# 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:** 19\ **Page:** 11
**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 27, 2009, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-july-09-edition/501467/201 "2009-07-27T14:05:17Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > And your review…? Ah, sorry. ahem. **Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell** is an enjoyable read. Written in a rather Dickensian style, the story follows two magicians (actual, “conjuring faeries” magicians, not “pull a rabbit out of my hat” magicians) in England in the early 1800s. The author, Susanna Clarke, creates a richly detailed world, with extensive footnotes and background story giving the reader an impression that he is reading a scholarly history rather than a novel. Okay, pretensions aside, it was a fun read, but difficult to get into at first. The pacing of the plot is right in line with the chosen voice: slow and deliberate, just like one of Charles Dickens’s table-breakers. That being said, the wrap-up at the end actually seemed rather rushed, given the nigh-glacial pace of everything that came before. Still, I found it hard to put down each night. Story: English magic has stagnated for hundreds of years; those calling themselves “magicians” are basically historians. The art of “practical” magic is essentially lost. But then, a self-taught magician, Mr. Norrell, appears, doing wondrous things and pledging his service to the nation. Shortly, another magician arises, a young prodigy named Jonathan Strange. Norrell at first feels threatened by the appearance of another magician, but eventually takes Strange under his wing as an apprentice. As Strange journeys abroad to serve in the Napoleonic wars, he grows ever more distant from Norrell, resenting his mentor’s secrecy and book-hoarding habits. Meanwhile, Norrell’s earliest magic begins to have consequences he did not foresee… ---
**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, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-july-09-edition/501467/202 "2009-07-27T14:57:04Z")
Ah, thanks! ---
**Author:** ![Enterprise](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/76d3ee/32.png) [@Enterprise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enterprise)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2009, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-july-09-edition/501467/203 "2009-07-28T17:18:41Z")
I’ve been reading H.P. Lovecraft _Omnibus I_, a collection whose notable high points are apparently “At the Mountains of Madness” and “The Case of Charles Dexter Ward”. I’ve gotta say…I’m not impressed. Perhaps I’m jaded – but I usually am quite easy to scare, and Lovecraft did nothing for me. “Mountains of Madness” especially was entirely predicatable, bloody well gave away that nothing was going to happen to the narrator and his partner (except for insanity…oh well). I’m thinking of skipping _Omnibus II_ (although I’d be interested in “Herbert West, Re-Animator”) and going straight to the third volume, in hopes that “The Call of Cthulhu” is going to be more scary. I’ve also gotten ahold of a copy of Skipp and Spector’s 1989 zombie anthology _Book of the Dead_, which is the expected mixed bag but contains quite a few interesting stories. Otherwise, I’m still reading James Fenimore Cooper’s _The Pilot_ (which is surprisingly good so far, all things considering); Nigel Hamilton’s _Biography: A Brief History_ which looks like a cheap romance novel (VERY bad choice on the part of Harvard UP, I have to say; without a positive recommendation, I would never have picked it up); S.G. Browne’s _Breathers: A Zombie’s Lament_, which doesn’t really seem to fit the bill for zombie fiction but is quite good; and periodically skimming the four volumes of the History of The Lord of the Rings (_History of Middle-Earth_ Vol. 6-9). So, I’m busy. ---
**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 28, 2009, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-july-09-edition/501467/204 "2009-07-28T19:07:08Z")
With joy and sadness, I started on Jim Butcher’s Turn Coat today. Joy because there’s no doubt this’ll be a good read, sadness because it’ll be a while before I get a new Harry Dresden 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:** [July 28, 2009, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-july-09-edition/501467/205 "2009-07-28T19:36:09Z")
> [@Enterprise](#): > > I’ve been reading H.P. Lovecraft… I had a college friend who was a HUGE Lovecraft fan, but I didn’t read any HPL until about three years ago. “The Colour Out of Space,” “The Shadow Over Innsmouth,” “The Thing on the Doorstep,” “The Whisperer in Darkness” and “The Call of Cthulhu” are probably my favorites, although each of them have their flaws. Stephen King also wrote a very Lovecraftian short story, “Crouch End,” which is worth a read. Other than the great Antarctic atmosphere, I thought “At the Mountains of Madness” is vastly overrated. ---
**Author:** ![Eleanor\_of\_Aquitaine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a88e4f/32.png) [@Eleanor\_of\_Aquitaine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eleanor_of_Aquitaine)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2009, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-july-09-edition/501467/206 "2009-07-28T20:32:10Z")
> [@Dung\_Beetle](#): > > With joy and sadness, I started on Jim Butcher’s Turn Coat today. Joy because there’s no doubt this’ll be a good read, sadness because it’ll be a while before I get a new Harry Dresden book. He’s published some short stories in the Dresden universe, if you can track down the various collections. There’s one story each in _My Big Fat Supernatural Wedding_, _My Big Fat Supernatural Honeymoon_, _Many Bloody Returns_ and _Strange Brew_, all edited by P.N. Elrod, and in another couple of collections called _Blood Lite_ and _Mean Streets_. And there’s a graphic novel and a novella published. ---
**Author:** ![Enterprise](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/76d3ee/32.png) [@Enterprise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enterprise)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2009, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-july-09-edition/501467/207 "2009-07-28T20:41:38Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > I had a college friend who was a HUGE Lovecraft fan, but I didn’t read any HPL until about three years ago. “The Colour Out of Space,” “The Shadow Over Innsmouth,” “The Thing on the Doorstep,” “The Whisperer in Darkness” and “The Call of Cthulhu” are probably my favorites, although each of them have their flaws. Stephen King also wrote a very Lovecraftian short story, “Crouch End,” which is worth a read. > > Other than the great Antarctic atmosphere, I thought “At the Mountains of Madness” is vastly overrated. Well, I’m glad to hear it. I thought I was seriously missing out on something. I’ll probably get the third volume then, which has most of those short stories you mention in it; and the re-animator tales are in a zombie anthology I just ordered anyway, so I’m not missing out on much there. ---
**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 28, 2009, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-july-09-edition/501467/208 "2009-07-28T20:42:09Z")
> [@Eleanor\_of\_Aquitaine](#): > > He’s published some short stories in the Dresden universe, if you can track down the various collections. There’s one story each in _My Big Fat Supernatural Wedding_, _My Big Fat Supernatural Honeymoon_, _Many Bloody Returns_ and _Strange Brew_, all edited by P.N. Elrod, and in another couple of collections called _Blood Lite_ and _Mean Streets_. And there’s a graphic novel and a novella published. Oh, good idea! It was actually the story in Blood Lite that brought me to the books, and I’d forgotten about the book from Thomas’ POV… Thanks! ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2009, 12:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-july-09-edition/501467/209 "2009-07-29T12:21:30Z")
Finished [Even](http://www.amazon.com/David-Trevellyan-Thriller-Andrew-Grant/dp/0312540264/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1248869965&sr=1-1) a competent, but not dazzling spy thriller. It took a couple of turns I wasn’t expecting, but relied too heavily on exposition to further the plot. Started the last in Dean Koontz’ Frankenstein trilogy, but am not far enough in to give an opinion. ---
**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 30, 2009, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-july-09-edition/501467/210 "2009-07-30T03:13:51Z")
I finished Carson McCullers’ _The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter_ and enjoyed it thoroughly. Set in a small town in Georgia over 15 months from 1938-39. Well, a small city, I guess, as it mentions a population of 30,000. I believe the locale was based on McCullers’ own hometown of Columbus, Georgia, although it’s never given a name in the book. One story line made me think of the “How Close Close Were You to the Person You Lost Your Virginity to?” thread. The book was published in 1940, and so I found the few references to Hitler and Mussolini, especially one about “rumors of war coming,” interesting, as she would not have known of the US involvement at that time. I find when post-war writers make such references in a prewar setting, their knowledge of what was to come usually shades the action a bit, sometimes unconsciously. Next up: _The Time Traveler’s Wife_, by Audrey Niffenegger. I saw it on the shelf at our library and remembered a few people had spoken highly of it here on the Board. ---
**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 30, 2009, 4:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-july-09-edition/501467/211 "2009-07-30T04:26:14Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > …Next up: _The Time Traveler’s Wife_, by Audrey Niffenegger. I saw it on the shelf at our library and remembered a few people had spoken highly of it here on the Board. I’ll bet I was one of them. Hope you like it as much as I did! The movie comes out Aug. 14. ---
**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:** [July 30, 2009, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-july-09-edition/501467/212 "2009-07-30T16:05:33Z")
Just picked up _Columbine_, by Dave Cullen and read half of it in one sitting. Riveting, horrifying – the first book to actually make me cry in years. ---
**Author:** ![Bogeyman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3e96dc/32.png) [@Bogeyman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bogeyman)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2009, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-july-09-edition/501467/213 "2009-07-30T17:55:43Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > I agree. I find Stross to usually be interesting but rarely entertaining. > > That said, I’m currently reading his Merchant Families series. Just finished the first book and started the second. Let’s see if I get through it. The only SF by Stross that I’ve read is **Glasshouse** which I thought very good, but his more contemporary novels like **The Atrocity Archives** , **The Jennifer Morgue** , and **Halting State** are far more entertaining as regards pace and humour. A lot of the humour is targeted a the geek crowd, though. > [@Ataraxy](#): > > 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. **The Gun Seller** was an excellent book, but the funny kind of goes away during the second half, at least for me. Regarding **Sacred Games** , I read that while I was in hospital with lots of time on my hands. It is quite dense and somewhat slow moving. It took me some time to figure what was going on and in the end I just went with the flow and found it rewarding as far as the plot lines were concerned and fascinating regarding the glimpses into life in India. As for my own reading, I’ve recently decided to make a serious effort to get some things that I’ve only known by reputation. (Obtaining English language books in Germany is not hard, but my favourite method of just walking into a book store and grabbing what I want does not work so well with titles/authors that are deemed insufficiently popular.) So I’ve started on Patrick O’Brian’s **Aubrey-Maturin** books and am completely sucked in. Excellent writing, characters to die for and lot’s of information about the old Navy. Amazon has just delivered the latest fix and I’ve started on **Desolation Island**. I’m also in the middle of **Guns of Avalon** by Roger Zelazny and loving it. (Got the omnibus edition of the Amber chronicles) And then there are Jim Butcher’s Dresden files. Just finished **Death Masks** and looking forward to **Blood Rites**. And finally in my current reading list is **The Unquiet** by John Connolly. It’s taking me more time to get into this than the previous Charlie Parker novels but it’s still a very good read. Yes, I usually do read more than one book at the same time but four is stretching a little for me, especially when they are all this good. And I do want to thank all the dopers who’ve posted on O’Brian and Butcher, without you I would have missed out on two great series. 🙂 Last and definitely least I’ve given up (which is rare for me) on Noah Charney’s **The Art Thief**. The author seems to confuse tortured metaphors and similes with literary merit. ---
**Author:** ![delphica](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e9a140/32.png) [@delphica](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/delphica)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2009, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-july-09-edition/501467/214 "2009-07-30T19:19:21Z")
> [@koeeoaddi](#): > > Just picked up _Columbine_, by Dave Cullen and read half of it in one sitting. Riveting, horrifying – the first book to actually make me cry in years. That’s on my hold list at the library, so I’m glad to hear you like it … well, that’s not what I mean, but you know what I mean, it’s good to learn that it is a compelling book. I finished two recently, _Hangman Blind_ by Cassandra Clark. Historical mystery, 14th century England, smart and shrewd nun is the main character who investigates crimes. It’s pretty much genre mystery fiction, but if you like that (and I do), this was solid and serviceable. \*One Minute to Midnight: Kennedy, Khrushchev, and Castro on the Brink of Nuclear War \*by Michael Dobbs was informative, and I had sought this out on purpose because I don’t know very much about that topic. It was fairly heavy on the military details, which missiles were where and when and who was moving them around and stuff. I ended up skimming a lot of that. I did learn a lot about the approaches and strategies used by the US and the USSR when responding to this situation. So, overall a little dry but I am now more informed. ---
**Author:** ![Eleanor\_of\_Aquitaine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a88e4f/32.png) [@Eleanor\_of\_Aquitaine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eleanor_of_Aquitaine)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2009, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-july-09-edition/501467/215 "2009-07-30T19:24:34Z")
> [@Bogeyman](#): > > As for my own reading, I’ve recently decided to make a serious effort to get some things that I’ve only known by reputation. (Obtaining English language books in Germany is not hard, but my favourite method of just walking into a book store and grabbing what I want does not work so well with titles/authors that are deemed insufficiently popular.) So I’ve started on Patrick O’Brian’s **Aubrey-Maturin** books and am completely sucked in. Excellent writing, characters to die for and lot’s of information about the old Navy. Amazon has just delivered the latest fix and I’ve started on **Desolation Island** These are fantastic, aren’t they? _Desolation Island_ is one of my favorites of the series. I’ve been trying to use the audio books (read by Patrick Tull) to suck my husband into reading them. We listened to _Post Captain_ during our holiday traveling last year, and he liked it well enough, but I’m hoping _HMS Surprise_ will hook him. ---
**Author:** ![Shirley\_Ujest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shirley\_Ujest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shirley_Ujest)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2009, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-july-09-edition/501467/216 "2009-07-31T01:12:12Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > I’ll bet I was one of them. Hope you like it as much as I did! The movie comes out Aug. 14. I haven’t read the book. ( I will eventually.) But, any movie released in August can’t be great. It is the dumping ground for the studios for the movies that cannot compete against the Big summer blockbusters and has no steam in it for Oscar Contention. It may be a surprise hit for the chick crowd and critics, but I am a little worried. ---
**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 31, 2009, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-july-09-edition/501467/217 "2009-07-31T02:08:34Z")
> [@delphica](#): > > …\*One Minute to Midnight: Kennedy, Khrushchev, and Castro on the Brink of Nuclear War \*by Michael Dobbs was informative, and I had sought this out on purpose because I don’t know very much about that topic… If you liked that, I’d recommend _Thirteen Days_ by Robert F. Kennedy, which is the “Here’s how it looked from inside, and gosh wasn’t my brother a great statesman” view of things, and a very quick read; _Essence of Decision_ by Graham Allison, which is the standard academic work on the Cuban Missile Crisis and an interesting look on decision-making under pressure; and _Kennedy’s Wars_ by Lawrence Freedman, which puts the Crisis into a broader context from an interesting, non-American perspective (Freedman’s British). I’m a big JFK admirer (while acknowledging his many flaws), and the Crisis was in many ways his finest hour. ---
**Author:** ![Hypno-Toad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b2d939/32.png) [@Hypno-Toad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hypno-Toad)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2009, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-july-09-edition/501467/218 "2009-07-31T02:46:49Z")
Right now I’m halfway through **1491: New Revelations of the Americas Before Columbus** by Charles C. Mann. Next up is **Legionary: The Roman Soldiers (Unofficial) Manual** by Philip Matyszak ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2009, 10:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-july-09-edition/501467/219 "2009-07-31T10:40:35Z")
Hello folks. August is already here :eek:. Here’s the new link: [August](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=526466) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-july-09-edition/501467.md?page=10)