# Whatcha Readin' Sept 09 Edition **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 29, 2009, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-sept-09-edition/508154 "2009-08-29T14:42:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![kelly5078](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/6f9a4e/32.png) [@kelly5078](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kelly5078)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2009, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-sept-09-edition/508154/21 "2009-09-01T19:17:08Z")
“Grace and Grit” by Ken Wilber, given to me by a friend. It’s about his wife dying of breast cancer. I ordinarily stay away from those kinds of books, but this one is very insightful, mainly because a lot of it is her journal entries. ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2009, 11:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-sept-09-edition/508154/22 "2009-09-05T11:50:43Z")
As I had feared, I have had limited access to the internet. It is interesting to me what I take for granted in the States. Over there, it would be very unusual for a hotel to not provide free internet access. Here, it was 15 pounds a day. I have gone ahead and paid it for today and likely will tomorrow, but cannot justify it for the days I am at work. In any case: Finished _The Healer_ by Sharon Sala. Jonah Gray Wolf has the mysterious ability to heal people and talk to animals. He is being stalked by a wealthy industrialist who he healed in the past. The rich man want to exploit Jonah in the hopes that Jonah can help him live forever. While fleeing, Jonah stops in a sleepy little W. VA town where he meets and falls in love with Lucia Andahar - who has a stalker of her own. This book had a Dean Koontz feel to it - a little bit of mysterious power, a little bit of suspense and action and a whole lot of schlock. I happen to like all those things, and so I enjoyed it. While I give it a solid B, I’m not sure I’ll make a special attempt to seek out her future books. Finsihed _World’s End (Age of Misrule, Book 1)_. This book sort of had a _Dungeons and Dragons_ feel to me. Being from Mythology are returning to the world and 5 people from Modern day U.K. - the Brothers and Sisters of Dragons - are brought together to go on a quest, find 4 legendary items and save the world. The book started slowly, but picked up some speed later. The incorporation of Celtic (and other European) myth was interesting, but the premise is somewhat tired and I’m not convinced this brought much new to it. I give it a C+ and may read the rest of the (I’m assuming) trilogy. More later, as I believe I may take a brief nap. ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2009, 12:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-sept-09-edition/508154/23 "2009-09-05T12:22:40Z")
I’m readin’ _Reaper Man_ by Terry Pratchett. It’s hilarious. What can I say? It’s Pratchett. And also _Doubt: A History_ by Jennifer Michael Hecht. As the subtitle puts it, _The Great Doubters And Their Legacy from Socrates and Jesus to Thomas Jefferson and Emily Dickinson._ I already read half of this superb nonfiction work a few years ago, but I decided to start over again in hopes that the actual historical information will stick. ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2009, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-sept-09-edition/508154/24 "2009-09-06T21:10:51Z")
Finished _The Alchemyst: The Secrets of The Immortal Nicholas Flamel_. I believe this was recommended in one of our threads. I’m feeling both lazy and am about to run out of intenet time, so I’m going to link to the amazon listing. [The Alchemyst](http://www.amazon.com/Alchemyst-Secrets-Immortal-Nicholas-Flamel/dp/0385736002/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1252271288&sr=1-2) Even though I mocked an earlier book for having a tired premise, I have to confess that this one’s premise is probably a little tired too. For all that I really enjoyed the book and will definitely read the rest. A solid A for me on this one. ---
**Author:** ![yellowval](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/919ad9/32.png) [@yellowval](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yellowval)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2009, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-sept-09-edition/508154/25 "2009-09-06T22:33:23Z")
I finished “Water for Elephants.” It was pretty good, but didn’t make a huge impression. I am now starting “Pride and Prejudice and Zombies.” I’m not expecting much, so we’ll see. ---
**Author:** ![Jammer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/df705f/32.png) [@Jammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jammer)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2009, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-sept-09-edition/508154/26 "2009-09-07T02:29:53Z")
The last few weeks, I’ve been trying to finally read a few classic novels I somehow missed over the years. I finished \*The Great Gatsby \*and \*Heart of Darkness \*last week and just started _One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest_. \*The Great Gatsby \*was the biggest surprise. I tried to read it as a teenager and stopped due to boredom after a couple of chapters. Amazing what the experience of 30 years does to one’s perspective. _Heart of Darkness_ was an incredible read and I find myself still thinking about it often, as I digest the many layers. ---
**Author:** ![bup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6bbea6/32.png) [@bup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bup)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2009, 2:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-sept-09-edition/508154/27 "2009-09-07T02:32:34Z")
I just finished _ **The Good Earth** _, and that’s what it was about, and it was fantastic. Now I’m reading _ **The Time Traveler’s Wife** _. ---
**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:** [September 7, 2009, 4:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-sept-09-edition/508154/28 "2009-09-07T04:38:14Z")
Hope you enjoy _The Time Traveler’s Wife_. I read it based on recommendations here and liked it a lot. The wife is reading it now and likes it, too. I finished _When the Women Come Out to Dance_, a collection of short stories by Elmore Leonard. The title of the book is the title of one of the stories. The wife and I really like Leonard. This may sound boring, but a new _Lonely Planet Thailand_ guidebook has come out, just like it does every two years, and I always like to read through the sections that are relevant to me. Also helps keep me up on the tourist stuff. So I’ll be doing that for a couple of weeks. (Lonely Planet actually gave me a free guidebook to the country of my choice – I picked Nepal – one time when I pointed out all the errors in a previous guide years ago; and I even merited a special “Thank You” in the next edition two years later. :D) ---
**Author:** ![Enterprise](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/76d3ee/32.png) [@Enterprise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enterprise)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2009, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-sept-09-edition/508154/29 "2009-09-07T17:39:42Z")
I was on vacation, so I took light reading with me. I finished Naomi Novik’s third and fourth books, _Black Powder War_ and _Empire of Ivory_. It’s getting a bit tangled there, and I’m not sure if she’ll be able to extricate herself from the tangle that she’s produced – or at least, not creditably. But I’ve still got the fifth to read and then the series is not finished… I also had with me Jim Butcher’s _Storm Front_, first of the Dresden files. I liked it, though it was too quick a read – finished on the train without having had a day of vacation… Returning, I bought myself a copy of Richard Holmes’s _Marlborough_, which is very interesting, but perhaps a bit too dense for the kind of cursory reading I can readily devote to it. So, surprisingly, I rather started on _Black Shoe Carrier Admiral_, by John Lundstrom, a biography of Admiral Frank Fletcher, not famous as the victor of Midway. A very good book, and more easy to follow (because of greater knowledge on my part) than the Marlborough book. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Borgia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/larry_borgia/32/156_2.png) [@Larry\_Borgia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Borgia)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2009, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-sept-09-edition/508154/30 "2009-09-07T19:00:43Z")
I just finished _Illium_ and _Olympos_ by Dan Simmons. Started out good, became less so. Too many plot threads dropped, mysteries left unexplained, and actions that were utterly pointless. I’m starting Greg Bear’s _Dinosaur Summer_. Looks promising ---
**Author:** ![GameHat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ed655f/32.png) [@GameHat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GameHat)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2009, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-sept-09-edition/508154/31 "2009-09-07T19:56:27Z")
I just finished _[The Magicians](http://levgrossman.com/magicians.html)_. Best novel I’ve read all year. I’m just getting into _[The Elegant Universe](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Elegant_Universe)_. Yes, I will read a nonfiction book on string theory for fun. It’s pretty good - I had seen part of the Nova special but didn’t really like it much. I’m liking the book much better. ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2009, 8:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-sept-09-edition/508154/32 "2009-09-08T08:56:25Z")
> [@GameHat](#): > > I just finished _[The Magicians](http://levgrossman.com/magicians.html)_. Best novel I’ve read all year. > > I’m just getting into _[The Elegant Universe](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Elegant_Universe)_. Yes, I will read a nonfiction book on string theory for fun. It’s pretty good - I had seen part of the Nova special but didn’t really like it much. I’m liking the book much better. I’ve ordered a signed copy of The Magicians. It hasn’t come in yet. ---
**Author:** ![Future\_Londonite](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/9dc877/32.png) [@Future\_Londonite](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Future_Londonite)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2009, 10:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-sept-09-edition/508154/33 "2009-09-08T10:56:20Z")
Currently reading **American Gods** by _Neil Gaiman_, it’s the author’s preferred version. Next up are **Infinite Jest** by _David Foster Wallace_, **Walking on Glass** and **excession** both by _Iain Banks_ ---
**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:** [September 8, 2009, 12:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-sept-09-edition/508154/34 "2009-09-08T12:30:14Z")
Finished George R. R. Martin’s Fevre Dream, and it was really good. I don’t know why you guys didn’t tell me to read that sooner. 😉 Now I’m starting on Join Me. ---
**Author:** ![Atrael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Atrael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atrael)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2009, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-sept-09-edition/508154/35 "2009-09-08T13:28:09Z")
_sigh_…in expectation of the release of the next book, I’m re-reading the _Wheel of Time_ series. Even from the grave I am Robert Jordan’s bitch. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2009, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-sept-09-edition/508154/36 "2009-09-08T13:35:03Z")
I’m slogging through **1491** , which is fairly interesting but slow going. I’ve got yet another James Lee Burke novel in the queue, however. ---
**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:** [September 8, 2009, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-sept-09-edition/508154/37 "2009-09-08T15:45:13Z")
> [@Dung\_Beetle](#): > > Finished George R. R. Martin’s Fevre Dream, and it was really good. I don’t know why you guys didn’t tell me to read that sooner. 😉 > > Now I’m starting on Join Me. Hey, both books I’d suggested! What good taste you have. 😃 Hope you like _Join Me_. ---
**Author:** ![bup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6bbea6/32.png) [@bup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bup)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2009, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-sept-09-edition/508154/38 "2009-09-08T15:59:25Z")
Because of **Gamehat** , I’m now on waiting lists for _Magicians_ and _The Elegant Universe_. ---
**Author:** ![Hypno-Toad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b2d939/32.png) [@Hypno-Toad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hypno-Toad)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2009, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-sept-09-edition/508154/39 "2009-09-08T16:20:27Z")
I did a quick reread of Pratchetts _Lords and Ladies_ because the atlas is too big to read on the treadmill. Next is the expirgated version of _Olsens Standard Book of British Birds_. ---
**Author:** ![Sigmagirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c89c15/32.png) [@Sigmagirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigmagirl)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2009, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-sept-09-edition/508154/40 "2009-09-08T16:50:32Z")
> [@Dung\_Beetle](#): > > Over the weekend I read This Common Secret: my journey as an abortion doctor, by Susan Wicklund. I read that. Very compelling; I think I recommended it here a while back. I picked up \*You remind me of me \*by Dan Chaon. Too busy to crack the cover yet. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-sept-09-edition/508154.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-sept-09-edition/508154.md?page=3)