# 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:** 5
**Author:** ![Myron\_Van\_Horowitzski](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9de053/32.png) [@Myron\_Van\_Horowitzski](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Myron_Van_Horowitzski)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2011, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-october-2011-edition/598194/81 "2011-10-10T16:17:06Z")
> [@LawMonkey](#): > > W00t! Just discovered that Steven Brust has a Dragaera short story available for the Kindle on [amazon.com](http://amazon.com). I’m sure it’ll be 99 cents well spent. Did you know, LawMonkey: Steven Brust wrote a FIREFLY novel? It was unauthorised by Whedon, but I thought it was excellent. The characters are perfectly portrayed. It’s available for free download at [ManyBooks.net](http://www.manybooks.net/titles/brustsother08my_own_kind_of_freedom.html) through Creative Commons. ---
**Author:** ![delphica](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e9a140/32.png) [@delphica](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/delphica)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2011, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-october-2011-edition/598194/82 "2011-10-10T18:29:27Z")
I finished _The Time Traveler’s Wife_ (making me feel as if of all the people who are ever going to read this, I am the last one to read it), and I liked it better than I thought I would, although it was quite sad. I’m glad I stuck with it on the recommendation of **Elendil’s Heir** (and as he and **Wordman** mentioned, I think I’m going to skip the movie). I had a few quibbles with it, but relatively minor. It’s like a good, romantic cry-read. Currently reading the second of the Game of Thrones novels, it is probably telling that I can’t remember the exact name, something about kings. Swashbuckling and not too heavy in the head, I am finding these fun. I also picked up _On Canaan’s Side_, at the recommendation of a friend. I think it’s been getting more press in the UK. I’ve only just started it, but already the writing is simply lovely - very evocative and lyrical. Oh, and if anyone has small child readers at home, or is looking for a good gift for one, there’s a new picture book by Jon Klassan, _I Want My Hat Back_, which is A RIOT for parents reading out loud. ---
**Author:** ![Wheelz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wheelz/32/5718_2.png) [@Wheelz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wheelz)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2011, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-october-2011-edition/598194/83 "2011-10-10T20:14:26Z")
> [@Wheelz](#): > > I’m a little over halfway through\* The Twelfth Card\*, one of Jeffery Deaver’s Lincoln Rhyme series. I’ve read a number of the Rhyme novels and enjoyed them all. This one isn’t really clicking for me so far, but I’m not ruling out a spectacular finish. Just finished and I was rather underwhelmed. The ultimate motive turned out to be… a stretch, at best.A wealthy bank executive is willing to have a 16-year-old girl (and others) killed because she’s on the verge of finding out that the bank’s founder stole the land he built the bank on from the girl’s ancestor 140 years ago! Really?! This was the weakest of the Rhyme books I’ve read so far (I’ve read all but 3, though I’m not bothering to do them in any order), but I still enjoy Deaver’s style and I like the regular cast of characters quite a bit,so I’m sure I’ll clean up the rest eventually. ---
**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, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-october-2011-edition/598194/84 "2011-10-10T21:32:15Z")
> [@delphica](#): > > I finished _The Time Traveler’s Wife_ (making me feel as if of all the people who are ever going to read this, I am the last one to read it), and I liked it better than I thought I would, although it was quite sad. I’m glad I stuck with it on the recommendation of **Elendil’s Heir** (and as he and **Wordman** mentioned, I think I’m going to skip the movie). I had a few quibbles with it, but relatively minor. It’s like a good, romantic cry-read… Thanks. Glad you saw it through to the end! ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2011, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-october-2011-edition/598194/85 "2011-10-10T21:54:02Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > Thanks. Glad you saw it through to the end! The bitter end. :rolleyes: ---
**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 11, 2011, 4:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-october-2011-edition/598194/86 "2011-10-11T04:07:06Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > The bitter end. :rolleyes: I won’t bore you by repeating my earlier arguments… esp. since you didn’t deter **delphica** from finishing the book. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2011, 12:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-october-2011-edition/598194/87 "2011-10-11T12:00:07Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > esp. since you didn’t deter **delphica** from finishing the book. 😉 Nor did I deter myself from finishing it. 🙂 But lord, it fellates with great alacrity. ---
**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 11, 2011, 12:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-october-2011-edition/598194/88 "2011-10-11T12:43:37Z")
Whelp, Snuff dropped into my kindle last night, so Reamde goes on the shelf for a week at least. There is no way an unread Pratchett books stays that way in my house for more than five minutes. ---
**Author:** ![Malthus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/85f322/32.png) [@Malthus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malthus)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2011, 12:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-october-2011-edition/598194/89 "2011-10-11T12:57:24Z")
> [@Eleanor\_of\_Aquitaine](#): > > 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. I think his Saxon series is a cut above his usual stuff (no pun intended 😉 ). I love me some Sharpe books, but they are written to a formula. These Saxon novels read like quite serious historical fiction and from an interesting and unusual perspective. I also quite liked _The Fort_. Cornwell comes across to me like a genre writer who is attempting to transcend the limits of genre. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2011, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-october-2011-edition/598194/90 "2011-10-11T13:29:36Z")
> [@Malthus](#): > > Cornwell comes across to me like a genre writer who is attempting to transcend the limits of genre. I’ll have to try him again. I’ve read all the Sharpe books and one of the American Civil War. ---
**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 11, 2011, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-october-2011-edition/598194/91 "2011-10-11T14:58:44Z")
Finished **Mockingjay** , pretty satisfying way to end the series in my opinion. I applaud the author for killing characters that you expect to live, which is unusual in YA fiction (though getting more common). About a third of the way through [**The Knife of Never Letting Go**](http://www.amazon.com/Knife-Never-Letting-Go-Walking/dp/0763645761/) (“Jeez, doesn’t this guy read anything but YA post-apocalyptic fiction?”), and after the first few chapters, where the childish misspellings got on my nerves, it’s getting a lot better. ---
**Author:** ![Dob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b2d939/32.png) [@Dob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dob)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2011, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-october-2011-edition/598194/92 "2011-10-11T16:29:21Z")
Just started the Kate Daniels series by IIona Andrew(think I got the first name wrong there…) and loving it. Its a good urban fantasy, great lead players, love the writting and setting… just a fun time read 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:** [October 11, 2011, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-october-2011-edition/598194/93 "2011-10-11T16:55:06Z")
Still enjoying Robert Ballard’s _Return to Midway_, about looking for the sunken USS _Yorktown_ and the Japanese carriers sunk in the crucial 1942 naval battle. It’s pretty good, and there are some great illustrations and photos; Ballard’s outsize ego also comes through loud and clear. ---
**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 11, 2011, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-october-2011-edition/598194/94 "2011-10-11T18:51:19Z")
> [@Max\_Torque](#): > > \(“Jeez, doesn’t this guy read anything but YA post-apocalyptic fiction?”),\ You and me both, baby. 🙂 I read the Hunger Games series earlier this year (and quite enjoyed it), and now I’ve started on [the Divergent trilogy](http://www.amazon.ca/Divergent-Veronica-Roth/dp/0062024027) by Veronica Roth, and I’m really enjoying that. I’ll have to look up “The Knife of Never Letting Go” next. ---
**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 11, 2011, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-october-2011-edition/598194/95 "2011-10-11T19:42:13Z")
> [@Cat\_Whisperer](#): > > You and me both, baby. 🙂 > > I read the Hunger Games series earlier this year (and quite enjoyed it), and now I’ve started on [the Divergent trilogy](http://www.amazon.ca/Divergent-Veronica-Roth/dp/0062024027) by Veronica Roth, and I’m really enjoying that. I’ll have to look up “The Knife of Never Letting Go” next. Oh great, _another_ book for the pile. heh. It’ll have to wait, because after **Knife** and its series, I already have others lined up: the [**Escape from Furnace**](http://www.amazon.com/Lockdown-Furnace-Alexander-Gordon-Smith/dp/B0046LUIME/) series, the [**Tomorrow**](http://www.amazon.com/Tomorrow-When-War-Began/dp/0439829100/) series, and [**The Compound**](http://www.amazon.com/Compound-S-Bodeen/dp/0312578601/). ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2011, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-october-2011-edition/598194/96 "2011-10-11T19:50:25Z")
> [@Dob](#): > > Just started the Kate Daniels series by IIona Andrew(think I got the first name wrong there..) and loving it. Its a good urban fantasy, great lead players, love the writting and setting.. just a fun time read so far. Yeah, I’m still reading it. (You got the first name right, BTW.) There are a couple of shorts that you can only get on the Kindle (which are only OK) if you are interested. ---
**Author:** ![LawMonkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d6d6ee/32.png) [@LawMonkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LawMonkey)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2011, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-october-2011-edition/598194/97 "2011-10-11T20:00:52Z")
> [@Myron\_Van\_Horowitzski](#): > > Did you know, LawMonkey: Steven Brust wrote a FIREFLY novel? It was unauthorised by Whedon, but I thought it was excellent. The characters are perfectly portrayed. > > It’s available for free download at [ManyBooks.net](http://www.manybooks.net/titles/brustsother08my_own_kind_of_freedom.html) through Creative Commons. I actually am aware of that–had it sitting around on my computer for ages. Now that I’ve got a Kindle, I think it’s time to start reading it. First, however, I’ll need to finish _Ignition! An Informal History of Liquid Rocket Propellants_ by John D. Clark. This is another I’ve had on the agenda for a while–ever since reading the line “It is also hypergolic with such things as cloth, wood, and test engineers, not to mention asbestos, sand, and water — with which it reacts explosively,” in a description of ClF3. ---
**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:** [October 12, 2011, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-october-2011-edition/598194/98 "2011-10-12T01:35:11Z")
> [@yanceylebeef](#): > > Whelp, Snuff dropped into my kindle last night, so Reamde goes on the shelf for a week at least. There is no way an unread Pratchett books stays that way in my house for more than five minutes. I just finished “Night Watch,” my very first Pratchett. I was expecting something like Christopher Moore or Douglas Adams, maybe a funnier, smarter Xanth novel. Hoo-boy, was I wrong! It’s so much more than any of that. I will now join everybody else in his praise and I understand why an unread one of his books in somebody’s house might only stay like that for five minutes. I can’t wait to explore the rest of Discworld! Next up, Stephen King’s “Full Dark, No Stars.” I haven’t read any King in a while and I’ve been disappointed in his more recent stuff, but so far, so good. ---
**Author:** ![hazynlazy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/bb73d2/32.png) [@hazynlazy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hazynlazy)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2011, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-october-2011-edition/598194/99 "2011-10-12T04:15:59Z")
> [@Invisible\_Chimp](#): > > Next up, Stephen King’s “Full Dark, No Stars.” I haven’t read any King in a while and I’ve been disappointed in his more recent stuff, but so far, so good. The first story, 1922, is the best in the collection, IMO. Enjoy it. ---
**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 12, 2011, 12:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-october-2011-edition/598194/100 "2011-10-12T12:30:00Z")
> [@Invisible\_Chimp](#): > > I just finished “Night Watch,” my very first Pratchett. I was expecting something like Christopher Moore or Douglas Adams, maybe a funnier, smarter Xanth novel. Hoo-boy, was I wrong! It’s so much more than any of that. I will now join everybody else in his praise and I understand why an unread one of his books in somebody’s house might only stay like that for five minutes. I can’t wait to explore the rest of Discworld! > > Next up, Stephen King’s “Full Dark, No Stars.” I haven’t read any King in a while and I’ve been disappointed in his more recent stuff, but so far, so good. Since you’ve read Night Watch, I’d suggest going to Guards Guards next, and then run trough the Vimes and Watch back story…It is one of the best in the discworld universe! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-october-2011-edition/598194.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-october-2011-edition/598194.md?page=6)