# Whatcha Readin' Sept 2010 Edition **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 31, 2010, 12:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-sept-2010-edition/552117 "2010-08-31T12:33:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![FoieGrasIsEvil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foiegrasisevil/32/16638_2.png) [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2010, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-sept-2010-edition/552117/21 "2010-09-01T21:50:36Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > Almost halfway through _The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo_, by Stieg Larsson. This is a truly excellent read. We’ve purposely not seen the movie yet, so as not to spoil the story. A “locked-room mystery” so to speak, only on a Swedish island, with a disappearance, presumably a murder, to be solved 36 years after the fact. > > This is the first of Larsson’s Millennium Trilogy of crime novels. He died of a heart attack in 2004 at age 50 after finishing the trilogy, and the books were published posthumously. He never knew how succesful they would become, or that he would be listed as the second best-selling author in the world in 2008, behind behind Afghan-American author Khaled Hosseini. Sad. I’m reading this right now too, and I also quite like it. I didn’t know the author had died…☹ ---
**Author:** ![Sigmagirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c89c15/32.png) [@Sigmagirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigmagirl)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2010, 1:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-sept-2010-edition/552117/22 "2010-09-02T13:09:20Z")
Going to start _The Many Deaths of the Firefly Brothers_ by Thomas Mullen, which came out in the spring but I’m just getting around to it. ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2010, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-sept-2010-edition/552117/23 "2010-09-02T13:28:48Z")
Finished \*The Sorceress (The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel) \*the third book in the series. I am enjoying the series and hope that he brings it to a satisfying conclusion. I have started _Dark and Stormy Knights_ a collection of short stories. I finished the first one by Ilona Andrews, which gave a little back story to one of Andrew’s recurring minor characters. The afterward to this story revealed (as does their Amazon page) that Ilona Andrews is actually two people, a husband/wife team, something I did not know. ---
**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 2, 2010, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-sept-2010-edition/552117/24 "2010-09-02T13:50:31Z")
> [@yanceylebeef](#): > > I’m in the middle of Matter by Banks right now, in an effeort to read all the Culture novels before the new one in October! > > Squirt! > > Up next is David Mitchells latest, The Thousand Autumns of Jacob De Zoet, and Packing for Mars by Mary Roach. Also, The Dervish House by Ian McDonald based on a suggestion from Richard K. Morgan. Eeeekkk…are you me? I’m a third into ‘Matter’ with David Mitchell lined up next…:eek::eek: ---
**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 2, 2010, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-sept-2010-edition/552117/25 "2010-09-02T13:51:53Z")
> [@FoieGrasIsEvil](#): > > > [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > > > Almost halfway through _The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo_, by Stieg Larsson. This is a truly excellent read. We’ve purposely not seen the movie yet, so as not to spoil the story. A “locked-room mystery” so to speak, only on a Swedish island, with a disappearance, presumably a murder, to be solved 36 years after the fact. > > > > This is the first of Larsson’s Millennium Trilogy of crime novels. He died of a heart attack in 2004 at age 50 after finishing the trilogy, and the books were published posthumously. He never knew how succesful they would become, or that he would be listed as the second best-selling author in the world in 2008, behind behind Afghan-American author Khaled Hosseini. Sad. > > I’m reading this right now too, and I also quite like it. I didn’t know the author had died…☹ Apparently Jo Nesbo is the next Stieg Larsson (except of course that he’s alive) ---
**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 2, 2010, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-sept-2010-edition/552117/26 "2010-09-02T14:03:35Z")
> [@Future\_Londonite](#): > > > [@FoieGrasIsEvil](#): > > > > I’m reading this right now too, and I also quite like it. I didn’t know the author had died…☹ > > Apparently Jo Nesbo is the next Stieg Larsson (except of course that he’s alive) If he dies of a heart attack at age 50, he really will be. Oh, look, I see he recently turned 50. _ **Ominous Chord** _ ---
**Author:** ![Malthus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/85f322/32.png) [@Malthus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malthus)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2010, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-sept-2010-edition/552117/27 "2010-09-02T14:14:58Z")
> [@Future\_Londonite](#): > > > [@yanceylebeef](#): > > > > I’m in the middle of Matter by Banks right now, in an effeort to read all the Culture novels before the new one in October! > > > > Squirt! > > > > Up next is David Mitchells latest, The Thousand Autumns of Jacob De Zoet, and Packing for Mars by Mary Roach. Also, The Dervish House by Ian McDonald based on a suggestion from Richard K. Morgan. > > Eeeekkk…are you me? I’m a third into ‘Matter’ with David Mitchell lined up next…:eek::eek: I’m of the opinion you simply can’t go wrong with David Mitchell. I totally enjoyed _Jacob de Zoet_ (though I still think his best was _Cloud Atlas_ - one of those very few books that blew me away sufficiently as to go beyond envy of the author - as in, ‘no, I can’t see myself, if I devoted myself to writing fiction my whole life, ever being capable of writing this’. 😉 ) ---
**Author:** ![Glory](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/7cd45c/32.png) [@Glory](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Glory)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2010, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-sept-2010-edition/552117/28 "2010-09-02T14:35:03Z")
I just started Under Heaven by Guy Gavriel Kay. I was a huge fan of Tigana and a Song for Arbonne, so I hope this one compares. So far, it’s pretty intriguing. I usually keep my [Good Reads](http://www.goodreads.com/review/list/1035707?shelf=read) list up to date with what I’ve read! ---
**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 2, 2010, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-sept-2010-edition/552117/29 "2010-09-02T17:55:27Z")
I’ve been rereading _The Winds of War_ by Herman Wouk. I first read it back when I was in high school so it’s been a few years but it still holds up. And I’ve been reading _Seizing Destiny: How America Grew from Sea to Shining Sea_ by Richard Kluger, which I’m not too impressed by. The author seems to feel he needs to beat you over the head with his editorializing. eta: I was just looking in Wikipedia to see how long ago Wouk had died. Turns out he’s still alive. Sorry about that, Herman. ---
**Author:** ![movingfinger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@movingfinger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/movingfinger)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2010, 5:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-sept-2010-edition/552117/30 "2010-09-03T05:45:52Z")
I just finished _Over the Edge: Death in Grand Canyon_, a compendium of deaths in the great national park. The authors, both wilderness guides and white water rafting guides know their park and its history. The book is broken down into chapters on drowning, falls from great heights and other forms of nastiness and concludes with suicides and murders. Despite its almost scholarly descriptions it is actually witty and entertainig. ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2010, 7:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-sept-2010-edition/552117/31 "2010-09-03T07:42:00Z")
I read the first of Jim Butcher’s Dresden File books, Storm Front, about a year before the TV show. I found it a very slow read and didn’t pick up the second book until this year. Wow, the pacing got markly better after that! I finished the eighth book, _Proven Guilty_, today, and picked up book nine, _White Knight_, at the library this afternoon. I’m not sure what I think about him being involved with the fallen angel, it reminds me an awful lot of what Rachel and the demons in Kim Harris’ Hollows series have done. However, the first Dresden book with the fallen angel helping him, and the first Hollows book with Rachel reluctantly working with a demon both came out in 2005, so I guess two authors had similar ideas at the same time. ---
**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:** [September 3, 2010, 1:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-sept-2010-edition/552117/32 "2010-09-03T13:17:54Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > I’ve been rereading _The Winds of War_ by Herman Wouk. I first read it back when I was in high school so it’s been a few years but it still holds up. > > And I’ve been reading _Seizing Destiny: How America Grew from Sea to Shining Sea_ by Richard Kluger, which I’m not too impressed by. The author seems to feel he needs to beat you over the head with his editorializing. > > eta: I was just looking in Wikipedia to see how long ago Wouk had died. Turns out he’s still alive. Sorry about that, Herman. He’s still alive? I thought he died in the 80’s. Wow. ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2010, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-sept-2010-edition/552117/33 "2010-09-03T14:44:22Z")
> [@movingfinger](#): > > I just finished _Over the Edge: Death in Grand Canyon_, a compendium of deaths in the great national park. The authors, both wilderness guides and white water rafting guides know their park and its history. The book is broken down into chapters on drowning, falls from great heights and other forms of nastiness and concludes with suicides and murders. Despite its almost scholarly descriptions it is actually witty and entertainig. I wonder if this is by the same people who did _Death in Yellowstone_. It was fascinating. I’ve finished _The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks_ by Rebecca Skloot. Very interesting, but I’m a little disappointed that the author wasn’t able to uncover more information about Henrietta’s life. Sadly, I’m dumping _Matterhorn_ by Karl Malantes. I’m sure it’s a great book – **koeeoaddi** loved it – but it’s not what I expected. It reads almost like a journal. The detailed descriptions do make me feel like I’m there, but I expected something more literary, I guess. Maybe it’s time to read _The Things They Carried_. Next up is _The House at Riverton_ by Kate Morton. ---
**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:** [September 3, 2010, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-sept-2010-edition/552117/34 "2010-09-03T14:55:34Z")
> [@AuntiePam](#): > > > [@movingfinger](#): > > > > I just finished _Over the Edge: Death in Grand Canyon_, a compendium of deaths in the great national park. The authors, both wilderness guides and white water rafting guides know their park and its history. The book is broken down into chapters on drowning, falls from great heights and other forms of nastiness and concludes with suicides and murders. Despite its almost scholarly descriptions it is actually witty and entertainig. > > I wonder if this is by the same people who did _Death in Yellowstone_. It was fascinating. My copy died a hero’s death but I seem to recall that the author of _Death in Yellowstone_ was either a Yellowstone ranger or ex-ranger. GREAT book and highly recommended, especially the parts where he discusses the laws put in place to keep these parks as pristine as possible and keep them safe from sue-happy tourists who get hurt while doing intelligent things such as putting their toddlers on bison for photo opportunities and who then whine that there weren’t any warning signs stapled onto the bison to prevent them from doing so. _Death in Grand Canyon_ has been on my wish list for ages. ---
**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 3, 2010, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-sept-2010-edition/552117/35 "2010-09-03T16:10:14Z")
Right now I’m reading Scott Turow’s _Ultimate Punishment: A Lawyer’s Reflections on Dealing with the Death Penalty_, a very interesting, thoughtful, non-polemical book about the author’s service on an Illinois state commission that looked very hard at the state’s system of capital punishment. Michael Moorcock and Walter Simonson’s _Elric: The Making of a Sorcerer_, a pretty good graphic novel about the conflicted albino mythic warrior-king Elric’s rise to the throne. ---
**Author:** ![anu-la1979](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/47e85d/32.png) [@anu-la1979](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/anu-la1979)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2010, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-sept-2010-edition/552117/36 "2010-09-04T02:21:59Z")
> [@Malthus](#): > > > [@Future\_Londonite](#): > > > > Eeeekkk…are you me? I’m a third into ‘Matter’ with David Mitchell lined up next…:eek::eek: > > I’m of the opinion you simply can’t go wrong with David Mitchell. I totally enjoyed _Jacob de Zoet_ (though I still think his best was _Cloud Atlas_ - one of those very few books that blew me away sufficiently as to go beyond envy of the author - as in, ‘no, I can’t see myself, if I devoted myself to writing fiction my whole life, ever being capable of writing this’. 😉 ) +1 Currently reading _The Lies of Locke Lamora_. Also finished _Mockingjay_ and _Unwind_ recently. The former was really good, much more of an anti-war book than the dystopian fiction angle the trilogy started out on, and the latter was decent but based on a totally gruesome and creepy premise. I probably won’t be reading anything serious for a while, at least not until Accounting is over. ---
**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 5, 2010, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-sept-2010-edition/552117/37 "2010-09-05T01:48:06Z")
Finished _The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo_, by Stieg Larsson. Excellent right up to the end. But we _still_ can’t see the movie, which is still playing in Bangkok at the art-movie house, because the wife has yet to read it. Now I’m going to embark upon the second of his Millennium Trilogy of crime novels, _The Girl Who Played with Fire._ ---
**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 5, 2010, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-sept-2010-edition/552117/38 "2010-09-05T02:01:01Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > Finished _The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo_, by Stieg Larsson. Excellent right up to the end. But we _still_ can’t see the movie, which is still playing in Bangkok at the art-movie house, because the wife has yet to read it. Now I’m going to embark upon the second of his Millennium Trilogy of crime novels, _The Girl Who Played with Fire._ Oh, I meant to ask those of you who have also read _The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo_ a question. There is something I did not quite get: I know Mikael’s daughter is a big Bible freak, but how on Earth did she merely look at those numbers and think: ‘Leviticus!’ I’m not much of a Bible scholar myself, but is it really all _that_ noticeable for one who is? Especially with those names listed next to the numbers, making them really look like phone numbers? ---
**Author:** ![FoieGrasIsEvil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foiegrasisevil/32/16638_2.png) [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2010, 11:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-sept-2010-edition/552117/39 "2010-09-05T11:27:59Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > > [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > > > Finished _The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo_, by Stieg Larsson. Excellent right up to the end. But we _still_ can’t see the movie, which is still playing in Bangkok at the art-movie house, because the wife has yet to read it. Now I’m going to embark upon the second of his Millennium Trilogy of crime novels, _The Girl Who Played with Fire._ > > Oh, I meant to ask those of you who have also read _The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo_ a question. There is something I did not quite get: > > I know Mikael’s daughter is a big Bible freak, but how on Earth did she merely look at those numbers and think: ‘Leviticus!’ I’m not much of a Bible scholar myself, but is it really all _that_ noticeable for one who is? Especially with those names listed next to the numbers, making them really look like phone numbers? I didn’t get that either. Good book, though. I’m right there with you, just starting _The Girl Who Played With Fire._ ---
**Author:** ![Abisha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/bc8723/32.png) [@Abisha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Abisha)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2010, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-sept-2010-edition/552117/40 "2010-09-05T13:37:50Z")
Awakening the Buddha Within by Lama Surya Das. The Greatest Knight by Elizabeth Chadwick. Historical fiction set during the reign of Henry the II, sans bodice ripping (so far). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-sept-2010-edition/552117.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-sept-2010-edition/552117.md?page=3)