# 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:** 10
**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:** [July 24, 2009, 12:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-july-09-edition/501467/181 "2009-07-24T12:40:29Z")
Finished The Hustler, by Walter Tevis. It was good. (It’s Friday, I’m short on sleep, and that’s about all the book review I got in me right now). I’m fiddling with Riven Rock, by T. Coraghessan Boyle, but I think I’m going to give it up and do an interlibrary loan for the book I really wanted (Road to Wellville). ---
**Author:** ![TheMerchandise](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b487fb/32.png) [@TheMerchandise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheMerchandise)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2009, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-july-09-edition/501467/182 "2009-07-24T14:13:26Z")
I read\* Kushiel’s Dart\* last week and didn’t expect to love it, but I did. Very impressed by Carey’s world-building. Doubly impressed by the fact that she worked sex scenes naturally into the plot, instead of bringing the story to a screeching halt every time she wanted some characters to get it on. Picked up Jedediah Berry’s _The Manual of Detection_ from the library. I’m not sure if it’s an allegory, an experiment in Kafka-esque surrealism, or if it just sucks. ---
**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:** [July 24, 2009, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-july-09-edition/501467/183 "2009-07-24T16:29:01Z")
> [@twickster](#): > > …Plus I bought a used copy of _Arthur Rex_ today – not sure if I’ll tackle that immediately or wait a while. I’d been planning to wait a while, but the tone looks very different (read several pages in the bookstore) and I think it will be an interesting compare-and-contrast, not overkill. My vacation (yes, unemployed people go on vacation) is the week after next, and it actually strikes me as a good beach read. I’m weird that way. Ah, you’re in for a treat. This has been a favorite of mine since high school. I even wrote the Wikipedia article a few weeks back when I noticed there wasn’t one: [Arthur Rex - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthur_Rex:_A_Legendary_Novel) ---
**Author:** ![Invisible\_Chimp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/f05b48/32.png) [@Invisible\_Chimp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Invisible_Chimp)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2009, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-july-09-edition/501467/184 "2009-07-25T01:35:31Z")
I just finished _The Gun Seller_ by Hugh Laurie. I laughed out loud a few times, as you would expect, but I didn’t think it was a gut-buster. Maybe I don’t read enough spy novels to get some of the references. Next up is _Sacred Games_ by Vikram Chandra, which I am anxious about. It’s about cops and criminals in modern Bombay(he uses this over Mumbai)which sounds interesting,but the unusual names and the length(900 pages+) have me worried. I used to do these epics all the time, but now it takes me a month sometimes to read a 300 pager. ---
**Author:** ![tr0psn4j](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/958977/32.png) [@tr0psn4j](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tr0psn4j)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2009, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-july-09-edition/501467/185 "2009-07-25T01:56:36Z")
Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2009, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-july-09-edition/501467/186 "2009-07-25T02:08:33Z")
I was at one of my favorite [bookstores](http://www.northshire.com/) Monday and picked up some new reads there. I’ve already gone through _Was Superman a Spy?: And Other Comic Book Legends Revealed_ by Brian Cronin and I’ve started _Julian Comstock: A Story of 22nd-Century America_ by Robert Charles Wilson. ---
**Author:** ![Max\_Torque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Max\_Torque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_Torque)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2009, 6:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-july-09-edition/501467/187 "2009-07-25T06:17:56Z")
Finished **Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell** by Susanna Clarke the week after the July 4th holiday. Currently reading **Pygmy** by Chuck Palahniuk. It’s a difficult read, but I like it well enough so far. ---
**Author:** ![Weedy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/weedy/32/301_2.png) [@Weedy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Weedy)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2009, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-july-09-edition/501467/188 "2009-07-25T13:41:14Z")
Just come back from a week’s holiday, where I managed to get some reading done: _The Modern World_ by Steph Swainston. Well-written fantasy. This turns out to be the third in the series, and some of what’s happening was a little bit confusing as I hadn’t read the others. I enjoyed piecing the story together, though. A good mix of politics, war, characterisation, and weird fantasy stuff. The main character is compelling. _The Eyre Affaire; Something’s Rotten_ and _First Among Sequels_ by Jasper Fforde. All in a series. The first one is really good modern-day fantasy, interesting, quirky and just plain fun to read. The follow-ups are OK, but have lost some of the freshness of the first one. They still have lots of fun bits. ---
**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:** [July 25, 2009, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-july-09-edition/501467/189 "2009-07-25T19:30:40Z")
> [@Max\_Torque](#): > > Finished **Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell** by Susanna Clarke the week after the July 4th holiday… And your review…? Just read _A Lovecraft Retrospective: Artists Inspired by H.P. Lovecraft_, preface by Stuart Gordon, foreword by Harlan Ellison (Centipede Press 2008), a massive, heavy, densely-illustrated book on weird art since the 1920s. A lot of it was and is crap, but some of it is very good indeed. I was especially impressed by the art of Virgil Finlay, Bruce Pennington and Michael Whelan; they’ve done some very creepy, effective, evocative stuff. ---
**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:** [July 26, 2009, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-july-09-edition/501467/190 "2009-07-26T01:33:05Z")
I’m reading Deerskin by Robin McKinley and liking it very much. Not least because I discovered the origin of a Doper’s username! ---
**Author:** ![PeacePlease](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/71c47a/32.png) [@PeacePlease](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PeacePlease)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2009, 5:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-july-09-edition/501467/191 "2009-07-26T05:01:47Z")
Still reading **Raven: The Untold Story of the Rev. Jim Jones and His People**. I’m up to d-day now and I have to say that I have not been able to put this book down since Friday night. I couldn’t sleep because I was too engrossed. This is one of the better books I ever read. I recommend it very, very highly as an excellently researched and written piece of non-fiction. Absolutely fascinating how something like this can happen. I’ve bookmarked the article that **delphica** mentions at the top of the page to read after I’m finished. I did glance at it and it doesn’t surprise me that that particular person died at Jonestown. I remember when this happened and I remember seeing the photos of the bodies on the news. It left an indelible mark and this book is finally answering every question that I have had over the years. It’s one of the books that I’m going to be very disappointed to finish!! ---
**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:** [July 26, 2009, 6:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-july-09-edition/501467/192 "2009-07-26T06:50:12Z")
The Economist is now available on the kindle. Between that and the New York Times, I may never have enough time to read anything again. Oh, and this week’s economist deals with the Arab world and so probably would not be allowed in anyway. ---
**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:** [July 26, 2009, 8:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-july-09-edition/501467/193 "2009-07-26T08:30:38Z")
> [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](#): > > The Economist is now available on the kindle. _The Economist_ has been banned in Thailand four times this year so far, including just a couple of weeks ago. Always for articles on Thailand’s draconian lese-majeste laws. It was banned once late last year for a pair of very critical articles about He Who Must Not Be Named. I don’t think I’ve seen any kindles here yet, but it’s technology like this that will eventually make censorship obsolete. ---
**Author:** ![PeacePlease](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/71c47a/32.png) [@PeacePlease](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PeacePlease)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2009, 10:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-july-09-edition/501467/194 "2009-07-26T10:21:04Z")
I finished **Raven**. Wow. I had completely forgotten about Sharon Amos in Georgetown . . . and how she killed her young children, had her older daughter kill her and left the older daughter to kill herself. All by slitting of the throats. Damn. She actually put her own hand on her daughter’s to help her slit her own throat and then her daughter was left to slit her own throat. The description of the shooting at the air strip was harrowing but even more so was the hours and hours they had to wait to be rescued afterward. I had no idea. This book was fascinating all the way through and yet one still has a hard time understanding why this had to happen the way it did. All those lost children. Brutal. ---
**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:** [July 27, 2009, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-july-09-edition/501467/195 "2009-07-27T00:53:11Z")
Just finished Gloria Vanderbilt’s very short, very dumb erotic novel _Obsession_. Got it from the library because _Entertainment Weekly_ praised it - I don’t know why. It sucked. Don’t waste your time. ---
**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:** [July 27, 2009, 3:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-july-09-edition/501467/196 "2009-07-27T03:17:38Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > Just finished Gloria Vanderbilt’s very short, very dumb erotic novel _Obsession_. Got it from the library because _Entertainment Weekly_ praised it - I don’t know why. It sucked. Don’t waste your time. If I were Anderson Cooper I’d be so embarrassed! ---
**Author:** ![lshaw](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e36b37/32.png) [@lshaw](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lshaw)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2009, 6:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-july-09-edition/501467/197 "2009-07-27T06:29:12Z")
Now reading the English translation of Italo Calvino’s _If on a winter’s night a traveler_ ---
**Author:** ![tr0psn4j](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/958977/32.png) [@tr0psn4j](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tr0psn4j)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2009, 6:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-july-09-edition/501467/198 "2009-07-27T06:32:18Z")
> [@yellowval](#): > > I finally finished “For Whom the Bell Tolls” yesterday. It took me a long time to finish it, but it was really great and worth the effort. My husband, on the other hand, was incredibly disappointed to learn that it was not about Metallica. 😉 Yeah I read it a month or so ago. What a book. Wish things had turned out different though. Also is it just me or is the second half of Oliver Twist just way too boring. I’m at the point where he’s lying in a ditch after getting shot and I just can’t read another page of it. I’m not sure what happened, the book was just amazing up until the last 10 or so pages. ---
**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:** [July 27, 2009, 12:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-july-09-edition/501467/199 "2009-07-27T12:55:54Z")
Currently reading The Scavenger’s Manifesto, nonfiction by Anneli Rufus and Kristan Lawson. An interesting topic, but the tone of the writing makes me feel I’ve been cornered at a bus stop by some hippie fanatic. We’re not just garbage-picking, we’re saving our _souls_, man! ---
**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:** [July 27, 2009, 1:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-july-09-edition/501467/200 "2009-07-27T13:19:13Z")
> [@wonderlust](#): > > If I were Anderson Cooper I’d be so embarrassed! He says not: [http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/18/books/18gloria.html](http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/18/books/18gloria.html) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-july-09-edition/501467.md?page=9) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-july-09-edition/501467.md?page=11)