# Whatcha Readin' (July 09) Edition **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 30, 2009, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-july-09-edition/501467 "2009-06-30T13:36:18Z")\ **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:** [June 30, 2009, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-july-09-edition/501467/1 "2009-06-30T13:36:18Z")
To those of you celebrating a holiday this weekend, have a safe and happy holiday. I have started [Warbreaker](http://www.amazon.com/Warbreaker-Brandon-Sanderson/dp/0765320304/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1246368696&sr=1-1) which so far promises to be quite good. Sanderson’s world is original and the magic is AFAIK unique to him. I have also started _Bridge Of Birds_ which also has strong promise. Due to some work constraints, my reading has really slowed, so I have no idea when I’ll finish either of these. I have started _Happy For No Reason_. So far there is little or nothing new in it, but I will continue to read it for a while. [June’s Thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=519495#post11293525) ---
**Author:** ![Sitnam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Sitnam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sitnam)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2009, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-july-09-edition/501467/2 "2009-06-30T14:09:43Z")
I started [**The Selected Works of T. S. Spivet**](http://www.tsspivet.com/) last night and just couldn’t put it down, I’ll probably finish it tonight. This is Reif Larsen’s first book and is surely the start of a fantastic career. ---
**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:** [June 30, 2009, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-july-09-edition/501467/3 "2009-06-30T15:55:20Z")
I gave up on _The Gone-Away World_, and am presently reading fluffy _Living Dead in Dallas_, while trying to decide between next reading Alastair Reynolds’ _Chasm City_ or Iain M. Banks’ _Consider Phlebas_. ---
**Author:** ![Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ccd318/32.png) [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paul_in_Qatar)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2009, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-july-09-edition/501467/4 "2009-06-30T15:56:15Z")
**1959; The Year that Changed Everything,** up to now I am not so impressed. ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2009, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-july-09-edition/501467/5 "2009-06-30T16:01:10Z")
Just started **The Strain** by Guillermo Del Toro. I’m liking it so far, but I’m almost a quarter of the way through the book and nothing seems to have actually happened yet. As others have said, it all seems to be build up for a future book. ---
**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:** [June 30, 2009, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-july-09-edition/501467/6 "2009-06-30T16:32:24Z")
> [@Khadaji](#): > > To those of you celebrating a holiday this weekend, have a safe and happy holiday. How’d you know it’s to be a long holiday weekend over here, with Asanha Bucha Day and the beginning of Buddhist Lent both next week? 😕 But anyway, I’m about 3/5 through _An American Tragedy_, by Theodore Dreiser. It is LONG, but I am enjoying it immensely. Published in 1925, it’s fiction but based on a real-life 1906 murder in upstate New York. If I did not know beforehand this was a murder story, it would have come as a complete surprise, as there’s no inkling at all that there might even be a murder until after page 500. That is not a criticism. Dreiser goes into detailed background of the circumstances that eventually make a pleasant, mild-mannered youth from humble origins resort to murder. In real life, the perp was caught and then executed in 1908. Dunno how this ends yet, but it’s not looking too good for the protagonist right now, and the word “tragedy” is in the title, so I think I can guess. This is a very well-crafted story. ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2009, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-july-09-edition/501467/7 "2009-06-30T17:04:47Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > How’d you know it’s to be a long holiday weekend over here, with Asanha Bucha Day and the beginning of Buddhist Lent both next week? 😕 Saturday (this weekend) is the 4th of July, the American Independence Day. ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2009, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-july-09-edition/501467/8 "2009-06-30T17:17:41Z")
> [@Justin\_Bailey](#): > > Saturday (this weekend) is the 4th of July, the American Independence Day. Sam was joking with me. He knew. ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2009, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-july-09-edition/501467/9 "2009-06-30T17:30:08Z")
> [@Khadaji](#): > > Sam was joking with me. He knew. I see. I’ll just be standing over in the corner enjoying the nice whooshing sound. ---
**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:** [June 30, 2009, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-july-09-edition/501467/10 "2009-06-30T17:35:39Z")
Hee hee hee. 😃 There is always a Fourth of July party in Bangkok, but the one I attended years and years ago was a crappy affair. Mediocre hot dogs and inferior Budweiser beer. I never bothered to attend another one. Much better is Ploenchit Fair, sponsored by the Brits every November. A British fair. ---
**Author:** ![Sitnam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Sitnam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sitnam)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2009, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-july-09-edition/501467/11 "2009-06-30T18:52:02Z")
> [@wonderlust](#): > > I gave up on _The Gone-Away World_, That’s too bad, the end really brings it all together. ---
**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:** [June 30, 2009, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-july-09-edition/501467/12 "2009-06-30T19:43:20Z")
> [@Sitnam](#): > > That’s too bad, the end really brings it all together. Hmmm, that is persuasive… :smack: ---
**Author:** ![TheMerchandise](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b487fb/32.png) [@TheMerchandise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheMerchandise)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2009, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-july-09-edition/501467/13 "2009-06-30T20:06:56Z")
> [@Khadaji](#): > > I have also started _Bridge Of Birds_ which also has strong promise. Get out! I started that this morning. Race you! ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2009, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-july-09-edition/501467/14 "2009-06-30T20:53:32Z")
> [@TheMerchandise](#): > > Get out! I started that this morning. Race you! 🙂 Normally I would accept that challenge, but as stated, due to work restraints I have no idea when I’ll finish. ---
**Author:** ![MonkeyMensch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@MonkeyMensch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MonkeyMensch)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2009, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-july-09-edition/501467/15 "2009-06-30T21:25:38Z")
I’m finishing _Steven Jay Gould_’s **Wonderful Life**. And still rolling through, as I do every five years or so, \*\*Fundamentals of Aerodynamics \*\*by _John Anderson._ I love this book. It makes me want to teach ground school for pilots. I’d draw an inclined line on the white board and say, “Now here we have a SIMPLE wing. How come it fly?” ---
**Author:** ![Gulo\_gulo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bcef8e/32.png) [@Gulo\_gulo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gulo_gulo)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2009, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-july-09-edition/501467/16 "2009-07-01T00:19:43Z")
> [@Khadaji](#): > > I have also started _Bridge Of Birds_ which also has strong promise. LOVED this book. I wish “The Story of the Stone” was more readily available so I could continue with the series. ---
**Author:** ![Gulo\_gulo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bcef8e/32.png) [@Gulo\_gulo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gulo_gulo)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2009, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-july-09-edition/501467/17 "2009-07-01T00:48:42Z")
Finished: _Skeletons in her Cupboard (Festschrift for Juliet Clutton-Brock)_ ~ bunch of essays on archaeozoology. _A Soldier of the Great War_ by Mark Helprin ~ This was…ok. I didn’t see the point of the modern narrative bits when the flashback itself was enough. I also had another war book on the go and I think I was ‘warred out’ for the time being. _The Irregulars: Roald Dahl and the British Spy Ring in Wartime Washington_ by Jennet Conant ~ I didn’t think that a book with this subject could be dull but it was a slog. _The Prestige_ by Christopher Priest ~ Loved it _Eat Thy Neighbour: A History of Cannibalism_ by Daniel Diehl ~ Fun trash if you’re needing that sort of thing. _New Moon_ by Stephenie Meyer ~ more angst, this time with werewolves. Decent enough young adult fare. _The Corsair_ by Tim Severin ~ Young Irish boy is captured by slavers and gets to tour fun places like Algiers, Marseilles, and the Barbary Coast. While the story was so-so, the research is very thorough. _The Arsenic Milkshake_ by Sylvia Barrett ~ Forensics in Canada. An old favourite. _The City & The City_ by China Mieville ~ I bought this book on a whim since I had a shot at getting an autographed copy. It took me about half of the book to wrap my head around the concept of two cities existing on top of one another yet you are only allowed to acknowledge the one you’re in. Clever concept however it took me so long to understand what the heck was going on that I missed out enjoying the actual story. _The First Man in Rome_ by Colleen Mccullough ~ I’m pretty sure that I got this on a recommendation from this site so thanks whoever you were! I really enjoyed it, even though the Roman government (and names) were too confusing for me. I can’t wait to continue with the series. _The Medici Giraffe_ by Marina Belozerskaya ~ Some examples of gifts of exotic animals (and native peoples) to rulers throughout history. Alexander’s elephants, Julius Caesar’s giraffe, Josephine Bonaparte’s black swans, etc. The Roman chapter closely paralleled the events in the book above, a nice little bonus. _Picture of Dorian Gray_ by Oscar Wilde _The Long Goodbye_ by Raymond Chandler ~ Must…read…more…Chandler Presently reading: _Raven: The Untold Story of the Rev. Jim Jones and His People_ by Tim Reiterman ~ So far so good \*We Bought a Zoo: The Amazing True Story of a Young Family, a Broken Down Zoo, and the 200 Wild Animals That Change Their Lives Forever \*by Benjamin Mee ~ very enjoyable. Keep those tissues handy. _The Moonlight War: the Story of Clandestine Operations in South-East Asia 1944-5_ by Terence O’Brien ~ another recommendation from this site My husband just got transferred to Alaska for the summer so I thought I’d get more reading done. Instead I’m just moping around the house. Hopefully I’ll snap out of it soon. ---
**Author:** ![PeacePlease](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/71c47a/32.png) [@PeacePlease](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PeacePlease)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2009, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-july-09-edition/501467/18 "2009-07-01T00:59:34Z")
> [@Gulo\_gulo](#): > > Presently reading: > > _Raven: The Untold Story of the Rev. Jim Jones and His People_ by Tim Reiterman ~ So far so good Oh, please keep us posted. I’d love to find a good book about Jim Jones and his crazy encampment and disaster. ---
**Author:** ![delphica](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e9a140/32.png) [@delphica](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/delphica)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2009, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-july-09-edition/501467/19 "2009-07-01T18:51:48Z")
_American Eve: Evelyn Nesbit, Stanford White: The Birth of the “It” Girl and the Crime of the Century_ by Paula Uruburu. This was good. The author was a little over the top in terms of style … I had this mental picture of the author shouting every other line in a froth of excitement, but the (true) story is indeed intriguing. Evelyn’ husband murdered Stanford White, her former … I don’t even know what to call him, he took advantage of her and sort of forced himself on her as her sugar daddy, but there also seems to have been some genuine affection between the two as evidenced in her autobiography. _ghostgirl_ by Tonya Hurley. YA novel about a dead high school girl who is still trying all sorts of schemes to become popular. Not a bad premise, but it was poorly written and not very entertaining. ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2009, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-july-09-edition/501467/20 "2009-07-01T20:45:42Z")
I’m reading the second Kedrigern, _The Questing of Kedrigern_ by John Morressy, fantasy, suitable for kids and very funny. Something that intrigues me about Kedrigern is that occasionally he reaches into the future and brings things back. He doesn’t know what these things are, and from the description, neither do I. In _Questing_, he “takes a sudden detour into a dangerous future land called L.A.” Keddie has a bit of Crocodile Dundee in him – should be fun. I also started _Middlemarch_ at the urging of a friend. I spent a good five minutes parsing the first sentence of the prelude. I’m hoping the rest of it isn’t so dense. I don’t have a clue what it’s about. Usually I read this kind of stuff after seeing the film. Somehow I’ve missed out on this one. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-july-09-edition/501467.md?page=2)