# 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:** 5
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2010, 12:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-sept-2010-edition/552117/81 "2010-09-11T12:53:55Z")
I’m giving up on _Drood_ – I gave it 100 pages and I just don’t care. ---
**Author:** ![LVBoPeep](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/858c86/32.png) [@LVBoPeep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LVBoPeep)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2010, 1:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-sept-2010-edition/552117/82 "2010-09-11T13:31:59Z")
I just finished, my first audiobook actually, \* Water for Elephants\* by Sara Gruen. It was about 50 times better than I expected it to be. Bittersweet story and an unexpected ending. I just started _Cloud Atlas_ but also as an audiobook. I never wanted to mess with cds or tapes, so having it downloaded to my Kindle has made audiobooks attractive for the first time. I drive about an hour and a half a day, so I move through them at a good pace although sometimes my mind wanders which is why I have re-start the first twenty minutes of this one. Having a hard time picking what’s next to download onto the Kindle for actual reading. I want to read the latest \*Mistress of the Art of Death \*series but don’t want to pay $13 for it. ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2010, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-sept-2010-edition/552117/83 "2010-09-11T14:10:55Z")
> [@twickster](#): > > I’m giving up on _Drood_ – I gave it 100 pages and I just don’t care. Well, I \*did \*warn you… 🙂 (Of course, many other dopers liked it…) ---
**Author:** ![newcomer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/e5b9ba/32.png) [@newcomer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/newcomer)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2010, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-sept-2010-edition/552117/84 "2010-09-11T14:14:51Z")
Freedom by Jonathan Franzen //\*\* First fiction book that I’m reading on my iPad. Taking notes has never been easier. ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2010, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-sept-2010-edition/552117/85 "2010-09-11T14:55:24Z")
> [@Khadaji](#): > > > [@twickster](#): > > > > I’m giving up on _Drood_ – I gave it 100 pages and I just don’t care. > > Well, I \*did \*warn you… 🙂 > > (Of course, many other dopers liked it…) Yeah, exactly – seems like a real polarizing book, which is part of why I was so curious. I like Dickens, though I’ve never read “Drood” – perhaps that’s the problem? – and I like Collins, and I like long novels set in Victorian England, but … bleh. I was going to say this was the second novel of his I’ve given up on in the last few months, but Kim Stanley Robinson wrote _Galileo’s Dream_. ---
**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 11, 2010, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-sept-2010-edition/552117/86 "2010-09-11T17:24:23Z")
I’m rereading _Soon I Will Be Invincible_ by Austin Grossman. I bought a bunch of books the other day and I’m dipping a toe in them to see which I’ll read next; _The High King of Montival_ by S. M. Stirling, _The Whiskey Rebellion_ by William Hogeland, and _Without Warning_ by John Birmingham. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2010, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-sept-2010-edition/552117/87 "2010-09-11T18:24:19Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > I’m rereading _Soon I Will Be Invincible_ by Austin Grossman. \ I _loved_ that book. I think I will have to make it mine so I can re-read it any time I want. ---
**Author:** ![Landshark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/77aa72/32.png) [@Landshark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Landshark)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2010, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-sept-2010-edition/552117/88 "2010-09-12T02:08:03Z")
Last night I finished reading _The Devil in the White City_, by Erik Larson. This is a history with two interleaved themes: One of which is the planning for, construction of, and operation of the 1893 World’s Fair in Chicago, with special focus on the man who led those efforts, architect Daniel Burnham. The other being the actions of Chicago-based serial murderer Dr. H. H. Holmes (pseudonym of Herman Webster Mudgett), who committed his crimes in about the same time span as the book’s narrative about the World’s Fair. (Holmes and Burnham never met.) I was unaware of the book until last month, when someone I know mentioned it and talked about it’s topics. At that time I recalled having read in the past an online article about the Holmes murders, and had also seen period photos of the buildings at the World’s Fair, so decided to give the book a try. It was fascinating; I highly recommend it. ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2010, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-sept-2010-edition/552117/89 "2010-09-13T20:03:59Z")
Finished [Death Most Definite](http://www.amazon.com/Death-Most-Definite-Works/dp/031607800X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1284407881&sr=8-1). At times this was a page flipper (a book that you don’t care enough to read closely, don’t hate enough to put down, so you flip through a lot of the pages.) It picked up nicely in the end and I ended up enjoying it. It surprised me a few times. Steven de Selby is a “pomp” - what\* Dead Like Fans\* would recognize as a reaper. He gently guides dead souls back to the tree of life. (Aussies, is “pomp” a common term for this down under? The book is set in Australia. The term is not common here.) One day he meets a dead girl that he isn’t assigned to Pomp. This is a surprise in and of itself, but then she warns him to duck and he just misses getting shot. From then on, he has to find out who is killing Pomps and why. Some of the mythology took a little long to develop and some of the running and hiding was boring, but as I said, in the end I guess I liked it and I may try the next one. ---
**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 14, 2010, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-sept-2010-edition/552117/90 "2010-09-14T14:16:40Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > > [@FoieGrasIsEvil](#): > > > > Its just too bad that there won’t be any more of these books. Salander and Blomkvist are two serial characters that I could read about for awhile longer. Is it accurate that these books only saw the light of day posthumously because a relative read the manuscripts after Larsson died? If so that’s pretty amazing that he never intended these books to be published, because they are very good. > > Sounds like he may be getting mixed up with Franz Kafka, whose relatives ignored his orders to burn his writings upon his death and published them anyway. > > His [Wikipedia entry](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stieg_Larsson) says: **“At his death, Larsson left behind manuscripts of three completed but unpublished novels in a series. He wrote them for his own pleasure after returning home from his job in the evening, making no attempt to get them published until shortly before his death.”** I’ve read elsewhere that he did in fact turn them in to a publisher himself. > > His sudden death at age 50 was due to a heart attack. Rumor has it a contributing factor was stress from death threats stemming from his own investigative reporting, but that’s been denied. It is true that he had to live his last years in hiding due to the death threats, and that’s a major reason he never married his long-time girlfriend. Seems there’s some sort of law in Sweden that says your address must appear in the public record when you get married. Now there’s some sort of friction over his estate between her and his family. > > His entry also says: **“Larsson left about three quarters of a fourth novel on a notebook computer, now possessed by his partner, Eva Gabrielsson; synopses or manuscripts of the fifth and sixth in the series, which he intended to contain an eventual total of ten books, may also exist.”** > > The world did indeed lose a good writer. I feel Lisbeth Salander and Mikael Blomkvist could easily have entered the world’s cultural lexicon like Holmes and Watson. May still. I wonder if this was the part of a conversation I heard two ladies discussing about a writer who died and his girlfriend or wife found a story on his computer that the writer’s family was now fighting over. I’ve been needing closure on the matter and I think I have it. ---
**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 14, 2010, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-sept-2010-edition/552117/91 "2010-09-14T14:45:12Z")
Getting to the end of **Death in The Sahara** , and reading **The Whole Shebang** , by Ferris. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2010, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-sept-2010-edition/552117/92 "2010-09-15T01:45:35Z")
Well, I finished “The Strain,” and I’ll probably read the next two in the trilogy, too, in spite of how bad the writing is. It’s a case of, “Great idea, poorly executed.” The idea is great enough to keep me interested, though. I’m reading a collection of post-apocalyptic short stories, now, and it’s very good - “The Mammoth Book of The End of the World,” edited by Mike Ashley. It has the awesome short story in it, “When SysAdmins Ruled the World.” 🙂 ---
**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 15, 2010, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-sept-2010-edition/552117/93 "2010-09-15T16:46:34Z")
> [@Khadaji](#): > > > [@Eleanor\_of\_Aquitaine](#): > > > > I’m reading that now, too… it seems to be _Oliver Twist_ meets\* Ocean’s Eleven\*. Not sure if I like it yet. > > > > \ > > I read the first two in this trilogy(?) > > I like his writing, but every time I read him I am disappointed with the ending. I may not read his next one (it may already be out.) I enjoyed _The Lies of Locke Lamora_ very much. It’s a dark book even though it has such a lighthearted tone - like a cheerful caper movie - that the brutal scenes are a bit jarring. It was a satisfying standalone story, even though it’s the first book of what looks to be a long series. I read the newest book in Tanya Huff’s Valor series, _The Truth of Valor_, and I liked it, too. These are space opera/military sci-fi, and they’re a lot of fun. Now I’m reading _Flashman and the Redskins_ - Flashy in the American old west during the gold rush. ---
**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, 2010, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-sept-2010-edition/552117/94 "2010-09-15T17:24:32Z")
> [@Eleanor\_of\_Aquitaine](#): > > Now I’m reading _Flashman and the Redskins_ - Flashy in the American old west during the gold rush. I’m listening to the first Flashman as an audiobook, and I’m all kinds of thrilled with the reader (David Case). However, the story’s bogging down a bit in the middle with fighting in Afghanistan. I think part of the problem is that I can’t _see_ the strange names and unfamiliar words, which makes it harder to follow. One word in particular: sounds like can-tawn-ment, it’s the English soldier’s home base. Anyone know what that word is? ---
**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 15, 2010, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-sept-2010-edition/552117/95 "2010-09-15T18:11:18Z")
> [@Dung\_Beetle](#): > > > [@Eleanor\_of\_Aquitaine](#): > > > > Now I’m reading _Flashman and the Redskins_ - Flashy in the American old west during the gold rush. > > I’m listening to the first Flashman as an audiobook, and I’m all kinds of thrilled with the reader (David Case). However, the story’s bogging down a bit in the middle with fighting in Afghanistan. I think part of the problem is that I can’t _see_ the strange names and unfamiliar words, which makes it harder to follow. One word in particular: sounds like can-tawn-ment, it’s the English soldier’s home base. Anyone know what that word is? Webster’s says that “cantonment” means either “temporary quarters for troops” or “a permanent military station in India”. I bet Flashman is great in an audiobook, with right reader, since the books are in the form of a conversational recollection. I think hearing some of the stuff out loud would be even more cringe-inducing than reading it, though. I avoided reading _Flash for Freedom!_ in public, lest someone glance over my shoulder at a random page and be horrified. And \*Redskins \*is almost as bad. It’s hilarious, though. ---
**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, 2010, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-sept-2010-edition/552117/96 "2010-09-15T18:28:55Z")
Thank you, **Eleanor**! I do like the reader so much that I’m not interested in continuing the series without him. Fortunately, my library has about six more on tape. ---
**Author:** ![delphica](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e9a140/32.png) [@delphica](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/delphica)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2010, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-sept-2010-edition/552117/97 "2010-09-15T18:44:05Z")
> [@Gulo\_gulo](#): > > **Faberge’s Eggs: The Extraordinary Story of the Masterpieces That Outlived an Empire** by Toby Faber ~ Apparently I had a Russian theme going on this month. This was an _awesome_ read. The book describes all the eggs that Faberge made for the czars to give to their wives on Easter. It then tracks the paths of the eggs as they disappeared and reappeared (most of them) after the death of the Imperial Family to present time. While reading this book I followed along with[this amazing website](http://www.mieks.com/faberge-en/eggs.htm) that has great photos of the eggs that still exist. That sounds awesome, I’m adding it to my library list. Recently finished: _The Passage_ by Justin Cronin. I liked this, it had somehow escaped me that it’s intended to be the first in the series, so I found the ending somewhat disjointed. _Mockingbird_, by Kathryn Erskine. (kidlit) This was a really sweet story about a girl with Asperger’s, but I’m not convinced it’s very realistic. But it was certainly engaging. Also sad. _Hairstyles of the Damned_ by Joe Meno (YA) I got a huge kick out of this, because I was a sullen teenager who made too many mix tapes back in the late 80s, when this book takes place. _Stuff: Compulsive Hoarding and the Meaning of Things_ by Randy Frost. I keep meaning to post about this in the Hoarders thread. I enjoyed this very much – it’s a more clinical look at the mental and emotional conditions associated with hoarding, and it’s very sympathetic (not voyeuristic). I think it does a great job of explaining the drive to hoard, and how many of the characteristics of hoarding are related to “normal” ways people feel about their personal belongings, only taken to an extreme. I skipped the chapter on animal hoarding. I’m currently reading _Ransom_ by David Malouf, which is a retelling of the Achilles and Hector story from the Trojan War. So far, it’s pretty good. ---
**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 15, 2010, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-sept-2010-edition/552117/98 "2010-09-15T19:38:54Z")
I’ve just started John Irving’s _A Prayer for Owen Meany_, my book club’s pick, and I like it OK so far. Still dipping occasionally into Scott Turow’s _Ultimate Punishment_, a nonfiction book about the death penalty, as well. ---
**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 16, 2010, 4:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-sept-2010-edition/552117/99 "2010-09-16T04:01:06Z")
> [@Dung\_Beetle](#): > > > [@Eleanor\_of\_Aquitaine](#): > > > > Now I’m reading _Flashman and the Redskins_ - Flashy in the American old west during the gold rush. > > I’m listening to the first Flashman as an audiobook, and I’m all kinds of thrilled with the reader (David Case). However, the story’s bogging down a bit in the middle with fighting in Afghanistan. I think part of the problem is that I can’t _see_ the strange names and unfamiliar words, which makes it harder to follow. One word in particular: sounds like can-tawn-ment, it’s the English soldier’s home base. Anyone know what that word is? I’m curious how the audiobooks handle the wonderful endnotes that correspond to the pages. They contain a wealth of information, and I can’t imagine reading the Flashman books without referring to them. I hope they are not omitted, that would be a travesty, but although I don’t at all mind flipping back to check them out while reading the written narrative, I can’t imagine how they would do that with a verbal narrative. ---
**Author:** ![Tethered\_Kite](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a5b964/32.png) [@Tethered\_Kite](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tethered_Kite)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2010, 5:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-sept-2010-edition/552117/100 "2010-09-16T05:04:52Z")
Reading on these board has got me in a Chicago state of mind. I’m presently reading What Cops Know a compendium from interviews with members of Chicago’s Finest by Connie Fletcher. It’s about what police do, how they do it and what it does to them to paraphrase from the subtitle. My interest was partially spurred by the recent cop bashings in The Pit. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-sept-2010-edition/552117.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-sept-2010-edition/552117.md?page=6)