# 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:** 10\ **Page:** 9
**Author:** ![dangermom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e274bd/32.png) [@dangermom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dangermom)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2010, 5:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-sept-2010-edition/552117/161 "2010-09-28T05:09:35Z")
> [@Shirley\_Ujest](#): > > I have no idea how this book series came to my attention, I don’t think it was a doper , but [Here, there be dragons](http://www.amazon.com/There-Dragons-Chronicles-Imaginarium-Geographica/dp/1416912282/ref=sr_1_3?s=gateway&ie=UTF8&qid=1285592932&sr=8-3) by James Owen is a fantastic read. Glad you liked it; I didn’t care for it at all. I didn’t think much of the characterization or dialogue. ---
**Author:** ![Parenchyma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Parenchyma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Parenchyma)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2010, 4:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-sept-2010-edition/552117/162 "2010-09-29T04:25:44Z")
Reporting back on my first stack of library books that was solely inspired by previous Whatcha threads. _Sparrow_ by Mary Doria Russell. Not bad, it started out strong building the stories of the characters, then…I stopped caring much about them, especially the priest, as the book chugged on with its clumsy ending. _The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay._ Liked the characters and the setting, the comic book scene and the family tragedy. It lost a little steam at the end. _A Corpse in the Koryo_ by James Church. I really liked this detective novel. The modern North Korea setting in an atmosphere of paranoia and powerlessness was a little like the best of Cold War fiction set in Eastern Europe. Will read more by Church. _Percival’s Planet_ by Michael Byers. For some reason I had low expectations of this book but I loved it and read it straight through on a day off. The author’s love of the natural world and of his characters felt a little like the delightful \* Selected Works of T. S. Spivet\*. Now I want to track down Byers’ other books. ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2010, 1:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-sept-2010-edition/552117/163 "2010-09-29T13:18:02Z")
Reading _The Help_ by Kathryn Stockett. It’s set in Mississippi in 1962. The main characters are two African-American housemaids and an unmarried white woman with progressive ideas. I like the gossipy feel. ---
**Author:** ![TheMerchandise](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b487fb/32.png) [@TheMerchandise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheMerchandise)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2010, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-sept-2010-edition/552117/164 "2010-09-29T14:00:02Z")
> [@AuntiePam](#): > > Reading _The Help_ by Kathryn Stockett. It’s set in Mississippi in 1962. The main characters are two African-American housemaids and an unmarried white woman with progressive ideas. I like the gossipy feel. Me too! I’m listening to it on audiobook, after hearing several recommendations for it here. ---
**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 29, 2010, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-sept-2010-edition/552117/165 "2010-09-29T14:17:01Z")
Reginald Hill’s “[The Spy’s Wife](http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/h/reginald-hill/spys-wife.htm)”. I love his writing. I had thought I’d grabbed the next book in the Dalziel and Pascoe series when I left the house, so I spent the first 20 pages wondering just how and when they were going to show up. It’s okay, I’ve got all the time I want to finish the series… ---
**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 29, 2010, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-sept-2010-edition/552117/166 "2010-09-29T15:51:55Z")
> [@AuntiePam](#): > > Reading _The Help_ by Kathryn Stockett. It’s set in Mississippi in 1962. The main characters are two African-American housemaids and an unmarried white woman with progressive ideas. I like the gossipy feel. As I think I’ve mentioned before, my wife’s book club, and a friend of mine who’s really into chicklit, all liked it. ---
**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 29, 2010, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-sept-2010-edition/552117/167 "2010-09-29T18:48:51Z")
> [@twickster](#): > > Up next: _Star of the Seas_ by Joseph O’Connor. Recommended by **jjimm** in a different thread for those who liked _English Passengers_ and _Cloud Atlas_, which are two books on my Top Ten Novels Ever list. Dang, that looks good. I added it to my wishlist. Amazon has it on sale at bargain price for those of you who, unlike myself, haven’t exceeded your book budget this month. ---
**Author:** ![Enterprise](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/76d3ee/32.png) [@Enterprise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enterprise)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2010, 12:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-sept-2010-edition/552117/168 "2010-09-30T12:09:43Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > > [@Enterprise](#): > > > > …I’ve also started reading Jonathan Franzen’s _Freedom_ after rave reviews in _The Guardian_ and some German magazines. He better live up to it… > > A friend of mine just started reading _Freedom_ and, 200 pages in, is enjoying it. I put down _The Corrections_ without regret after 50 pages - a downer with hateful and self-absorbed characters, IMHO - so I doubt I’ll ever get around to _Freedom_. I quite like _The Corrections_–yes, the people weren’t very nice, but they were quite funny, I thought. I’m about a hundred pages into _Freedom_, and I’m really enjoying it. But I may have to go a little slower on it, because Amazon delivered my long-sought _It’s Superman!_ by Tom DeHaven, which is truly marvelous. Happily, I have a four-hour train ride on Sunday that I can make use of. I also bought, quite by chance, Jim Butcher’s _Spider-Man: The Darkest Hours_. It fits neatly into my collection (incipient, but anyway) of comic-to-literature books (or, as the case may be, comics-related lit, like _The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay_), though I hold no great hopes for it being more than a fun read. ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2010, 12:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-sept-2010-edition/552117/169 "2010-09-30T12:17:44Z")
[The October thread.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=12972242#post12972242) ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2010, 1:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-sept-2010-edition/552117/170 "2010-10-05T01:03:40Z")
I have put down Demon Blood. I have come to the conclusion that this must be the middle of a series and that if I were interested I would be better off finding the first. There are just too many bits and bobs that don’t come together. Since there was really nothing about the book that makes me care, I will not seek out the first in the series. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-sept-2010-edition/552117.md?page=8)