# 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:** 4
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2011, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-jan-2011-edition/565932/61 "2011-01-08T22:33:59Z")
> [@Sefton](#): > > 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. I have very fond memories of those books - I read them in high school. I may have to look into Wodehouse, what would you recommend? ---
**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 9, 2011, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-jan-2011-edition/565932/62 "2011-01-09T02:25:22Z")
> [@Sefton](#): > > 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. My family and I always joked that it just wouldn’t be a Herriot book without him having his arm inside a cow, all the way up to his elbow, at some point. ---
**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 9, 2011, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-jan-2011-edition/565932/63 "2011-01-09T03:01:16Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > I’m so glad you did! I’ll be interested to see how you like _The Journeyer_ - about Marco Polo, isn’t it? Yes, Marco Polo. Apparently in real life, Marco Polo’s stories were considered so exaggerated, if not outright lies, that on his deathbed he was offered a last chance to confess his mendacity and thus save his soul. He replied: “I have not told the half of what I saw or did.” This from his first real-life biographer. I have heard theories that the Marco Polo stories were completely invented and he may not even have traveled to China at all, but I don’t think that’s taken very seriously. There is a big Urban Legend that he brought noodles back with him from China and thus introduced pasta, but you can find references to pasta in writings before he was born, including way back in the Roman Empire. Cicero reportedly loved the stuff. > [@Sefton](#): > > 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. Be sure to check out the BBC series. Wonderful stuff. ---
**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:** [January 9, 2011, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-jan-2011-edition/565932/64 "2011-01-09T03:15:28Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > Be sure to check out the BBC series. Wonderful stuff. Featuring Peter Davison, future Doctor in Doctor Who, in the role of Tristan Farnon. ---
**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:** [January 9, 2011, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-jan-2011-edition/565932/65 "2011-01-09T23:44:54Z")
I’m about 60 pages into _The Children of Húrin_. I’m giving it about 40 more before I ditch it, but so far the book is a rambling white hot mess of names and places and great deeds that fly by so fast I never know which are significant, or remember who did what, much less figure out why I should care. It needs a flow chart on a blackboard. And a plot. ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2011, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-jan-2011-edition/565932/66 "2011-01-10T00:06:00Z")
> [@koeeoaddi](#): > > I’m about 60 pages into _The Children of Húrin_. I’m giving it about 40 more before I ditch it, but so far the book is a rambling white hot mess of names and places and great deeds that fly by so fast I never know which are significant, or remember who did what, much less figure out why I should care. It needs a flow chart on a blackboard. And a plot. Yeah, I ditched it at about 102. I just didn’t care what happened. ---
**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 10, 2011, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-jan-2011-edition/565932/67 "2011-01-10T01:50:11Z")
I read it again when it came out in a standalone hardcover a few years ago, but yes, it can be a pretty daunting read for those who haven’t already ventured into the Tolkien legendarium. Still worth the effort, though, I think. ---
**Author:** ![DataZak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ea666f/32.png) [@DataZak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DataZak)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2011, 6:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-jan-2011-edition/565932/68 "2011-01-10T06:01:17Z")
Ditched _The Windup Girl_ after 100 pages or so. Life’s too short for boring books. Interesting premise though which makes it even more shocking that it failed to engage me. It’s set in a future Thailand and one of the characters is a refugee from Malaysia but he keeps referring to it as ‘Malaya’. That’s a bit jarring to read. Currently in the middle of Tamim Ansary’s _Disrupted Destiny: The History of the World Through Islamic Eyes_. Books like this is why I switched to reading mainly non-fiction years ago. A cracker of a book. ---
**Author:** ![Sigmagirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c89c15/32.png) [@Sigmagirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigmagirl)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2011, 12:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-jan-2011-edition/565932/69 "2011-01-10T12:56:41Z")
_Fannie’s Last Supper: Re-creating One Amazing Meal from Fannie Farmer’s 1896 Cookbook_ by Chris Kimball, host of “America’s Test Kitchen.” He decided to cook a menu exactly as it would have been done\* at the time, and serve it in his 1859 Boston townhouse. There’s a chapter for each of the 12 courses. I think I’m past the worst: making mock turtle soup out of a whole calf’s head, garnished with “crispy brain balls.” Lots of interesting stuff about Farmer and the Boston Cooking-School. \*They did use modern refrigeration techniques for safety. ETA: Maybe I’m not past the worst: I forgot – earlier, he alluded to making homemade cochineal red food coloring for the gelatin (oh! and he hasn’t made the gelatin yet!) out of bugs! :eek: ---
**Author:** ![TheMerchandise](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b487fb/32.png) [@TheMerchandise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheMerchandise)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2011, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-jan-2011-edition/565932/70 "2011-01-10T19:52:16Z")
I finished \*Tishomingo Blues \*this morning. I think I did myself a bit of a disservice. I started reading the book for **story** and **plot** and couldn’t really understand all the Elmore Leonard love I’ve experienced from crime fiction fans. And then about a quarter through the book, my attention shifted properly to the **dialogue** and **characters** and I had a great time with the novel. Recently, I also read: _Legacies_, by F. Paul Wilson. This is the second in the Repairman Jack series. It’s a popcorn read, but of a much higher caliber than someone like James Patterson or [insert name of other nearly identical crime thriller author]. Wilson is a good writer and spends the time to develop Repairman Jack into an interesting, distinct character. The plot is lively enough to keep the pages turning and once and awhile there’s an honest-to-goodness surprise. _Aftermath, Inc_, by Gil Reavill. This is nonfiction concerning a company that specializes in cleaning up after bloody crime scenes. Interesting subject matter, especially since I read the (fictional and highly recommended) [Mystic Arts of Erasing All Signs of Death](http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7113474-the-mystic-arts-of-erasing-all-signs-of-death) last year and was interested in the real life behind the novel. The book is written like a very long Maxim article, which is unsurprising because the author writes true crime stories for that esteemed publication. ---
**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 10, 2011, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-jan-2011-edition/565932/71 "2011-01-10T21:36:16Z")
> [@TheMerchandise](#): > > …_Aftermath, Inc_, by Gil Reavill. This is nonfiction concerning a company that specializes in cleaning up after bloody crime scenes… This movie might also interest you. I haven’t seen it, but I hear it’s good: [Sunshine Cleaning - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sunshine_Cleaning) ---
**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:** [January 11, 2011, 5:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-jan-2011-edition/565932/72 "2011-01-11T05:25:21Z")
Finished _Eiger Dreams_, by Krakauer. I’ll be starting _Game Change_ next, about the 2008 presidential campaigns. ---
**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:** [January 11, 2011, 5:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-jan-2011-edition/565932/73 "2011-01-11T05:28:04Z")
> [@LavenderBlue](#): > > 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. He got pretty much all of it right. I’ve been to every city he wrote about (except for southern Italy), including several months in Sophia, Bulgaria, staying at the same hotel he did. ---
**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 11, 2011, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-jan-2011-edition/565932/74 "2011-01-11T13:36:54Z")
Making a bit of progress with the Hap and Leonard series; finished Bad Chili and am on to Rumble Tumble. My New Year’s resolution to read every day has held up well so far! ---
**Author:** ![Sigmagirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c89c15/32.png) [@Sigmagirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigmagirl)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2011, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-jan-2011-edition/565932/75 "2011-01-11T13:40:42Z")
Finished _Fannie’s Last Supper_; now reading _Moonlight Mile_ by Dennis Lehane. ---
**Author:** ![TheMerchandise](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b487fb/32.png) [@TheMerchandise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheMerchandise)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2011, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-jan-2011-edition/565932/76 "2011-01-11T14:17:53Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > This movie might also interest you. I haven’t seen it, but I hear it’s good: [Sunshine Cleaning - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sunshine_Cleaning) It is really good, actually. ---
**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 11, 2011, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-jan-2011-edition/565932/77 "2011-01-11T17:12:20Z")
Thanks. Did the movie lead you to the book, or vice-versa? ---
**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:** [January 12, 2011, 4:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-jan-2011-edition/565932/78 "2011-01-12T04:22:04Z")
> [@Sefton](#): > > 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. The _All Creatures Great and Small_ books are among my very favorites. I’m reading the first one out loud to the family now. **Khadaji** , I like Wodehouse’s Jeeves and Wooster stories. I think the collection _Carry On, Jeeves_ would be a good place to start. I just finished _Broken Angels_, the second book in a newer science fiction trilogy by Richard K. Morgan. The first one was a hard-boiled detective kind of thing, while this one was more typical military sci-fi. The books are very dark, but I really like his writing. ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2011, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-jan-2011-edition/565932/79 "2011-01-12T13:50:42Z")
Thanks, **Eleanor of Aquitaine** , I have a bunch of Border’s cards, I’ll see if they have it and give it a try! ---
**Author:** ![TheMerchandise](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b487fb/32.png) [@TheMerchandise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheMerchandise)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2011, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-jan-2011-edition/565932/80 "2011-01-12T14:00:57Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > Thanks. Did the movie lead you to the book, or vice-versa? My ridiculous girl-crush on Amy Adams led me to the movie! 🙂 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-jan-2011-edition/565932.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-jan-2011-edition/565932.md?page=5)