# Whatcha Readin' Mar 2011 Edition **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 28, 2011, 12:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-mar-2011-edition/572906 "2011-02-28T12:01:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 7
**Author:** ![Shakester](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shakester/32/437_2.png) [@Shakester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shakester)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2011, 3:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-mar-2011-edition/572906/121 "2011-03-25T03:45:12Z")
There’s plenty of Australian history that’s more reader-friendly than The Fatal Shore. [A Commonwealth of Thieves: The Improbable Birth of Australia](http://www.amazon.com/Commonwealth-Thieves-Improbable-Birth-Australia/dp/140007956X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1301024588&sr=8-1) would be my recommendation for a good overview. ---
**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:** [March 25, 2011, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-mar-2011-edition/572906/122 "2011-03-25T03:52:57Z")
I’m enjoying S.D. Perry’s _Avatar: Book One_, a _Star Trek: Deep Space Nine_ novel focusing on Col. Kira’s command of the station after Sisko’s disappearance. I also just started Ron Chernow’s big new bio, _Washington_, and Susanna Clarke’s short story collection, _The Ladies of Grace Adieu_. All are pretty good so far. ---
**Author:** ![Barkis\_is\_Willin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a183cd/32.png) [@Barkis\_is\_Willin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Barkis_is_Willin)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2011, 1:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-mar-2011-edition/572906/123 "2011-03-25T13:02:28Z")
> [@Barkis\_is\_Willin](#): > > I bought _A Clash of Kings_ yesterday. And finally finished it. It was good. Not quite as good at _A Game of Thrones_, but that bar was set pretty darn high. I just started the 3rd book, _A Storm of Swords_. ---
**Author:** ![LVBoPeep](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/858c86/32.png) [@LVBoPeep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LVBoPeep)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2011, 1:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-mar-2011-edition/572906/124 "2011-03-25T13:06:39Z")
> [@Barkis\_is\_Willin](#): > > And finally finished it. It was good. Not quite as good at _A Game of Thrones_, but that bar was set pretty darn high. I just started the 3rd book, _A Storm of Swords_. I’m reading _Clash of Kings_ now and getting even more excited watching the HBO previews because I can identify who they are :). I keep waiting for more from this Jaime (hey, that’s my name…really) that I hear is not so much evil but seems that he never has a chapter?!? ---
**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:** [March 25, 2011, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-mar-2011-edition/572906/125 "2011-03-25T13:43:13Z")
> [@LVBoPeep](#): > > I’m reading _Clash of Kings_ now and getting even more excited watching the HBO previews because I can identify who they are :). I keep waiting for more from this Jaime (hey, that’s my name…really) that I hear is not so much evil but seems that he never has a chapter?!? The good stuff with Jaime begins in _Storm of Swords_. I’m reading _My Brain Is Open: The Mathematical Journeys of Paul Erdős_. I’d never heard of him until I read the [xkcd cartoon](http://xkcd.com/599/). The book is not a biography but rather an exploration of some of the most fascinating mathematical concepts (explained for those with no more than high school algebra) and stories about the great mathematicians of the 20th century, with whom Erdős mingled. So I imagine a mathematician would be bored with this, but so far I like it. The xkcd cartoon is a joke about “Erdős numbers”. (It’s pronounced _air-dish_.) Erdős wrote and collaborated on hundreds of papers. Like the game Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon, a mathematician’s Erdős number describes his “collaborative distance” from Erdős. Erdős himself has a number of 0; those who collaborated on a paper with him have an Erdős number of 1; those who collaborated with one of \*them \*have an Erdős number of 2, etc. ---
**Author:** ![Asimovian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asimovian/32/172_2.png) [@Asimovian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asimovian)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2011, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-mar-2011-edition/572906/126 "2011-03-25T15:13:25Z")
> [@Barkis\_is\_Willin](#): > > And finally finished it. It was good. Not quite as good at _A Game of Thrones_, but that bar was set pretty darn high. I just started the 3rd book, _A Storm of Swords_. You’re gonna catch up to me at the pace I’m going of late. I’m just past page 800 of SoS. ---
**Author:** ![FoieGrasIsEvil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foiegrasisevil/32/16638_2.png) [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2011, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-mar-2011-edition/572906/127 "2011-03-25T15:51:12Z")
I’m still hammering away at \*George Washington: A Life \*by Chernow. Its a _really_ good read. I also started a bestseller called _Contagious_ by Scott Sigler. No comment on that one yet as I’m only a couple pages in. ---
**Author:** ![stpauler](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9d8465/32.png) [@stpauler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stpauler)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2011, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-mar-2011-edition/572906/128 "2011-03-25T16:23:55Z")
[\*Turn Left At The Trojan Horse: A Would-Be Hero’s American Odyssey \*](http://www.amazon.com/Turn-Left-At-Trojan-Horse/dp/0806532025) by Brad Herzog. I’m about 100 pages in and it’s…alright. I’m waiting for a point or plot to surface and it just seems to be straining hard to make connections between things. ---
**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:** [March 26, 2011, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-mar-2011-edition/572906/129 "2011-03-26T04:15:55Z")
> [@FoieGrasIsEvil](#): > > I’m still hammering away at \*George Washington: A Life \*by Chernow. Its a _really_ good read… Hey, I just started that! (See post 122). So far, so good. “George” isn’t part of the title, though. ---
**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:** [March 29, 2011, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-mar-2011-edition/572906/130 "2011-03-29T14:28:54Z")
I just started _How I Killed Pluto and Why It Had It Coming_, by Mike Brown - who grew up in Huntsville, AL (where I live) during the Apollo program. His discovery of a “tenth planet” bigger than Pluto is the one that got poor old Pluto demoted. I also gave in and started the second Song of Ice and Fire book,\* A Clash of Kings\*. I might as well go ahead and re-read all of them in anticipation of the new book this summer. Maybe I’m a sucker, but Martin says the release date is real. ---
**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:** [March 29, 2011, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-mar-2011-edition/572906/131 "2011-03-29T15:34:25Z")
I’m skimming At Home, by Bill Bryson. Again. It’s a very interesting book, but I think this is the third time I’ve checked it out from the library and not gotten around to it before it’s due to go back. ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2011, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-mar-2011-edition/572906/132 "2011-03-29T16:01:14Z")
> [@Eleanor\_of\_Aquitaine](#): > > I also gave in and started the second Song of Ice and Fire book,\* A Clash of Kings\*. I might as well go ahead and re-read all of them in anticipation of the new book this summer. Maybe I’m a sucker, but Martin says the release date is real. I’m re-reading _A Game of Thrones_. It’s just as good the second time. I’d forgotten so much! Haven’t decided whether to read the others or not. Wiki has pretty decent plot summaries. Next up is the new Kate Atkinson (forgot the title). Amazon invited me to join their Vine program so it was free! ---
**Author:** ![Asimovian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asimovian/32/172_2.png) [@Asimovian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asimovian)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2011, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-mar-2011-edition/572906/133 "2011-03-29T16:39:16Z")
Just finished _A Storm of Swords_ this morning. \*A Feast For Crows \*arrives from Amazon sometime today. We shall see what we shall see! ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2011, 10:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-mar-2011-edition/572906/134 "2011-03-31T10:11:08Z")
[April’s Thread.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=13634529#post13634529) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-mar-2011-edition/572906.md?page=6)