# Whatcha Readin' October 2011 Edition **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 30, 2011, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-october-2011-edition/598194 "2011-09-30T20:10:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2011, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-october-2011-edition/598194/61 "2011-10-07T18:45:24Z")
> [@Cat\_Whisperer](#): > > I just picked it up at the library - “Inside Wikileaks.” It should be interesting. 🙂 Update: I finished it, and it was indeed interesting. I think everyone should read it - as with all things, the real story is much more fascinating than the media hype. ETA: Now I’m reading [Robopocalypse by Daniel Wilson.](http://www.amazon.com/Robopocalypse-Novel-Daniel-H-Wilson/dp/0385533853) So far, very good (it’s about the robot apocalypse). 🙂 ---
**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:** [October 7, 2011, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-october-2011-edition/598194/62 "2011-10-07T18:55:59Z")
> [@Cat\_Whisperer](#): > > ETA: Now I’m reading [Robopocalypse by Daniel Wilson.](http://www.amazon.com/Robopocalypse-Novel-Daniel-H-Wilson/dp/0385533853) So far, very good (it’s about the robot apocalypse). 🙂 I’ve got that one on hold at the library. ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2011, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-october-2011-edition/598194/63 "2011-10-07T19:17:29Z")
> [@Cat\_Whisperer](#): > > Update: I finished it, and it was indeed interesting. I think everyone should read it - as with all things, the real story is much more fascinating than the media hype. > > ETA: Now I’m reading [Robopocalypse by Daniel Wilson.](http://www.amazon.com/Robopocalypse-Novel-Daniel-H-Wilson/dp/0385533853) So far, very good (it’s about the robot apocalypse). 🙂 “Robo-pocalypse” just doesn’t scan as well as “Ro-BOC-a-POC-alypse” That is all. 🙂 ---
**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:** [October 7, 2011, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-october-2011-edition/598194/64 "2011-10-07T19:21:18Z")
> [@Cat\_Whisperer](#): > > Update: I finished it, and it was indeed interesting. I think everyone should read it - as with all things, the real story is much more fascinating than the media hype. > > ETA: Now I’m reading [Robopocalypse by Daniel Wilson.](http://www.amazon.com/Robopocalypse-Novel-Daniel-H-Wilson/dp/0385533853) So far, very good (it’s about the robot apocalypse). 🙂 I read this last month and all I could come up with was meh. It held my interest, but it just never gelled with me, like say, World War Z did. It was a good way to spend a rainy weekend, though. ---
**Author:** ![LawMonkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d6d6ee/32.png) [@LawMonkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LawMonkey)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2011, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-october-2011-edition/598194/65 "2011-10-07T19:40:17Z")
Just ordered \*The Red Box \*on Kindle. \*Tristram Shandy \*had this long sermon that I just finished–I think–with only occasional, sometimes mildly amusing interjections from Daddy Shandy, Uncle Toby, and Corporal Trim. Need some murder, beer, orchids, and a glass of milk for a palate cleanser. Almost certain I haven’t read this one before, as I don’t recognize the title. Speaking of Nero Wolfe, I was disappointed to realize today that the NYC Wolfe Pack is having an Archie Goodwin’s birthday dinner this month (featuring dishes that Fritz refuses to cook), and I won’t be able to make it–it’s on a Monday and too early for me to cut out of work. Pfui. ---
**Author:** ![Max\_Torque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Max\_Torque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_Torque)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2011, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-october-2011-edition/598194/66 "2011-10-07T20:50:57Z")
Back from vacation. While I was away, I finished [**Halting State**](http://www.amazon.com/Halting-State-Ace-Science-Fiction/dp/0441016073/), which was mentioned in an earlier book thread, and enjoyed it; the jargon is thick, but easy to deal with if you remind yourself that you don’t have to understand every bit of it. After finishing that early in the vacation, I started and finished [**The Hunger Games**](http://www.amazon.com/Hunger-Games-Suzanne-Collins/dp/0439023521/) and [**Catching Fire**](http://www.amazon.com/Catching-Fire-Second-Hunger-Games/dp/0439023491/), and I’m currently reading [**Mockingjay**](http://www.amazon.com/Mockingjay-Hunger-Games-Book-3/dp/0439023513/), the last in the trilogy. I enjoyed the first two books a lot, so I’m looking forward to seeing the **Hunger Games** movie coming out in March. Woody Harrellson as Haymitch? Not what I pictured, but we’ll see… ---
**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:** [October 8, 2011, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-october-2011-edition/598194/67 "2011-10-08T01:28:08Z")
> [@Max\_Torque](#): > > Back from vacation. While I was away, I finished [**Halting State**](http://www.amazon.com/Halting-State-Ace-Science-Fiction/dp/0441016073/), which was mentioned in an earlier book thread, and enjoyed it; the jargon is thick, but easy to deal with if you remind yourself that you don’t have to understand every bit of it… I’ve only read that author’s _Saturn’s Children_, which had some great ideas but suffered from plodding writing. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2011, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-october-2011-edition/598194/68 "2011-10-08T17:30:57Z")
> [@yanceylebeef](#): > > I read this last month and all I could come up with was meh. It held my interest, but it just never gelled with me, like say, World War Z did. > > It was a good way to spend a rainy weekend, though. I think Max Brooks might have caught lightning in a bottle with “World War Z” - I can’t say why it’s so good, it just is. “Robopocalypse” isn’t as good, I’ll agree, but I am enjoying it nevertheless. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2011, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-october-2011-edition/598194/69 "2011-10-08T17:42:23Z")
_The Sherlockian_ by Graham Moore, a neat little mystery, or rather two mysteries, one being worked on by Arthur Conan Doyle in 1900 and the other by a Holmes fan in 2010. I’m not a Holmes fan **or** a mystery fan but I really enjoyed this. Lots of flavor. I heard Edward Everett Horton’s voice in my head while reading it. Is he still alive? He should do the audio. _Song Yet Sung_ by James McBride, set in 1850 in the Chesapeake Bay area, an escaped slave has visions of the future. But there’s no supernatural/time travel/SF element – the visions are there to make us think about freedom and what it means, what we do with it (I think). Excellent story, several interesting characters, lots of tension and excitement. McBride wisely kills off a character early, one I thought would be important, and this added to the tension. 40+ reviews at Amazon, none of them negative. Next up is _Winter’s Tale_ by Mark Helprin. I’ve tried to read it a couple times before, but now I’m in the mood. ---
**Author:** ![DataZak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ea666f/32.png) [@DataZak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DataZak)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2011, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-october-2011-edition/598194/70 "2011-10-09T00:10:39Z")
> [@Ike\_Witt](#): > > I finished _Ready Player One_ last night. I loved the book. > > As somebody who grew up in the 1980s, the book was right in my wheelhouse. And given what I have seen in on-line gaming, parts of the book really hit home for me with regards to me and many of my in game friends. I grew up in the '80s as well and was looking forward to this book but 21 pages in, something the author wrote took me out of the story: the protagonist explains that when the energy crisis began all the world’s oil ran out, people who lived in the rural areas and suburbs began moving to the cities. Yeah, that wouldn’t have happened. If the oil all disappeared today, it’s the folks living in the rural areas that would stay where they are because they’re somewhat self sufficient. You don’t find farms and clean water in the metropolis. The city folks would be the one in trouble because no food would be shipped in because all the supply lorries can’t move for lack of petrol. A small thing perhaps but I just couldn’t get over it and suspend my disbelief so I’m putting _Ready Player One_ on the back burner. I’ll be reading William Shatner’s autobio, _UP TILL NOW_ instead. ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2011, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-october-2011-edition/598194/71 "2011-10-09T15:47:30Z")
> [@DataZak](#): > > Yeah, that wouldn’t have happened. If the oil all disappeared today, it’s the folks living in the rural areas that would stay where they are because they’re somewhat self sufficient. You don’t find farms and clean water in the metropolis. The city folks would be the one in trouble because no food would be shipped in because all the supply lorries can’t move for lack of petrol. The key word is “somewhat” and it depends on where you are. Farmers around here panic just like everyone else when the power goes out in a blizzard. They still need electricity to pump water, fuel for generators, food for livestock. Farmers might last a bit longer than city-dwellers, but the days of living off the land are over, at least in the Midwest. ---
**Author:** ![koeeoaddi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/koeeoaddi/32/408_2.png) [@koeeoaddi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/koeeoaddi)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2011, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-october-2011-edition/598194/72 "2011-10-09T17:22:22Z")
[The Ridge](http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/9548502-the-ridge), by Michael Koryta. Goings on in rural Kentucky. An old lighthouse in the woods, a suicide (or is it?), a big cat preserve, police stuff. Sucked me right in. ---
**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:** [October 10, 2011, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-october-2011-edition/598194/73 "2011-10-10T03:20:26Z")
At the behest of my 11-year-old, who loves it, I read a bit of the dragon fantasy _Eragon_ by Christopher Paolini. I gave it my usual 50 pages for any book I’m not crazy about, and then another 50 just to go the extra mile, but no go. Amateurish writing and too many cliches. At least I tried. Finished the _Calvin & Hobbes Tenth Anniversary Book_, which was delightful, and had some good short essays and behind-the-scenes stuff by Bill Watterson. ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2011, 9:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-october-2011-edition/598194/74 "2011-10-10T09:41:58Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > At the behest of my 11-year-old, who loves it, I read a bit of the dragon fantasy _Eragon_ by Christopher Paolini. I gave it my usual 50 pages for any book I’m not crazy about, and then another 50 just to go the extra mile, but no go. Amateurish writing and too many cliches. At least I tried. > > \ I didn’t hate the first one, and was impressed with it because the author was so young. That didn’t last - the next two were bad and although I suspect I’ll finish the series, the next one damn-well better be the last one. ---
**Author:** ![Sigmagirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c89c15/32.png) [@Sigmagirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigmagirl)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2011, 12:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-october-2011-edition/598194/75 "2011-10-10T12:31:12Z")
I started _Ghosts by Gaslight_ and love it so far, but I might not have time to read the whole thing. I’ve put it aside for now and am on _Slip of the Knife_ by Denise Mina. ---
**Author:** ![chrisk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@chrisk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chrisk)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2011, 12:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-october-2011-edition/598194/76 "2011-10-10T12:34:57Z")
Hi, fellow readers. Recently finished “The Gripping Hand” by Niven/Pournelle, and “King Kelson’s Bride”, by Katherine Kurtz - loved them both. Still working through “Rock Rats”, by Ben Bova. Starting to catch up on my Harry Potter, with “The Goblet of Fire” now. 🙂 ---
**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:** [October 10, 2011, 1:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-october-2011-edition/598194/77 "2011-10-10T13:02:08Z")
> [@Sigmagirl](#): > > I started _Ghosts by Gaslight_ and love it so far, but I might not have time to read the whole thing. I’m still working on it (my reading time has all but vanished lately) and it’s a surprisingly solid anthology. Not a bad tale in the bunch, unless they saved it for the end. ---
**Author:** ![Snickers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5daacb/32.png) [@Snickers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snickers)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2011, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-october-2011-edition/598194/78 "2011-10-10T13:26:01Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > At the behest of my 11-year-old, who loves it, I read a bit of the dragon fantasy _Eragon_ by Christopher Paolini. I gave it my usual 50 pages for any book I’m not crazy about, and then another 50 just to go the extra mile, but no go. Amateurish writing and too many cliches. At least I tried. Good call. I read the first one (actually, I believe I’ve read the three books that are out now), and oof. When you look up derivative in the dictionary, there’s a picture of the cover of Eragon. I agree that it’s a pretty impressive effort for a 15-year-old, but it’s clearly written by a 15-year-old. He copies from anyone and everything, and he’s not subtle about it. Lots of things are influenced by previous works, so it’s not a bad thing, but Paolini just doesn’t bring anything new to the table. His inexperience shows. IMO, if it wasn’t for the age of the author (and his parents tireless work in actually getting a publisher for it), this book never would’ve been published. Besides the tired, derivate feel, the series is nothing but forgettable. Finished The Knife of Never Letting Go, and immediately moved to [The Ask and The Answer](http://www.amazon.com/Ask-Answer-Chaos-Walking-ebook/dp/B0044UHVRM/ref=sr_1_8?ie=UTF8&qid=1318253026&sr=8-8). I’m only a couple of chapters in and already the author is a little less stingy with information than he was in the first book. It also alternates viewpoints between our Hero and our Heroine, which I’m hoping will be effective. (I’ve seen this work well in other books.) ---
**Author:** ![Prelude\_to\_Fascination](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a183cd/32.png) [@Prelude\_to\_Fascination](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Prelude_to_Fascination)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2011, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-october-2011-edition/598194/79 "2011-10-10T14:10:38Z")
I’m reading Bill Bryson’s _A Short History of Nearly Everything_, and Wodehouse’s _Code of the Woosters_. After that, I’m planning on getting back into Horatio Hornblower (I read the first five books in the series since January of this year, and _Beat to Quarters_ is next). ---
**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:** [October 10, 2011, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-october-2011-edition/598194/80 "2011-10-10T14:58:04Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > At the behest of my 11-year-old, who loves it, I read a bit of the dragon fantasy _Eragon_ by Christopher Paolini. I gave it my usual 50 pages for any book I’m not crazy about, and then another 50 just to go the extra mile, but no go. Amateurish writing and too many cliches. At least I tried. My 11-yr-old is reading that now. My older son loved the books too, but I wonder if he will be able to enjoy the new one that comes out this fall. He’s read some good stuff over the last few years, so he will have more to compare it against. I’ve just read _The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time_. It was an interesting book, but I wish it had actually been what it claims to be: a novel about an autistic boy solving the mystery of his neighbor’s “murdered” dog. It starts out as such a mystery, but that framework is dropped, and instead we get a dysfunctional family drama as viewed from the kid’s dispassionate, alien perspective. I’ve started _The Last Kingdon_, the first book in Bernard Cornwell’s historical fiction series about Saxons vs. Danes in 9th-century England. I’m a fan of Cornwell’s Richard Sharpe books, which are set during the Napoleonic wars, and most recently I enjoyed his novel _Agincourt_. Cornwell is not a literary writer, and his characterizations are a bit shallow, but he can really draw you into a battle scene. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-october-2011-edition/598194.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-october-2011-edition/598194.md?page=5)