# 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:** 9
**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:** [May 22, 2009, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-may-09-edition/495077/161 "2009-05-22T13:44:10Z")
I’ve begun on Affinity, by Sarah Waters. A hundred pages in, so far so good. ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2009, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-may-09-edition/495077/162 "2009-05-24T00:15:30Z")
I just finished _Three Day Road_ by Joseph Boyden. I’m glad I read it but I’m also glad I’m finished. It was beautifully written but so **dark**! I thought _Flanders_ was dark, but I was able to keep some distance with _Flanders_. Not sure what to read next. I might just shut my eyes and grab something from the floor of the closet. The new Iain Pears (and an Ellen Glasgow) is coming, but they probably won’t be here until Tuesday. I really need something light, but I’m not sure I have anything light. ---
**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:** [May 24, 2009, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-may-09-edition/495077/163 "2009-05-24T02:19:31Z")
> [@AuntiePam](#): > > I really need something light, but I’m not sure I have anything light. No Christopher Moore laying around? _Fool_, maybe? ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2009, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-may-09-edition/495077/164 "2009-05-24T02:45:44Z")
No Moore, darn it. I stopped reading him after _Island of the Sequined Love Nun_. That book was just **way** too silly, even for Moore. 🙂 I grabbed _A Winter Haunting_ by Dan Simmons. Bought it years ago and it’s just been sitting there. It’s sort of a sequel to _Summer of Night_, that one about the haunted school which has been compared to Stephen King’s _It_ in its theme about kids and horrors, etc. The thing is, I read a post at Dan Simmons’ board suggesting that _Summer of Night_ isn’t how I read and remember it from 20 years ago – that things didn’t happen the way I interpreted, that we may have unreliable narrators in both books. :dubious: Anyway, I’m liking _A Winter Haunting_ and depending on where it goes, I might end up re-reading _Summer of Night_. ETA: I guess I liked when I said I need something light. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2009, 10:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-may-09-edition/495077/165 "2009-05-24T10:44:41Z")
Finished [URL=“[http://www.amazon.com/Last-Wish-Andrzej-Sapkowski/dp/0316029181/ref=sr\_1\_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1243161468&sr=1-1](http://www.amazon.com/Last-Wish-Andrzej-Sapkowski/dp/0316029181/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1243161468&sr=1-1)”]_The Last Wish_. A very mediocre read. I have a business partner in from the UK to help guide software development so I must make hay whilst the sun shines and have been working 14 hour days. So haven’t had much time to read lately. The Last Wish is the tale of Geralt de Rivia - a witcher. It is not made clear to me exactly what a witcher is and why they are reviled. He seems to be a monster-killer-for-hire. He seems to have some skill at magic, but it also seems that he is not on par with a sorcerer. The larger tale is told interspersed with lesser tales - I suppose to help give the back story. But the weaving seems clumsy to me and in the end I found it annoying. Also in the end - at the very end - although I understood what happened, I wondered what the point of the telling was. It was not very satisfying in the end. The book inspired a game. I may try the game, but I won’t read more if there is a series. ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2009, 12:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-may-09-edition/495077/166 "2009-05-24T12:23:10Z")
Not sure what I want to read next, so I’m taking a break with a book of short essays (_The Flight of the Iguana_) by David Quammen, my favorite nature writer. ---
**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:** [May 26, 2009, 12:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-may-09-edition/495077/167 "2009-05-26T12:30:18Z")
> [@Dung\_Beetle](#): > > I’ve begun on Affinity, by Sarah Waters. A hundred pages in, so far so good. Finished and I liked it very much. About halfway through, I stopped to wonder if I was reading a mystery or if I was supposed to take the supernatural stuff at face value, but either way it was interesting and I was pleased with how it all wound up. I have more Sarah Waters in my TBR pile. Next up: We Never Talk About My Brother, short stories by Peter S. Beagle. ---
**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:** [May 26, 2009, 12:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-may-09-edition/495077/168 "2009-05-26T12:52:53Z")
The only Beagle I’ve read was _The Last Unicorn_, which I thought was just OK, and a very good Sherlock Holmes short story, the title of which escapes me. ---
**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:** [May 26, 2009, 1:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-may-09-edition/495077/169 "2009-05-26T13:31:26Z")
I read Beagle’s Tamsin and liked it, though I don’t remember much about why. I’ve heard The Last Unicorn is his best, but I haven’t read it because the title is just embarrassing. ---
**Author:** ![TheMerchandise](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b487fb/32.png) [@TheMerchandise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheMerchandise)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2009, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-may-09-edition/495077/170 "2009-05-26T14:09:12Z")
Just finished _Turn Coat_, the latest in the Dresden Files series. I really liked this book; there were quite a few plot turns and character reversals I was not expecting. I really think Butcher has vastly improved as a writer over the course of this series. Now I’m reading _The Road_. I feel like the last person in the world to pick up this book. **Dung Beetle** , hide it behind a Guns and Ammo magazine then, because _The Last Unicorn_ is wonderful! _A Fine and Private Place_ is also great. ---
**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:** [May 26, 2009, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-may-09-edition/495077/171 "2009-05-26T14:26:00Z")
I guess I’ll have to, because I’m sure the cover art is going to be all pink and sparkly, isn’t it? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2009, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-may-09-edition/495077/172 "2009-05-26T14:41:54Z")
> [@Dung\_Beetle](#): > > I guess I’ll have to, because I’m sure the cover art is going to be all pink and sparkly, isn’t it? 😃 Hmm, let me just pull it out of my plastic Dora the Explorer backpack and check… ---
**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:** [May 26, 2009, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-may-09-edition/495077/173 "2009-05-26T15:01:42Z")
> [@Dung\_Beetle](#): > > Finished and I liked it very much. About halfway through, I stopped to wonder if I was reading a mystery or if I was supposed to take the supernatural stuff at face value, but either way it was interesting and I was pleased with how it all wound up. I have more Sarah Waters in my TBR pile. > > Next up: We Never Talk About My Brother, short stories by Peter S. Beagle. I’m so glad you enjoyed _Affinity_! I loved that book. And Beagle is an often-overlooked treasure; I really need to read his stories. > [@Dung\_Beetle](#): > > I read Beagle’s Tamsin and liked it, though I don’t remember much about why. _Tamsin_ is a favorite, but I’m a sucker for any story based on Tam Lin. > [@TheMerchandise](#): > > Now I’m reading _The Road_. I feel like the last person in the world to pick up this book. No, I am. As much as I enjoy post-apoc, I just can’t face reading relentless misery ---
**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:** [May 26, 2009, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-may-09-edition/495077/174 "2009-05-26T15:14:39Z")
> [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](#): > > Hmm, let me just pull it out of my plastic Dora the Explorer backpack and check… Are you _laughing_ at me? _runs after **Biffy** waving a rusted Scooby Doo lunchbox_ ---
**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:** [May 26, 2009, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-may-09-edition/495077/175 "2009-05-26T15:33:10Z")
> [@wonderlust](#): > > … No, I am. As much as I enjoy post-apoc, I just can’t face reading relentless misery Seconded, although I’ll probably see the movie, 'cause I’m a Viggo fan. ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2009, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-may-09-edition/495077/176 "2009-05-27T16:49:24Z")
I finished _A Winter Haunting_ by Dan Simmons and was pleasantly surprised. In my experience, sequels are often self-indulgent, meandering pieces of crap written to cash in on the popularity of the first book. This was a whole different book, and something that could be read and enjoyed if you hadn’t read _Summer of Night_. Nice creepy psychological/ghost story, with some very scary bits. I’d ordered _Slaves of Solitude_ by Patrick Hamilton from Amazon months ago, and they were unable to deliver. I ordered it again and they had it! But when it got here, I realized that I’d already read it. :smack: Next up for me is _Stone’s Fall_, the new one by Ian Pears. I loved _Instance of the Fingerpost_. ---
**Author:** ![TheMerchandise](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b487fb/32.png) [@TheMerchandise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheMerchandise)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2009, 1:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-may-09-edition/495077/177 "2009-05-28T13:11:38Z")
I finished \*The Road \*yesterday. It was very bleak, but it was also very inspiring. The Man in the story isn’t just out to survive, he’s also trying so hard to give his son hope and remain a “good guy” in spite of the horror surrounding them. The book seemed much bigger than its 280 pages. I just started _Triangle_, by Katharine Weber. About a survivor of the Triangle Shirtwaist fire in New York City and the story she tells of that day. The first few pages almost made me give up… not because they were bad, but because the description of the fire was almost too graphic for me. ---
**Author:** ![tr0psn4j](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/958977/32.png) [@tr0psn4j](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tr0psn4j)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2009, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-may-09-edition/495077/178 "2009-05-28T17:36:41Z")
Just finished Romeo and Juliet and I’m now reading a copy of Hamlet that I’ve had sitting in my room for a few years collecting dust. ---
**Author:** ![Shot\_From\_Guns](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ccd318/32.png) [@Shot\_From\_Guns](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shot_From_Guns)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2009, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-may-09-edition/495077/179 "2009-05-28T17:41:17Z")
Oooh, Hamlet is one of my favoritey favorites. I must have… at least five different copies of it. ---
**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 28, 2009, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-may-09-edition/495077/180 "2009-05-28T21:20:03Z")
I finished Zadie Smith’s _On Beauty_ and I loved it. I wasn’t sure I would at first–from the blurb it seemed like another one of those midlife crisis novels where the husband (in this case) cheated on his wife and his family had to rebuild trust and along the way they all Learned Something About Themselves. It is that, but it’s not just that. It skewers the liberal arts professors while treating them respectfully, it skewers the wanna-g mentality prevalent among young black males without any respect at all, it offers up many different views of what beauty is, and it introduced me to a lot of Rembrandt. A lot of it. I had to run to The Internets after I finished the book to look up all the Rembrandt pictures she was talking about. (The cheatin’ husband is a Rembrandt scholar and Art History professor.) She mentioned she got a lot of her art intepretation of them from a book by Simon Schama, who I’ve admired ever since I saw the documentary _The History of Britain_. I decided to see if the library had it as I was in the mood for history. I didn’t see it listed in the catalog, but I did see _A History of Britain: At the Edge of the World_, so I checked that out instead. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-may-09-edition/495077.md?page=8) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-may-09-edition/495077.md?page=10)