that this book desperately needs footnotes for those of us not up on the personal lives and infighting among the _artistes_ of the 19th century. I also read the provocatively-titled **Peepshows: A Visual History** by Richard Balzer. The book isn’t about NYC 42nd street sex shows, but about the much tamer subject of 18th-19th century optical devices that served as public entertainment before we had kinoscopes and movie theaters. ---
**Author:** ![EvilMinion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/35a633/32.png) [@EvilMinion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EvilMinion)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2012, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-february-2012-edition/611296/70 "2012-02-14T22:48:04Z")
> [@Khadaji](#): > > Finished _Bayou Moon_ the second in _The Edge_ series by Ilona Andrews. I liked it better than the first and have ordered the third. Excellent. I love the Kate Daniels series, I’ll have to check this series out. ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2012, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-february-2012-edition/611296/71 "2012-02-14T23:16:36Z")
> [@EvilMinion](#): > > Excellent. I love the Kate Daniels series, I’ll have to check this series out. The first one in the series didn’t catch me straight off. I tried it two or three times before I was able to get into it. I found it very slow - but still not too untypical of their writing style; so I decided I’d give the second a go, and in the end, liked it better than the first - well enough to order the third. ---
**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:** [February 15, 2012, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-february-2012-edition/611296/72 "2012-02-15T01:57:06Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > . . . James Abbot MacNeill Whistler, . . . sentimental the man was not – he had a snark streak a mile wide, I think he was pissed that Gustave Courbet ‘stole’ his woman and then, to add huge insult to injury, [exposed her genitalia to the world](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Origin-of-the-World.jpg)! (\<== link NSFW) ---
**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, 2012, 5:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-february-2012-edition/611296/73 "2012-02-15T05:52:26Z")
Just finished _The Eagle and the Shield_ by Richard S. Patterson and Richardson Dougall, a rather dry but, for me at least, generally interesting look at the design, adoption, evolution and use of the Great Seal of the United States over the years. Still reading _I, Robot_ by Isaac Asimov with my son. Just finished “Little Lost Robot,” one of the best short stories in the collection. > [@CalMeacham](#): > > …I’ve also completed **The Gentle Art of Making Enemies** by the artist James Abbot MacNeill Whistler, who was best known (probably for all the wrong reasons) for his _Composition in Grey and Black Number 1_, better known as _Whistler’s Mother_. Sentimental the man was not – he had a snark streak a mile wide, and would have fit in well on the SDMB… Whistler also prominently appears in _Eiffel’s Tower_ by Jill Jonnes, an interesting look at the building of the tower and the staging of the 1889 Exposition Universelle. He was a talented artist but a prima donna and a huge pain in the ass. ---
**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 16, 2012, 3:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-february-2012-edition/611296/74 "2012-02-16T03:29:46Z")
After having to give up “How Evan Broke His Head and Other Secrets” when only a few pages into it, I finally pried it out of my mother’s hands and got back to it. Lovely. Truly a lovely story. There’s a lot circling around about how people mis-perceive each other by only knowing part of the story. It’s just so _human_. ---
**Author:** ![Sigmagirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c89c15/32.png) [@Sigmagirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigmagirl)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2012, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-february-2012-edition/611296/75 "2012-02-16T13:48:01Z")
> [@delphica](#): > > I also managed to read _The Lock Artist_ by Steve Hamilton, which I originally heard of when someone posted about it in one of these threads. It’s about a teenager with a skill for cracking safes and picking locks, who of course get mixed up with the wrong people. It was a nice, quick read, and despite a few quibbles with the plot, I enjoyed the overall voice of the protagonist. That was me. It won the Edgar Award for Best Mystery last year or year before. I don’t know who would consider it a mystery, but I liked it. I’m reading _The Call_ by Yannick Murphy, a quasiepistolary (I think I just made up that word) novel about a farm veterinarian whose son has had an accident and is in a coma. It’s in the form of the vet’s daily call sheets, where he records his calls, what treatment he gives, results, etc. It’s interesting now and I want to find out what happens to the son, so I hope I don’t get fed up with this format. ---
**Author:** ![Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulf_the_Unwashed)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2012, 5:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-february-2012-edition/611296/76 "2012-02-18T05:00:06Z")
> [@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. I liked this one too…a little disjointed, and some parts are much more interesting than others, but the subject matter is fun and he’s a fine writer. (My favorite line: Daniel, the GPS, becomes something of a member of the family, and Jennings’s son sighs while they visit a museum with an exhibit on GPS technology, “It’s too bad that Daniel isn’t here. He would have LOVED this.”) Read Laura Lippman’s novel _The Most dangerous Thing_, set as usual in Baltimore, this one a stand-alone that moves back and forth between the present and the late seventies/early eighties. An excellent sense of time and place and what makes people tick. The plot doesn’t quite add up in some ways and the modern stuff is less interesting than the stuff when the characters were kids; still, a lot to recommend it. About to try the newest Nevada Barr book; used to like her books a lot, but I have to say I thought the last two (both set primarily in New Orleans) were pretty awful. Am hoping this one will be better. If not… Oh, and one other I really enjoyed: _The Borrower_ by an author named Rebecca Makkai. A young children’s librarian becomes just a bit too involved in the life of one of her ten-year-old “customers.” Funny, and poignant, and a lot of great references/homages to children’s literature (some obvious, some much less so), and the ten-year-old himself is just great. I enjoyed it quite a bit. ---
**Author:** ![Blackberry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ecd19e/32.png) [@Blackberry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blackberry)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2012, 6:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-february-2012-edition/611296/77 "2012-02-18T06:35:01Z")
> [@Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](#): > > Read Laura Lippman’s novel _The Most dangerous Thing_, set as usual in Baltimore, this one a stand-alone that moves back and forth between the present and the late seventies/early eighties. An excellent sense of time and place and what makes people tick. The plot doesn’t quite add up in some ways and the modern stuff is less interesting than the stuff when the characters were kids; still, a lot to recommend it. I liked that one too. I like all of Laura Lippman’s standalone books. Unfortunately, I’ve already read them all, so all that’s left is the Tess Monaghan series, which just isn’t as good. Well, I’m only on the third one, but the character is also in some of her other books, and I just don’t find her very interesting. I don’t understand why she gets a whole long series when there are so many better characters. ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2012, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-february-2012-edition/611296/78 "2012-02-18T16:09:21Z")
Finished [Angelmaker](http://www.amazon.com/Angelmaker-Nick-Harkaway/product-reviews/0307595951/ref=cm_cr_dp_synop?ie=UTF8&showViewpoints=0&sortBy=bySubmissionDateDescending#R1Z4T0JW6FLIML), the new one from Nick Harkaway, who wrote _The Gone-Away World_. I liked it a lot. No ninja mimes but lots of other good stuff, and lots of action. Harkaway digresses a lot, but I like his digressions. **statij** , I got an ARC through Amazon Vine. It’ll be published in March, but I think it might already be available in the UK and maybe Canada. ---
**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 18, 2012, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-february-2012-edition/611296/79 "2012-02-18T16:16:28Z")
Just zipped through _Mad Men: The Illustrated World_, a brightly-illustrated, tongue-in-cheek retro guide to the early Sixties by Dyna Moe (yes, really). If you like the show, I bet you’ll like this. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2012, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-february-2012-edition/611296/80 "2012-02-18T17:09:16Z")
Finished _The Risen Empire_ by Scott Westerfeld yesterday. Good SF but it’s the first book of a two volume series and it does not function as a stand alone novel. Fortunately, I’ve also got the second book. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-february-2012-edition/611296.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-february-2012-edition/611296.md?page=5)