# 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:** 6
**Author:** ![Le\_Ministre\_de\_l\_au-dela](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/le_ministre_de_l_au-dela/32/12181_2.png) [@Le\_Ministre\_de\_l\_au-dela](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Le_Ministre_de_l_au-dela)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2010, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-sept-2010-edition/552117/101 "2010-09-16T16:38:03Z")
I’m still in the midst of re-reading Lindsay Davis’ “The Silver Pigs” - this has been a busy month and I’m just not finding the time to steal to read for pure enjoyment. The books on the shelves are making puppy-like whining noises whenever I walk past them… Please forgive a slight hijack - I also wanted post a link in this thread to encourage some of the most voracious readers on the board to have a look at the results from last weekend’s [SDMB Short Fiction Contest.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/poll.php?do=showresults&pollid=1485) The authors would all greatly appreciate your input - if you have a moment, please savour their efforts and cast a vote for your favourite(s). ---
**Author:** ![TheMerchandise](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b487fb/32.png) [@TheMerchandise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheMerchandise)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2010, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-sept-2010-edition/552117/102 "2010-09-17T14:24:30Z")
I finished Suzanne Collins’ _Mockingjay_ and found it okay, but lacking the spark that got me hooked on the series. I also finished Simon R Green’s The Unnatural Inquirer, the 9th book in his Nightside series. The books are fun, supernatural detective stories but nothing to take too seriously. This book seemed like filler between the end of one giant story arc and the start of another. My recent books have all been utter fluff. I think I’m in the mood for something meatier. ---
**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 17, 2010, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-sept-2010-edition/552117/103 "2010-09-17T15:00:57Z")
Finally finished Mary Roach’s Packing for Mars, which was very good, but I did feel like I was slogging at one point! I only get to read in short bursts, usually with the TV on, and interrupted by days of no reading at all…even pop science can be hard to digest under the circumstances. Retreating to fiction now: The Secret History of Fantasy, edited by Peter S. Beagle. ---
**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 17, 2010, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-sept-2010-edition/552117/104 "2010-09-17T15:09:34Z")
> [@Tethered\_Kite](#): > > …I’m presently reading What Cops Know a compendium from interviews with members of Chicago’s Finest by Connie Fletcher… I remember reading a review of that awhile back; it sounded good. Are you enjoying it? Is it really grim, or does it have some funny stories too? ---
**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 17, 2010, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-sept-2010-edition/552117/105 "2010-09-17T16:50:34Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > > [@Tethered\_Kite](#): > > > > …I’m presently reading What Cops Know a compendium from interviews with members of Chicago’s Finest by Connie Fletcher… > > I remember reading a review of that awhile back; it sounded good. Are you enjoying it? Is it really grim, or does it have some funny stories too? It’s keeping my interest. Divided into chapters of the various types of crime, it’s written in the Studs Turkel style. And some of the information is exclusive to Chicago. Some of the anecdotes are funny in that grim gallows humor sort of way. Other stories are difficult to read. But the thing I like about it is getting the insider information about what police have learned out on the street which is a whole different perspective than reading from a judiciary or psychological perspective. There is also information about the changing nature of crime. One comment was that, at one time, criminals specialized. If one did burglaries, that’s what he did. Now, the police say, any number of crimes may be commited in the process of a burglary including, for example, rape, destruction of property and even murder. IIRC it was written in the 90’s and some of the information seems a little dated. ---
**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 17, 2010, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-sept-2010-edition/552117/106 "2010-09-17T17:13:10Z")
Thanks. I’d like to read it someday. ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2010, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-sept-2010-edition/552117/107 "2010-09-17T22:46:51Z")
Read an older (late '80s) book by Mario Vargas-Llosa, which I came across in the stacks in the library when I was looking for _Drood_ (which turned out not to be my cup of tea). _The Storyteller_ is about one of the nomadic tribes of the Peruvian ran forest; the narrator’s childhood friend was fascinated by them, and seems to have joined them, becoming a storyteller (member of the tribe whose main role is to, well, tell stories). Good book, I enjoyed it. ---
**Author:** ![Invisible\_Chimp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/f05b48/32.png) [@Invisible\_Chimp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Invisible_Chimp)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2010, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-sept-2010-edition/552117/108 "2010-09-17T23:53:52Z")
Just finished reading _Let The Right One In_ by John Ajvide Lindqvist. I have not seen the movie yet, although I did move it to the top of my Netflix queue. My understanding is that they left a major twist from the book on the cutting room floor, although I haven’t seen it yet, so I could be wrong. Very much Sweden’s Stephen King, although the ending is not as lousy. I have started _How We Decide_ by Jonah Lehrer and _The Magicians_ by Lev Grossman, the latter which I first heard about here. ---
**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 18, 2010, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-sept-2010-edition/552117/109 "2010-09-18T01:43:11Z")
Less than an hour ago, I finished _The Girl Who Played with Fire_, the second of Stieg Larsson’s Millennium crime-novel trilogy. It was every bit as good as the first one, _The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo_. However, I have a minor quibble on something that most people probably wouldn’t notice. As I noted in a recent thread on errors in intellectual works that could easily have been corrected, the book mentions – only one time in passing – a murdered Thai prostitute in Sweden named Myang So Chin, aka Jo-Jo. What the …? Myang So Chin does not even _remotely_ sound Thai. If I had to guess, I’d say Korean. But certainly not Thai. And while all Thais go by a nickname, I have never heard Jo-Jo used. Sounds like a Filipina. Larsson could easily have come up with a plausible Thai name. He really dropped the ball on that, but otherwise it’s a good book. There’s something of an ironic passage inside too, considering what ultimately happened to Larsson. I can’t say explicitly what it is without giving away a spoiler, but in my Vintage Crime/Black Lizard paperback edition, it’s the fourth paragraph on page 299, the one that starts: “For Blomkvist this went without saying.” In Chapter 14. And now – probably on Monday, as this will be a busy weekend – I shall embark on Larsson’s third and final installment in the trilogy, _The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest_. I’m surprised it’s out here already in paperback. **Corkboard** mentioned last month that it won’t be in the US (?) for another year. In the back of _The Girl Who Played with Fire_ is a notice that the _hardcover_ version wasn’t coming out until this past May, and yet my paperback version was published in March. And it’s not a fake knock-off. I bought it at Kinokuniya, the large Japanese chain, and they don’t sell knockoffs, plus it’s from the same publisher as the other two paperbacks, Vintage Crime/Black Lizard. ---
**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 18, 2010, 10:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-sept-2010-edition/552117/110 "2010-09-18T10:46:15Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > In the back of _The Girl Who Played with Fire_ is a notice that the _hardcover_ version wasn’t coming out until this past May, and yet my paperback version was published in March. And it’s not a fake knock-off. I bought it at Kinokuniya, the large Japanese chain, and they don’t sell knockoffs, plus it’s from the same publisher as the other two paperbacks, Vintage Crime/Black Lizard. Oops! Scratch that. I looked in the wrong book, and it’s the second paperback in the trilogy that was published in English in March. This third one was published in paperback in June, but that’s still just a month after the hardcover version came out. They really rushed it through. ---
**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 18, 2010, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-sept-2010-edition/552117/111 "2010-09-18T15:21:41Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > As I noted in a recent thread on errors in intellectual works that could easily have been corrected, the book mentions – only one time in passing – a murdered Thai prostitute in Sweden named Myang So Chin, aka Jo-Jo. What the …? Myang So Chin does not even _remotely_ sound Thai. If I had to guess, I’d say Korean. But certainly not Thai. And while all Thais go by a nickname, I have never heard Jo-Jo used. Sounds like a Filipina. Larsson could easily have come up with a plausible Thai name. He really dropped the ball on that, but otherwise it’s a good book. Hmmm. The wife tells me she’s known a Thai nicknamed Jojo, so okay. But she’s still laughing at “Myung So Chin.” Definitely not Thai. ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2010, 12:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-sept-2010-edition/552117/112 "2010-09-20T12:34:45Z")
Finished _The Tomb_ a repairman Jack book. As it turns out, I read it many many years ago, I’m guessing back in the 80s. The ending was such that I did not know that there were sequels. It was a light quick read and I may pick up some of the others in the series. ---
**Author:** ![movingfinger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@movingfinger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/movingfinger)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2010, 6:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-sept-2010-edition/552117/113 "2010-09-21T06:41:10Z")
I just started \*Black Hats \*by Patrick Culhane. It’s a mystery yarn featuring Wyatt Earp, Bat Masterson and…Al Capone? Yup; it’s set in 1920 New York City, and so far ,so good. ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2010, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-sept-2010-edition/552117/114 "2010-09-21T15:51:21Z")
Just finished _The Turnaround_ by George Pelecanos. It’s about two sets of friends, three white kids and three black kids, in D.C. They have an encounter in the 70’s that changes their lives. I liked it a lot. Pelecanos writes good dialogue and for the most part, his characters seem realistic. ---
**Author:** ![MunkaMike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b19c9b/32.png) [@MunkaMike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MunkaMike)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2010, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-sept-2010-edition/552117/115 "2010-09-21T17:45:04Z")
Currently reading _The Automatic Detective_ by A Lee Martinez. A story featuring flying cars, super science, mutants, and a robot detective with dialogue straight out of a 40’s movie. ---
**Author:** ![5\_time\_champ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/5/278dde/32.png) [@5\_time\_champ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/5_time_champ)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2010, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-sept-2010-edition/552117/116 "2010-09-21T20:39:13Z")
Just finished _The Girl Who Played With Fire_ last night. Great book, looking forward to _Hornet’s Nest_ and maybe others?? But did have a problem with the ending [spoiler]Thought Salander rising from the grave with three bullets in her, or three bullet wounds anyway, was a little too much to swallow. Though it did freak the blond giant out. Also thought All The Evil, wasn’t quite the Evil I expected.[/spoiler] ---
**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 22, 2010, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-sept-2010-edition/552117/117 "2010-09-22T00:51:41Z")
> [@5\_time\_champ](#): > > Just finished _The Girl Who Played With Fire_ last night. Great book, looking forward to _Hornet’s Nest_ and maybe others?? But did have a problem with the ending > > [spoiler]Thought Salander rising from the grave with three bullets in her, or three bullet wounds anyway, was a little too much to swallow. Though it did freak the blond giant out. > > Also thought All The Evil, wasn’t quite the Evil I expected.[/spoiler] No, there won’t be others, as the author died after writing the trilogy. But: I think they explain it there, but they emphasize it even more in the third book that the gun used on her was basically a toy and that that’s the only reason she’s alive. I’m reading the third book now, about 1/4th through, and although they have not mentioned it explicitly yet, I’m guessing there’s also some sort of genetic factor. I believe in the second book they mentioned some sort of special program during the war to turn out super soldiers, something like that, and I’m guessing that affected Zalachenko in such a way that it’s a factor in both Nierderman’s physical condition and Lisbeth’s mental acuity. I’m waiting for it to be mentioned. ---
**Author:** ![Enterprise](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/76d3ee/32.png) [@Enterprise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enterprise)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2010, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-sept-2010-edition/552117/118 "2010-09-23T20:34:42Z")
Back from vacation! I didn’t actually pack _Haunted_, but took along _Fight Club_, also by Chuck Palaniuk, of course. After all the hype about the film (which I haven’t seen), I’m giving this a resounding “meh”. I get that it’s okay that I was bothered by the casual nihilism and asocial behavior of the main characters–disenchantment with the modern times yadada–but really the twist? I must have seen that twist in dozens of books before, or at the very least, it feels like it. Not a great book, but readable. I also shlepped along Joe Abercrombie’s _Best Served Cold_. That was a fun read, and Abercrombie remains the master of high-violence fantasy, although he really cut down on the fantasy bits in this one (even more, that is). Some great moments, some great characters. Jim Butcher’s _Cursor’s Fury_ was very enjoyable again, though I’m hoping there’s something unpredictable coming up in the next couple of books…this is such basic fantasy trope territory that it’s not even a challenge anymore. Anyway, I’m sure I’ll read the others sometime, but not in the near future. Robert Mayer’s _Superfolks_ I cannot recommend enough–think _The Incredibles_ mixed with some actual mid-life crisis moments in a Superman-bealike, and a bit of political-crime thriller. David Weber’s _Mission of Honor_ was good, though. Quite a bit of resolved things, quite a bit of advances in the plot, and altogether readable. After the cliff-hanging disaster that was _Storm from the Shadows_, Honor’s back on track. Right now, I’m still on _The Adventures of Augie March_, and have started on Tom DeHaven’s Superman history-essay _Our Hero_. Dunno what’s next…there’s a couple books lying around… ---
**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 23, 2010, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-sept-2010-edition/552117/119 "2010-09-23T21:45:07Z")
> [@Enterprise](#): > > I also shlepped along Joe Abercrombie’s _Best Served Cold_. That was a fun read, and Abercrombie remains the master of high-violence fantasy, although he really cut down on the fantasy bits in this one (even more, that is). Some great moments, some great characters. > > David Weber’s _Mission of Honor_ was good, though. Quite a bit of resolved things, quite a bit of advances in the plot, and altogether readable. After the cliff-hanging disaster that was _Storm from the Shadows_, Honor’s back on track I’ve been saving _Best Served Cold_ for a rainy day. Even fewer fantasy elements? Cool, I like my fantasy light on magic. I keep not buying _Mission of Honor_ because I was mad at Weber over the last book, largely because he brought in so many elements from one of his spin-off series into it. There was this whole plotline that I couldn’t get interested in because it originated in those other books. Also, I am not feeling the Honor/White Haven romance. \*Flashman and the Redskins \*was very good, my favorite Flashman book so far. I’m still enjoying Elizabeth George’s Inspector Lynley mysteries - finished _In the Presence of the Enemy_. These are melodramatic but very well written. I read another of Kage Baker’s Company books, _Children of the Company_. This one is a collection of her short stories cobbled together into a novel, and I didn’t like it very much. I loved _In the Garden of Iden_, but I don’t much like the direction she took the series. Not sure if I’ll read any more of these. ---
**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 24, 2010, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-sept-2010-edition/552117/120 "2010-09-24T02:25:55Z")
Read: **Black Beauty** by Anna Sewell ~ Still trying to work on the classics. Never read this before yet I had the Disney ‘Read Along’ version. Remember those? They came with a little record. Ahh, memories. **The Last Stormlord** by Glenda Larke ~ Good fantasy read about a land that literally counts every drop of water & relies on their “Stormlord” to bring them rain. **Roughing It** by Mark Twain ~ Biography of Twain’s travels in the West & Hawaii. **Caviar: The Strange History and Uncertain Future of the World’s Most Coveted Delicacy** by Inga Saffron ~ GREAT read on the history of caviar. Depressing too. **In the Land of White Death: An Epic Story of Survival in the Siberian Arctic** by Valerian Athanov ~ Egads. The human body can really put up with some punishment. After a year and a half of their ship locked in ice, Valerian Albanov left the Saint Anne and tried to find land. Only two of the thirteen men that left with him survived the ordeal. Not only did they have to drag heavily laden sledges over rough icy terrain, they also had to deal with the icepack drift. After one storm, they discovered that they had moved north by 22 miles! **Lucy’s Bones, Sacred Stones & Einstein’s Brain : The Remarkable Stories Behind the Great Objects and Artifacts of History from Antiquity to The Modern Era** by Harvey Rachlin ~ Cool read on various artifacts, their history, and where they are today. Can anyone recommend a book on the Siege of Leningrad? (I’m watching “The Rape of Europa” about the Nazi’s art thievery and it’s just pissing me off.) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-sept-2010-edition/552117.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-sept-2010-edition/552117.md?page=7)