# Whatcha Readin' Jan 2011 Edition **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 31, 2010, 10:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-jan-2011-edition/565932 "2010-12-31T10:46:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**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:** [January 5, 2011, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-jan-2011-edition/565932/41 "2011-01-05T18:27:45Z")
My mom’s a big Dick Francis fan, but I’ve never read any of 'em. Are you a fan, **astorian**? ---
**Author:** ![Gordon\_Urquhart](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/db5fbb/32.png) [@Gordon\_Urquhart](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gordon_Urquhart)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2011, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-jan-2011-edition/565932/42 "2011-01-05T18:47:27Z")
I’m reading _Germania_ by Simon Winder. It’s a history of Germany written in a rambling tone, with many personal asides. I’d normally be okay with that – in fact, a well-written rambling book can be quite enjoyable – but Winder’s personality shines through too much, and his personality seems to be a bit prickly. He’s much more forthcoming with negative criticisms of art, architecture and food than he is with praise of the same, and when he does have a compliment, it tends to be of the backhanded variety. Reading a 450-page book written by someone with whom I doubt I’d want to spend five minutes is something of a chore, and I’m considering setting it aside for awhile. ---
**Author:** ![shiftless](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9c0ed/32.png) [@shiftless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shiftless)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2011, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-jan-2011-edition/565932/43 "2011-01-05T20:58:09Z")
_Stilwell and the American Experience in China 1911-45._ by Barbara Tuchman and _World War Z_ by Max Brooks An odd contrast in that WWZ starts out in China and mentions some of the same places. I keep expecting a Stilwell like character to pop up. Also listening to _Lolita_ on tape, which is awesome. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Rieux](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@Dr.Rieux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Rieux)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2011, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-jan-2011-edition/565932/44 "2011-01-05T21:08:46Z")
Just finished Colleen McCullough’s \*The October Horse \*and started _Antony and Cleopatra_. The graphic novel \*Pride of Baghdad \*(sniff). Ken Croswell’s _Planet Quest_. The first three volumes of Ellis and Cassady’s _Planetary_. The only really new stuff I’ve read lately are the first two \*Star Trek \*“Typhon Pact” novels. ---
**Author:** ![Cluricaun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/bb73d2/32.png) [@Cluricaun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cluricaun)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2011, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-jan-2011-edition/565932/45 "2011-01-06T15:16:29Z")
Right now I just started [Griftopia](http://www.amazon.com/Griftopia-Machines-Vampire-Breaking-ebook/dp/B003F3FJS2/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&m=AG56TWVU5XWC2&s=digital-text&qid=1294326905&sr=1-1)by Matt Taibbi. It’s excellent, it’s funny and well written and informative as hell about how investment banks killed the economy and the state of foreclosures in America, but it’s depressing in the extreme and makes me angry to read. I have to do it in small doses. ---
**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 6, 2011, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-jan-2011-edition/565932/46 "2011-01-06T15:29:30Z")
Starting again on Joe R. Lansdale’s _Two Bear Mambo_, which I was forced to abandon a few weeks ago. Yep, still good! ---
**Author:** ![TheMerchandise](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b487fb/32.png) [@TheMerchandise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheMerchandise)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2011, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-jan-2011-edition/565932/47 "2011-01-06T20:52:57Z")
My first book of the year is _Tishomingo Blues_ by Elmore Leonard. It’s my first go-around with him. I’m impressed with his writing, especially the dialogue, but so far the mystery in this mystery hasn’t raised its head. ---
**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 7, 2011, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-jan-2011-edition/565932/48 "2011-01-07T01:55:08Z")
> [@TheMerchandise](#): > > My first book of the year is _Tishomingo Blues_ by Elmore Leonard. It’s my first go-around with him. I’m impressed with his writing, especially the dialogue, but so far the mystery in this mystery hasn’t raised its head. I liked that one. It’s reportedly Leonard’s favorite of the ones he’s written. There was supposed to be a movie version starring Don Cheadle, but that got scrapped. ---
**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:** [January 7, 2011, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-jan-2011-edition/565932/49 "2011-01-07T02:24:04Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > I liked that one. It’s reportedly Leonard’s favorite of the ones he’s written. There was supposed to be a movie version starring Don Cheadle, but that got scrapped. I read it; it was pretty good. Wiki says it’s Elmore Leonard’s favorite book of all those he’s written! Just listened to the audiobook of David Sedaris’s short story collection _Squirrel Seeks Chipmunk_, which was a disappointment, overall, I have to say. It’s all stories about anthropomorphized animals, sort of like a latter-day _Aesop’s Fables_. The best of the bunch are “The Mouse and the Snake,” about a doting mouse who raises a small snake she finds; “The Crow and the Lamb,” about a sly bird and the sheep who doesn’t realize he’s up to no good; “The Sick Rat and the Healthy Rat,” about life in a lab cage; and “The Grieving Owl,” my favorite, about an owl who gives his prey a chance to save their lives by telling him something he doesn’t know. ---
**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 7, 2011, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-jan-2011-edition/565932/50 "2011-01-07T02:57:37Z")
I cannot think of the title, but there’s another book where some of the characters from _Tishomingo Blues_ reappear. The Indian ball player and the landlady, and it’s set just before the main character in _Tishomingo_ appears. I’m thinking a book of short stories, and they’re in one of the stories. Not long at all, their chapter. The wife and I have both read _Tishomingo_ and both read this other book, but she can’t think of the other title either. ---
**Author:** ![LavenderBlue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e95f7d/32.png) [@LavenderBlue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LavenderBlue)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2011, 4:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-jan-2011-edition/565932/51 "2011-01-07T04:11:42Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > Finished Bryson’s “Neither Here Nor There”, about his travels in Europe. Very funny stuff, especially if you’ve spent any time in the locations he’s describing. Started a book called “Yellow Dirt”, about how the government screwed over the Navajo in the search for uranium. I loved that Bryson book. He gets Florence, Rome and Capri exactly right. I am mostly done reading **How I Killed Pluto and Why It Had It Coming** by Mike Brown. Great title and even better book. Brown is a luminous writer with a sly sense of humor and humanity. Highly, highly, highly recommended. ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2011, 10:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-jan-2011-edition/565932/52 "2011-01-07T10:38:56Z")
I love the title - and the brief introduction by Mike Brown on Amazon has me very intrigued. I’m not sure my interest is deep enough to encompass a whole book - but based on that introduction I have to agree that he seems to have a great sense of humor. I have put it in my queue for further consideration. ---
**Author:** ![TheMerchandise](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b487fb/32.png) [@TheMerchandise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheMerchandise)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2011, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-jan-2011-edition/565932/53 "2011-01-07T14:55:42Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > I cannot think of the title, but there’s another book where some of the characters from _Tishomingo Blues_ reappear. The Indian ball player and the landlady, and it’s set just before the main character in _Tishomingo_ appears. I’m thinking a book of short stories, and they’re in one of the stories. Not long at all, their chapter. The wife and I have both read _Tishomingo_ and both read this other book, but she can’t think of the other title either. If you do think of it, please let me know. I really like the landlady’s character. ---
**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 8, 2011, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-jan-2011-edition/565932/54 "2011-01-08T00:25:46Z")
> [@TheMerchandise](#): > > If you do think of it, please let me know. I really like the landlady’s character. I wish I could. But it’s a very short story, one of several. Maybe 10 or 20 pages long. I’m not even sure if all of the stories are by Elmore Leonard. The wife has read this too, so I know I’m remembering correctly. It’s a conversation at home between the two, and I know it takes place just before the action in _Tishomingo Blues_ because the Indian mentions seeing the main character arrive for his job interview that very day. ---
**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 8, 2011, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-jan-2011-edition/565932/55 "2011-01-08T00:39:00Z")
Meanwhile, I have finished _The Wings of the Dove_, by Henry James. Poor London girl is in love with penniless journalist. Girl’s rich aunt wants her to marry a lord or else she’ll let her remain in poverty. Girl befriends wealthy young American lady who is smitten with girl’s boyfriend. Wealthy young American lady is secretly dying of some unspecified disease. Plot is hatched to have penniless boyfriend get in good with dying American to inherit her money. Antics ensue. I liked it better than his _The Ambassadors_ but still can’t say I liked it. The language is so plodding. I’ve read many writers from this period – American, British, French, Russian (but always in English) – and enjoyed them all. James I just can’t get into. I’ve read two of his books now and decided he’s simply not for me. ---
**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:** [January 8, 2011, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-jan-2011-edition/565932/56 "2011-01-08T00:46:35Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > …I liked it better than his _The Ambassadors_ but still can’t say I liked it. The language is so plodding. I’ve read many writers from this period – American, British, French, Russian (but always in English) – and enjoyed them all. James I just can’t get into. I’ve read two of his books now and decided he’s simply not for me. I made the same decision after _The Turn of the Screw_ and _The Beast in the Jungle_. They’re called novellas but they feel like novels - really, _really_ long novels. A pox upon James and his turgid, plodding, overblown prose. ---
**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 8, 2011, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-jan-2011-edition/565932/57 "2011-01-08T00:51:25Z")
How’d you like to have to spend three days in a car with him on a road trip? 😃 Oh, I forgot. I shall now begin _The Journeyer_, by Gary Jennings. Loved his _Aztec_. ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2011, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-jan-2011-edition/565932/58 "2011-01-08T14:57:46Z")
Brady Udall’s _Lonely Polygamist_, which I know several of you have read already. It starts a little slow – at about the 100-page mark, I thought “do I want to keep reading?,” but I’m glad I did. Ended up liking it a lot; reminded me a little of (good) John Irving, who himself can be pretty uneven, but the John Irving I like I like a lot. Well-developed characters seen from several points of view, very funny in spots, very touching in other spots. Udall can really turn a phrase. Recommended. ---
**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:** [January 8, 2011, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-jan-2011-edition/565932/59 "2011-01-08T21:50:58Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > ..I shall now begin _The Journeyer_, by Gary Jennings. Loved his _Aztec_. I’m so glad you did! I’ll be interested to see how you like _The Journeyer_ - about Marco Polo, isn’t it? ---
**Author:** ![Sefton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5daacb/32.png) [@Sefton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sefton)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2011, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-jan-2011-edition/565932/60 "2011-01-08T22:00:13Z")
Nearly finished with James Heriott’s _All Creatures Great and Small_. Very pleasant semi-autobiographical tale of a veteran’s life in rural England before WWII. His sense of humor almost reminds me of Wodehouse. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-jan-2011-edition/565932.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-jan-2011-edition/565932.md?page=4)