# Whatcha Readin' January 2012 Edition **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 31, 2011, 12:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-january-2012-edition/607933 "2011-12-31T12:08:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2011, 12:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-january-2012-edition/607933/1 "2011-12-31T12:08:40Z")
Happy New Year! Wishing you all a joyous year full of good reads! Finished _Spectyr_ the sequel to _Geist_. I had some problems getting into Geist and started it many times. But now that I am into the series, I enjoyed the second. I was, however, a little disappointed with the ending, which seemed a little hurried. Finished _Child of Fire_ a new (to me) urban fantasy series. I enjoyed it and was pleased that it wasn’t a romance novel with magic (a male protagonist - finally!) It had a lot of action and was well written. It too though, disappointed me in the end, with things feeling left unfinished. But I will read the next (have started it as a matter of fact.) Got a lot of new books for Christmas and lots of good book cards. [December’s thread.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=633201) ---
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2011, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-january-2012-edition/607933/2 "2011-12-31T15:20:05Z")
Jumping the gun, eh? Well I’ll do it too! I also got a lot of books for Christmas. - I just finished\* Three Day Road\* by Joseph Boyden, a book sort of like Pat Barker’s _Regeneration_ that follows two Canadian Cree friends in WWI. I recommend this if you like Barker. - I’m partway into _A Good and Happy Child_ by Justin Evans, which is either a horror novel or a psychological thriller…I’m not far enough in to know if the kid is imagining this shit or if it’s real. But it’s creeping me out so far. Books upcoming from the Christmas pile: - Lord Acton’s essays on the French Revolution. Greatly looking forward to this. - An annotated version of _Ulysses_. I read the unannotated version last year, and while I feel like I got a lot of it, I’m guessing I really didn’t. - Rick Riordan’s Greek mythology books. Actually they’re my kids books, but I’ll read them as well. - Ditto for the _Eragon_ series. ---
**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:** [December 31, 2011, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-january-2012-edition/607933/3 "2011-12-31T15:25:25Z")
I’ll still be reading _Area 51_ for another week (thick book). A friend loaned me a book called _Sidetracked_, by Henning Mankell. I have no idea what it’s about. ---
**Author:** ![Dendarii\_Dame](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bbce88/32.png) [@Dendarii\_Dame](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dendarii_Dame)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2011, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-january-2012-edition/607933/4 "2011-12-31T15:33:15Z")
_A Hat Full of Sky_, by Terry Pratchett. It’s really good. ---
**Author:** ![EddyTeddyFreddy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eddyteddyfreddy/32/18796_2.png) [@EddyTeddyFreddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EddyTeddyFreddy)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2011, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-january-2012-edition/607933/5 "2011-12-31T15:46:12Z")
Just finished _Under Heaven_ by Guy Gavriel Kay – good gravy, but he astounds me further with every book of his I read. Now it’s on to Mel Starr’s _Unhallowed Ground_. After that? Might pick up Terry Pratchett’s newest, _Snuff_; I read _I Shall Wear Midnight_ just before getting into Kay. ---
**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:** [December 31, 2011, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-january-2012-edition/607933/6 "2011-12-31T16:20:48Z")
I’m on the verge of finishing _The Runaway Jury_, by John Grisham. Another 10 pages or so. 11:20pm New Year’s Eve over here. Just 40 more minutes. ---
**Author:** ![standingwave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9de0a6/32.png) [@standingwave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/standingwave)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2011, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-january-2012-edition/607933/7 "2011-12-31T16:27:06Z")
Reamde by Neal Stephenson (I like all his other stuff so I expect that this will be no different) I intend to read Charles Stross’ Rule 34 but feel I should first read Halting State so I will probably get through both of those this week. And on the non-fiction list: Constructing Reality: Quantum Theory and Particle Physics by John Marburger The Little Blue Reasoning Book by Brandon Royal (to the extent that it’s psychology and not just some self–help manual) ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2011, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-january-2012-edition/607933/8 "2011-12-31T16:44:33Z")
> [@Maserschmidt](#): > > - I just finished\* Three Day Road\* by Joseph Boyden, a book sort of like Pat Barker’s _Regeneration_ that follows two Canadian Cree friends in WWI. I recommend this if you like Barker. Loved that book and plan to read more by Boyden. Still reading _A Maggot_ by John Fowles, and am about halfway through [The Hamilton Case](http://www.amazon.com/Hamilton-Case-Novel-Michelle-Kretser/dp/0316735485) by Michelle Kretser. It’s set in Ceylon in the 1830’s. The narrator is Ceylonese (Tamil, I think), educated in England, who thinks of himself as English. He’s more than a bit delusional about himself and his place in the world. He reminds me of Benson’s _Lucia_. The first half of the book is almost lighthearted but then things get dark. We’re headed for tragedy. ---
**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 1, 2012, 4:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-january-2012-edition/607933/9 "2012-01-01T04:29:51Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > I’m on the verge of finishing _The Runaway Jury_, by John Grisham. Another 10 pages or so… Hope you like(d) it! I think I recommended it to you. Still working on Jay Mechling’s _On My Honor_, a study of a single Boy Scout troop over decades, and George R.R. Martin’s _A Dance with Dragons_. I really need to spend more time reading both. Too many other distractions over the holidays, and several other books in the stack that I’m eager to get to - Ron Chernow’s _Washington_, Stephen King’s _11/22/63_, and Edmund Morris’s _Colonel Roosevelt_. ---
**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 1, 2012, 7:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-january-2012-edition/607933/10 "2012-01-01T07:33:58Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > I’m on the verge of finishing _The Runaway Jury_, by John Grisham. Another 10 pages or so. > > 11:20pm New Year’s Eve over here. Just 40 more minutes. > [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > Hope you like(d) it! I think I recommended it to you. Yes you did. And I did like it very much. Finished those last pages this morning. Very good, although again I pretty much saw the ending coming. But it’s still a good story, and I really like Grisham’s storytelling. So much so that I’m now about to start another one: _The Appeal_. Geez, I used to be like some of you guys, finishing a book every couple of days or so. My New Year’s resolution, since I’m already perfect in every other way, is always to squeeze in more reading time, but it never seems to happen, so I’m not making the resolution this year. I suppose it’s good to be busy, but I do wish I had more time to read. But I manage to plod along. ---
**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 1, 2012, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-january-2012-edition/607933/11 "2012-01-01T13:40:11Z")
I’m re-reading _The Lord of the Rings_ for the first time in many, many years. It’s going slower than before because I’m hearing it in my head as if it’s being read aloud by Ian McKellen. I finished _The Billionaire’s Vinegar_ a week or so ago and really enjoyed it. ---
**Author:** ![LVBoPeep](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/858c86/32.png) [@LVBoPeep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LVBoPeep)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2012, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-january-2012-edition/607933/12 "2012-01-01T15:03:05Z")
[A Crowning Mercy](http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/10238364-a-crowning-mercy) by Bernard Cronwell. I just finished “The Last Kingdom” by Bernard Cornwell and really liked it. Right now, I’m Christmas broke so have been using my library free books for Kindle. Unfortunately, they don’t have #2 of the Saxon Stories (although they do have #3 :rolleyes:) so I decided to try another of the author’s many historical series. I like it so far as far as historical fiction that is more entertaining than informative. Next up is [Seed](http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/11422798-seed) by Ania Alhorn. Sounds like a ripping good horror story - and it was FREE on Amazon!! My last free download was awful but this has pretty good reviews so far so hoping it is at least worth the price :dubious:. Both of these might be put on hold if I get enough $$$ to order 11/22/63 by Stephen King. ---
**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 1, 2012, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-january-2012-edition/607933/13 "2012-01-01T18:32:20Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > Yes you did. And I did like it very much. Finished those last pages this morning. Very good, although again I pretty much saw the ending coming. But it’s still a good story, and I really like Grisham’s storytelling… Likewise. Glad you enjoyed it. As I may have said before, the movie is quite different (a firearms liability case and not Big Tobacco), but also worth seeing. ---
**Author:** ![Politzania](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3ab097/32.png) [@Politzania](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Politzania)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2012, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-january-2012-edition/607933/14 "2012-01-01T19:13:29Z")
Finished _ **11/22/63** _ with 3.5 hrs to spare in 2011 - and what a book to end the year’s reading on! I was sucked right in within the first 20 pages or so… I can’t speak to how well King portrayed the US of the late 50’s - early 60’s personally, but I certainly felt immersed in the story; carving out a couple of multi-hour reading sessions over the last 3 days. King’s always been a damn fine storyteller, and IMHO this novel ranks up there pretty high. I was afraid the story was going to go flaky at the end (see the Dark Tower), but he pulled it off; with -according to the afterword- help from his son, Joe Hill, who is also a damn fine storyteller. Just started Matt Ruff’s [Sewer, Gas and Electric: The Public Works Trilogy](http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/71846.Sewer_Gas_and_Electric) and am intrigued - getting a Vonnegut vibe off it so far, of all things. ---
**Author:** ![KarlGauss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/karlgauss/32/3713_2.png) [@KarlGauss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KarlGauss)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2012, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-january-2012-edition/607933/15 "2012-01-01T19:30:33Z")
I just started [To End All Wars (by Adam Hochschild)](http://www.amazon.com/End-All-Wars-Rebellion-1914-1918/dp/0618758283/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1325446042&sr=1-1). It is an ‘idiosyncratic’ look at WWI with the emphasis on those who opposed it at home and suffered terribly for their views. As an aside, Hochschild’s summary of the events leading up to, and the early part of, the conflagration is, at once, beautifully clear and impressively succinct. ---
**Author:** ![Future\_Londonite](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/9dc877/32.png) [@Future\_Londonite](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Future_Londonite)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2012, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-january-2012-edition/607933/16 "2012-01-01T21:27:42Z")
Finished _Sense of an ending_ by Julian Barnes and _Life, liberty and the Pursuit of sausages_ by Tom Holt. have now started on _Chapman’s Odyssey_ by Paul Bailey ---
**Author:** ![pullin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c57346/32.png) [@pullin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pullin)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2012, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-january-2012-edition/607933/17 "2012-01-01T22:42:09Z")
I started reading Taylor Anderson’s [Destroyermen](http://www.taylorandersonauthor.com/books/into-the-storm/) series last month. I’m completely hooked and got the second one _(Crusade)_ for Christmas. If you’re unaware of the author, he’s a professor, historian, and amateur gun-maker who teaches at Tarleton State University. The books are about the crew(s) of WWII destroyers who… **Wait! Come back!** Let me finish. 😉 His books are more in the alternate-world / fantasy genre than war stories. I say they’re worth a try if you’re at the library sometime. I’m hoping there’s a movie because I’m still trying to imagine what a Lemurian looks like. ---
**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 2, 2012, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-january-2012-edition/607933/18 "2012-01-02T01:09:27Z")
If you want a WWII sea classic, I highly recommend _The Cruel Sea_ by Nicholas Monsarrat, about an ill-starred British corvette on North Atlantic convoy duty. ---
**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 2, 2012, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-january-2012-edition/607933/19 "2012-01-02T02:02:44Z")
If you like M.C. Escher: [Palazzo Inverso - great book for Escher fans! - Cafe Society - Straight Dope Message Board](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=636967) ---
**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 2, 2012, 4:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-january-2012-edition/607933/20 "2012-01-02T04:48:57Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > Likewise. Glad you enjoyed it. As I may have said before, the movie is quite different (a firearms liability case and not Big Tobacco), but also worth seeing. Hmmm. I wonder if Big Tobacco paid for that switch. :dubious: [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-january-2012-edition/607933.md?page=2)