# Whatcha Readin' (June 09) Edition **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 31, 2009, 11:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-june-09-edition/498254 "2009-05-31T11:25:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**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:** [June 6, 2009, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-june-09-edition/498254/41 "2009-06-06T20:26:53Z")
My work has tweaked our internet so I don’t get time to read the boards anymore BUT I get more time to read. 🙂 Read: \*Adventures of a Mountain Man: The Narrative of Zenas Leonard \* _The Golden Torc_ by Julian May _The Nonborn King_ by Julian May _The Adversary_ by Julian May ~ these three were the last of a four-part series that I got bored with pretty quickly. Sure wish I had it in me to give up on books… _Dry Guillotine_ By Rene Belbenoit ~ Not as exciting as Papillon (as it claims) but still a great find & a great read. _Kabul Beauty School: An American Woman Goes Behind the Veil_ by Deborah Rodriguez ~ The book was great. The documentary infuriated me. \*The Lady and the Panda: The True Adventures of the First American Explorer to Bring Back China’s Most Exotic Animal \*by Vicki Croke _Twilight_ by Stephenie Meyer ~ Better than what I was expecting, which isn’t saying much. Still, I’m going to go on with the series. _Red Scarf_ by Kate Furnivall _The Princess Bride_ by William Goldman _Thunderstruck_ by Erik Larson ~ I liked this one more than “Devil in the White City”. _1984_ by George Orwell Reading: _The Irregulars: Roald Dahl and the British Spy Ring in Wartime Washington_ by Jennet Conant ~ It’s a bit dry. _A Soldier of the Great War_ by Mark Helprin ~ not really getting into this one either. I think I need some fluff reads for a bit. ---
**Author:** ![Enterprise](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/76d3ee/32.png) [@Enterprise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enterprise)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2009, 12:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-june-09-edition/498254/42 "2009-06-07T12:01:44Z")
I’ve just passed my finals, so I have time to get some reading done, and lots of stuff do read: I just got (and am about half-way through) Nick Harkaway’s _The Gone-Away World_. I got it on recommendation from here, then was told by my bookseller that it’s an absolutely fabulous book, and I am totally in agreement. Great book. During the same visit to the book store I bought a cheap copy of pseudonymous Seth Hunter’s _The Time of Terror_, promising to be the first in a three-part series on a French Revolutionary Wars naval hero in the Bolitho vein. It’s fair enough, I suppose, so far, but the comparison to the compartively poor Bolitho (compared to Hornblower and Aubrey) will stand, I think. Random other books cracked open: J.R.R. Tolkien’s _The Fellowship of the Ring_. Was given the three-volume hardcover 50th Anniversary edition for my birthday in March, and have been reading for ten or twenty minutes before bedtime, my sixth or so read through the Lord of the Rings. Howard Zinn’s _A People’s History of the United States_. That book’s a slog. I can see it’s a well-needed alternative perspective, but really you can only go so far without losing your audience in exonarating everybody but greedy evil white capitalists. I’ve some fair knowledge of American history, and I find it offensive to complain about English treatment of the Indians in Massachusetts without once mentioning how those Indians came to establish themselves there in the first place, namely by driving off and killing those who were there before them. Alex Ross’s _The Rest is Noise_. I’m almost through with this, and it was most enlightening. His website, too, is great. ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2009, 12:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-june-09-edition/498254/43 "2009-06-07T12:32:05Z")
I just finished \*The EFT Manual (EFT: Emotional Freedom Techniques). \*Some of you may know that I am subject to chronic low-grade depression and so I am often on the look-out for ways to improve. Most of you can stop now with this review: I really need to learn to start screening my books better. OK, if you are still reading, here is the rest of the review: EFT is a technique involving affirmations and finger-tapping “energy points” that is supposed to give you freedom from nearly any problem. Phobias, depression, back-aches, PTSD, the list goes on. There are four steps. [ol] [li]Rub a special place on your chest (the “sore spot”) while repeating an afirmation.[/li][li]Tap several energy spots while repeating a reminder word[/li][li](I forget step 3)[/li][li]Repeat step 2[/li][/ol] This combination will balance your energy and make your problems go away. So I was disappointed. But what the heck, I’m game, this costs nothing (anymore, I mean I already bought the book) and so I will give it a try. I’ve tried weird stuff in my lifetime. My doc wants me to lose at least 20 more lbs so each night I’ll try this with that in mind. Of course, I have also started jogging and have cut some junk food out of my daily diet, so we won’t have definitive results, even if I lose. ---
**Author:** ![Frostillicus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Frostillicus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frostillicus)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2009, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-june-09-edition/498254/44 "2009-06-08T01:50:41Z")
I’m reading **Mutiny** by John Boyne, a great piece of historical fiction about the mutiny on The Bounty, told from the perspective of the captain’s (fictional) cabin boy. The villian in this rendition is definitely NOT Captain Bligh. ---
**Author:** ![Amp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Amp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amp)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2009, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-june-09-edition/498254/45 "2009-06-08T02:21:46Z")
I’m currently reading a book called _The Seems_. I picked it up at the Five Dollar Store. I read the synopsis on the flap and figured it was only a buck so I can’t go wrong so I didn’t bother flipping through the book. I get it home and it turns out to be kids book, a Harry Potter knock off. I thought it was adult fiction. I don’t feel too bad though, the same thing happened to the reviewer who posted this [Amazon review](http://www.amazon.com/Seems-Glitch-Sleep-SEEMS/product-reviews/B001TKD9L2/ref=dp_top_cm_cr_acr_txt?ie=UTF8&showViewpoints=1). Like I said, it is a Harry Potter knock off about a kid who gets recruited into a secret society that keeps reality intact. He is a “Fixer”, one who is called in when the shit hits the fan. It’s OK, mediocre at best. Worth a buck at least. I’ll throw it my kid’s way when I’m done with it. ---
**Author:** ![delphica](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e9a140/32.png) [@delphica](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/delphica)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2009, 3:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-june-09-edition/498254/46 "2009-06-08T03:30:54Z")
How was the panda book? I also thought _The Irregulars_ was surprisingly not that interesting, given the subject matter. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2009, 6:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-june-09-edition/498254/47 "2009-06-08T06:23:55Z")
I don’t read many (read any) Star Trek books, but I just finished **How Much for Just the Planet** which was described as the weirdest ever. Might be. Characters sing to the tune of some familiar songs (the theme from Rawhide for one, as well as Gilbert and Sullivan) and it ends with a pie fight. Some good spots, but I wouldn’t push it on anyone. Now starting **The Congo Cables** in my quest to figure out what was going on when I lived there, at 10. ---
**Author:** ![tr0psn4j](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/958977/32.png) [@tr0psn4j](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tr0psn4j)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2009, 6:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-june-09-edition/498254/48 "2009-06-08T06:47:05Z")
I’m on day 8 of From Whom The Bell Tolls. Still have over half the book left. I can’t read more than a chapter at a time, for whatever reason. ---
**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:** [June 8, 2009, 12:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-june-09-edition/498254/49 "2009-06-08T12:19:09Z")
Today I begin the audiobook version of The Little Stranger by Sarah Waters. ---
**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:** [June 8, 2009, 12:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-june-09-edition/498254/50 "2009-06-08T12:38:45Z")
Finished \*The Killer Book of Serial Killers \*and am now on _Washington: The Making of the American Capital._ I’m from there so I hope to have some familiarity with the subject. ---
**Author:** ![TheMerchandise](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b487fb/32.png) [@TheMerchandise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheMerchandise)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2009, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-june-09-edition/498254/51 "2009-06-08T13:29:41Z")
Finished _Goldfinger_. It’s my least favorite Bond novel so far. Big chunks of this book were just so **boring**. Now I’m reading _When You are Engulfed in Flames_ and _Over Sea, Under Stone_, the first in the Darkness is Rising series. I have a great fondness for children’s literature. ---
**Author:** ![unwashed\_brain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/a9adbd/32.png) [@unwashed\_brain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/unwashed_brain)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2009, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-june-09-edition/498254/52 "2009-06-08T17:03:12Z")
I’m 830 pages into Stephen Erikson’s **House of Chains**. My guess is I’ve averaged 60 pages per week over the last couple of years. It’s a wild form of masochism that entices me to read such massive series with such limited dedicated time. On the bright side the last two books in the series aren’t out yet, so the author and I have plenty of time to converge our schedules. Gathering dust in the wings are books by Scott Lynch, Joe Abercrombie, and KV Parker. ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2009, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-june-09-edition/498254/53 "2009-06-08T17:19:18Z")
_The Hour I First Believed_ by Wally Lamb, whose _I Know This Much Is True_ I liked quite a bit, despite the Oprah imprimatur. This book is narrated by a man who was teaching at Columbine H.S. at the time of the massacre. He wasn’t there that day – he had flown to his boyhood home in Connecticut to deal with the death of an aunt – but his wife, who worked as a part-time school nurse there, was. It’s a lot about Columbine, but it’s also about the guy’s life and his family history, etc. – which is intertwined in the story of a woman’s prison founded by his great-grandmother, said prison being next door to the family homestead. (Lamb teaches creative writing in a women’s prison in Connecticut.) Very, very dark, but absorbing. ---
**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:** [June 8, 2009, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-june-09-edition/498254/54 "2009-06-08T17:31:46Z")
I liked that book a lot, **twickster** , though it sometimes made me cry. ---
**Author:** ![yellowval](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/919ad9/32.png) [@yellowval](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yellowval)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2009, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-june-09-edition/498254/55 "2009-06-08T18:11:29Z")
_The Hour I First Believed_ is on my reading list. I liked both of Wally Lamb’s other books quite a bit, so I am really looking forward to it. ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2009, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-june-09-edition/498254/56 "2009-06-08T18:17:07Z")
> [@yellowval](#): > > _The Hour I First Believed_ is on my reading list. I liked both of Wally Lamb’s other books quite a bit, so I am really looking forward to it. I haven’t read _She’s Come Undone_ – you’d recommend? ---
**Author:** ![yellowval](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/919ad9/32.png) [@yellowval](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yellowval)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2009, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-june-09-edition/498254/57 "2009-06-08T18:27:15Z")
I liked it a lot and have read it twice. However, I know that a lot of people seem to hate that book. ---
**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:** [June 8, 2009, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-june-09-edition/498254/58 "2009-06-08T20:15:28Z")
> [@twickster](#): > > I haven’t read _She’s Come Undone_ – you’d recommend? There was a scene in it that disturbed me, and I didn’t enjoy the rest of the book enough to make up for that part. I’ve liked all his other stuff, though. ---
**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:** [June 8, 2009, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-june-09-edition/498254/59 "2009-06-08T20:38:22Z")
> [@delphica](#): > > How was the panda book? > > I also thought _The Irregulars_ was surprisingly not that interesting, given the subject matter. The panda book was really enjoyable. Harkness was definitely a woman of spirit. Reading about life in 1930’s Shanghai was also a treat and I’d actually like to find some similar books on that subject. And I agree on your impression of _The Irregulars_. A shame. ---
**Author:** ![booklover](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/85f322/32.png) [@booklover](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/booklover)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2009, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-june-09-edition/498254/60 "2009-06-09T01:18:27Z")
Finished _Marcelo in the Real World_ by Francisco X. Stork and _The Hunger Games_ by Suzanne Collins (both “young adult” books, so ostensibly for work). Liked both of them, though Hunger Games was a bit predictable. Also working on Asimov’s _Nightfall and Other Stories_. I am a huge Bradbury fan but don’t think I have read much of Asimov’s work–shocking, I know. “Hostess” grabbed me but not much else so far. I see from what others are reading that I need to get _Cloud Atlas_ for myself, especially if it’s better than _Ghostwritten_. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-june-09-edition/498254.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-june-09-edition/498254.md?page=4)