# Whatcha Readin' Jan 2013 Edition **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 31, 2012, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-jan-2013-edition/645685 "2012-12-31T18:06:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 11
**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 25, 2013, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-jan-2013-edition/645685/201 "2013-01-25T21:49:38Z")
Finished [A Fine Dark Line](http://www.amazon.com/Fine-Dark-Line-Joe-Lansdale/dp/0446691674/ref=la_B000AP8R6Y_1_21?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1358866480&sr=1-21), one of the best Lansdales I’ve read. It was actually a sweet story, y’know, aside from the murders and beatings and racism and sexual assault. 😃 Next up, [Sunset and Sawdust](http://www.amazon.com/Sunset-Sawdust-Joe-R-Lansdale/dp/0375719229/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1359149861&sr=1-1&keywords=sunset+and+sawdust), and then I’m going to move on to some different authors for a while. ---
**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 26, 2013, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-jan-2013-edition/645685/202 "2013-01-26T01:44:43Z")
> [@Enterprise](#): > > …And I’m reading Eric Foner’s quite good _The Fiery Trial: Abraham Lincoln and American Slavery_. I want to say it’s got no info on Lincoln’s stance toward slavery that I’ve not read elsewhere, but if you’ve not yet read anything, it’s a great place to start. Well-written, too. Thanks for the tip. Haven’t read that myself, but I’ve read an awful lot about Lincoln over the years (and am now working on a speech about his Secretary of War, Edwin M. Stanton). If you want some other Lincoln book suggestions, PM me or ask here. ---
**Author:** ![melondeca](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5a626/32.png) [@melondeca](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/melondeca)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2013, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-jan-2013-edition/645685/203 "2013-01-26T03:56:06Z")
I’m about one-fourth of the way through _I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell_ by Tucker Max. It remains to be seen whether or not I’ll finish it. His stories are amusing, but he is such a colossal jackass. He keeps talking about his own assholishness, but I can’t decide if that makes it better or worse. I just don’t know. ---
**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 26, 2013, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-jan-2013-edition/645685/204 "2013-01-26T19:42:03Z")
Finished [Into the Silence](http://www.amazon.com/Into-Silence-Mallory-Conquest-Everest/dp/0375708154/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1359228841&sr=1-1&keywords=into+the+silence) and loved it. I got it because I was fascinated by the story of George Mallory, but the book has a much broader scope, which I appreciated. The author, Wade Davis, did a great job of tying the experiences of WWI into the British exploring generation of the 1920s. I was a bit surprised by how little prepared the mountaineers were for those first couple of attempts at the Everest summit, to the point of including inexperienced climbers on both the 1922 and 1924 attempts. It’s a great read for anyone interested in Everest, climbing, or that time in history. Moving on now to [The Prisoner of Heaven](http://www.amazon.com/Prisoner-Heaven-Carlos-Ruiz-Zafon/dp/0062206281/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1359229162&sr=1-1&keywords=prisoner+of+heaven), the third book in Carlos Ruiz Zafon’s “Cemetery of Forgotten Books” story. I loved the first one, The Shadow of the Wind, and was kind of ambivalent about the second, The Angel’s Game, so I’m hoping this one is more like the former than the latter. ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2013, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-jan-2013-edition/645685/205 "2013-01-26T19:47:10Z")
I dumped an Amazon loaner, _The Burning Man_ by Alan Russell, after one too many paragraphs of filler and exposition. Two cops explaining how they work a crime scene? Thanks to all the recs here, started _Ready Player One_ and am digging it, as the kids say. ---
**Author:** ![DZedNConfused](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dzednconfused/32/15991_2.png) [@DZedNConfused](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DZedNConfused)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2013, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-jan-2013-edition/645685/206 "2013-01-26T19:54:48Z")
I started **Hounded** , the first Iron Druid book today. I’m quite pulled in by it. I like Kearne’s view of the Old Gods in the modern world MUCH better than Neil Gaimon’s. ---
**Author:** ![araminty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b5e925/32.png) [@araminty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/araminty)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2013, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-jan-2013-edition/645685/207 "2013-01-26T20:02:55Z")
I just finished _Wolf Hall_ and thoroughly enjoyed it. I downloaded the sequel, _Bring Out The Bodies_, despite the fact that it’s bloody expensive! I noticed I had a couple of other unread books waiting for me on my Kindle, which I’d forgotten about - a nice bonus! ---
**Author:** ![yellowval](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/919ad9/32.png) [@yellowval](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yellowval)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2013, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-jan-2013-edition/645685/208 "2013-01-26T21:49:40Z")
I finished “A Stolen Life” by Jaycee Dugard. It was heart-wrenching, if not particularly well-written. She switched tenses a lot during the first 3/4 of the book and it was distracting. It got much better toward the end when she was talking about her return. I was particularly touched by the scenes where she reunites with her two childhood friends. ---
**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 27, 2013, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-jan-2013-edition/645685/209 "2013-01-27T00:42:23Z")
[Some bad news](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=15941202#post15941202) in case you’ve not seen it. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![DZedNConfused](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dzednconfused/32/15991_2.png) [@DZedNConfused](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DZedNConfused)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2013, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-jan-2013-edition/645685/210 "2013-01-27T00:54:35Z")
That’s awful! Thank you for telling us about it, **Siam Sam**. ---
**Author:** ![yellowval](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/919ad9/32.png) [@yellowval](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yellowval)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2013, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-jan-2013-edition/645685/211 "2013-01-27T02:58:13Z")
I can’t believe it. These threads will not be the same without him. ☹ ---
**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 27, 2013, 4:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-jan-2013-edition/645685/212 "2013-01-27T04:29:40Z")
Oh no! The flu?! How absolutely terrible. ---
**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 27, 2013, 4:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-jan-2013-edition/645685/213 "2013-01-27T04:59:42Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > [Some bad news](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=15941202#post15941202) in case you’ve not seen it. ☹ Aw, damn. Thanks for the link, **Siam Sam**. **Khadaji** started this very thread! He will be missed. ---
**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 27, 2013, 12:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-jan-2013-edition/645685/214 "2013-01-27T12:36:07Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > Aw, damn. Thanks for the link, **Siam Sam**. **Khadaji** started this very thread! He will be missed. He started this very thread every month. We have to keep up the tradition. ---
**Author:** ![DZedNConfused](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dzednconfused/32/15991_2.png) [@DZedNConfused](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DZedNConfused)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2013, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-jan-2013-edition/645685/215 "2013-01-27T14:33:33Z")
I agree! It’s a fitting memorial that we keep the monthly “Whatcha Readin” threads going. ---
**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 27, 2013, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-jan-2013-edition/645685/216 "2013-01-27T15:19:12Z")
May I suggest that we nominate one of us to start the thread, and that it be named something like ‘Khadaji’s Whatcha Readin’, [month][year]’ in his memory? ---
**Author:** ![Shakester](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shakester/32/437_2.png) [@Shakester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shakester)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2013, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-jan-2013-edition/645685/217 "2013-01-27T15:39:47Z")
> [@Le\_Ministre\_de\_l\_au-dela](#): > > May I suggest that we nominate one of us to start the thread, and that it be named something like ‘Khadaji’s Whatcha Readin’, [month][year]’ in his memory? Good idea. Maybe rotate the [del]duty[/del] honour between a few volunteers/nominees. ---
**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 27, 2013, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-jan-2013-edition/645685/218 "2013-01-27T16:04:41Z")
> [@Le\_Ministre\_de\_l\_au-dela](#): > > May I suggest that we nominate one of us to start the thread, and that it be named something like ‘Khadaji’s Whatcha Readin’, [month][year]’ in his memory? Thirded! Excellent idea. ---
**Author:** ![yellowval](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/919ad9/32.png) [@yellowval](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yellowval)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2013, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-jan-2013-edition/645685/219 "2013-01-27T16:06:30Z")
> [@Le\_Ministre\_de\_l\_au-dela](#): > > May I suggest that we nominate one of us to start the thread, and that it be named something like ‘Khadaji’s Whatcha Readin’, [month][year]’ in his memory? I think that would be a lovely tribute. ---
**Author:** ![DZedNConfused](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dzednconfused/32/15991_2.png) [@DZedNConfused](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DZedNConfused)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2013, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-jan-2013-edition/645685/220 "2013-01-27T16:32:46Z")
> [@Le\_Ministre\_de\_l\_au-dela](#): > > May I suggest that we nominate one of us to start the thread, and that it be named something like ‘Khadaji’s Whatcha Readin’, [month][year]’ in his memory? Four or fifthed! I think it’s a fantastic idea. I like the idea of rotating who starts it as well. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-jan-2013-edition/645685.md?page=10) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-jan-2013-edition/645685.md?page=12)