# Whatcha Readin' (May 09) Edition **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 2, 2009, 10:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-may-09-edition/495077 "2009-05-02T10:59:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Hunter\_Hawk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/50afbb/32.png) [@Hunter\_Hawk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hunter_Hawk)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2009, 5:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-may-09-edition/495077/81 "2009-05-09T05:34:48Z")
I’m still working my way through the Lensman series–I’m currently on _Second Stage Lensmen_. While taking a break between Lensman books, I read the first Garrett, P.I. novel. It’s fluff but decently entertaining. Worth buying used but not worth buying new. I also just started _Milk, Sulphate, and Alby Starvation_ by Martin Millar. It’s great–a comedic novel about a paranoid drug dealer with a really excellent comic book collection who’s being hunted by an assassin hired by the Milk Marketing Board. ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2009, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-may-09-edition/495077/82 "2009-05-09T18:24:05Z")
Finished _The Man With The Golden Torc_ by Simon Green. Fans of his NightSide series will likely enjoy this new series. Edwin Drood (I find it an odd coincidence that I just finished two unrelated novels with a character named Edwin Drood) is a magical James Bond style secret agent protecting the world from “all the things that go bump in the night.” I flipfloped regularly on my review while reading this. At first I was going to say it was nothing more than The NightSide with a secret agent rather than a private detective. To some extent this is true. However, Green has dialed back his propensity to create ever bigger Big Bad bad guys. He too often will, in all his books, drop in a \*deus ex machina \*and this book is no exception, but he didn’t indulge this too much. IMO, the plot was tighter than is his wont and the book was more satisfying for me than the NightSide books. I originally had no plans on reading the others. I think though that I probably will. If you enjoy the NightSide, give this a chance, I don’t think you’ll be disappointed. ---
**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:** [May 9, 2009, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-may-09-edition/495077/83 "2009-05-09T21:46:35Z")
**The NIght the bear at Goombaw** was finished and I have several others like it on queue at the library. **Mr. Darcy’s Diary.** telling the story from Mr. Darcy’s POV, without the asphixiation of SAT words. Digging it. Lighter read. ---
**Author:** ![Musky\_Moon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/90db22/32.png) [@Musky\_Moon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musky_Moon)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2009, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-may-09-edition/495077/84 "2009-05-10T01:10:02Z")
Now that finals are over, I have time to read something no school related. I just started _Kockroach_ by Tyler Knox. It’s a reverse _Metamorphosis_. I like the concept, it remains to be seen whether he can keep it up through the whole novel or if this is a novelty with no legs. ---
**Author:** ![Le\_Ministre\_de\_l\_au-dela](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/le_ministre_de_l_au-dela/32/12181_2.png) [@Le\_Ministre\_de\_l\_au-dela](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Le_Ministre_de_l_au-dela)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2009, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-may-09-edition/495077/85 "2009-05-10T01:17:50Z")
> [@Musky\_Moon](#): > > Now that finals are over, I have time to read something no school related. I just started _Kockroach_ by Tyler Knox. It’s a reverse _Metamorphosis_. I like the concept, it remains to be seen whether he can keep it up through the whole novel or if this is a novelty with no legs. …or six… Sorry; couldn’t resist. ---
**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:** [May 10, 2009, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-may-09-edition/495077/86 "2009-05-10T02:39:26Z")
Back from the beach, and while there I finished _Hammerhead Ranch Motel_, by Tim Dorsey. An excellent read. I’d never heard of Dorsey before, but I’d put him up there with Elmore Leonard and Carl Hiaasen. Imagine, a serial-murderer protagonist you can feel sympathy for! Am now close to finishing _Skytrain to Murder_, by local American writer Dean Barrett. A detective noir set in Bangkok. Very good. Stuff like this I enjoy, especially since I’m familiar with the locales. I checked this out of our library, and I see it was published in Florida, so it’s available in the US. ---
**Author:** ![anu-la1979](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/47e85d/32.png) [@anu-la1979](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/anu-la1979)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2009, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-may-09-edition/495077/87 "2009-05-10T02:40:20Z")
I finished **1491**. I give it…a B. Maybe. I was pretty irritated by the fact that in the coda he attributed the origin of American democracy to the Native Americans with no evidence beyond the fact that he’s pretty obsessed with laying every natural formation, event or political discovery at the feet of the Indians. He generously construes primary sources as definitive evidence while ignoring scientific theories…I could go on. Nonetheless, I learned a lot about Mesoamerican cultures (some of which I knew, I’ve been to both Belize and Mexico), and the book combined with DiosaBellissima’s thread put hiking the Inca trail on roster for my 31st birthday plans. So overall I was satisfied with the purchase. Currently on **Eye of the Dragon** by Stephen King. ---
**Author:** ![Landshark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/77aa72/32.png) [@Landshark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Landshark)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2009, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-may-09-edition/495077/88 "2009-05-10T03:05:12Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > Back from the beach, and while there I finished _Hammerhead Ranch Motel_, by Tim Dorsey. An excellent read. I’d never heard of Dorsey before, but I’d put him up there with Elmore Leonard and Carl Hiaasen. Imagine, a serial-murderer protagonist you can feel sympathy for! I’ll second Dorsey’s novels. His serial murderer character, Serge Storms, is an extraordinary anti-hero, and Dorsey writes wildly funny stuff. ---
**Author:** ![Seldon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/958977/32.png) [@Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Seldon)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2009, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-may-09-edition/495077/89 "2009-05-10T18:46:24Z")
I just finished _Omon Ra_, by Victor Pelevin. This was a really good satire of the Soviet Cosmonaut program. The only problem with the book, though, is it has many Russian/post-Soviet references that I didn’t get. If anyone else has read this book, what is the meaning of them removing the lower legs of the pilots? This seemed to be an important part of the story, but without knowing the reason, it’s rather lost on me. ---
**Author:** ![Finagle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b19c9b/32.png) [@Finagle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Finagle)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2009, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-may-09-edition/495077/90 "2009-05-10T20:46:41Z")
Just finished Perdido Street Station by China Mievelle, and I think it’s fair to say that I was underimpressed. Yeah, wildly imaginative, but after 623 pages of really nasty things happening to our protagonists in a really unpleasant city, I was hoping for at least some shred of redemption at the end. Instead, the book just sort of ended with pretty much everyone either dead or unhappy or exiled and a bunch of hanging threads still unraveled. And yes, I get it that New Crobuzon is pretty much an open sewer, but does every descriptive passage have to linger lovingly on the odor, textures, and visual aspects of the open cesspit that is the city? Also read the lastest Dresden Files book, “Turncoat”. [spoiler] Like the last book, this is sort of “The Empire Strikes Back” of the Dresden files. Yeah, Harry survives, but one gets the feeling that the Powers of Darkness scored a few more points than the Good Guys. And Harry? When you’re about to name the bad guy and he’s a bad-ass sorcerer, maybe you should take steps to neutralize him \* first \*, dramatic reveal be-damned. [/spoiler] ---
**Author:** ![Frostillicus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Frostillicus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frostillicus)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2009, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-may-09-edition/495077/91 "2009-05-11T02:03:25Z")
Go Down Together, which I first thought was a guide to mutual oral sex, but was surprised to learn is actually “_The True, Untold Story of Bonnie and Clyde_”. Excellent book, even with the misleading title. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Hunter\_Hawk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/50afbb/32.png) [@Hunter\_Hawk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hunter_Hawk)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2009, 8:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-may-09-edition/495077/92 "2009-05-11T08:24:24Z")
> [@Hunter\_Hawk](#): > > I also just started _Milk, Sulphate, and Alby Starvation_ by Martin Millar. It’s great– …right up till the ending, which basically doesn’t exist. Millar develops the climactic scene, and then abruptly stops it. I suppose I could fanwank it into some sort of statement on the protagonist’s directionless lifestyle, but realistically I suspect Millar wrote himself into a corner and couldn’t figure how to get out. (I think this was his first book; he definitely gets better at endings in his later works.) ---
**Author:** ![Catamount](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/catamount/32/2840_2.png) [@Catamount](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Catamount)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2009, 1:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-may-09-edition/495077/93 "2009-05-11T13:03:57Z")
I finished _The Original Hitchhiker’s Radio Scripts_ by Douglas Adams. If I ever meet anyone who’s interested in studying different versions of a story, I’m giving them Hitchhiker’s Guide and they’ll be busy for at least fifteen years. This is my new favorite version of the story except I don’t like how Trillian ended up. She had a better fate in the novels. ---
**Author:** ![schnuckiputzi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecb155/32.png) [@schnuckiputzi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/schnuckiputzi)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2009, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-may-09-edition/495077/94 "2009-05-11T14:58:53Z")
I’m a third of the way into Red Mars by Kim Stanley Robinson. The beginning was a bit confusing, but it’s better now, and it’s not bad. I have The Choice of the Cat up next, and a whole stack of books coming from Amazon, because mein Herr is a wise man, and gave me a gift certificate for Mother’s Day!! ---
**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2009, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-may-09-edition/495077/95 "2009-05-11T15:19:24Z")
Steven Kings Kindle offering “UR” on my iPhone. Title’s too short to search here. Tried authors name, but you gotta wait six months for a 2nd search. ☹ I enjoyed it. Peace, mangeorge ---
**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:** [May 12, 2009, 3:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-may-09-edition/495077/96 "2009-05-12T03:34:38Z")
Finished _Skytrain to Murder_, by local American writer [Dean Barrett](http://www.deanbarrettthailand.com/welcome_to.htm). Most of the venues in the book are real. Washington Square is certainly real, but the Boots and Saddle bar is actually Texas Lone Staar (sic) Bar, but the aviary he has on top of the Boots and Saddle is actually based on the one on top of New Square One Pub. There is no S&M club called Jezebel’s, but Thailand does have two or three real S&M clubs. (One is in the Patpong area, and I always shudder when the tout tries to get me in the door as I pass by on my way to my regular haunts.) This book was published in Florida, so I guess it can be found in the US. Barrett is quite a local character. He has a book of short stories called _The Bargirl Who Stole My Viagra_. I’ve not read that yet, but it’s on my list. Great title! He first came here maybe 25 or 30 years ago. Was a Chinese linguist with the US Army Security Agency. Next up is _Next_, by the recently deceased Michael Crichton. Was that his final book? Came out in 2006. ---
**Author:** ![themaurtrix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e9bcb4/32.png) [@themaurtrix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/themaurtrix)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2009, 9:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-may-09-edition/495077/97 "2009-05-12T09:34:28Z")
I’ve almost finished Gone Tomorrow by Lee Child. ---
**Author:** ![Sigmagirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c89c15/32.png) [@Sigmagirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigmagirl)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2009, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-may-09-edition/495077/98 "2009-05-12T14:08:52Z")
Just bought \*The Language of Bees \*by Laurie R. King, ninth in her series of Mary Russell novels. Russell becomes the wife and partner of Sherlock Holmes. Love it. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2009, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-may-09-edition/495077/99 "2009-05-12T15:49:38Z")
> [@Sarahfeena](#): > > I recently read **American Wife** by Curtis Sittenfeld. I loved it, so I just picked up her book **Prep** …hoping it will be as good. I loved Prep and just picked up American Wife. But first I am working on **The Abstinence Teacher** - I like his style. ---
**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:** [May 12, 2009, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-may-09-edition/495077/100 "2009-05-12T16:48:17Z")
**An Assembly Such As This** by Pamela Aidan is a much easier Darcy version of meeting Eliza Bennett. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-may-09-edition/495077.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-may-09-edition/495077.md?page=6)