# 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:** 5
**Author:** ![Malthus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/85f322/32.png) [@Malthus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malthus)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2009, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-july-09-edition/501467/81 "2009-07-09T21:30:57Z")
> [@AuntiePam](#): > > Are you in the UK? Or did you read an ARC? I have it on preorder for the July 29 release. > > Does Glokta make an appearance? He’s my favorite, although I did get tired of Abercrombie constantly describing Glokta’s physical woes. > > I started _Kedrigern in Wanderland_ last night. I tracked down an old address for the author, who died in 2006. I’m tempted to write to his widow, to tell her how much I’m enjoying the books, but I don’t know if it’s appropriate. ?? I bought it in a Canadian bookstore; it appears to be the UK printing. I hope I’m not spoiling anything when I say Glokta does not appear “onstage” so to speak, but is referred to by characters that are. ---
**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 9, 2009, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-july-09-edition/501467/82 "2009-07-09T22:35:00Z")
> [@AuntiePam](#): > > I started _Kedrigern in Wanderland_ last night. I tracked down an old address for the author, who died in 2006. I’m tempted to write to his widow, to tell her how much I’m enjoying the books, but I don’t know if it’s appropriate. ?? Perhaps write to his once-publisher and ask if they can forward it? It might alarm her if it’s mailed to her home directly. ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2009, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-july-09-edition/501467/83 "2009-07-09T22:39:49Z")
That’d be Meisha Merlin, and they went out of business a couple of years ago. His stuff in the 80’s was published by Ace, but that relationship had ended, as far as I can tell. Maybe I’ll just put “fan mail” on the envelope. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2009, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-july-09-edition/501467/84 "2009-07-10T00:25:45Z")
I’m on \*\*An American Wife \*\*and while I love her writing, it makes me think about the Bushes whom I don’t like. I’m torn. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2009, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-july-09-edition/501467/85 "2009-07-10T01:41:08Z")
Just finished reading Walter Hunt’s **The Dark Wing** (great SF – but I can’t find it in any book store. I borrowed a copy from a friend of the author.) I’ve read **Legends of Winter Hill** about Somerville (MA) cops. – real-life crime. And I picked up Louisa May Alcott’s **Hospital Sketches** , about her time as a nurse during the Civil War. It’s short, and I’m almost through. ---
**Author:** ![Argent\_Towers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e8c25b/32.png) [@Argent\_Towers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Argent_Towers)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2009, 1:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-july-09-edition/501467/86 "2009-07-10T01:47:23Z")
[“Hogg” by Samuel R. Delany](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=523976) (finished two nights ago), and I finished _Deadeye Dick_ by Kurt Vonnegut last night. ---
**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 10, 2009, 12:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-july-09-edition/501467/87 "2009-07-10T12:41:00Z")
> [@Malthus](#): > > I’m glad you liked it. Really brings out the flavour of the time, I thought. It certianly does. I am spending alot of time on Wiki to parse out some of the Spanish History, words, location stuff. And it looks like there was a movie made about the first book starring Viggo Mortenson. Schwing! ---
**Author:** ![delphica](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e9a140/32.png) [@delphica](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/delphica)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2009, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-july-09-edition/501467/88 "2009-07-10T14:34:53Z")
I finished _Confusion_, the third in a four book series about a family during WWII. It’s very soap opera-y, with everyone getting married and having affairs and illegitimate children popping up, but also one of those multigenerational family sagas that’s very satisfying if you like that sort of thing, especially if you like that setting (Britain, WWII). The funny thing is that despite the time setting, the problems have a very 1990s vibe that is more obvious now than it was in the 90s when these books first came out. I had read the first book in the series when it was new when I was in college, and loved it, but for whatever reason never picked up the others until now. Oh, also, the author, Elizabeth Jane Howard, was Kingsley Amis’s second wife. I really enjoyed _What I Saw And How I Lied_, by Judy Blundell. YA novel, takes place in Florida just after the end of WWII, and has a very quirky noir vibe. It’s very well-written, although it does have that noir thing where every character is making bad decisions so even with the protagonist you are sometimes throwing your hands up. ---
**Author:** ![TheMerchandise](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b487fb/32.png) [@TheMerchandise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheMerchandise)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2009, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-july-09-edition/501467/89 "2009-07-13T13:43:20Z")
I’m reading _The Wrong Hands_ by Nigel Richardson. It’s a YA book about a boy in London born with huge, strange hands and a secret. I’m enjoying it so far, especially all the British slang and humor… so exotic to my American eyes. Definitely not a “young” Young Adult book; there’s some heavy stuff here. Also picked up Alex Garland’s\* The Beach\*. ---
**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 13, 2009, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-july-09-edition/501467/90 "2009-07-13T14:53:36Z")
> [@TheMerchandise](#): > > Also picked up Alex Garland’s\* The Beach\*. I had a great time reading that book. I hope you like it. ---
**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 13, 2009, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-july-09-edition/501467/91 "2009-07-13T15:32:07Z")
I read a YA book, The Shadow Guests by Joan Aiken. I liked it, because it followed my all-time favorite plot line: Young protagonist moves in with eccentric relatives who live in wonderful old place in England\*, strange things start to happen. I thought I knew how this book would wind up, everything tending toward a neat finish…then it ended abruptly. I still think that’s how it would have turned out. I’m now reading a humorous book called Pretty in Plaid, by (can’t tell you right now because the Internet won’t cooperate). It is funny, and if I had unlimited reading time, I’d probably look up some more of her stuff, but this is like a big fluffy wad of cotton candy. I’m looking forward to moving on to a new book. My audiobook is The Chocolate War, by Robert Cormier, read by Frank Muller. I’ve read it already, long ago, so hopefully I don’t remember it too well. \*No substitutions. ---
**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 13, 2009, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-july-09-edition/501467/92 "2009-07-13T15:46:44Z")
Ah, here ‘tis: Pretty in Plaid, a life, a witch, and a wardrobe, or the wonder years before the condescending, egomaniacal, self-centered smart-ass phase, by Jen Lancaster. ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2009, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-july-09-edition/501467/93 "2009-07-13T16:03:38Z")
_Kedrigern and the Charming Couple_ by John Morressy. In this adventure, Keddie and Princess are tasked with reversing a spell that turned a princess into a werewolf. This is the fourth book in the series. I wish there were twenty more, but I think there’s only one. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2009, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-july-09-edition/501467/94 "2009-07-13T16:07:09Z")
> [@AuntiePam](#): > > _Kedrigern and the Charming Couple_ by John Morressy. In this adventure, Keddie and Princess are tasked with reversing a spell that turned a princess into a werewolf. This is the fourth book in the series. I wish there were twenty more, but I think there’s only one. ☹ I sent for the first one, I’ll check out the series. ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2009, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-july-09-edition/501467/95 "2009-07-13T19:18:28Z")
Re: Mary Stewart’s Merlin trilogy: > [@Khadaji](#): > > Is this your first read of them? I thought the first one (of the trilogy) was the slowest and enjoyed the second two more. (Then, IMO, the last one sucked.) > [@twickster](#): > > Yes, my first read – and I loved the first book to pieces, so am delighted to hear that the other two are as good (or better). Finished #2 yesterday, and didn’t like it as much as the first volume, but liked it just fine. (Since I’m a merlinophile, it makes sense that the more Arthur we have, the less Merlin, so …) I love the way she takes the various elements of the tradition and approaches them from a different point of view – like what it meant that the sword was “in the stone.” Started #3 just before bedtime last night, so I’m only a couple of chapters in. ---
**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 14, 2009, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-july-09-edition/501467/96 "2009-07-14T03:57:25Z")
> [@TheMerchandise](#): > > Also picked up Alex Garland’s\* The Beach\*. > [@wonderlust](#): > > I had a great time reading that book. I hope you like it. Two months ago, we visited the beach used in the movie, Maya Beach on Phi Phi Island in the Andaman Sea. Too bad the movie really sucked. (The waterfall scenes were all filmed inland, up in the Northeast.) ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2009, 4:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-july-09-edition/501467/97 "2009-07-14T04:49:20Z")
> [@Khadaji](#): > > I sent for the first one, I’ll check out the series. Cool. You liked _Bridge of Birds_, so I’m pretty sure this series will click for you. ---
**Author:** ![schnuckiputzi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecb155/32.png) [@schnuckiputzi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/schnuckiputzi)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2009, 6:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-july-09-edition/501467/98 "2009-07-14T06:45:28Z")
As I’ve been in hospital and all, I’ve been reading non-stop lately (they NEVER stop talking in ICU) and have burned through all 10 of Harry Turtledove’s series on the Great War and World War II. This is the series that postulates the South won the Civil War, and then sets up the Germans and the North to be allies, whereas England, France, and Russia back the South. I have always been interested in how he plays the Socialist/Marxist theories into the politics, and how those beliefs would have changed our ideology as a nation. Yes, he’s repetitive, and has catch-phrases that he’s way too fond of, but if you keep digging, he has interesting ideas on how you turn a subjugated people into a friendly people. Now I just received two boxes of books from ebay (one old sci-fi, the other mysteries) so I can finish turning my brain to mush. ---
**Author:** ![Sigmagirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c89c15/32.png) [@Sigmagirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigmagirl)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2009, 12:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-july-09-edition/501467/99 "2009-07-14T12:26:02Z")
John Connolly’s _The Lovers_. The narrator’s father was a policeman who shot two unarmed teenagers in a lover’s lane, and then committed suicide. The narrator, then about 14, now is a private detective deprived of his license (for actions apparently detailed in a previous book I haven’t read) and is now trying to find out why his father did this. Pretty slow moving so far but very compelling. ---
**Author:** ![bup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6bbea6/32.png) [@bup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bup)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2009, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-july-09-edition/501467/100 "2009-07-14T15:43:22Z")
Finished _ **Audacity of Hope** _. While it was decent, and the messages in it were true (we should look beyond Democrat/Republican labels and make solving problems a higher priority!), and he’s sincere, it was just a tad too bland and calculatedly inoffensive for me. On the plus side, I think (from my viewpoint as a liberal), he stated conservative positions fairly and without ‘loading’ those viewpoints with gotchas. Now I’m reading a biography of Josh Gibson (negro league slugger) called _**[The Power and the Darkness](http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/564498.POWER_AND_THE_DARKNESS_The_Life_of_Josh_Gibson_in_the_Shadows_of_the_Game)**_. Early on I’d say it’s good, but I’m so interested in the subject that even a mediocre book would seem great to me. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-july-09-edition/501467.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-july-09-edition/501467.md?page=6)