# 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:** 3
**Author:** ![DfrntBreign](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f6c823/32.png) [@DfrntBreign](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DfrntBreign)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2009, 10:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-july-09-edition/501467/41 "2009-07-04T10:15:25Z")
> [@AuntiePam](#): > > _Vanilla Ride_, the new Hap and Leonard novel by Joe Lansdale arrived Tuesday. I finished it last night. Liked it a lot, but I’m not sure where Joe’s going with Hap. Someplace interesting, I suppose. I hadn’t seen this. I’ll be looking for it. Lately I’ve been doing more re-reading than anything, mostly later Heinlein novels (last read twenty years ago) as a friend just discovered them. I finally noticed that Heinlein was about three years older than my grandfather. Kinda threw me for a loop. “Papa could have been thinking about the world like that?” Just started “The Lust Lizard of Melancholy Cove” by Christopher Moore. I thought I’d read everything, but this one seems to have gotten lost in the shuffle. After that, [“Monster”](http://www.amazon.com/Monster-Lee-Martinez/dp/0316041262/ref=pd_rhf_p_t_2) by A. Lee Martinez. It’ll be the sixth I’ve read by him and I cannot recommend his work enough. Every book is a new experience. Light, smart, funny and each book a complete departure from the ones before. Werewolves and witches and ogres. An automated noir detective. A Sorcerer’s slave. Interesting stuff, and funny. The first is “Gil’s All-Fright Diner”, but they can be read in any order. ---
**Author:** ![bup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6bbea6/32.png) [@bup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bup)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2009, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-july-09-edition/501467/42 "2009-07-04T14:57:58Z")
**The Audacity of Hope** as my book book. By some guy with a funny name. **Adam Bede** as my commuting audio book. ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2009, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-july-09-edition/501467/43 "2009-07-04T15:05:52Z")
> [@bup](#): > > **Adam Bede** as my commuting audio book. Oddly enough, I read this (in the old-fashioned manner) a month or so ago – I do like a nice fat Victorian novel. ---
**Author:** ![BiblioCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ed8c4c/32.png) [@BiblioCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BiblioCat)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2009, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-july-09-edition/501467/44 "2009-07-04T15:11:31Z")
> [@DfrntBreign](#): > > Just started “The Lust Lizard of Melancholy Cove” by Christopher Moore. I thought I’d read everything, but this one seems to have gotten lost in the shuffle. I just finished this one. It was really good. I’ve only read 5 or 6 of Moore’s books, and definitely need to read all of them. ---
**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 4, 2009, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-july-09-edition/501467/45 "2009-07-04T16:58:19Z")
> [@DfrntBreign](#): > > I hadn’t seen this. I’ll be looking for it. > > Lately I’ve been doing more re-reading than anything, mostly later Heinlein novels (last read twenty years ago) as a friend just discovered them. I finally noticed that Heinlein was about three years older than my grandfather. Kinda threw me for a loop. “Papa could have been thinking about the world like that?” > > Just started “The Lust Lizard of Melancholy Cove” by Christopher Moore. I thought I’d read everything, but this one seems to have gotten lost in the shuffle. > > After that, [“Monster”](http://www.amazon.com/Monster-Lee-Martinez/dp/0316041262/ref=pd_rhf_p_t_2) by A. Lee Martinez. It’ll be the sixth I’ve read by him and I cannot recommend his work enough. Every book is a new experience. Light, smart, funny and each book a complete departure from the ones before. Werewolves and witches and ogres. An automated noir detective. A Sorcerer’s slave. Interesting stuff, and funny. The first is “Gil’s All-Fright Diner”, but they can be read in any order. **Lust Lizard** was my first read by Moore, and I loved it! I’ve been eyeing Martinez recently, and now I’ll have to try him! ---
**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 5, 2009, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-july-09-edition/501467/46 "2009-07-05T02:26:17Z")
_Habits of Empire: A History of American Expansion_ by Walter Nugent. Somewhat one-sided but Nugent goes into nice detail. ---
**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 5, 2009, 4:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-july-09-edition/501467/47 "2009-07-05T04:16:01Z")
> [@twickster](#): > > …The first book in Mary Stewart’s Merlin trilogy, which I loved to pieces. Just put in a hold for the second volume (oddly enough, they have the first and third volumes, but not the second, at my local branch). I’m a huge Merlin fan, definitely my favorite element of the Arthurian legend, and this is a great version. Volume one (_The Crystal Cave_) takes us through the birth of Arthur – hope the next two are as good… If you like Arthuriana generally, permit me to recommend Thomas Berger’s _Arthur Rex_, a witty, funny, engaging, somewhat tongue-in-cheek but basically respectful retelling of the tales of Camelot. I discovered it in high school and re-read it every decade or so. Berger’s probably best known for _Little Big Man_, but _Arthur Rex_ is very, very good, too. Highly recommended. ---
**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 5, 2009, 4:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-july-09-edition/501467/48 "2009-07-05T04:23:14Z")
Also forgot to add… I just finished, for my book club, Henry James’s 1903 novella “The Beast in the Jungle,” which I found very disappointing. The plot: A nebbishy guy in early-1900s London thinks he has some great destiny ahead of him, and confides this to a quiet, beautiful woman who is not quite of his social strata but who obviously loves him. They grow old and she eventually dies of some vague illness, with him never having realized her true feelings or asked her to marry him. Finally he realizes that his destiny was to have been her loving husband, but he let the opportunity slip through his fingers. D’oh! ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2009, 1:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-july-09-edition/501467/49 "2009-07-05T13:10:51Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > If you like Arthuriana generally, permit me to recommend Thomas Berger’s _Arthur Rex_, a witty, funny, engaging, somewhat tongue-in-cheek but basically respectful retelling of the tales of Camelot. I discovered it in high school and re-read it every decade or so. Berger’s probably best known for _Little Big Man_, but _Arthur Rex_ is very, very good, too. Highly recommended. It’s on my Amazon wish list, marked “sdmb” – you may well have been the person to recommend it whenever that was. (It’s _deep_ on said wish list 😃 ) I think it’s currently out of print, though it was at least a year ago that I checked. Thanks for the tip – I’ll definitely get around to it, though I’ll probably wait a while. (Does anyone space out things they love that there are a finite number of? I’m that way with Dickens novels, though my sister and I were talking about _Bleak House_ the other night, and I think I’ll Kindle that. I like having certain things in reserve for the future, rather than greedily blasting through a particular author’s works or all really good novels on a particular theme at once.) ---
**Author:** ![Cicero](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cicero/32/3594_2.png) [@Cicero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cicero)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2009, 1:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-july-09-edition/501467/50 "2009-07-05T13:21:23Z")
I found my 1929 copy of All Quiet On The Western Front and have started reading that again. ---
**Author:** ![irishgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/8edcca/32.png) [@irishgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/irishgirl)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2009, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-july-09-edition/501467/51 "2009-07-05T15:18:24Z")
I’m about halfway through [The Master and Margarita](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Master_and_Margarita) by Mikhail Bulgakov which is one of the weirdest and best books I’ve ever read. After that (once my husband has finished it, and if I get a chance to read it once the new baby arrives) I’m going to read Stephen King’s _The Stand_- irishfella is loving it and wants to be able to talk to me about it. I think that is enough to keep me occupied for the next wee while… ---
**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 5, 2009, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-july-09-edition/501467/52 "2009-07-05T15:51:37Z")
> [@twickster](#): > > [“Arthur Rex” is] on my Amazon wish list, marked “sdmb” – you may well have been the person to recommend it whenever that was. (It’s _deep_ on said wish list 😃 ) I think it’s currently out of print, though it was at least a year ago that I checked… It probably was me; I’ve mentioned it on the boards before. It’s out of print but you can pick up a copy either from Amazon or [Alibris.com](http://Alibris.com); they’re out there. Or get it through interlibrary loan. Once you’ve read it, PM me or start a thread - I’d be interested to see what you think about it. **irishgirl** , you’re in for a treat with _The Stand_. One of King’s very best: ambitious, scary, thought-provoking and even funny at times. ---
**Author:** ![lshaw](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e36b37/32.png) [@lshaw](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lshaw)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2009, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-july-09-edition/501467/53 "2009-07-06T03:33:48Z")
I’m starting to read **Einstein’s Dreams** by Alan Lightman. ---
**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 6, 2009, 4:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-july-09-edition/501467/54 "2009-07-06T04:16:18Z")
> [@lshaw](#): > > I’m starting to read **Einstein’s Dreams** by Alan Lightman. I loved that book! ---
**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:** [July 6, 2009, 11:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-july-09-edition/501467/55 "2009-07-06T11:59:00Z")
[quote=“irishgirl, post:51, topic:501467”] I’m about halfway through [The Master and Margarita](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Master_and_Margarita) by Mikhail Bulgakov which is one of the weirdest and best books I’ve ever read. I loved it…it only gets more and more surreal as the book progresses ---
**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 6, 2009, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-july-09-edition/501467/56 "2009-07-06T14:31:51Z")
> [@twickster](#): > > _[Rapture Ready!](http://www.amazon.com/Rapture-Ready-Adventures-Parallel-Christian/dp/0743297709/ref=sr_1_36?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1246491345&sr=8-36)_, which made a nice follow-up to last month’s book about the Brown kid who went to Liberty University for a semester. I’m reading this now. Fascinating. ---
**Author:** ![salinqmind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3ec8ea/32.png) [@salinqmind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/salinqmind)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2009, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-july-09-edition/501467/57 "2009-07-07T02:40:57Z")
Jeff Guinn - “Go Down Together: the True, Untold Story of Bonnie and Clyde”. I’ve always been fascinated by them. Not much in here I didn’t already know, and sort of repetitious. All I can say is, they spent most of their time driving very fast, great distances, thousands of miles, in dozens of different stolen cars. And they both were real clothes horses, buying fancy outfits and having them dry-cleaned. With the price of gas, the cost of things, and the sheer number of cars on the road - such a crime career would be impossible to repeat today! They would have to rob Ft. Knox just to break even. Not to mention everyone cell phoning and twittering… ---
**Author:** ![cactus\_waltz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/74df32/32.png) [@cactus\_waltz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cactus_waltz)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2009, 9:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-july-09-edition/501467/58 "2009-07-07T09:30:20Z")
> [@irishgirl](#): > > I’m about halfway through [The Master and Margarita](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Master_and_Margarita) by Mikhail Bulgakov which is one of the weirdest and best books I’ve ever read. I love that book. My girlfriend even made me a Behemoth t-shirt. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2009, 10:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-july-09-edition/501467/59 "2009-07-07T10:39:26Z")
Just finished _Bridge of Birds: A Novel of an Ancient China That Never Was_. I quite enjoyed it. He brought everything together nicely in the end. Number Ten Ox and Master Li set out to solve the mystery of the children from Ox’s village ages 9-13 falling ill. They go on to investigate a much-older mystery. It is quick, light and fun. ---
**Author:** ![An\_Gadai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@An\_Gadai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Gadai)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2009, 12:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-july-09-edition/501467/60 "2009-07-07T12:15:40Z")
I’m reading _Rip It Up And Start Again_, by Simon Reynolds. It’s a history of the various post-punk bands and labels. It’s a rollicking good read if you’re interested in the period. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-july-09-edition/501467.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-july-09-edition/501467.md?page=4)