# Whatcha readin' October edition **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 30, 2007, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-october-edition/421084 "2007-09-30T23:26:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![BellRungBookShut-CandleSnuffed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bcef8e/32.png) [@BellRungBookShut-CandleSnuffed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BellRungBookShut-CandleSnuffed)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2007, 6:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-october-edition/421084/61 "2007-10-02T06:18:42Z")
Finally got a copy of Haruki Murakami’s _Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman_. Some of the stories are very good, much like his usual fare of short stories. I even started getting a little misty-eyed at one of them. But then again, I’m a sap for depressing existentialism. ---
**Author:** ![AHoosierMama](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/258eb7/32.png) [@AHoosierMama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHoosierMama)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2007, 12:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-october-edition/421084/62 "2007-10-02T12:55:27Z")
[QUOTE=Miss Purl McKnittington] I’m currently reading _The Time-Traveler’s Wife_ by mumble [/QUOTE] It’s by Audrey Niffenegger (spelling?). LOVED LOVED LOVED it! Can’t think of another book like it. I keep wondering how she kept it all straight as she wrote it. I’m picturing a large bulletin board with post-it notes being moved around for chronology’s sake. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2007, 1:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-october-edition/421084/63 "2007-10-02T13:00:08Z")
[QUOTE=AHoosierMama] It’s by Audrey Niffenegger (spelling?). LOVED LOVED LOVED it! Can’t think of another book like it. I keep wondering how she kept it all straight as she wrote it. I’m picturing a large bulletin board with post-it notes being moved around for chronology’s sake. [/QUOTE] This is on my “pending” pile and may have to move up, given this rave review! ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2007, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-october-edition/421084/64 "2007-10-02T14:01:56Z")
[QUOTE=Shoshana] I see the board ate my post during the recent unpleasantness. It admired **silenus** and said that he was hot, though more eloquently than this gloss would suggest. [/QUOTE] **Damn you, server problems! Damn you to Hell!** Sorry. B-movie madness takes its toll. ---
**Author:** ![Smith8762](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9de0a6/32.png) [@Smith8762](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smith8762)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2007, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-october-edition/421084/65 "2007-10-02T16:10:11Z")
Currently caught up in _The Illuminatus! Trilogy_ by Robert Shea and Robert Anton Wilson and my god has it been a slow one for me to get through. Reads like one big acid trip. ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2007, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-october-edition/421084/66 "2007-10-02T16:50:44Z")
[QUOTE=snowblindfrog] Currently caught up in _The Illuminatus! Trilogy_ by Robert Shea and Robert Anton Wilson and my god has it been a slow one for me to get through. Reads like one big acid trip. [/QUOTE] Agreed. I never finished it. ---
**Author:** ![Flutterby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Flutterby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flutterby)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2007, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-october-edition/421084/67 "2007-10-02T17:20:43Z")
[QUOTE=gigi] This is on my “pending” pile and may have to move up, given this rave review! [/QUOTE] It is a wonderful book, I really enjoyed it and it’s quite interesting how the travelling itself works out. It’s well written too, I listened to it on audiobook and whereas some books reveal their flaws I found it revealed depths that I had skimmed over or missed while reading. ---
**Author:** ![plnnr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7ea924/32.png) [@plnnr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/plnnr)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2007, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-october-edition/421084/68 "2007-10-02T17:47:50Z")
[QUOTE=SpazCat] Since I’ve bitched about two books, I need to balance that out with some praise: **Devil in the White City** is terrific. Even the bits about planning and organizing the World’s Fair were interesting. The serial killer bit was just icing on the cake. Speaking of, I need to start on my own serial killer book. It’s been a rough night. [/QUOTE] Agreed about **Devil in the White City**. The Columbian Exposition was a important advacement in city planning and I particularly enjoyed that part of the story. As to those of you who have read (or are reading) **Gravity’s Rainbow** , please tell me your secret. I’ve tried - God knows I’ve tried - but I can’t do it. I’ve also started **Mason and Dixon** a few times and I feel like I’m wading through molasses. As for me, I’ve just started Updike’s “Rabbit” series. ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2007, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-october-edition/421084/69 "2007-10-02T18:39:37Z")
**plnnr** , I haven’t read any of The Big Three – Cheever, Roth, or Updike. I’m interested to know what you think about Updike. I just started a big fat fantasy, [Acacia](http://www.amazon.com/Acacia-Book-One-War-Mein/dp/0385506066/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/102-1288963-6108169?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1191349849&sr=1-1) by David Anthony Durham, well known for a straight historical, Pride of Carthage, about Hannibal (which I haven’t read). It’s too early to give an opinion, but one reviewer said that characters poised to take center stage are killed off, so I think I’ll like it. I like writers who aren’t afraid to get rid of major characters when the story calls for it. ---
**Author:** ![Shirley\_Ujest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shirley\_Ujest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shirley_Ujest)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2007, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-october-edition/421084/70 "2007-10-02T19:08:22Z")
[QUOTE=ZoggieI’m also trying to get through **Unholy Birth** , a cheesy Rosemary’s Baby type rip off. **(Except this time they’re lesbians.)**[/QUOTE] So it’s porny. 😃 [hijack] Does: _Except this time they’re Lesbians_ sound like a tag line for something out of Hollywood. Ocean’s 11: This time they’re Lesbians. 3:10 to Yuma with Lesbians. [/hijack] ---
**Author:** ![Sarahfeena](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sarahfeena/32/519_2.png) [@Sarahfeena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sarahfeena)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2007, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-october-edition/421084/71 "2007-10-02T19:12:23Z")
I’m reading a pretty good family-saga type novel called **Keeping the House**. It’s about three generations of a family, and skips around from one generation to the next, across the first half of the 20th century. It’s setup as a page-turner, with little cliffhangers ending many of the chapters, and I’ve found it pretty entertaining to read. ---
**Author:** ![Kythereia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e8c25b/32.png) [@Kythereia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kythereia)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2007, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-october-edition/421084/72 "2007-10-02T19:15:50Z")
Started the Lemony Snicket series, just for the heck of it, have finished _The Wide Window_. Still reading the Aubrey / Maturin novels, am currently waiting for _Treason’s Harbour_. Alternately (so far): _The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat_, Oliver Sachs; _Fragile Things_, Neil Gaiman; _The Children of Hurin_, J.R.R. Tolkien; _Ysabel_, Guy Gavriel Kay; _Haroun and the Sea of Stories_, Salman Rushdie; _Lives of Girls and Women_, Alice Munro; _Something Rotten_, Jasper Fforde. ---
**Author:** ![DeadlyAccurate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ac91a4/32.png) [@DeadlyAccurate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DeadlyAccurate)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2007, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-october-edition/421084/73 "2007-10-02T20:01:13Z")
[The War Against Miss Winter](http://www.amazon.com/War-Against-Miss-Winter/dp/0061139785/ref=sr_1_1/102-2278197-2497709?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1191354485&sr=8-1) by Kathryn Miller Haines. Debut mystery set in NYC in 1942. One of the most atmospheric novels I’ve ever read. While I was reading it, I was \*in \*NYC in the middle of WWII. Rosie Winter is the epitome of the sassy heroine. Next up: [The Electric Church](http://www.amazon.com/Electric-Church-Jeff-Somers/dp/0316021725/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/102-2278197-2497709?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1191354675&sr=1-1) by Jeff Somers. I read it earlier this year (we have the same agent), and I couldn’t wait to get it in print form to read it again. Techno-thriller noir about a hired killer who is forced to assassinate the founder of the Electric Church, a religion that converts by transplanting your body into a cyborg. After that, ['Scuse Me While I Kill This Guy](http://http://www.amazon.com/Scuse-While-Kill-Mystery-Romance/dp/0843959339/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/102-2278197-2497709?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1191354858&sr=1-1) by Leslie Langtry. Humorous mystery/romance about a female assassin who is hired to kill the client of her new boyfriend. Yeah, I have a thing for assassin fiction. ---
**Author:** ![Gulo\_gulo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bcef8e/32.png) [@Gulo\_gulo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gulo_gulo)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2007, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-october-edition/421084/74 "2007-10-02T23:50:16Z")
After slogging through the last of Stephen King’s Dark Tower series, I decided that rereading George RR Martin’s “Song of Ice and Fire” series would cheer me up. Presently on "[A Clash of Kings](http://www.amazon.com/Clash-Kings-Song-Fire-Book/dp/0553381695) " but when my (autographed) copy of [The Bonehunters](http://www.amazon.com/Bonehunters-Malazan-Book-Fallen/dp/0765310066) by Steven Erikson arrives in the mail, Mr. Martin will be put aside for a wee bit. ---
**Author:** ![LavenderBlue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e95f7d/32.png) [@LavenderBlue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LavenderBlue)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2007, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-october-edition/421084/75 "2007-10-03T00:01:16Z")
[QUOTE=Tupug Anachi] Abundance by Sena Jeter Naslund, a novel about Marie Antoinette. Interesting but does nothing to develop any sympathy for the subject. Rick Steve’s Italy 2008 because I want to go to Italy next September. Frommer’s Italy 2008 is also in the que. [/QUOTE] We used Rick Steve’s book during our trip to Italy this June/July. My advice? Take everything he writes with a serious grain of salt if not the entire shaker. He has strong opinions that you may not always agree with. Oh and if visiting Capri, do not, I repeat DO NOT take the funicular up to the top and then attempt to walk back down to Anacapri. He describes it as a pleasant stroll. The way back is not paved and is difficult if you are less than skilled hiker. At the end of the hike I could do is mutter “I’m going to kill Rick Steves.” My feet were a mass of blisters and red spots and so were my husband’s. I just finished Anthony Bourdain’s The Nasty Bits: Collected Varietal Cuts, Usable Trim, Scraps and Bones. A well written series of amusing and interesting short essays. I have moved on The Ladies Auxiliary: A Novel by Tova Mirvis. So far I’m finding it very well written. ---
**Author:** ![woodstockbirdybird](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/woodstockbirdybird/32/7905_2.png) [@woodstockbirdybird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/woodstockbirdybird)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2007, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-october-edition/421084/76 "2007-10-03T00:05:08Z")
I’m about 600 pages into _Gravity’s Rainbow_. I think I’ll throw myself a party when I finish it. I did just read _The Postman Always Rings Twice_ to take a break from GR, but it only took a few hours to finish. Next up is _The Amalgamation Polka_, by one of my favorite authors, Stephen Wright. Also, I’ve got a shitload of physics/science books I’m constantly perusing. ---
**Author:** ![RunSilent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e0b2c6/32.png) [@RunSilent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RunSilent)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2007, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-october-edition/421084/77 "2007-10-03T00:53:03Z")
Dangerous Waters: Modern Piracy and Terror on the High Seas, by John S. Burnett. Thunderstruck, by Erik Larson Just finished the above, as well as a second reading of John Wyndham’s Day of the Triffids ---
**Author:** ![Sarahfeena](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sarahfeena/32/519_2.png) [@Sarahfeena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sarahfeena)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2007, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-october-edition/421084/78 "2007-10-03T00:54:05Z")
[QUOTE=LavenderBlue] I have moved on The Ladies Auxiliary: A Novel by Tova Mirvis. So far I’m finding it very well written. [/QUOTE] I loved that book. ---
**Author:** ![WomanofScorn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/b5a626/32.png) [@WomanofScorn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WomanofScorn)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2007, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-october-edition/421084/79 "2007-10-03T01:15:48Z")
**Water for Elephants** was a fantastic read! I couldn’t put it down and stayed up until 2am to finish it. Currently I’m reading the next installment of the **Black Dagger Brotherhood** because I’m on a huge paranormal romance kick. Next will be **Lovely Bones** and when **20th Century Ghosts** comes out later this month, that’ll be next. ---
**Author:** ![Catamount](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/catamount/32/2840_2.png) [@Catamount](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Catamount)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2007, 1:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-october-edition/421084/80 "2007-10-03T01:24:43Z")
I finished **The Professor and the Madman** today and I’m glad to say that Winchester redeemed himself. This was organized much better than the previous book of his that I read and the story was great. Schizophrenic murderers helping put together the OED. If you wanted proof that English is an insane language, there you go. 😃 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-october-edition/421084.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-october-edition/421084.md?page=5)