# Whatcha Readin' Nov 2010 Edition **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 31, 2010, 11:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-nov-2010-edition/558963 "2010-10-31T11:40:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Liz\_Marie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/6bbea6/32.png) [@Liz\_Marie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liz_Marie)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2010, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-nov-2010-edition/558963/21 "2010-11-02T20:57:35Z")
I’m reading _The Brothers Karamazov_ by Dostoyevsky and _Rising Tide_ by John M. Barry. Brothers goes from being profound to a sort of soap opera. I’ll keep reading, but I wish I liked it more. Rising tide is interesting in a factual way and I haven’t even gotten to the flood yet. It started off pretty slow though. ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2010, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-nov-2010-edition/558963/22 "2010-11-02T21:29:10Z")
> [@EristicKallistic](#): > > Maybe if I write it down in public, I’ll actually get around to finishing up _Infinite Jest_. I enjoyed what I’ve read so far immensely, it’s just… tiring. And now daunting to pick back up 🙂 Now, when you say you enjoyed what you’ve read so far, are you including the first 50 pages? I’d heard that it was supposed to be a challenging read, but I wasn’t aware that the challenge was going to be battling mind-numbing boredom. I picked up two audiobooks at the library today, to “read” on the way to/from work: _Abraham Lincoln, Vampire Hunter_ by Seth Grahame-Smith, and _Dearly Devoted Dexter_ by Jeff Lindsay. I’ve read the first Dexter book, before I began watching the show, but have never picked up the others until now. ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2010, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-nov-2010-edition/558963/23 "2010-11-02T21:48:58Z")
I’m setting down _Geist_ because it didn’t grab me and because a new Glen Cook arrived today. ---
**Author:** ![Sigmagirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c89c15/32.png) [@Sigmagirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigmagirl)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2010, 12:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-nov-2010-edition/558963/24 "2010-11-03T12:56:26Z")
> [@Khadaji](#): > > Yeah, I have that in my queue. It looks interesting. Finished it, and it really was. I think you’ll like it. Now reading _Hometown Appetites: The Story of Clementine Paddleford, the Forgotten Food Writer Who Chronicled How America Ate_. She was the food editor of the _New York Herald Tribune_ for many years, and of a magazine that was the forerunner of _Country Living_. ---
**Author:** ![EristicKallistic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/85e7bf/32.png) [@EristicKallistic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EristicKallistic)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2010, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-nov-2010-edition/558963/25 "2010-11-03T13:52:58Z")
> [@elfkin477](#): > > Now, when you say you enjoyed what you’ve read so far, are you including the first 50 pages? I’d heard that it was supposed to be a challenging read, but I wasn’t aware that the challenge was going to be battling mind-numbing boredom. > > I picked up two audiobooks at the library today, to “read” on the way to/from work: _Abraham Lincoln, Vampire Hunter_ by Seth Grahame-Smith, and _Dearly Devoted Dexter_ by Jeff Lindsay. I’ve read the first Dexter book, before I began watching the show, but have never picked up the others until now. I don’t remember exactly the layout of the first part of the book, but I did enjoy the beginning. I got stuck a little on the “Wardine” section, which is written in this terrible faux-Ebonics style which I found very difficult and borderline offensive. But the opening, while confusing because it’s in media res, and then the “Erdedy waits for pot” section were both well-written and entertaining for me, so I didn’t have much trouble getting into it… ---
**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 3, 2010, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-nov-2010-edition/558963/26 "2010-11-03T15:45:48Z")
> [@Eleanor\_of\_Aquitaine](#): > > …Prompted by a re-watch of _The Madness of King George_ (great movie) I’ve started reading one of Christopher Hibbert’s “Personal Histories” of George III. Great movie indeed. My favorite scene is when several British politicos meet in a church and impatiently interrupt a late arrival, who’s just knelt and angrily says, “Can’t you see I’m praying, goddammit?” Glad you’re enjoying _Aztec_, **Siam Sam**. A particular favorite of mine, as you know. I’m still reading _Gun, With Occasional Music_ by Jonathan Lethem, a surreal hardboiled detective mystery, which is weird but interesting, and _Blood Oath_ by Christopher Farnsworth, a political/supernatural action/adventure about a vampire who acts as the President’s secret agent, which is actually much better. ---
**Author:** ![delphica](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e9a140/32.png) [@delphica](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/delphica)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2010, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-nov-2010-edition/558963/27 "2010-11-03T16:50:05Z")
Last weekend I picked up Joe Hill’s _Heart Shaped Box_ and Neal Stephenson’s _Cryptonomicon_ at a used bookstore, BUT I just got an email that _Monsters of Men_, the third and final book in Patrick Ness’s Chaos Walking series is waiting for me at the library! I’ve also been reading _Twilight at the World of Tomorrow: Genius, Madness, Murder, and the 1939 World’s Fair_, a nonfiction book about the NYC World’s Fair. I suspect the author was motivated by the success of _Devil in the White City_ (about Chicago), but this seems bland and forced to me, one of those topics that would have made for a mildly interesting magazine article but really doesn’t have the substance to be an entire book. ---
**Author:** ![Sigmagirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c89c15/32.png) [@Sigmagirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigmagirl)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2010, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-nov-2010-edition/558963/28 "2010-11-03T16:52:05Z")
That’s exactly what I thought about _Devil in the White City_, but that book seems to have done all right. I thought it was two long magazine articles slapped together. ---
**Author:** ![lizardling](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f4b2a3/32.png) [@lizardling](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lizardling)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2010, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-nov-2010-edition/558963/29 "2010-11-03T20:14:28Z")
Finished “The Wee Free Men” by Pterry. Good reading. I have the third book but need to find the second book. Currently I have “Men of Salt” which is a nonfiction book about the salt caravans of the Sahara, by Michael Benanav. The caravans go from Timbuktu to the salt mine of Taoudenni. It’s a story of a dying way of life. Eleanor, perhaps I’ll have to borrow that from the library then. ---
**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 4, 2010, 4:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-nov-2010-edition/558963/30 "2010-11-04T04:33:03Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > Glad you’re enjoying _Aztec_, **Siam Sam**. A particular favorite of mine, as you know. I’m almost a third of the way through. Our hero is preparing to set out for the Mayan lands. ---
**Author:** ![TheMerchandise](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b487fb/32.png) [@TheMerchandise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheMerchandise)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2010, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-nov-2010-edition/558963/31 "2010-11-05T18:39:59Z")
I’m about to finish _Before They are Hanged_, the second in Joe Abercrombie’s First Law series. Good, good epic fantasy but also so depressing at times. I’m also reading _This Mighty Scourge_ by James McPherson. It’s a collection of essays on the Civil War and very interesting so far. ---
**Author:** ![BlackKnight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/eb8c5e/32.png) [@BlackKnight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlackKnight)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2010, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-nov-2010-edition/558963/32 "2010-11-05T19:21:11Z")
Just finished “Zero: A Biography of a Dangerous Idea”. It was ok. I started reading “Everything and More: A Compact History of Infinity” but just barely forced myself to get through the introduction. After that, I checked the reviews on Amazon and confirmed my suspicion that I would probably hate the book and want to punch the author (just as I wanted to punch the author of the Introduction several times). Instead, I’ve started reading “Homicide” by David Simon. It’s an account of a year with the homicide division of the Baltimore police. Simon is, of course, best known for being the guy behind HBO’s “The Wire”. There are definitely tidbits of this real-life account that made it into the show. After this, I hope to finally finish “A History of Western Philosophy” by Bertrand Russel. Great book, but the Catholic philosophers just aren’t as interesting to me, so the middle section dragged. ---
**Author:** ![Meurglys](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/258eb7/32.png) [@Meurglys](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Meurglys)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2010, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-nov-2010-edition/558963/33 "2010-11-06T13:42:34Z")
> [@elfkin477](#): > > I just finished Jim Butcher’s _Changes_, the 12th Dresden book. Wow, there were some big changes in this book! I’m not sure what I think about most of them. And I can’t believe we have to wait until late march for _Ghost Stories_, the 13th book.. He’s got a Dresden short story collection just out called _Side Jobs_, fyi. Almost finished _The Half-made World_ by **Felix Gilman**. It’s a strange fantasy with mythic, almost unstoppable gunmen battling the encroaching forces of conforrmity and industrialisation pushing ever westwards… Good read. ---
**Author:** ![LegsAkimbo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f1d935/32.png) [@LegsAkimbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LegsAkimbo)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2010, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-nov-2010-edition/558963/34 "2010-11-06T13:56:27Z")
Just finished the 1100 pages of Connie Willis’s Blackout and All Clear. Now I’m at a loss for what to follow that with that won’t seem stupid. ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2010, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-nov-2010-edition/558963/35 "2010-11-06T14:09:07Z")
> [@Meurglys](#): > > He’s got a Dresden short story collection just out called _Side Jobs_, fyi. > > \ It is in my Christmas list. I’m hoping Mom buys it, but she sometimes decides that getting me books for Christmas is boring. ---
**Author:** ![MsRobyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/90ced4/32.png) [@MsRobyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsRobyn)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2010, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-nov-2010-edition/558963/36 "2010-11-06T15:42:44Z")
I just got a Kindle, so I’m just now loading it up. So far, it’s mostly school stuff, but I’ve got Olbermann’s _Pitchforks and Torches_ and so far, it’s pretty good, even if it is mostly rehashed pieces that aired on _Countdown_. ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2010, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-nov-2010-edition/558963/37 "2010-11-06T21:15:23Z")
Finished _Gilded Latten Bones: A Garrett, P.I., Novel_. This is the best Garrett novel that I’ve read in a while. The characters aren’t as two-dimensional and the plot was a little tighter. Cook must be feeling his age, because he has aged most of the characters - I’m not sure whether I like that or not. But still, overall a good addition to the series. ---
**Author:** ![Gulo\_gulo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bcef8e/32.png) [@Gulo\_gulo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gulo_gulo)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2010, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-nov-2010-edition/558963/38 "2010-11-07T03:03:43Z")
Finished: _Descartes’ Bones: A Skeletal History of the Conflict Between Faith and Reason_ by Russell Short ~ It’s hard to describe this book & I skimmed a bit but there was a lot of interesting tidbits in here. _Sense and Sensibility_ by Jane Austen ~ I saw the film before reading the book so it was impossible to read this without imagining Alan Rickman as Col. Brandon. Not that that’s a bad thing. _The Knight: Book One of The Wizard Knight_ by Gene Wolfe ~ At first I enjoyed it but the style of writing really started to irk me. It kept jumping around too much for me to get into. _Dragon Wing (The Death Gate Cycle, Book 1)_ by Margaret Weis & Tracy Hickman ~ Started out strong then lagged. After reading the reviews on Amazon, I won’t be continuing with the series. _Never Let Me Go_ by Kazuo Ishiguro ~ Quick read but enjoyable. Really reminded me “The Handmaid’s Tale” by Margaret Atwood. _Star of the Sea_ by Joseph O’Connor ~ Picked this up on a whim from a recommendation on an earlier thread and it was one of the best books I’ve read all year. Great characters, great suspense, and a very satisfying conclusion. Reading: _Whoever Fights Monsters: My Twenty Years Tracking Serial Killers for the FBI_ _The Fatal Shore: The Epic of Australia’s Founding_ _When Life Nearly Died: The Greatest Mass Extinction of All Time_ _The Darkness That Comes Before (The Prince of Nothing, #1)_ > [@Sigmagirl](#): > > _The Poisoner’s Handbook: Murder and the Birth of Forensic Medicine in Jazz Age New York_ by Deborah Blum. About how they learned to identify the presence of different poisons in tissue. Each chapter is titled with a different poison (arsenic, mercury, radium) plus the terrible stuff they put in alcohol during Prohibition. It’s really fascinating. Awesome! Added to my wishlist. ---
**Author:** ![Tethered\_Kite](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a5b964/32.png) [@Tethered\_Kite](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tethered_Kite)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2010, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-nov-2010-edition/558963/39 "2010-11-07T03:19:53Z")
I’m nearly finished with Patricia Cornwell’s _Casebook: Jack the Ripper,_ another in a list of “proofs” of who he was. It’s the first of her books I’ve read and she writes well. Think I’ll add a couple of her fiction novels to my list. Any recommendations? Last week I read _Beasts,_ which is really more of a novella, by Joyce Carol Oates. Next up is one I read when it first came out - _The Robber Bride_ by Margaret Atwood. I expect to enjoy it as much the second time around. ---
**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 8, 2010, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-nov-2010-edition/558963/40 "2010-11-08T14:22:34Z")
Finished Haunted Legends, edited by Ellen Datlow. A mixed bag, as expected. I then read Ending the Homework Hassle, by John Rosemond. The main point of the book is that schoolwork is a kid’s responsibility, not the parent’s or the teacher’s. I agreed with some of the advice, such as having a child do homework in his own room, and not having the parent supervise. However, I don’t know that I’m willing to be quite as hands-off as this author suggests. I can go online and see exactly what the boy’s not doing…I have to at least ask him about it! Just started on John Dies at the End, by John Wong. Weird and likable so far. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-nov-2010-edition/558963.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-nov-2010-edition/558963.md?page=3)