# Whatcha Readin' May 2012 Edition **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 30, 2012, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-may-2012-edition/620448 "2012-04-30T21:05:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2012, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-may-2012-edition/620448/1 "2012-04-30T21:05:30Z")
Happy May everyone. If you celebrate cinco de mayo, enjoy but be safe! I’ve started the last of the [_Heir of Novron (Riyria Revelations)_](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0316187712/ref=oh_details_o00_s00_i00) and so far I’m really enjoying it. It is more traditional fantasy (as opposed to the urban fantasy that I usually read) - and better than the mind candy that I usually read. [Link](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=646902)to old thread. ---
**Author:** ![Missy2U](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/3bc359/32.png) [@Missy2U](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Missy2U)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2012, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-may-2012-edition/620448/2 "2012-04-30T21:21:25Z")
i have a new author I’m loving - Gregg Sapp - I just finished “Dollarapalooza - or The Day Peace Broke Out in Columbus” and am starting it again. It’s WONDERFUL! I seriously was sad when I finished it the first time and just renewed it from the library to read it again. ---
**Author:** ![charmstr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/53a042/32.png) [@charmstr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/charmstr)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2012, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-may-2012-edition/620448/3 "2012-04-30T22:24:53Z")
I’m reading Christopher Moore’s new book, [Sacre Bleu: A Comedy d’Art](http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7743117-sacre-bleu) and am enjoying it greatly. I plan to start reading Tim Powers’ [Hide Me Among the Graves](http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/11966655-hide-me-among-the-graves) this month as well. I’m also considering reading China Miéville’s [Embassytown](http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/9265453-embassytown) or re-reading [Jack of Shadows](http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/61986.Jack_of_Shadows) by Roger Zelazny for the Goodreads Beyond Reality group. (I honestly remember nothing about the Zelazny book other than having read it many decades ago. Something about a house?) ---
**Author:** ![etv78](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d78d45/32.png) [@etv78](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/etv78)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2012, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-may-2012-edition/620448/4 "2012-04-30T22:33:17Z")
I just finished _Almost President_. Very interesting and frequently timely. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2012, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-may-2012-edition/620448/5 "2012-04-30T22:38:01Z")
I’ve never even peeked in one of these threads. But about 5 months ago I started reading for the first time since high school…anyways. I’m in the middle of Around The World in 80 days. Jules uses far too many words. It’s taking me a while to get through this. I actually find myself saying “Yeah, I got it” and skipping the ends of entire paragraphs. ---
**Author:** ![Antigen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/848f3c/32.png) [@Antigen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antigen)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2012, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-may-2012-edition/620448/6 "2012-05-01T00:12:05Z")
I just started **Riding Rockets: The Outrageous Tales of a Space Shuttle Astronaut** by Mike Mullane, and it’s fantastic. I picked it up because Mary Roach mentioned in her book **Packing for Mars** , that if you’re going to read just _one_ astronaut memoir, make it Mike Mullane’s. And here I am. ---
**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 1, 2012, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-may-2012-edition/620448/7 "2012-05-01T00:24:10Z")
I am ashamed to say I’m still on the book I started a month ago, _The Cider House Rules_, by John Irving. I read some on the plane to the US, then we were so much on the go every single day that I did not pick it up again until the return flight this past weekend. And I may be especially busy these next few days getting things in order on our return. It’s actually very good, but I’m only about a third of the way through it. ---
**Author:** ![InternetLegend](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/internetlegend/32/13154_2.png) [@InternetLegend](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/InternetLegend)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2012, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-may-2012-edition/620448/8 "2012-05-01T00:36:18Z")
Since the library started offering books on Kindle, I’ve been reading more than ever. I always knew I was lazy, but I’d underestimated how much my unwillingness to get out of my pajamas and to the library on weekends was limiting my reading! I recently finished Salvage the Bones by Jesmyn Ward and The Sense of an Ending by Julian Barnes and enjoyed both of them greatly. I’m starting Sunrise With Sea Monster by Neil Jordan now, but I haven’t gotten far enough in to have much of an opinion yet. ---
**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:** [May 1, 2012, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-may-2012-edition/620448/9 "2012-05-01T00:43:00Z")
> [@Antigen](#): > > I just started **Riding Rockets: The Outrageous Tales of a Space Shuttle Astronaut** by Mike Mullane, and it’s fantastic. I picked it up because Mary Roach mentioned in her book **Packing for Mars** , that if you’re going to read just _one_ astronaut memoir, make it Mike Mullane’s. And here I am. I just finished that - I bought it after reading the Mary Roach book, too. It was a really good read, very candid. Mullane flew on three shuttle missions, one before the Challenger disaster and two afterwards. He comes off as a little too proud that he used to be a sexist pig, but the book is enjoyable. Lots of details about the stress of spending hours strapped in at the launch pad only to have the mission scrubbed. Lots of details about going to the bathroom in space. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Hamster\_King](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8edcca/32.png) [@The\_Hamster\_King](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Hamster_King)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2012, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-may-2012-edition/620448/10 "2012-05-01T00:43:11Z")
**A Thousand Plateus** by Gilles Deleuze and Felix Guattari **The Grasshopper** by Bernard Suits **The Intentional Stance** by Daniel Denett The Deleuze is heavy going. I’m managing about a page a day. ---
**Author:** ![slightly\_askew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d07c76/32.png) [@slightly\_askew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/slightly_askew)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2012, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-may-2012-edition/620448/11 "2012-05-01T00:48:43Z")
Kind of an odd pairing at the moment… _The poisoner’s handbook : murder and the birth of forensic medicine in Jazz Age New York_ by Deborah Blum… it’s really interesting, I hate having to put it down. _The American way of eating : undercover at Walmart, Applebee’s, farm fields and the dinner table_ by Tracie McMillan – I haven’t gotten as far into this one. ---
**Author:** ![Snickers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5daacb/32.png) [@Snickers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snickers)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2012, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-may-2012-edition/620448/12 "2012-05-01T16:02:53Z")
Heh. I read that as “Riding Rocks” and didn’t really get why that would apply to an astronaut. “Rockets” makes much more sense. I’m still stuck on Weir’s [Henry VIII: The King and His Court](http://www.amazon.com/Henry-VIII-The-King-Court/dp/034543708X/ref=sr_1_9?ie=UTF8&qid=1335887934&sr=8-9). It’s good, but I find myself skipping large swaths of it as I just can’t be bothered to care about who’s spending what at which residence now. The reviewers are correct in that there’s a lot of detail about Tudor court life, not so much about Henry or his wives themselves. (To be fair, that detail is in other books, so there is that.) I agree that Margaret George’s book [An Autobiography of Henry VIII](http://www.amazon.com/The-Autobiography-Henry-VIII-Somers/dp/0312194390/ref=sr_1_4?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1335888120&sr=1-4) is a better biography. It’s been ages since I read it, so I’ll have to pick it up again. ---
**Author:** ![Sigmagirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c89c15/32.png) [@Sigmagirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigmagirl)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2012, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-may-2012-edition/620448/13 "2012-05-01T16:34:43Z")
> [@Missy2U](#): > > i have a new author I’m loving - Gregg Sapp - I just finished “Dollarapalooza - or The Day Peace Broke Out in Columbus” and am starting it again. It’s WONDERFUL! I seriously was sad when I finished it the first time and just renewed it from the library to read it again. Yes, it’s fun, isn’t it? More so if you’re a fan of _A Confederacy of Dunces_. I’m starting _Dust and Shadow: An Account of the Ripper Killings by Dr. John H. Watson_ by Lyndsay Faye, in which Jack meets up with Sherlock Holmes. I loved Faye’s _Gods of Gotham_, and this is her debut. ---
**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:** [May 1, 2012, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-may-2012-edition/620448/14 "2012-05-01T17:29:26Z")
> [@Whatcha Readin' April 2012 Edition](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-april-2012-edition/617388/87): > > Not reading yet but purchased today: [Kinglake-350](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B005EPJNS6/ref=docs-os-doi_0), about the (Australian) Victorian bushfires of 2009. > > Those bushfires were in an area I’ve been to, I’m from Melbourne; the towns most affected are not all that far away. I well remember the unbelievably oppressive heat of that day and the slowly growing horror as the extent of the disaster became clear. > > The book comes highly recommended. I find disasters oddly fascinating, and it’s nice to have something **Australian** to read. So even though it’s more expensive than I’d usually accept for an ebook, I think it’ll be worth it. I’ll finish what I’m currently reading, so it’ll be a little while before I report back about it. I have now read about 80% of the book, and it is amazing. If you have even the least bit of interest in the subject matter, I highly recommend you read this book. As I said earlier, I’ve read a _lot_ of books about disasters, and this one is right up at the top of the list in every way. I’m not saying that because it’s (for me) a local story. It’s about people, and how a disaster can bring out the absolute best in people, and in that sense it’s universal. It’s also harrowing in its descriptions of what the survivors went through, and in tracing the fates of some who didn’t survive. Really an amazing book, in every way. I don’t give rave reviews very often; when I do, they’re earned. This book earned a rave. ---
**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 2, 2012, 3:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-may-2012-edition/620448/15 "2012-05-02T03:16:31Z")
I’m about a fifth of the way through Frank Herbert’s _The White Plague_, a 1982 novel about a terrorist attack that unleashes a custom-made plague which only kills women. It’s an OK book but not wonderful. Certainly not as good as _Dune_. I also picked up Mimi Alford’s _Once Upon A Secret_, a new memoir by a woman who claims she had an affair with JFK which started when she was a 19-year-old White House intern. Too soon to say how good the book is yet. ---
**Author:** ![Politzania](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3ab097/32.png) [@Politzania](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Politzania)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2012, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-may-2012-edition/620448/16 "2012-05-02T17:33:32Z")
> [@Antigen](#): > > I just started **Riding Rockets: The Outrageous Tales of a Space Shuttle Astronaut** by Mike Mullane, and it’s fantastic. I picked it up because Mary Roach mentioned in her book **Packing for Mars** , that if you’re going to read just _one_ astronaut memoir, make it Mike Mullane’s. And here I am. I also picked up **Riding Rockets** after reading/listening to **Packing for Mars** and really, really enjoyed it. I’d like to buy him a drink & just listen to his stories. Am (hopefully) wrapping up the Maze Runner series with _**[The Death Cure](http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7864437-the-death-cure)**_ … more out of stubbornness than anything else. While Dashner has some interesting things going on in his post-apocalyptic world, the story arc is unclear, I never really got into the characters, and the pseudo-swears (“klunk” for “shit”? Really?) are a bit grating. I’m also not quite sure what to think about Julianna Baggott’s _**[Pure](http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/9680114-pure)**_ - I’m having a hard time getting beyond having objects/animals/other people permanently grafted on to the survivors of the apocalypse. That said, the characters are relatively engaging and the plot is serviceable. I’ll probably finish the book, but not sure if I’ll continue the series. On the other hand, I’m still really enjoying the Bloody Jack series: am in the middle of _**[In the Belly of the Bloodhound](http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/295650.In_the_Belly_of_the_Bloodhound)**_ For once, Jacky’s disastrous situation is not of her making, and she must take on the leadership role again - this time of the Lawson Peabody girls - yes, including Clarissa! Can I say once again that I think the narrator, Katharine Kellgren is awesome? 🙂 ---
**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:** [May 2, 2012, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-may-2012-edition/620448/17 "2012-05-02T18:04:22Z")
I’m reading _The Gods of Gotham_, an excellent mystery novel set in 1845 New York City and based around the newly formed NYC police in an Irish ward of the city. Its absolutely brilliant…I cannot recommend it enough. > **[The Gods of Gotham (A Timothy Wilde Novel): Faye, Lyndsay: 9780425261255:...](https://www.amazon.com/Gods-Gotham-Lyndsay-Faye/dp/B00B1L9OCM)** > > The Gods of Gotham (A Timothy Wilde Novel) \[Faye, Lyndsay\] on Amazon.com. \*FREE\* shipping on qualifying offers. The Gods of Gotham (A Timothy Wilde Novel) ---
**Author:** ![Doctor\_Who](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ed8c4c/32.png) [@Doctor\_Who](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doctor_Who)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2012, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-may-2012-edition/620448/18 "2012-05-02T18:13:58Z")
Just so my other book readers are aware, Amazon is running a deal today (while supplies last) for a certified refurbished Kindle Fire with a 1 year warranty for $139. I decided to suck it up, take the plunge, and replace my Kindle 0 (I don’t even know… it was old!) Disclaimer: I do not work for Amazon although I singlehandedly kept them in business back in '05. ---
**Author:** ![Sigmagirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c89c15/32.png) [@Sigmagirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigmagirl)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2012, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-may-2012-edition/620448/19 "2012-05-02T18:32:40Z")
> [@slightly\_askew](#): > > Kind of an odd pairing at the moment… > > _The poisoner’s handbook : murder and the birth of forensic medicine in Jazz Age New York_ by Deborah Blum… it’s really interesting, I hate having to put it down. I too found it interesting, though she added some elements that were not necessarily based on research (in one chapter, an investigator wipes his feet before he enters a building – cite?) and, at least in my copy, there was a photo of the Chrysler Building. I like the Chrysler Building, but I could find no meaningful reference to it in the text. I think the editor or publisher just had a nice picture of the Chrysler Building and decided to put it in there. Okay then! > [@FoieGrasIsEvil](#): > > I’m reading _The Gods of Gotham_, an excellent mystery novel set in 1845 New York City and based around the newly formed NYC police in an Irish ward of the city. > > Its absolutely brilliant…I cannot recommend it enough. > > [Amazon.com: The Gods of Gotham: 9780399158377: Faye, Lyndsay: Books](http://www.amazon.com/The-Gods-Gotham-Lyndsay-Faye/dp/0399158375) As I said in Post #18, I loved this book too and now am reading her first book. ---
**Author:** ![Lust4Life](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ecc23a/32.png) [@Lust4Life](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lust4Life)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2012, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-may-2012-edition/620448/20 "2012-05-02T19:31:44Z")
I am rereading I Claudius and Claudius the God by Robert Graves, and its still excellent. When it comes to books the word “Classic” is thrown around to easily, but in this case its a true description. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-may-2012-edition/620448.md?page=2)