# Whatcha Readin' Oct 09 Edition **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 30, 2009, 12:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-oct-09-edition/512095 "2009-09-30T12:43:55Z")\ **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:** [September 30, 2009, 12:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-oct-09-edition/512095/1 "2009-09-30T12:43:55Z")
Happy Halloween all! Is anyone dressing up? I am reading _The Child Thief_ by Brom. This is a very dark retelling of the Peter Pan. I have only just started it, so I have no in-depth opinion, but so far it has promise. I am reading _The 4-hour Work Week_, however that is my back-up book and I only read a chapter a week at most. [September’s Thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=529943) ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2009, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-oct-09-edition/512095/2 "2009-09-30T13:47:20Z")
I’m tickled pink! After starting and stopping four books in the last week, the UPS guy brought a preorder I’d forgotten about – _The Darkest Room_ by Johan Theorin, who wrote the awesome _Echoes from the Dead_ (Swedish thriller). Woo hoo!! ---
**Author:** ![bup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6bbea6/32.png) [@bup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bup)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2009, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-oct-09-edition/512095/3 "2009-09-30T14:22:14Z")
Finished the audio version of _Anna Karenina_ this morning, and have moved on to Rudyard Kipling’s _Kim_. I’m _reading_ reading _Big Stone Gap_ because I thought I’d like a book set in rural Virginia, but gah! The voice is false and the book is so saccharine that I’m realizing the stains my copy has are probably little flecks of vomit from previous readers. I need a Halloween book - trying to cover the horror classics. _The Shining_? _Carrie_? What do people recommend? ---
**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:** [September 30, 2009, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-oct-09-edition/512095/4 "2009-09-30T14:29:55Z")
> [@bup](#): > > I need a Halloween book - trying to cover the horror classics. _The Shining_? _Carrie_? What do people recommend? Yes on both counts…but have you read The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson? That’s my real recommendation. ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2009, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-oct-09-edition/512095/5 "2009-09-30T17:37:38Z")
> [@bup](#): > > I need a Halloween book - trying to cover the horror classics. _The Shining_? _Carrie_? What do people recommend? Those’d be good. Not a classic (yet) but a couple Halloweens ago I read _Dark Harvest_ by Norman Partridge. No surprises story-wise but well-written and scary enough. _Something Wicked This Way Comes_ by Ray Bradbury – not Halloweeny but a must for horror fans. ---
**Author:** ![Ogre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ecb155/32.png) [@Ogre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ogre)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2009, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-oct-09-edition/512095/6 "2009-09-30T18:19:05Z")
I just finished Michael Pollan’s _Botany of Desire_, which was long overdue, since I loved _The Omnivore’s Dilemma_. _Desire_ is a series of case studies demonstrating human and plant co-evolution, sort of from the perspective of the plant. It includes chapters on the apple, the tulip, marijuana, and the potato. If you think that sounds dull, you’re mistaken. It was a **fascinating** book. I read it in a day, killing time on the plane ride back from San Antonio. I also just finished Katherine Dunn’s _Geek Love_. Wonderful novel. I seriously thought I was going to hate it, but ended up not being able to put it down. I am currently reading _Three Cups of Tea_, by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin. So far, it’s excellent. It’s about Greg Mortenson, an American mountain climber, who failed at climbing K2, and who, nearly dead, wandered into an impoverished village in the Karakoram. He was befriended by the villagers, and has spent the last ten years building schools and educating the locals. This especially includes the women, who have never had an opportunity to get a Western-style education in their entire history. ---
**Author:** ![yanceylebeef](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yanceylebeef/32/12290_2.png) [@yanceylebeef](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yanceylebeef)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2009, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-oct-09-edition/512095/7 "2009-09-30T19:33:56Z")
I just picked up Robert Olen Butler’s [Hell](http://www.amazon.com/Hell-Robert-Olen-Butler/dp/0802119018/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1254339081&sr=8-1), the third book in the Avery Cates Saga [The Eternal Prison](http://www.amazon.com/Eternal-Prison-Avery-Cates/dp/031602211X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1254339129&sr=1-1) and the latest by Ian Banks [Transition](http://www.amazon.com/Transition-Iain-M-Banks/dp/0316071986/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1254339186&sr=1-1). It’s going to be a good month! ---
**Author:** ![yellowval](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/919ad9/32.png) [@yellowval](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yellowval)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2009, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-oct-09-edition/512095/8 "2009-09-30T20:27:16Z")
Yay! October is my favorite reading month. I’m getting further into “Shutter Island” by Dennis Lehane. It’s starting to get good. I have also started Hemingway’s “A Farewell to Arms” and am still listening to “War and Peace.” I leave in a week for a week-long vacation, so I hope to finish “Shutter Island” before then. ---
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2009, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-oct-09-edition/512095/9 "2009-09-30T20:34:19Z")
**Echo in the Bone** by Diana Gabaldon. I’m wallowing in the Jamie/Claire goodness. ---
**Author:** ![Tamryne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3e96dc/32.png) [@Tamryne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamryne)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2009, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-oct-09-edition/512095/10 "2009-09-30T21:43:02Z")
I just started up on How We Decide, by Jonah Lehrer. It’s really interesting so far; books like this tend to not keep my interest forever but are good scan-throughs. I also have Santa Olivia by Jacqueline Carey, A Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson, and Worldchanging by Alex Steffen out from the library. Its so nice to be working and with time to read again! ---
**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:** [September 30, 2009, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-oct-09-edition/512095/11 "2009-09-30T21:56:15Z")
I’ve finally gotten around to reading the classic **War For the Oaks** , by Emma Bull, an early and fine example of urban fantasy, of the “elves as rock musicians” variety of Seelie vs. Unseelie wars. I’m loving it. ---
**Author:** ![Wakinyan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wakinyan/32/352_2.png) [@Wakinyan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wakinyan)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2009, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-oct-09-edition/512095/12 "2009-09-30T22:09:56Z")
_ **Fathers and Sons** _ by Turgenjev. I’m a sucker for those Russian writers. ---
**Author:** ![Ogre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ecb155/32.png) [@Ogre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ogre)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2009, 4:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-oct-09-edition/512095/13 "2009-10-01T04:23:14Z")
> [@wonderlust](#): > > I’ve finally gotten around to reading the classic **War For the Oaks** , by Emma Bull, an early and fine example of urban fantasy, of the “elves as rock musicians” variety of Seelie vs. Unseelie wars. I’m loving it. Man, that brings back awful memories of reading the terrible, hysterically awful _Gossamer Axe_, about a Druid who starts a heavy metal band named (yes, it’s true) “Gossamer Axe” in order to battle the evil elf-lord or some such. I’m a little confused about the 4.5 star rating on Amazon, since it was such a BAD book. Lord. ---
**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:** [October 1, 2009, 4:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-oct-09-edition/512095/14 "2009-10-01T04:29:05Z")
Now I’m confused. Did you read **War For the Oaks** or just some other book the description reminds you of? ---
**Author:** ![Future\_Londonite](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/9dc877/32.png) [@Future\_Londonite](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Future_Londonite)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2009, 9:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-oct-09-edition/512095/15 "2009-10-01T09:25:45Z")
Am halfway through **Excession** by _Iain M Banks_ and quite liking it. My next-up to read pile includes **Infinite Jest** as well as 6 more Discworld books I picked up during a 3for2 sale at Waterstone’s ---
**Author:** ![TheMerchandise](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b487fb/32.png) [@TheMerchandise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheMerchandise)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2009, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-oct-09-edition/512095/16 "2009-10-01T13:38:12Z")
Finished Garth Nix’s _Sabriel_ this morning. I really enjoyed the world Nix created… it’s quite three-dimensional and imaginative, really departing from standard fantasy fare. The main protagonists, Sabriel and Touchstone, seemed less fully formed, although they were likable enough. Read _Sandman Slim_ by Richard Kadrey, which came out in hardback recently. It’s about a magician who escapes from hell after eleven years… he’s back in L.A. to seek revenge on the people that put him there. In his quest for revenge, he meets angels, demons, neo-Nazis, yuppie scum, and a gang of pre-pubescent anime ninjas. The plot, such as it is, devolves into bouncing from one strange and violent encounter to another… but it’s a helluva ride. Also read the 6th Artemis Fowl book, _The Time Paradox_. I liked it, although a lot of fans are pretty “meh” about it. Artemis goes back in time and ends up battling wits against a younger version of himself… fun, but Butler’s not in things nearly enough. Next, I’m stepping away from sci-fi and fantasy a bit to pick up something a bit meatier. \*The Great Influenza \*, about the Spanish flu, is looking pretty good to me. ---
**Author:** ![Ogre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ecb155/32.png) [@Ogre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ogre)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2009, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-oct-09-edition/512095/17 "2009-10-01T15:59:29Z")
> [@wonderlust](#): > > Now I’m confused. Did you read **War For the Oaks** or just some other book the description reminds you of? Some other book the the description reminds me of. ---
**Author:** ![unwashed\_brain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/a9adbd/32.png) [@unwashed\_brain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/unwashed_brain)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2009, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-oct-09-edition/512095/18 "2009-10-01T16:27:50Z")
200 pages into **The Bonehunters** by Steven Erikson. It’s book 6 of The Malazan Book of the Fallen. Erikson’s writing has improved over the series and he seems to have boundless energy to put into his world. I’m really liking the series, but the sheer magnitude of it will probably prevent me from re-reading it. Volumes 6, 7 and 8 are all over 1200 pages in mass-market paperback. ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2009, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-oct-09-edition/512095/19 "2009-10-01T16:27:55Z")
\*\*TheMerchandise \*\*I have _Sandman Slim_ on my Christmas List. Charlain Harris said > [@](#): > > If Simon R. Green wrote an episode of Dog the Bounty Hunter, it would read much like SANDMAN SLIM - violent, vivid, non-stop action of the supernatural kind. I couldn’t put it down And that intrigued me enough to give it a try. ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2009, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-oct-09-edition/512095/20 "2009-10-01T16:36:13Z")
[The Darkest Room](http://www.amazon.com/Darkest-Room-Novel-Johan-Theorin/dp/0385342225/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1254414729&sr=1-1) by Johan Theorin. Scandinavians are my favorite crime writers right now. Theorin’s description of a character’s behavior after losing a loved one is so perceptive (and original), I’m thinking he must have gone through something similar. It’s very affecting. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-oct-09-edition/512095.md?page=2)