# 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:** 6
**Author:** ![delphica](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e9a140/32.png) [@delphica](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/delphica)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2011, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-october-2011-edition/598194/101 "2011-10-12T15:40:13Z")
> [@Max\_Torque](#): > > 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/). _The Compound_ comes down quite a bit in terms of literary quality and sophistication of ideas from _Hunger Games_ and _The Knife of Never Letting Go_ for SURE, but I got a huge kick out of reading it anyway, it reminded me a little of a Scholastic book club book, the kind that Shocking! (but only if you’re 11), in a good way. ---
**Author:** ![Barkis\_is\_Willin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a183cd/32.png) [@Barkis\_is\_Willin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Barkis_is_Willin)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2011, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-october-2011-edition/598194/102 "2011-10-12T23:34:29Z")
Stil working through _The Fall of Hyperion._ This one might be just slightly easier to put down than _Hyperion._ It’s taking much longer to get through. Oh, and may I recommend the [short fiction of the SDMB](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=627138) for your monthly reading? ---
**Author:** ![Sigmagirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c89c15/32.png) [@Sigmagirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigmagirl)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2011, 12:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-october-2011-edition/598194/103 "2011-10-13T12:47:04Z")
Finished _The End of the Wasp Season_ by Denise Mina; now getting ready to start _The Night Strangers_ by Chris Bohjalian. ---
**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 13, 2011, 1:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-october-2011-edition/598194/104 "2011-10-13T13:32:04Z")
> [@Sigmagirl](#): > > now getting ready to start _The Night Strangers_ by Chris Bohjalian. That’s in my TBR pile. We must be getting the same recommendations from somewhere. 🙂 ---
**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 13, 2011, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-october-2011-edition/598194/105 "2011-10-13T14:06:26Z")
I just started _The Enchanted April_, by Elizabeth Von Arnim. So far it’s… enchanting. I watched the movie a while back, but I didn’t realize how funny this would be. I’m heading to the beach next week, but instead I wish I was headed for a small medieval Italian Castle on the shores of the Mediterranean. ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2011, 1:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-october-2011-edition/598194/106 "2011-10-14T13:03:45Z")
I’m wondering if anyone has read _John Dies at the End_ by Jason Pargin? I did a search but came up blank, then again my search skills aren’t great. There is a movie of it coming out, with Paul Giamatti, and I thought the story seemed like something Philip K. Dick would have written. ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2011, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-october-2011-edition/598194/107 "2011-10-14T15:42:46Z")
Library sale yesterday. Came away with 39 books and spent $9.75. With that many books, it’s hard to decide what to read. I’m leaving the books in the bags and will just grab and read. The first one is a murder in suburbia – [The Last Good Day](http://www.amazon.com/Last-Good-Day-Peter-Blauner/dp/0446614270) by Peter Blauner. It’s well written and I’m enjoying it. But wow, I just finished [The Luminist](http://www.amazon.com/Luminist-Novel-David-Rocklin/dp/0979018870) by David Rocklin. Amazing story set in Ceylon in the 1830’s. From Amazon: “IN COLONIAL INDIA, at a time of growing friction between the ruling British and the restless Indian populace, a Victorian woman and her young Tamil Indian servant defy convention, class, and heartbreak to investigate what is gained - and lost - by holding life still. Suggested by the life and work of photographic pioneer Julia Margaret Cameron, The Luminist filters 19th century Ceylon through the lens of an English woman, Catherine Colebrook and a 15 year old Tamil boy, Eligius Shourie. Left fatherless by soldiers, Eligius is brought as a servant to the Colebrooks’ neglected estate. In the shadow of Catherine’s obsession to arrest beauty - to select a moment from the thousands comprising her life in Ceylon and hold it apart from mere memory - Eligius transforms into her apprentice in the creation of the first haunting photographs in history.” ---
**Author:** ![Sigmagirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c89c15/32.png) [@Sigmagirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigmagirl)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2011, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-october-2011-edition/598194/108 "2011-10-14T16:44:39Z")
> [@Dung\_Beetle](#): > > That’s in my TBR pile. We must be getting the same recommendations from somewhere. 🙂 I read _Booklist_ and the Mystery Lovers Bookshop’s newsletter, and I get the Book of the Day emails from BookPage. _The Night Strangers_: The plot is terrific (haunted house) but the POV goes back and forth from second to third person. I don’t like second person and it irks me. “There isn’t a doorbell, so you remove your glove before you rap on the wood.” :dubious: ---
**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 14, 2011, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-october-2011-edition/598194/109 "2011-10-14T17:39:54Z")
Finished _Ghosts by Gaslight_ and it was really good (although they did tack on a stinker at the end, IMO). Today I started _The Dress Lodger_ by Sheri Holman. The author does something I would describe as breaking the fourth wall, which is fine so far but I could see it getting annoying. A moot point, as the book is due back at the library ASAP. I do have another one in the TBR pile by the same author, so if that’s good maybe I’ll come back to this. Next up will be _The Bridge to Neverland_, a continuation of Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson’s Starcatchers series. ---
**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 14, 2011, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-october-2011-edition/598194/110 "2011-10-14T17:44:59Z")
WTF? [William Sleator died.](http://www.avclub.com/articles/rip-william-sleator,60141/) Shit. ---
**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 14, 2011, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-october-2011-edition/598194/111 "2011-10-14T17:51:04Z")
> [@Dung\_Beetle](#): > > Today I started _The Dress Lodger_ by Sheri Holman. The author does something I would describe as breaking the fourth wall, which is fine so far but I could see it getting annoying. A moot point, as the book is due back at the library ASAP. I do have another one in the TBR pile by the same author, so if that’s good maybe I’ll come back to this. I really liked that book. She doesn’t stay with that odd second-person present POV very long. I was charmed by the unusual narration from the beginning, but I can see where it would be annoying if it didn’t strike you just right. ---
**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 14, 2011, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-october-2011-edition/598194/112 "2011-10-14T18:56:22Z")
> [@Dung\_Beetle](#): > > WTF? [William Sleator died.](http://www.avclub.com/articles/rip-william-sleator,60141/) Shit. Freaky. Even though I haven’t finished **The Knife of Never Letting Go** yet, I started reading **House of Stairs** at home just a couple of days ago, and I plan to finish it tonight. I barely got to know him! ---
**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 14, 2011, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-october-2011-edition/598194/113 "2011-10-14T19:11:14Z")
_House of Stairs_ is my personal favorite. It disturbed me deeply in seventh grade. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Sigmagirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c89c15/32.png) [@Sigmagirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigmagirl)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2011, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-october-2011-edition/598194/114 "2011-10-14T19:16:57Z")
> [@Dung\_Beetle](#): > > Today I started _The Dress Lodger_ by Sheri Holman. The author does something I would describe as breaking the fourth wall, which is fine so far but I could see it getting annoying. A moot point, as the book is due back at the library ASAP. I do have another one in the TBR pile by the same author, so if that’s good maybe I’ll come back to this. Which one? I loved _A Stolen Tongue_; _The Mammoth Cheese_ was good and _Witches on the Road Tonight_ was good but surprisingly short, almost a novella. She writes some strange, strange stuff. _A Stolen Tongue_ is my favorite. ---
**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 14, 2011, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-october-2011-edition/598194/115 "2011-10-14T19:23:01Z")
_Witches on the Road_. Short is good, I might manage to get through it before the Library Policeman comes. ---
**Author:** ![bup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6bbea6/32.png) [@bup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bup)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2011, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-october-2011-edition/598194/116 "2011-10-14T19:29:02Z")
I’ve read all of Holman’s except _Dress Lodger_ (which is on my tbr shelf). I think \*Mammoth Cheese \*was my favorite. I appreciated how many metaphorical versions of the \*Frankenstein \*story she was able to weave into _Witches_. ---
**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 14, 2011, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-october-2011-edition/598194/117 "2011-10-14T19:50:18Z")
> [@Ike\_Witt](#): > > What did you think? I just started the book this morning and it seems like a true geekgasm. The idea of it seems pretty neat to me. > > I was heading to the bookstore with the intention of buying _Reamde_, but I heard a thing on the radio about _Ready Player One_ and decided on it in the store. Thank you! I can’t wait to read this. ---
**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 14, 2011, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-october-2011-edition/598194/118 "2011-10-14T19:58:42Z")
Forgive the double-post. I meant to add that I’m reading _Sleepless_, by Charlie Huston and am really enjoying it. I was surprised to find a very tender love story at its heart. ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2011, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-october-2011-edition/598194/119 "2011-10-14T20:12:05Z")
Finished _Dead Eye: Pennies for the Ferryman_, the first in the Dead Eye series, a newish urban fantasy. Mike Ross is a \*ferryman \*- he helps ghosts cross over (not always willingly.) I liked it well enough to buy the second and to buy one of the author’s other books. ---
**Author:** ![kelly5078](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/6f9a4e/32.png) [@kelly5078](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kelly5078)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2011, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-october-2011-edition/598194/120 "2011-10-14T20:23:29Z")
> [@Unauthorized\_Cinnamon](#): > > **C3** , I don’t like Shermer much either. I really wanted to like Why People Believe Weird Things, but the writing style is just the opposite of engaging. (I also can’t help but think of the fact that he’s a Libertarian, which annoys me.) Speaking of Shermer, I’m reading The Fountainhead. It is an extremely naive book, IMO, and filled with unintentional humor, though it moves along okay. I have a hard time understanding how anyone can take Ayn Rand seriously. Yet Shermer does. He also thinks that science will fix everything; how’s that working out for you, Mike? I read the Foundation Trilogy last month, and liked it enough to read the prequels and sequels. I just finished Prelude to Foundation. It’s a decent enough story, but not up to the level of the trilogy (okay, maybe it’s as good as the parts about The Mole, but not the rest). I was surprised to see that, in spite of appearances, Gavroche survived Les Miserables and ended up on Trantor. And how about that Dors, huh? Mary Sue or what? I’ll now continue to Forward the Foundation. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-october-2011-edition/598194.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-october-2011-edition/598194.md?page=7)