# 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:** 4
**Author:** ![movingfinger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@movingfinger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/movingfinger)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2009, 5:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-sept-09-edition/508154/61 "2009-09-13T05:00:09Z")
I just started **Tex and Molly in the Afterlife** by Richard Grant. The title characters, aging hippies living on a house boat on the Maine coast, die together and return as…what? Ghosts? Unclear. No one can see them but their cat, and they apparently cannot leave their houseboat. Looks promising. Very amusing dialogue. ---
**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 14, 2009, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-sept-09-edition/508154/62 "2009-09-14T15:12:04Z")
Finished Join Me, which was decent. I just wished the author and his girlfriend had broken up sooner. Now I’m on to Mean Streets, a collection of four novellas, or at least long stories. The first two have been good, I’m enjoying the third now, and if the last is as good as these, I’ll be very happy. I picked this one up for the Dresden Files story. **Gulo gulo** , I’m sorry to hear some asshole broke into your house! Did they get him? ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2009, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-sept-09-edition/508154/63 "2009-09-14T15:24:54Z")
Finished _Angels in My Hair_ by Lorna Byrne. This is the autobiography of a woman who believes she can see Angels. I picked this up on impulse in the London Airport because I knew I would finish my last book on the trip home. The book consists entirely of rambling stories of various Angels that Lorna has met during her lifetime. Each anecdote would be of a type where “and at this age I was walking along and an angel stopped to tell me that something bad was going to happen, but I mustn’t tell anyone.” Then it would happen and we would move on. In her youth the adults thought she was “retarded” and IMO she comes off as somewhat simple-minded. She tells us she was chosen to spread a message, but I never figured out what that message was meant to be. (Perhaps it is simply that Angels and God exist.) I found this messy collection of dull tales neither inspirational nor fascinating. I will say that I don’t believe she is a charlatan as she does not \*seem \*to be selling or preaching anything. I think she is simply a woman who is subject to visions. I give the book a D-. Even if you are believer and/or seeker, give this one a pass. ---
**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:** [September 14, 2009, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-sept-09-edition/508154/64 "2009-09-14T16:44:51Z")
**Gulo gulo** , I’m sorry to hear about your ordeal! Over the weekend I read P.N. Elrod’s newest Jack Fleming novel, _Dark Road Rising_. It was pretty good. It picks up mere moments after the action in the last novel, which was published 4 years ago, so I grabbed that one and re-read it before starting the new one. (If you like Elrod, then you might want to know that she has self-published a Jack Fleming novella and she’s selling limited edition, signed copies from her website.) Right now I’m reading _An Audience with an Elephant (and Other Encounters on the Eccentric Side)_, a collection of essays by Welsh journalist Byron Rogers previously published in various British newspapers and magazines. In the foreword he bemoans the modern obsession with celebrity and makes a point of concentrating on stories of ordinary people, although he apparently couldn’t resist including a piece on his five-year stint as a speech writer for a melancholy Prince Charles. Next I think I’m going to read _The Greatest Knight: The Story of William Marshall_, by Elizabeth Chadwick. Some of my groups on Goodreads are raving about her. I hope I like it, because she has written several historical novels. ---
**Author:** ![bup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6bbea6/32.png) [@bup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bup)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2009, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-sept-09-edition/508154/65 "2009-09-14T17:04:57Z")
I finished _ **The Time Traveler’s Wife** _ and loved it. On goodreads, one almost feels the need to defend liking it - I know it was lightweight. Also that the Violent Femmes weren’t the height of cool in 1991. Still, I liked it. Now I’m reading\*\*\* The Turn of the Screw \*\*\*two or three sentences at a time. Then, when I wake up, I read another two or three sentences. ---
**Author:** ![tr0psn4j](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/958977/32.png) [@tr0psn4j](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tr0psn4j)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2009, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-sept-09-edition/508154/66 "2009-09-14T18:18:56Z")
Finished The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain. Went on to read Family Matters by Tolstoy and now I have started another story of his, The Cossacks. ---
**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 14, 2009, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-sept-09-edition/508154/67 "2009-09-14T19:15:59Z")
> [@bup](#): > > I finished _ **The Time Traveler’s Wife** _ and loved it. On goodreads, one almost feels the need to defend liking it - I know it was lightweight. Also that the Violent Femmes weren’t the height of cool in 1991. Still, I liked it. > > Now I’m reading\*\*\* The Turn of the Screw \*\*\*two or three sentences at a time. Then, when I wake up, I read another two or three sentences. I really liked TTTW, too. You’re not alone. I read TTOTS in college and thought it was meh. Then my book club just read Henry James’s novella “The Beast in the Jungle” last month, and it was beyond tedious. I just wanted to reach in and smack the main character. ---
**Author:** ![koeeoaddi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/koeeoaddi/32/408_2.png) [@koeeoaddi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/koeeoaddi)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2009, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-sept-09-edition/508154/68 "2009-09-15T03:04:30Z")
I’m reading _The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society_ and judging from the reviews on Gooodreads, there appears to be two schools of though: 1) it’s revoltingly precious, shallow, artificial and only fit for your Great Aunt Ethel, who just reads ‘nice’ books, or 2) it’s charming, engrossing and immensely likable and I’m sending a copy to everybody on my holiday list. I’m bouncing back and forth between the two, but suspect I’ll land on the latter. Think of me as your Great Aunt Ko. ---
**Author:** ![Sigmagirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c89c15/32.png) [@Sigmagirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigmagirl)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2009, 12:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-sept-09-edition/508154/69 "2009-09-15T12:57:07Z")
**koeeoaddi** , I landed on the latter. I read a lot of mystery/thrillers, some of them pretty gory, and sometimes you need a palate cleanser. I did find it charming. Occasionally it veered into the consciously precious, but at least it wasn’t “inspirational.” I think it would be just the thing in the depths of February, when you think spring will never come. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2009, 1:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-sept-09-edition/508154/70 "2009-09-15T13:09:05Z")
I’ve been busy so just light reading this month. Mostly re-reading some SF favorites: Stirling’s Nantucket trilogy, Niven and Pournelle’s _The Mote in God’s Eye_, and Bujold’s _Diplomatic Immunity_. ---
**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 15, 2009, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-sept-09-edition/508154/71 "2009-09-15T15:45:40Z")
> [@delphica](#): > > I finished _I’m Down_, which I got a huge kick out of. I hope it’s half as funny as the [picture on the cover.](http://www.amazon.com/Im-Down-Memoir-Mishna-Wolff/dp/0312378556/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1) That slays me! ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2009, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-sept-09-edition/508154/72 "2009-09-15T16:52:38Z")
I’m almost finished with _Middlemarch_. One of the things I like best about it is the way Eliot explains/justifies/rationalizes her characters’ actions. I thought I’d be skimming a lot – Eliot’s sentences can be very convoluted – but the only stuff I’ve skimmed is the political stuff, and there isn’t much of that. Next up is _The Long Communion_, a coming of age story by John Morressy, who wrote the Kedrigern fantasy series. ---
**Author:** ![TheMerchandise](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b487fb/32.png) [@TheMerchandise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheMerchandise)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2009, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-sept-09-edition/508154/73 "2009-09-16T13:37:16Z")
I finished: _The Brief, Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao_, by Junot Diaz. I picked this up mainly because I saw this book everywhere last year and it seemed like one of those Books To Read. I found it interesting, informative, and quite poignant. One caveat: I’m not a Spanish-speaker and there were large chunks of dialogue written in Spanish… I don’t feel like I missed any important information, but I definitely missed some of the “tone.” _Shutter Island_, by Dennis Lehane. I admit, the movie previews made me curious. This is an enjoyable book, more of a potboiler than serious work though. _Faerie Tale_, by Raymond E. Feist. A mixture of fantasy and horror. This book is dated and the plot lacks danger and immediacy. Not terrible, but not that memorable either. Next up: _Sabriel_, by Garth Nix ---
**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 16, 2009, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-sept-09-edition/508154/74 "2009-09-16T13:50:27Z")
My niece read _Sabriel_ and really, really liked it. I have to say, I couldn’t get through _Mystic River_, but _Shutter Island_ looks intriguing. I’ll probably see the movie first, though. ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2009, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-sept-09-edition/508154/75 "2009-09-16T14:17:50Z")
I ended up really liking Sabriel. The first time I read it I had some trouble following it, but I was recovering from surgery and on a high dose of pain meds. I waited probably 2 years before picking it up again. This time I found it original and interesting and read the entire trilogy. ---
**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 16, 2009, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-sept-09-edition/508154/76 "2009-09-16T14:21:42Z")
Finished _Going Postal_, moved on to _Maskerade_. Both by Pratchett. ---
**Author:** ![Night\_so\_be\_it](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b2d939/32.png) [@Night\_so\_be\_it](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Night_so_be_it)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2009, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-sept-09-edition/508154/77 "2009-09-16T14:25:49Z")
> [@blondebear](#): > > I’m making my way through [A Supposedly Fun Thing I’ll Never Do Again](http://www.amazon.com/Supposedly-Fun-Thing-Never-Again/dp/0316925284)–and considering if I want to take on Infinite Jest. You really should. Don’t let the length put you off, it’s so enjoyable that I doubt you’ll notice it, especially if you like ‘A Supposedly Fun Thing.’ I’m almost finished with War and Peace; it seemed to take a lot less time than I thought it would. It’s also really easy, the style is quite plain. So far it’s gripping and brilliant and most of the characters are expertly formed and three-dimensional. Also reading ‘A History of Western Philosophy’ by Bertrand Russell. So far it seems like the perfect layman’s book on philosophy, though his opinions do influence his portrayal of certain philosophers - as is to be expected, I suppose. Highly recommended for anyone interested in the subject. Recently finished Four Dubliners by Richard Ellmann, The Consolations of Philosophy by Alain de Botton and The Wild Palms by Faulkner. Four Dubliners was pretty good, though a little thin. Each of the essays (Wilde, Yeats, Joyce, Beckett) seemed a bit trivial, but they’ll be worth reading if you have any interest in those writers. The Consolations of Philosophy took triviality to new heights; it was a fairly simple and light read, but contained almost no philosophy - though the section on Schopenhauer was entertaining. The Wild Palms was incredible. Up there with the best of Faulkner, though it took a while to get into. ---
**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 17, 2009, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-sept-09-edition/508154/78 "2009-09-17T02:06:08Z")
> [@Night\_so\_be\_it](#): > > I’m almost finished with War and Peace; it seemed to take a lot less time than I thought it would. It’s also really easy, the style is quite plain. So far it’s gripping and brilliant and most of the characters are expertly formed and three-dimensional. Yes, that’s exactly how I found it to be. _War and Peace_ gets a bad rap for being “difficult.” ---
**Author:** ![bup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6bbea6/32.png) [@bup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bup)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2009, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-sept-09-edition/508154/79 "2009-09-17T02:33:57Z")
Hated _The Turn of the Screw_, but it was interesting to see how many more commas used to be around, before they got over-harvested and endangered. Now reading _The Sun Also Rises_ - the best Hemingway I’ve never read. ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2009, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-sept-09-edition/508154/80 "2009-09-17T02:54:00Z")
> [@bup](#): > > Hated _The Turn of the Screw_, but it was interesting to see how many more commas used to be around, before they got over-harvested and endangered. Ain’t that the truth? I noticed that in _Middlemarch_ too. I finished _The Long Communion_ by John Morressy (author of the Kedrigern fantasy series). It’s out of print, but if you run across it at Goodwill and if you like coming of age stories, you might like it. Philip Archer is orphaned on December 7, 1941. He’s sent to live with Irish Catholic relatives of his father for several years, then to his mother’s WASP-y family. He keeps trying to get control of his life and has some interesting experiences. I liked it a lot. Now reading a book about the horrific 1894 fire in Hinckley, Minnesota. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-sept-09-edition/508154.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-sept-09-edition/508154.md?page=5)