# 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:** 8
**Author:** ![wonderlust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonderlust/32/7237_2.png) [@wonderlust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonderlust)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2013, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-jan-2013-edition/645685/141 "2013-01-17T17:38:19Z")
> [@Enterprise](#): > > Kate Griffin’s _A Madness of Angels_, the first in the Matthew Swift series of urban (London) fantasy. I enjoyed this one very much: Matthew is a much less streamlined, much craggier, and in some ways a more interesting character than Harry Dresden (though I’ll have to see how he evolves…). And the writing was excellent, too, so I’m going to look for the next one soon, _The Midnight Mayor_. I adored A Madness of Angels, but couldn’t even finish The Midnight Mayor. I look forward to your thoughts when you read the sequel. Maybe I was just in a mood. ---
**Author:** ![PacifistPorcupine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7ea924/32.png) [@PacifistPorcupine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PacifistPorcupine)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2013, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-jan-2013-edition/645685/142 "2013-01-17T18:04:11Z")
Finished _Lord Sunday_ by Garth Nix, which I started in December. Started on \*The Knife of Never Letting Go \* by Patrick Ness. ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2013, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-jan-2013-edition/645685/143 "2013-01-17T18:36:25Z")
I just started Joseph Conrad’s "Nostromo, " of which I know only that it inspired the spaceship name in “Alien.” ---
**Author:** ![LawMonkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d6d6ee/32.png) [@LawMonkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LawMonkey)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2013, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-jan-2013-edition/645685/144 "2013-01-17T18:44:19Z")
> [@PacifistPorcupine](#): > > Finished _Lord Sunday_ by Garth Nix, which I started in December. Started on \*The Knife of Never Letting Go \* by Patrick Ness. How was\*\*\* Lord Sunday\*\*\*? I’m quite fond of his “Abhorsen” series, but have yet to venture outside of it. ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2013, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-jan-2013-edition/645685/145 "2013-01-17T18:57:49Z")
> [@LawMonkey](#): > > How was\*\*\* Lord Sunday\*\*\*? I’m quite fond of his “Abhorsen” series, but have yet to venture outside of it. Nix is very hit-or-miss in my experience. _Lord Sunday_ is the end of a seven book series that started with _Mister Monday_. I only read the first one and though I had some interest in following up, I never did. It’s younger than the Old Kingdom books. ---
**Author:** ![Sevencl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d9b06d/32.png) [@Sevencl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sevencl)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2013, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-jan-2013-edition/645685/146 "2013-01-17T19:13:39Z")
> [@jsgoddess](#): > > Nix is very hit-or-miss in my experience. _Lord Sunday_ is the end of a seven book series that started with _Mister Monday_. I only read the first one and though I had some interest in following up, I never did. It’s younger than the Old Kingdom books. Second. It is rather fun in an Alice in Wonderland kind of way, but for younger readers than the Old Kingdom series. Also you’ll see the conclusion coming by book two. Speaking of which, a prequel to the Old Kingdom trilogy is expected this year: Clariel: The Lost Abhorsen, implied to be the Abhorsen who became Chlorr of the mask in the trilogy. I’ve just finished re-reading Peter Pan since it was mentioned in one of the threads here, and about to start Mr Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore. ---
**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 17, 2013, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-jan-2013-edition/645685/147 "2013-01-17T19:20:50Z")
I’m reading **Parade’s End** , by Ford Madox Ford and **To End All Wars: A Story of Loyalty and Rebellion, 1914-1918** , thanks to a recommendation from **KarlGauss** in [this thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=677746). They’re turning out to be an excellent fiction/nonfiction reading combination. …and I’m _still_ listening to the **Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell** audiobook. I suspect the gentleman with the thistle-down hair is adding a new CD for each one I finish. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![PacifistPorcupine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7ea924/32.png) [@PacifistPorcupine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PacifistPorcupine)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2013, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-jan-2013-edition/645685/148 "2013-01-17T19:24:13Z")
> [@LawMonkey](#): > > How was\*\*\* Lord Sunday\*\*\*? I’m quite fond of his “Abhorsen” series, but have yet to venture outside of it. The series (Keys to the Kingdom) is indeed younger than Abhorsen, and I think quicker. The books get a bit repetitive by the 3rd of 4th one. Specifically regarding Lord Sunday, I found it was the weakest one of the whole series. ---
**Author:** ![Sevencl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d9b06d/32.png) [@Sevencl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sevencl)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2013, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-jan-2013-edition/645685/149 "2013-01-17T19:32:16Z")
> [@koeeoaddi](#): > > …and I’m _still_ listening to the **Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell** audiobook. I suspect the gentleman with the thistle-down hair is adding a new CD for each one I finish. 😛 Did anyone else get incredibly sick of Arthur’s whining throughout Keys to the Kingdom? ---
**Author:** ![LawMonkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d6d6ee/32.png) [@LawMonkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LawMonkey)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2013, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-jan-2013-edition/645685/150 "2013-01-17T20:01:51Z")
Ah, too bad. Still, pleased to hear we’ve got some more Old Kingdom stuff on the way. The thematic similarity to the Star Wars prequels is only very slightly unsettling. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![PacifistPorcupine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7ea924/32.png) [@PacifistPorcupine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PacifistPorcupine)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2013, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-jan-2013-edition/645685/151 "2013-01-17T20:06:13Z")
> [@Sevencl](#): > > Did anyone else get incredibly sick of Arthur’s whining throughout Keys to the Kingdom? There were some parts in the middle books where I screamed “Shut up you fucking idiot” so yes. ---
**Author:** ![Malthus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/85f322/32.png) [@Malthus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malthus)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2013, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-jan-2013-edition/645685/152 "2013-01-17T20:35:35Z")
Just read _The Long Ships_ by Frans G. Bengtsson (in English translation, natch). It’s one of the best historical fiction works I’ve read - I particularly enjoyed the author’s dry, understated humour. > **[The Long Ships](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Long_Ships)** > > The Long Ships or Red Orm (original Swedish: Röde Orm meaning Red Orm, lit. Red Serpent or Red Snake) is an adventure novel by the Swedish writer Frans G. Bengtsson. > The narrative is set in the late 10th century and follows the adventures of the Viking Röde Orm - called "Red" for his hair and his temper, a native of Scania. The book portrays the political situation of Europe in the later Viking Age, Andalusia under Almansur, Denmark under Harald Bluetooth, followed by the struggle between Eric t... Highly recommended for any lovers of historical fiction out there - this one’s got it all: it appears very historically literate, seems to capture the “feel” of the time in which it is set, it is very entertaining, full of humour, well written (even though in translation). Also, Vikings. Who doesn’t like Vikings? (Well, aside from everyone when they were around. 😛 ) Oh, and treasure, and well written female characters who are _not_ improbably ahistorical in attitude and outlook (a rarity in this sort of book). ---
**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 18, 2013, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-jan-2013-edition/645685/153 "2013-01-18T02:53:57Z")
> [@koeeoaddi](#): > > …and I’m _still_ listening to the **Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell** audiobook. I suspect the gentleman with the thistle-down hair is adding a new CD for each one I finish. 😛 I wouldn’t put it past him for a second! Perhaps he is peeved that you didn’t properly capitalize his name, as the author did… ---
**Author:** ![Enterprise](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/76d3ee/32.png) [@Enterprise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enterprise)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2013, 9:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-jan-2013-edition/645685/154 "2013-01-18T09:40:13Z")
> [@wonderlust](#): > > I adored A Madness of Angels, but couldn’t even finish The Midnight Mayor. I look forward to your thoughts when you read the sequel. Maybe I was just in a mood. Interesting! Not sure if it makes me look forward even more to the reading to find what’s gone different this time, or whether it’ll make me wait a little while longer… At any rate, the postman delivered a couple of work-and-fun related books that I’ll have to dig in first: Jerry Brotton’s _A History of the World in Twelve Maps_. I recently read Simon Garfield’s _On the Map_, so I’m apparently on a geographic trip these days. This one’s thicker, more scholarly (footnotes galore!), and I have high hopes for it. He’s also given me a set of four volumes of Karl Marx’s writings, which I hope to get through by the end of spring. Less exciting, although Marx’s not a bad writer at all. But there’s only so much economic theory you can enjoy at a sitting… And Nathan Englander’s new short story collection, _What We Talk About When We Talk About Anne Frank_. Rave reviews of this in the _New Yorker_ (?; maybe Harper’s?), so I’m very much looking forward to it. ---
**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 18, 2013, 10:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-jan-2013-edition/645685/155 "2013-01-18T10:19:40Z")
[The Violinist’s Thumb](http://www.amazon.com/Violinists-Thumb-Genius-Written-Genetic/dp/0316182311): _And Other Lost Tales of Love, War, and Genius, as Written by Our Genetic Code_ by **Sam Kean**. > [@](#): > > In The Disappearing Spoon, bestselling author Sam Kean unlocked the mysteries of the periodic table. In THE VIOLINIST’S THUMB, he explores the wonders of the magical building block of life: DNA. I’m a fair way into it, it’s good, interesting stuff. Up there with his previous title in terms of well-written popular science. ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2013, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-jan-2013-edition/645685/156 "2013-01-18T16:10:14Z")
After finishing _ **Redemption Falls** _ by Joseph O’Connor, I read the prequel, _ **Star of the Sea** _. Then I went looking for more O’Connor and the only other title is _ **Ghost Light** _, which I read a few years ago. Write faster, dammit! _ **Star of the Sea** _ takes place over a 26-day voyage on a ship carrying Irish immigrants to America in 1847. There are several different points of view, and flashbacks focusing on the Famine. It’s one thing to read that maybe a million people died, and that thousands more died on immigrant ships – it’s quite another to meet some of them, and to know that nobody cared! Now reading _ **A Family in Time** _ by Charles Dickinson. It’s a sequel to _ **A Shortcut in Time** _. Dickinson did a cool thing. I’m one of about 300 people who read the first book and liked it and contacted Dickinson and asked him to please continue the story. He’s thanked all of us in the Acknowledgements. 🙂 If you have Amazon Prime, you can read it for free, and while it would be good to read _ **Shortcut** _ first, it’s not absolutely necessary. He’s one of those time travel authors who doesn’t try to provide a scientific explanation for time travel. ---
**Author:** ![wonderlust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonderlust/32/7237_2.png) [@wonderlust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonderlust)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2013, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-jan-2013-edition/645685/157 "2013-01-18T16:37:37Z")
> [@AuntiePam](#): > > After finishing _ **Redemption Falls** _ by Joseph O’Connor, I read the prequel, _ **Star of the Sea** _. Then I went looking for more O’Connor and the only other title is _ **Ghost Light** _, which I read a few years ago. Write faster, dammit! > > _ **Star of the Sea** _ takes place over a 26-day voyage on a ship carrying Irish immigrants to America in 1847. There are several different points of view, and flashbacks focusing on the Famine. It’s one thing to read that maybe a million people died, and that thousands more died on immigrant ships – it’s quite another to meet some of them, and to know that nobody cared! > > Now reading _ **A Family in Time** _ by Charles Dickinson. It’s a sequel to _ **A Shortcut in Time** _. Dickinson did a cool thing. I’m one of about 300 people who read the first book and liked it and contacted Dickinson and asked him to please continue the story. He’s thanked all of us in the Acknowledgements. 🙂 If you have Amazon Prime, you can read it for free, and while it would be good to read _ **Shortcut** _ first, it’s not absolutely necessary. He’s one of those time travel authors who doesn’t try to provide a scientific explanation for time travel. **AuntiePam** , I was looking up info on the _ **Star of the Sea** _ and came across this, which might interest you: _In 2008, London band Silvery released the song “Star of the Sea” on their debut album Thunderer & Excelsior on Blow Up Records, loosely following the narrative of the book._ Joseph O’Connor is also the brother of Sinéad O’Connor. I don’t usually read historical fiction, but I’m a sucker for sea voyages (blame my Scots genes), so thanks for the glowing reviews. Also, I did read _ **Shortcut in Time** _ based on your enthusiasm here and on sffworld at the time you read it. That’s a nice nod to you! Thanks for the head’s up. ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2013, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-jan-2013-edition/645685/158 "2013-01-18T17:31:01Z")
> [@wonderlust](#): > > **AuntiePam** , I was looking up info on the _ **Star of the Sea** _ and came across this, which might interest you: _In 2008, London band Silvery released the song “Star of the Sea” on their debut album Thunderer & Excelsior on Blow Up Records, loosely following the narrative of the book._ Joseph O’Connor is also the brother of Sinéad O’Connor. I don’t usually read historical fiction, but I’m a sucker for sea voyages (blame my Scots genes), so thanks for the glowing reviews. Interesting! I found the lyrics and will be pondering them. (I lack the interpret poetry gene.) I’m a sucker for sea voyages too. Have you read _ **Voyage of the Narwahl** _ by Andrea Barrett? ---
**Author:** ![delphica](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e9a140/32.png) [@delphica](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/delphica)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2013, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-jan-2013-edition/645685/159 "2013-01-18T17:40:36Z")
I love all the book recommendations I get from this thread every month. In the meantime, I have revised my opinion of _Sharp Objects_. Instead of being traumatizing, the child murders are barely the tip of the iceberg in terms of issues these characters have, so I’m mostly underwhelmed by the whole thing. Currently about halfway through _The List_, by Siobhan Vivian, which is entertaining enough YA. High school girls get rated pretty or ugly, introspection occurs. ---
**Author:** ![wonderlust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonderlust/32/7237_2.png) [@wonderlust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonderlust)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2013, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-jan-2013-edition/645685/160 "2013-01-18T18:43:03Z")
> [@AuntiePam](#): > > Interesting! I found the lyrics and will be pondering them. (I lack the interpret poetry gene.) > > I’m a sucker for sea voyages too. Have you read _ **Voyage of the Narwahl** _ by Andrea Barrett? Even better than sea voyages are Arctic sea voyages or anything about Newfoundland – I have no idea why. Yep, found\* Narwahl\* buried on my shelves. I’ll move it up to a more-often viewed shelf. Thanks for the reminder. I wish I read at your speed! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-jan-2013-edition/645685.md?page=7) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-jan-2013-edition/645685.md?page=9)