# 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:** 9
**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 25, 2011, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-october-2011-edition/598194/161 "2011-10-25T13:45:15Z")
If it’s vampires you want, I encourage you to try _'Salem’s Lot_ by Stephen King (vampires take over a small Maine town) and _Fevre Dream_ by George R.R. Martin (vampires along the Miss. River before the Civil War). Both very different, but both excellent. ---
**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 25, 2011, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-october-2011-edition/598194/162 "2011-10-25T15:07:50Z")
I just started Sharon Kay Penman’s new novel, _Lionheart_. It’s a follow-up to her excellent trilogy about Henry II and Eleanor of Aquitaine, and picks up right after Henry’s death. I think she has split Richard’s story in half, so there will be another book after this one. ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2011, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-october-2011-edition/598194/163 "2011-10-25T16:07:58Z")
> [@Eleanor\_of\_Aquitaine](#): > > I just started Sharon Kay Penman’s new novel, _Lionheart_. It’s a follow-up to her excellent trilogy about Henry II and Eleanor of Aquitaine, and picks up right after Henry’s death. He dies? Way to spoil the ending! :mad: 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Malthus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/85f322/32.png) [@Malthus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malthus)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2011, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-october-2011-edition/598194/164 "2011-10-25T16:11:31Z")
> [@jsgoddess](#): > > He dies? Way to spoil the ending! :mad: > > 😃 A book about an undead Henry ll, perhaps attempting to restart the Angivin Empire in the modern world, would be … awesome. 😃 ---
**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 25, 2011, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-october-2011-edition/598194/165 "2011-10-25T18:55:48Z")
> [@Malthus](#): > > A book about an undead Henry ll, perhaps attempting to restart the Angivin Empire in the modern world, would be … awesome. 😃 Thomas Becket, vampire hunter? ---
**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 25, 2011, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-october-2011-edition/598194/166 "2011-10-25T18:57:12Z")
As long as none of the Plantagenets sparkle in sunshine. :: shudder :: ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2011, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-october-2011-edition/598194/167 "2011-10-25T19:04:52Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > As long as none of the Plantagenets sparkle in sunshine. > > :: shudder :: What, you mean they didn’t already? ---
**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 25, 2011, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-october-2011-edition/598194/168 "2011-10-25T19:15:06Z")
> [@jsgoddess](#): > > What, you mean they didn’t already? Only to lickspittle courtiers. ---
**Author:** ![delphica](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e9a140/32.png) [@delphica](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/delphica)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2011, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-october-2011-edition/598194/169 "2011-10-25T19:46:03Z")
I finished _Clash of Kings_, the second of the _Game of Thrones_ series (sorry, I know it has another name, but I always think of it as _Game of Thrones_, you can blame HBO). I’m enjoying the series overall. This one was one of those books that was a lot of build-up, and then all the action came thick and furious in the last 100 pages. ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2011, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-october-2011-edition/598194/170 "2011-10-25T21:49:35Z")
It’s been a while since I posted in this thread, but last time, I had just started Joseph Conrad’s _ **The Secret Agent.** _ I got extremely bored with it in a big hurry, set it aside, and won’t be reading Conrad again any time soon. I had read the first two books of James T. Farrell’s Studs Lonigan triology, and finally finished the third part, _ **Judgment Day.** _ Right after that, I read John Updike’s \*\*\*Rabbit, Run \*\*\*, which I just finished yesterday I’ve just started reading V.S. Naipaul’s _ **A House for Mr. Biswas.** _ ---
**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 26, 2011, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-october-2011-edition/598194/171 "2011-10-26T00:11:52Z")
> [@astorian](#): > > It’s been a while since I posted in this thread, but last time, I had just started Joseph Conrad’s _ **The Secret Agent.** _ I got extremely bored with it in a big hurry, set it aside, and won’t be reading Conrad again any time soon. > > I’ve just started reading V.S. Naipaul’s _ **A House for Mr. Biswas.** _ Conrad is good. ☹ So is _A House for Mr. Biswas._ 🙂 ---
**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 26, 2011, 1:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-october-2011-edition/598194/172 "2011-10-26T13:25:42Z")
Finished _A Monster Calls_, by Patrick Ness. Beautifully written, beautifully illustrated, but sad. I don’t know that I needed to read something like that right now. I started this morning on Tim Power’s _The Bible Repairman_ and got through the first two stories. I think that’s a fair shake, so I shall ditch it with a clear conscience. It’s not bad, exactly, just odd and vague, and I have a lot of stuff I’d rather read more. ---
**Author:** ![delphica](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e9a140/32.png) [@delphica](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/delphica)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2011, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-october-2011-edition/598194/173 "2011-10-26T15:55:54Z")
> [@Dung\_Beetle](#): > > Finished _A Monster Calls_, by Patrick Ness. Beautifully written, beautifully illustrated, but sad. I don’t know that I needed to read something like that right now. Oh. I am excited about this. I was suspecting it was sad going in, that Patrick Ness. He kills me every time. ---
**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:** [October 27, 2011, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-october-2011-edition/598194/174 "2011-10-27T02:35:56Z")
Rereading a Mary Stewart novel called _The Stormy Petrel_. It is fluff, but I needed some fluff today. ---
**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:** [October 27, 2011, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-october-2011-edition/598194/175 "2011-10-27T02:45:13Z")
Finished _The Innocent Man : Murder and Injustice in a Small Town_, by John Grisham. Nonfiction about a 1982 murder in Ada, Oklahoma and the wrongful conviction of [Ron Williamson](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ron_Williamson), whom DNA evidence exonerated after 11 years on death row. A friend of his, guilty by association only, had received a life sentence in the case; he was exonerated also. The real killer was finally caught and is serving a life sentence. (The real killer is the one who fingered Williamson to begin with as a smokescreen.) It also featured a second Ada murder a year and a half later for which two men are serving a life sentence, and Grisham builds a solid case that they’re innocent too. If there is any one place in this world I hate worse than Texas, it would have to be Oklahoma, and this story did nothing to change my view. A compelling read regardless of whether you’re for or against the death penalty. Next up: _Lord of the Flies_, by William Golding. ---
**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 27, 2011, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-october-2011-edition/598194/176 "2011-10-27T03:52:56Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > …Grisham builds a solid case that they’re innocent too… :: sigh :: When will overzealous cops and prosecutors realize that, if they got the wrong guy and then cut all kinds of corners, the actual criminal is still out there, probably doing more Very Bad Things? ---
**Author:** ![LawMonkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d6d6ee/32.png) [@LawMonkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LawMonkey)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2011, 4:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-october-2011-edition/598194/177 "2011-10-27T04:12:30Z")
Polished off Ignition! and Tiassa since last sticking my head in here. Now it’s on to the Brust Firefly fanfic, My Own Kind of Freedom. So far he seems to be doing a good job of capturing the spirit of the characters and the show. Next on the agenda may be to romp through the trade papers of The Unwritten, since I’ve just gotten the fourth, which apparently takes me up past where I was in the monthlies. I’ll probably do something else on the train in the morning–maybe back to Tristram Shandy. ---
**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 27, 2011, 6:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-october-2011-edition/598194/178 "2011-10-27T06:09:40Z")
> [@Politzania](#): > > Oooh - I just read _Sleepless_ as well & really enjoyed it. IMHO, there’s a Bladerunner/William Gibson/Cory Doctorow vibe to the story - which is not a bad thing. Although Huston brings his own sense of style to the table, and I think I may be reading more of his work. I got that same feeling too, like I felt reading Neuromancer. Huston’s style is very different from Gibson, but the intensity and edginess was there. I read the first of Huston’s vampire novels last year, and really liked that as well. It wasn’t just another vampire book. ---
**Author:** ![Cartooniverse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cartooniverse/32/3084_2.png) [@Cartooniverse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cartooniverse)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2011, 12:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-october-2011-edition/598194/179 "2011-10-27T12:00:30Z")
The New Yorker. The November 1, 2004 issue. I saved a huge pile that I never got to. Interesting reading. ---
**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 27, 2011, 12:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-october-2011-edition/598194/180 "2011-10-27T12:36:48Z")
> [@Cartooniverse](#): > > The New Yorker. > > The November 1, 2004 issue. > > I saved a huge pile that I never got to. Interesting reading. What’s the best story or essay? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-october-2011-edition/598194.md?page=8) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-october-2011-edition/598194.md?page=10)