# Whatcha Readin' November 2011 Edition **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 31, 2011, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-november-2011-edition/601422 "2011-10-31T20:11:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 7
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2011, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-november-2011-edition/601422/121 "2011-11-28T21:12:15Z")
Just finished **The Strain** by Guillermo Del Toro and Chuck Hogan. I guess we now know for sure that Del Toro is not a polymath. Man, I expected this to suck much less. ---
**Author:** ![Erdosain](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/erdosain/32/7284_2.png) [@Erdosain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Erdosain)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2011, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-november-2011-edition/601422/122 "2011-11-28T21:40:17Z")
> [@elfkin477](#): > > Just finished **The Strain** by Guillermo Del Toro and Chuck Hogan. I guess we now know for sure that Del Toro is not a polymath. Man, I expected this to suck much less. Ah, this was my reaction exactly. I didn’t even bother to finish this one. To me it read like Del Toro dictated the gist of it over the phone to Hogan. ---
**Author:** ![TheMerchandise](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b487fb/32.png) [@TheMerchandise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheMerchandise)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2011, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-november-2011-edition/601422/123 "2011-11-29T16:59:05Z")
A few trips this month afforded me some uninterrupted time for reading. I finished: \*\*The Billionaire’s Vinegar:The Mystery of the World’s Most Expensive Bottle of Wine \*\*by Benjamin Wallace. Not being an enthusiastic wine drinker myself, I don’t really remember what made me want to pick up this book. I have a feeling I was NPR-ed. Most of my interest in wine can be summed up with two questions: “Does it taste good when I drink it?” and “How much can I consume without making an ass of myself?” So clearly, I have no business with a book that dives pretty heavily into the history of French chateau’s, the ins and outs of rare (and expensive) wine collecting and how to throw incredibly lavish vertical tastings. But somehow, for the most part, I enjoyed this book anyway. Wallace goes into a lot of detail about the rare wine world, but he also takes a very conversational and educational tone. Almost in spite of myself, I found myself absorbing names, labels and wine-y concepts. I was a little disappointed that the book strayed far from the “mystery” mentioned in the title. The book is less about the provenance of one crazy-expensive bottle of wine and more about the rise and fall, the follies and triumphs of the wine-as-commodity craze. **The Diamond Age** , by Neal Stephenson. I find that Stephenson writes in pursuit of Big Ideas, while I read in search of Good Characters, so oftentimes our goals are a bit at odds. This book was no different; in the last third of the book, I felt like Stephenson abandoned many interesting side characters and the main motivations of his main characters to work out his Big Ideas. Still, he’s an excellent writer and despite the frustrating ending, I enjoyed the book. **Heartless** by Gail Carriger. The Parasol Protectorate is a fun, light series that combines elements of the supernatural, romances and Victorian comedies of manners. These aren’t books that I recommend to everyone, but I personally snap them up as soon as they come out. Right now, I’m listening to **The Lock Artist** by Steve Hamilton. The audiobook was recommended by someone from these threads and I am happy to report that I’m enjoying the book immensely so far. ---
**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 29, 2011, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-november-2011-edition/601422/124 "2011-11-29T18:11:17Z")
Just finished _Limitless_ (originally titled _The Dark Fields_) by the Irish author Alan Glynn, which inspired the recent movie starring Bradley Cooper and Robert De Niro. The book is a great technothriller, clever and engaging, but quite a bit darker and grimmer than the movie. Much as I enjoyed the book, I actually preferred the movie - one of the few times that’s been so. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2011, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-november-2011-edition/601422/125 "2011-11-29T18:20:07Z")
I finished _Water For Elephants_, and despite comments above really enjoyed it. Also finished Atkinson’s second “Case Histories” book, which was very enjoyable, but you have to like extensive character development. Just started _1493_, the follow-on (sequel, if you will) to _1491_. ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2011, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-november-2011-edition/601422/126 "2011-11-29T22:23:55Z")
[The Procedure](http://www.amazon.com/Procedure-Harry-Mulisch/product-reviews/0142001279/ref=cm_cr_dp_synop?ie=UTF8&showViewpoints=0&sortBy=bySubmissionDateDescending#R2D15VV728IZ9N) by Harry Mulisch. Stuff actually happens early in the book (creation of a golem) but for the most part, it’s philosophical. I’m sure I’m not “getting” what Mulisch is saying, but I’m enjoying it anyway. ---
**Author:** ![sinjin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ebca7d/32.png) [@sinjin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sinjin)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2011, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-november-2011-edition/601422/127 "2011-11-29T23:49:38Z")
> [@Eve](#): > > I am just now finishing Mary McCarthy’s very enjoyable **The Group** (they remind me so much of some of my school-girl friends!). Am about to begin Michael Arlen’s scandalous **The Green Hat**. Heh, I read that in the 70’s and it totally colored my pre-college expectations. Unfortunately I went to an almost all male engineering school. In my woulda/coulda/shoulda life I would have gone to Union College. Unfortunately I didn’t learn it existed until I had graduated from college and was married.:smack: ---
**Author:** ![Invisible\_Chimp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/f05b48/32.png) [@Invisible\_Chimp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Invisible_Chimp)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2011, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-november-2011-edition/601422/128 "2011-11-30T00:11:50Z")
> [@Blackberry](#): > > I just started reading this one. It’s very different and funny, and I like it so far, but I don’t know if it will get tedious. ROFLAARP. Your attractiveness just went up to 600/800 on my äpärät. Are you in Credit or Media? ---
**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 30, 2011, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-november-2011-edition/601422/129 "2011-11-30T02:27:08Z")
Finished _Nostromo_, by Joseph Conrad. Actually, the full title is _Nostromo: A Tale of the Seaboard_. It was good but started dragging a little in the middle. Next up: _The Firm_, by John Grisham. ---
**Author:** ![carnut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnut/32/3531_2.png) [@carnut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnut)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2011, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-november-2011-edition/601422/130 "2011-11-30T02:48:08Z")
Am now reading Bill Bryson’s “At Home”. It’s a study of how our houses developed the way they did (or at least English houses) and walks through them room by room. I just finished the first section on the hall and am embarking on a tour of the kitchen. It’s all done with his usual good wit and his interest in the history of common words. I wasn’t sure that I would enjoy such a lengthy house tour but so far I have met with both style and substance. ---
**Author:** ![Sigmagirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c89c15/32.png) [@Sigmagirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigmagirl)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2011, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-november-2011-edition/601422/131 "2011-11-30T13:29:49Z")
> [@TheMerchandise](#): > > Right now, I’m listening to **The Lock Artist** by Steve Hamilton. The audiobook was recommended by someone from these threads and I am happy to report that I’m enjoying the book immensely so far. I thought _The Lock Artist_ was brilliant; it won the Edgar for the year’s best mystery, though I wouldn’t really consider it a mystery but a suspense novel. Still, if it brought people’s attention to it, I’m not quibbling. I’m reading _The Time Traveler’s Guide to Medieval England: A Handbook for Visitors to the Fourteenth Century_ by Ian Mortimer. ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2011, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-november-2011-edition/601422/132 "2011-11-30T21:21:36Z")
[December’s thread.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=14515706#post14515706) ---
**Author:** ![missinformation](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d07c76/32.png) [@missinformation](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/missinformation)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2011, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-november-2011-edition/601422/133 "2011-12-01T00:26:10Z")
Fast Women by Jennifer Crusie was the last book I re-read… been reading alot of Diane Mott Davison’s Goldy Bear Schultz mysteries and The Cookie Jar Mysteries…cannot wait to get to the library and get on the list for the 18th Janet Evanovich Stephanie Plum book… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-november-2011-edition/601422.md?page=6)