# 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:** 5
**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 12, 2011, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-jan-2011-edition/565932/81 "2011-01-12T15:14:12Z")
I would never term _any_ admiration of Amy Adams ridiculous! ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2011, 11:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-jan-2011-edition/565932/82 "2011-01-15T11:38:45Z")
Finished \*Grave Witch (Alex Craft, Book 1) \*a serviceable Urban Fantasy by _Kalayna Price_. Alex Craft is Grave Witch - a witch who communicates with the dead - who makes her living raising the shades of the departed to query them; sometimes to find out who killed them, sometimes to ask them other questions. She stumbles into a case involving the ritual murder of young women and must solve the case and save the world. Helping her is Detective Falin Andrews, various friends and even Death himself shows up on a regular basis. It started slow, but picked up towards the middle. The book hints at what might be an interesting-but-not-new take on the afterlife (Death is a job description, not a person) and eventually an interesting plot. I won’t go out of my way to search for the future books, but I’ll pick one up if I see it. ---
**Author:** ![Ian\_D.Bergkamp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/5f8ce5/32.png) [@Ian\_D.Bergkamp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ian_D.Bergkamp)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2011, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-jan-2011-edition/565932/83 "2011-01-15T14:27:02Z")
Finished _Life_, which gave me a heightened appreciation for the Rolling Stones, but left me with an acute dislike of Keith Richards himself. He accuses Jagger of selling out while setting himself up as the lone guardian of the band’s soul, performing out of a love for the music. Meanwhile, though, he’s using the band’s earnings to keep himself in top-grade narcotics, as well as buy himself out of countless drug-related legal scrapes. And he virtually ignores his first two kids while they’re young, having little to no involvement in raising them. I had hoped for more insight into the creation of the music, but the book comes across more as an exercise in trying to make himself look cool and dangerous, with very little discussion of the music. Moving on, I have started _Pirates of the Levant_, by Arturo Perez-Reverte. He’s one of my favorite authors, but this is the 6th book in his Captain Alatriste series (about a 17th Century Spanish swashbuckler) and it feels like he ran out of steam a couple of books ago. I’m up to page 220 or so and still haven’t run across any actual plot. ---
**Author:** ![C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b2d939/32.png) [@C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C_K_Dexter_Haven)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2011, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-jan-2011-edition/565932/84 "2011-01-15T14:33:11Z")
I’m re-reading Mary Stewart’s four books about Merlin, _The Crystal Cave_, _The Hollow Hills_, _The Last Enchantment_ and _The Wicked Day_ – an interesting take on the Arthurian legends. I suppose when I finish, I’ll have to re-read _The Once and Future King_. ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2011, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-jan-2011-edition/565932/85 "2011-01-15T15:17:57Z")
> [@C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](#): > > I’m re-reading Mary Stewart’s four books about Merlin, _The Crystal Cave_, _The Hollow Hills_, _The Last Enchantment_ and _The Wicked Day_ – an interesting take on the Arthurian legends. I suppose when I finish, I’ll have to re-read _The Once and Future King_. I read those for the first time last summer, and loved them! Me: The new Deanna Raybourn (mysteries set in the late Victorian novel with kind of a romance vibe – plucky titled heroine, tall dark handsome detective), _Dark Road to Darjeeling_. I think a couple of you have checked out the series already – this is a good addition. If not, but it sounds like something you might enjoy – quality trashy reading! – start with the first one, _Silent in the Grave_, since there’s an overall story arc about the heroine and hero. Also Steve Martin’s new novel, _Object of Beauty_, which was okay, not great. Set in the art world of the '80s to present, which he knows a great deal about, so that part was rather interesting. The plot, though, is premised on Event X happening fairly early on, but not being explained as to what exactly the event was until the end of the book. I had guessed part of it, and I’m not entirely sure how well the book was served by plotting it that way. Plus the main character is neither likable nor sympathetic, which makes for additional literary challenges for the author. (It can be done – _Vanity Fair_ – but it’s not an easy trick.) Finished it, but … meh. Sorry, Steve. ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2011, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-jan-2011-edition/565932/86 "2011-01-15T17:08:40Z")
> [@C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](#): > > I’m re-reading Mary Stewart’s four books about Merlin, _The Crystal Cave_, _The Hollow Hills_, _The Last Enchantment_ and _The Wicked Day_ – an interesting take on the Arthurian legends. I suppose when I finish, I’ll have to re-read _The Once and Future King_. I really enjoyed the first 3. I’m not sure I ever finished the last one. ---
**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 16, 2011, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-jan-2011-edition/565932/87 "2011-01-16T02:06:14Z")
> [@C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](#): > > I’m re-reading Mary Stewart’s four books about Merlin, _The Crystal Cave_, _The Hollow Hills_, _The Last Enchantment_ and _The Wicked Day_ – an interesting take on the Arthurian legends. I suppose when I finish, I’ll have to re-read _The Once and Future King_. I highly recommend Thomas Berger’s _Arthur Rex_, an R-rated, slightly-tongue-in-cheek but well-crafted and basically respectful retelling of the Arthurian legends. I discovered it in high school and seem to re-read it every seven or eight years or so. (Berger is still better known for _Little Big Man_). Just finished book two of the _Locke & Key_ graphic novel collections, _Head Games_, by Joe Hill and Gabriel Rodriguez. Just as good as book one, _Welcome to Lovecraft_. Very, very good stuff: dark, creepy and multi-layered. ---
**Author:** ![\_mostly\_Harmless](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/_/9d8465/32.png) [@\_mostly\_Harmless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/_mostly_Harmless)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2011, 4:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-jan-2011-edition/565932/88 "2011-01-16T04:17:41Z")
I just finished \*\*Hitch-22 \*\*and the classic SF short story anthology **Dangerous Visions**. I’m starting \*\*The Name Of The Rose \*\*by Umberto Eco and so far it is turning out to be just as good as **Foucault’s Pendulum** , of which I look back fondly on the reading thereof. ---
**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 16, 2011, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-jan-2011-edition/565932/89 "2011-01-16T21:57:09Z")
Finished **Game Change**. Highly entertaining and informative. Criticisms of the book are that the authors offer few cites or sources, but to me that’s understandable, since those people still need jobs to pay their bills. Next up: a junk novel, methinks. ---
**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 16, 2011, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-jan-2011-edition/565932/90 "2011-01-16T23:24:53Z")
A quick read today: _Matte Painting: d’artiste_, ed. by Daniel Wade (Ballistic Publ. 2005). A very interesting, step-by-step, well-illustrated primer on movie matte paintings, now almost entirely done digitally. It included examples from _The Return of the King_ and _Revenge of the Sith_, as well as a lot of original stuff that would improve any movie in which it appeared. ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2011, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-jan-2011-edition/565932/91 "2011-01-17T16:56:37Z")
Finished _Dancing with Were Wolves_ a confused mess of an urban fantasy. Delilah Street is a paranormal investigator that moves to Las Vegas to find out why a woman who looks just like her played a dead woman on TV. There she encounters a man who douses for dead people, werewolves and vampires. The plot wandered all over and the book leaned heavily towards a romance novel. I won’t be reading more of this series. ---
**Author:** ![Tangent](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tangent/32/3098_2.png) [@Tangent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tangent)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2011, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-jan-2011-edition/565932/92 "2011-01-17T17:15:15Z")
Finished _The Zombie Survival Guide_ last weekend. The “survival guide” part was kind of ho-hum, but the “recorded attacks” section at the end was fun. Looking forward to reading _World War Z_ soon. Currently, I just started reading _Pirate Latitudes_, Michael Crichton’s last novel–published posthumously, I think. It’s been several years since I’ve read any Crichton. I think \*Timeline \*was the last I read, and I didn’t like that much. I got \*Pirate Latitudes \*as a Christmas gift, and I’m liking it so far. ---
**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 17, 2011, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-jan-2011-edition/565932/93 "2011-01-17T17:35:58Z")
I admit I haven’t read all that much Crichton, but I liked _Timeline_, all in all (although I’ve read that the movie sucked). My favorite of his is still _The Andromeda Strain_, although _Jurassic Park_ was good semi-scientific fun. ---
**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 17, 2011, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-jan-2011-edition/565932/94 "2011-01-17T19:41:12Z")
I just finished Barbara Hambly’s newest novel, _Blood Maidens_, which is the third in her vampire series that’s set in Europe just before WWI. The series starts with _Those Who Hunt the Night_. Don’t let the melodramatic titles put you off - Hambly is an excellent writer, and Don Simon Ysidro is one of my favorite literary vampires. These are lush period novels, not romances, but something between mystery and horror. The vampires are wicked, murderous, and yet fascinating creatures. I also read _Wednesday the Rabbi Got Wet_, another of the old Rabbi Small novels. These are quiet little murder mysteries, set in a small town in Massachusetts in the 1960’s-70’s. They’re quick reads, simply written, and the stories are used as a framework for giving the reader gentle lessons in Judaism. The rabbi solves the mysteries using “Talmudic reasoning and insight”. I’m still working my way slowly through Bill Bryson’s _Notes from a Small Island_. This is my first Bryson book, and I dunno, maybe I picked the wrong one to start with. It’s funny at times, and the narrative is interesting to an Anglophile, but the author just seems irritable. He complains constantly, and he’s annoyed, rather than charmed, by the eccentric people he meets. I keep putting the book down, hoping that I’m just in the wrong mood to appreciate it, but every time I pick it back up I get the same bad vibe from the guy. ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2011, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-jan-2011-edition/565932/95 "2011-01-17T20:22:25Z")
**Eleanor** : Try _A Walk in the Woods_ as your intro to Bryson – if you don’t think it’s funny, he’s just not your cup of tea. ---
**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 17, 2011, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-jan-2011-edition/565932/96 "2011-01-17T20:33:34Z")
> [@Eleanor\_of\_Aquitaine](#): > > I just finished Barbara Hambly’s newest novel, _Blood Maidens_, which is the third in her vampire series that’s set in Europe just before WWI. The series starts with _Those Who Hunt the Night_. Don’t let the melodramatic titles put you off - Hambly is an excellent writer, and Don Simon Ysidro is one of my favorite literary vampires. These are lush period novels, not romances, but something between mystery and horror. The vampires are wicked, murderous, and yet fascinating creatures. > > I also read _Wednesday the Rabbi Got Wet_, another of the old Rabbi Small novels. These are quiet little murder mysteries, set in a small town in Massachusetts in the 1960’s-70’s. They’re quick reads, simply written, and the stories are used as a framework for giving the reader gentle lessons in Judaism. The rabbi solves the mysteries using “Talmudic reasoning and insight”. > > I’m still working my way slowly through Bill Bryson’s _Notes from a Small Island_. This is my first Bryson book, and I dunno, maybe I picked the wrong one to start with. It’s funny at times, and the narrative is interesting to an Anglophile, but the author just seems irritable. He complains constantly, and he’s annoyed, rather than charmed, by the eccentric people he meets. I keep putting the book down, hoping that I’m just in the wrong mood to appreciate it, but every time I pick it back up I get the same bad vibe from the guy. His early books all have that crankiness, including _A Walk in the Woods_, IMO. He really shines in _A Short History of Nearly Everything_, _In a Sunburned Country_, and _At Home_. These are his three best books to date, for my money. ---
**Author:** ![Dante](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dante/32/9673_2.png) [@Dante](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dante)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2011, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-jan-2011-edition/565932/97 "2011-01-17T20:40:56Z")
I’m going to work my way through the Sci-Fi Masterworks that I haven’t read, so I’m reading **The Lathe of Heaven** by _Ursula K. LeGuin_ and **The Stars, My Destination** by _Alfred Bester_. I’ll take a break from that with **Children of Men** by _P.D. James_ and **American Gods** by _Neil Gaiman_. Then another two Sci-Fi Masterworks. Except for the Philip K. Dick books, because I can’t stand him. ---
**Author:** ![TheMerchandise](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b487fb/32.png) [@TheMerchandise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheMerchandise)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2011, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-jan-2011-edition/565932/98 "2011-01-18T20:14:50Z")
> [@Eleanor\_of\_Aquitaine](#): > > Since the movie _The King’s Speech_ isn’t showing in my area yet (if ever) I’m reading up on George VI, with Sarah Bradford’s biography _The Reluctant King_. It’s very good, so far. I’m up to 1936, the year of three kings. I’m always shocked to read about how George V’s doctor hurried along the king’s death with morphine and cocaine so that the Proclamation of the new King could make the morning papers. I saw The King’s Speech this weekend (and it was excellent) and I had to rush back to this thread to find the name of this biography that you mentioned. Edited to add: …which appears to be only available used and expensive on Amazon. Boo. ---
**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 18, 2011, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-jan-2011-edition/565932/99 "2011-01-18T20:45:34Z")
> [@TheMerchandise](#): > > I saw The King’s Speech this weekend (and it was excellent) and I had to rush back to this thread to find the name of this biography that you mentioned. > > Edited to add: > …which appears to be only available used and expensive on Amazon. Boo. Huh, I had no idea the book was rare. There’s a seller on Alibris and [Half.com](http://Half.com) (betterworldbooks) who claims to have a cheap copy. Amazon does have [The King’s Speech,](http://www.amazon.com/Kings-Speech-Saved-British-Monarchy/dp/140278676X/) with a movie cover, which was apparently written by Logue’s grandson. I’ve been thinking about getting this one. There’s a long ship date on the paperback, but they have a Kindle edition. I saw the movie this weekend, too, and I liked it very much. ---
**Author:** ![stpauler](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9d8465/32.png) [@stpauler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stpauler)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2011, 12:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-jan-2011-edition/565932/100 "2011-01-19T12:49:40Z")
> [@DataZak](#): > > I finished it over the weekend. It was okay. Nothing to shout about but not bad. Didn’t like the first story, _1922_. Too long and I felt that the farmer did what he did just so King could write about rats and guilt and bodies dumped in wells because there was no other reason why Wilf murdered his wife. There was no indication they were in a rut (in fact, they had a healthy sex life). So she wakes up, decides to sell the farm and the husband thinks, “That’s it. Marriage has been great so far but that’s the last straw. I’m gonna kill the bitch!” > > The other three stories in the collection were better. I liked _A Good Marriage_. Creepiest one. How well do we know our spouses, anyway? Thanks for the update, I read the first one and definitely felt that it was just shoehorned into a rambling story unnecessarily. I gave up after that, but maybe I’ll give the other stories a try. > [@Justin\_Credible](#): > > Currently reading John Dies at the End by David Wong. I’m almost halfway through, and it’s definitely holding my interest. I really enjoyed that ride. I took it with me on a vacation to Jamaica and it was the perfect beach book. > [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > 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. I had the same feeling. I originally heard the first story read by Sedaris himself and enjoyed it. The Elaine Stritch version just didn’t have the same oomph. Sedaris just has great timing when he’s reading his stuff. [QUOTE=twickster] Eleanor: Try A Walk in the Woods as your intro to Bryson – if you don’t think it’s funny, he’s just not your cup of tea. [/QUOTE] Yea but I hated… …the way it ended with him not finishing the AT. It spoiled the rest of the book for me. I’m currently reading _Superfreakonomics_ and _How I Killed Pluto and Why It Had It Coming_ [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-jan-2011-edition/565932.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-jan-2011-edition/565932.md?page=6)