# Whatcha Readin' Nov 09 Edition **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 31, 2009, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-nov-09-edition/515882 "2009-10-31T21:00:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![TheMerchandise](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b487fb/32.png) [@TheMerchandise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheMerchandise)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2009, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-nov-09-edition/515882/81 "2009-11-12T15:28:27Z")
I finished _Johannes Cabal the Necromancer_. I thought it was great. Johannes is such a bastard and I’m not sure if I love to hate him or hate to love him. I thought the ending was perfect, spot on to the character built up during the story, although I can imagine a lot of people being dissatisfied with it. I read _Dead to the World_, part of the Sookie Stackhouse novels. I am now officially done with this series. And I really mean it this time. Also finished _Pride and Prejudice and Zombies_. My book club picked this, or else I wouldn’t have bothered. The joke was funny for the first ten chapters and then all I was really interested in were the original Austen bits. ---
**Author:** ![Textual\_Intercourse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Textual\_Intercourse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Textual_Intercourse)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2009, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-nov-09-edition/515882/82 "2009-11-12T17:00:38Z")
> [@GameHat](#): > > Great book, though the parts where he starts talking about Calabi–Yau manifolds I had to skim pretty heavily. I can’t get my head around crazy-ass multidimensional n-folds, go figure :rolleyes: Especially given the fact that said ‘crazy-ass multidimensional n-folds’ are illustrated on one dimensional paper. Still, given the subject matter, the book is a great read. Note to self: Calabi-Yau shape would be a cool tattoo. ---
**Author:** ![bup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6bbea6/32.png) [@bup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bup)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2009, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-nov-09-edition/515882/83 "2009-11-12T17:08:45Z")
> [@Textual\_Intercourse](#): > > Especially given the fact that said ‘crazy-ass multidimensional n-folds’ are illustrated on _ **one dimensional** _ paper. I read a different edition than you. ---
**Author:** ![Sigmagirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c89c15/32.png) [@Sigmagirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigmagirl)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2009, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-nov-09-edition/515882/84 "2009-11-12T17:10:38Z")
> [@TheMerchandise](#): > > Also, I think it’s pretty bombastic of Dan Brown to mention that he’s the author of one of the best selling novels of all time in his back-cover blurb. I love to be annoyed by Dan Brown. I’m sure you can blame the publisher for that . . . if you were his publisher, wouldn’t you? I would. Just started _The Palace of Strange Girls_ by Sallie Day, “a panoramic portrait and moving tale of an English family dealing with a changing post-WWII world in the late '50s.” A 7-year old girl and her 16-year-old sister, their strict mother, and father caught up in labor dispute. Only on Page 9, but I’m engrossed. ---
**Author:** ![Textual\_Intercourse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Textual\_Intercourse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Textual_Intercourse)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2009, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-nov-09-edition/515882/85 "2009-11-12T17:40:40Z")
> [@bup](#): > > I read a different edition than you. Or maybe I’m just dimensionally challenged. At any rate, I looked through the thread you linked to regarding the conceptualization of a 4th dimension and my interest has been piqued. I remember exactly where the book is on my shelf and will leaf through it when I get home tonight. I’ll report back with any revelations. ---
**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:** [November 12, 2009, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-nov-09-edition/515882/86 "2009-11-12T19:25:46Z")
Just finished I’m Down, by Mishna Wolff. Purportedly about a white girl being raised in black culture, but really more about being raised by neglectful parents, it reminded me of Jeanette Walls’ The Glass Castle. (I’m pretty sure this was one of **delphica** ’s recommendations, and I apologize if that’s exactly the same comment she made!) Anyway, a really good book. Now, I will be spending some time with The Naked Man. A book by Desmond Morris, you pervs! ---
**Author:** ![TheMerchandise](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b487fb/32.png) [@TheMerchandise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheMerchandise)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2009, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-nov-09-edition/515882/87 "2009-11-12T19:27:04Z")
> [@Sigmagirl](#): > > I’m sure you can blame the publisher for that . . . if you were his publisher, wouldn’t you? I would. Are you bringing \*logic \*into my irrational annoyance with Dan Brown?? I’m sorry, that just won’t do. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2009, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-nov-09-edition/515882/88 "2009-11-12T19:27:04Z")
Who’s read William Vollmann? My father recommended him and while I’m not scared by the sheer volume, I afraid the reading will be too heavy for bedtime. I prefer novels; should I start with **Europe Central** since it’s award-winning? ---
**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:** [November 13, 2009, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-nov-09-edition/515882/89 "2009-11-13T03:11:11Z")
> [@ClydeFontaine](#): > > Just finished “The Piano Teacher” by Elfriede Jelinek. Satisfied the morbidity that I expected. The 2001 French film version of that, starring Isabelle Huppert in the title role, is excellent. Finished _Flashman and the Tiger_, by George MacDonald Fraser. And quite a pleasant surprise who the Tiger turned out to be. 'Nuff said. And this completes my reading of the entire Flashman series. Next up: _Slaughterhouse-Five, or The Children’s Crusade_, by Kurt Vonnegut. Or as it says on the title page: “_Slaughterhouse-Five, or The Children’s Crusade: A Duty-Dance with Death_, by Kurt Vonnegut, Jr., a fourth-generation German-American now living in easy circumstances on Cape Cod (and smoking too much), who, as an American infantry scout _hors de combat_, as a prisoner of war, witnessed the fire-bombing of Dresden, Germany, ‘The Florence of the Elbe,’ a long time ago, and survived to tell the tale. This is a novel somewhat in the telegraphic schizophrenic manner of tales of the planet Tralfamadore, where the flying saucers come from. Peace.” ---
**Author:** ![movingfinger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@movingfinger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/movingfinger)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2009, 5:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-nov-09-edition/515882/90 "2009-11-13T05:51:54Z")
I just finished \*\*Thunderstruck \*\*by Erik Larson, about a famous murder in England at the time of Marconi’s struggles to perfect the wireless system, and how the wireless is used to apprehend the murderer. I also finished \*\*Life of Pi \*\*and was prepared to sneer at it as I knew it could not live up to the extravagant hype piled upon it. Well, live up to the hype it did, and exceeded it. Hats off to you, Mr Martel! ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2009, 1:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-nov-09-edition/515882/91 "2009-11-13T13:04:27Z")
> [@movingfinger](#): > > I just finished \*\*Thunderstruck \*\*by Erik Larson, about a famous murder in England at the time of Marconi’s struggles to perfect the wireless system, and how the wireless is used to apprehend the murderer. > > I also finished \*\*Life of Pi \*\*and was prepared to sneer at it as I knew it could not live up to the extravagant hype piled upon it. Well, live up to the hype it did, and exceeded it. Hats off to you, Mr Martel! Someone gave me _The Life Of Pi_ a few years back. I put it aside and didn’t read it. I’ll have to see if I can find it. ---
**Author:** ![yellowval](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/919ad9/32.png) [@yellowval](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yellowval)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2009, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-nov-09-edition/515882/92 "2009-11-13T14:08:36Z")
I started The Businessman by Thomas M. Disch yesterday. I read about him in a thread here a while back about horror authors. It’s interesting so far. ---
**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:** [November 13, 2009, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-nov-09-edition/515882/93 "2009-11-13T14:58:48Z")
I know there are some Joe Haldman fans who hang out here - apparently he nearly died from pancreatitis last month. Here’s his [LJ entry](http://joe-haldeman.livejournal.com/143239.html)from this week. ---
**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:** [November 13, 2009, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-nov-09-edition/515882/94 "2009-11-13T16:03:21Z")
I’m a big Haldeman fan, and hadn’t heard about that. Thanks! Glad he seems to be on the road to recovery. ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2009, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-nov-09-edition/515882/95 "2009-11-13T19:16:37Z")
> [@yellowval](#): > > I started The Businessman by Thomas M. Disch yesterday. I read about him in a thread here a while back about horror authors. It’s interesting so far. There are three more in the same vein – The Sub, The Priest, and The M.D. They’re all good, IMHO. I don’t know anything about Disch personally, but he strikes me as someone who has **very** strong but well-informed opinions about his subjects. He kinda scares me. ---
**Author:** ![Sigmagirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c89c15/32.png) [@Sigmagirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigmagirl)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2009, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-nov-09-edition/515882/96 "2009-11-13T20:24:43Z")
> [@Sigmagirl](#): > > Just started _The Palace of Strange Girls_ by Sallie Day, “a panoramic portrait and moving tale of an English family dealing with a changing post-WWII world in the late '50s.” A 7-year old girl and her 16-year-old sister, their strict mother, and father caught up in labor dispute. Only on Page 9, but I’m engrossed. Done. I’d be interested in getting **Chowder** ’s (“[Ask the 1950s ex-Teddy Boy](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=461013)”) take on this as it was very much that era if not his actual area (it takes place in Blackpool.) It’s more of a chick book, but I still think he would have some interesting things to say about it. ---
**Author:** ![plankter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7ba0ec/32.png) [@plankter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/plankter)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2009, 12:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-nov-09-edition/515882/97 "2009-11-15T12:18:39Z")
Finished **Boneshaker** last week. It was very good, and between the terrific imagery and the short time in which the story takes place, I think this would make a great movie. One question I am left with at the end, though, is Can the Blight Gas ever be stopped? Turns out I first saw the book [here](http://whatever.scalzi.com/2009/10/13/the-big-idea-cherie-priest/) on John Scalzi’s blog and not at Wil Wheaton’s site, although Wil’s review is quoted on the first page. (Now if only my county library would carry Wil’s books, grumble grumble.) I am currently reading **Nine Gates** by Jane Lindskold, the sequel to **Thirteen Orphans**. It’s set in contemporary America but the magic system is Chinese, with an interesting premise. I liked the first book a lot and this one is comparable so far. On my ‘hold’ list is **Leviathan** by Scott Westerfeld, another Internet find. ---
**Author:** ![delphica](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e9a140/32.png) [@delphica](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/delphica)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2009, 12:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-nov-09-edition/515882/98 "2009-11-15T12:44:50Z")
> [@Dung\_Beetle](#): > > Just finished I’m Down, by Mishna Wolff. Purportedly about a white girl being raised in black culture, but really more about being raised by neglectful parents, it reminded me of Jeanette Walls’ The Glass Castle. Jeanette Walls has a new book out about her grandmother (I think maternal, not the Appalachian one) but I am waffling on whether or not I want to pick it up. My mother and I, who seem to have developed a hobby of reading memoirs so we can snark about other dysfunctional families, could barely get through _The Glass Castle_ because it was so depressing. ---
**Author:** ![yellowval](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/919ad9/32.png) [@yellowval](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yellowval)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2009, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-nov-09-edition/515882/99 "2009-11-15T14:52:01Z")
> [@AuntiePam](#): > > There are three more in the same vein – The Sub, The Priest, and The M.D. They’re all good, IMHO. I don’t know anything about Disch personally, but he strikes me as someone who has **very** strong but well-informed opinions about his subjects. He kinda scares me. Yep, I have The Sub already. The main reason I decided to read them is because they’re Minnesota books, and I have a thing for Minnesota books & authors. I like horror too, so it’s a perfect match. I finished Lady Susan on audio book yesterday. Loved it, naturally. Today I will start The Girl With No Shadow. I have about 100 pages to go on It Can’t Happen Here. ---
**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:** [November 15, 2009, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-nov-09-edition/515882/100 "2009-11-15T15:49:13Z")
> [@StoutHearted](#): > > I read and loved **Lady Susan** - it’s light and fluffy by Austen standards, but still shows promise of the author’s wit and skewering of the upper classes. Those of you who like Austen might consider giving Georgette Heyer a try. She’s the best of the Regency romance writers, and her books are like fluffy Austen. I don’t read much romance, but Heyer is a lot of fun. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-nov-09-edition/515882.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-nov-09-edition/515882.md?page=6)