# Whatcha Readin' Sept 2012 Edition **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 31, 2012, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-sept-2012-edition/633257 "2012-08-31T13:56:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 8
**Author:** ![araminty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b5e925/32.png) [@araminty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/araminty)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2012, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-sept-2012-edition/633257/141 "2012-09-25T18:35:44Z")
I’m not that captivated by **Telegraph Avenue** , unfortunately. I keep getting sidetracked - first by Stephen Fry’s first two volumes of his autobiography, then by a newly re-released Diana Wynne Jones story which seems to be a retelling of Norse mythology. Very DWJ. ---
**Author:** ![yanceylebeef](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yanceylebeef/32/12290_2.png) [@yanceylebeef](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yanceylebeef)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2012, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-sept-2012-edition/633257/142 "2012-09-25T18:53:47Z")
Well, Dodger by Sir Pterry dropped into the kindle this morning. See you all next month! ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2012, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-sept-2012-edition/633257/143 "2012-09-25T18:55:54Z")
> [@jsgoddess](#): > > I’m reading the first Cadfael novel by Ellis Peters and have a ton of others in the pipeline. I saw the Derek Jacobi TV series before I read any of the books, and loved it. Not surprisingly, I always picture Jacobi when I read the Cadfael books. ---
**Author:** ![DZedNConfused](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dzednconfused/32/15991_2.png) [@DZedNConfused](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DZedNConfused)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2012, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-sept-2012-edition/633257/144 "2012-09-25T22:31:54Z")
> [@astorian](#): > > I saw the Derek Jacobi TV series before I read any of the books, and loved it. Not surprisingly, I always picture Jacobi when I read the Cadfael books. I sorta liked some of the dramatizations. I’m very cross with the writers for leaving out the relationship between Hugh and Cadfael. They were “best friends” for lack of a better term in the books and the TV series failed to use that in any way. ---
**Author:** ![LVBoPeep](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/858c86/32.png) [@LVBoPeep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LVBoPeep)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2012, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-sept-2012-edition/633257/145 "2012-09-26T00:56:20Z")
> [@Malthus](#): > > I think the Saxon Stories are the best things Cornwell has written to date. While his origins are definitely firmly in the genre tradition (I love his Sharpe series for example, but no-one would mistake it as great literature), I do think his Saxon Stories show some more skilled writerly chops. For example, his narrator is clearly unreliable when it comes to Alfred - he’s constantly interpreting his actions in the worst possible light; the author is to an extent relying on the reader knowing the famous incidents of Alfred’s life. I really love this series! I’ve read tons of other Cornwell books and enjoyed many of them but I’d agree this is his best works. ---
**Author:** ![DummyGladHands](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/49beb7/32.png) [@DummyGladHands](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DummyGladHands)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2012, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-sept-2012-edition/633257/146 "2012-09-26T01:37:36Z")
I just wasted a ton of time reading Wolfe’s “I am Charlotte Simmons” ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2012, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-sept-2012-edition/633257/147 "2012-09-27T00:32:59Z")
Finished \*[Libriomancer](http://www.amazon.com/Libriomancer-Magic-Ex-Libris-Book/dp/0756407397/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1348705637&sr=8-1&keywords=libriomancer): (Magic Ex Libris Book 1) \*a fun new urban fantasy. Libriomancers can use books to do magic. They can reach into books and pull out anything that can fit through the pages. The collective belief of all who have read a book is what powers the magic \*and \*it must be the \*same \*printing - preventing libiromancers from having a larger copy printed, so that they can pull larger things out through the pages. I’m sure if I thought too hard about the plot I could find holes, but I usually avoid that. There was a little tendency for the author to stray into adolescent fantasy - the hero’s trusty side-kick is a wood nymph, but for the most part he didn’t go into _too_ much detail (in \*this \*book.) I enjoyed it, I’ll read the next when it comes out. ---
**Author:** ![Shakester](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shakester/32/437_2.png) [@Shakester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shakester)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2012, 7:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-sept-2012-edition/633257/148 "2012-09-27T07:56:26Z")
> [@Shakester](#): > > I’m now a few chapters from finishing [Dodger](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dodger_%28novel%29) by Terry Pratchett. Yes, Dodger is good. I liked it a lot. It led me to pick up a somewhat thematically related **non-fiction** book that I’ve had lying around for a while: [The Tin Ticket - The Heroic Journey of Australia’s Convict Women](http://www.penguin.com.au/products/9780425236727/tin-ticket-heroic-journey-australia-s-convict-women) by Deborah J Swiss. I worry that today’s victim-blaming society might eventually drag us back down to the level of late Georgian/early Victorian England, a place with no social welfare at all and where a large part of society lived in conditions which were brutal beyond belief. We are so much better off both as individuals and as a society and have been for long enough that many people are completely ignorant of exactly how horrific conditions were for so many people in the relatively recent past, and have no clue about how much worse life was for _everyone_ before societies started having some compassion for the poor. This, where many people were condemned to appalling levels of poverty and degradation, is the “good old days” that some people want us to return to, a world where might (and money) makes right and the poor can literally starve and die in the slums because poor people deserve to suffer. Or they can be shipped to the other side of the planet to be used as forced labour, like the convicts sent to Australia. ---
**Author:** ![Ian\_D.Bergkamp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/5f8ce5/32.png) [@Ian\_D.Bergkamp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ian_D.Bergkamp)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2012, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-sept-2012-edition/633257/149 "2012-09-27T20:47:35Z")
Thanks to the recommendations in last month’s thread, I’ve now read all five current volumes of the Locke & Key series. That Joe Hill is one creative bastard. My only disappointment is that I now have to wait for the next volume. ---
**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 28, 2012, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-sept-2012-edition/633257/150 "2012-09-28T01:57:18Z")
> [@Ian\_D.Bergkamp](#): > > Thanks to the recommendations in last month’s thread, I’ve now read all five current volumes of the Locke & Key series. That Joe Hill is one creative bastard. My only disappointment is that I now have to wait for the next volume. You’re welcome! 😉 ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2012, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-sept-2012-edition/633257/151 "2012-09-28T03:38:50Z")
> [@JohnT](#): > > Currently reading **American Gods** by Neil Gaiman. Finished. It was OK, not as epic as I thought it would be. I got a lot of the references, but nowhere close to every one. Well written. Now starting Vernor Vinge’s [Children of Time](http://www.amazon.com/Children-Sky-Zones-Thought/dp/0812579925/ref=la_B000APOW0E_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1348803456&sr=1-3), a book I actually bought new in July, 2011, and never got around to reading it. (Never cared for the tines in _A Fire Upon the Deep_, the most interesting part of that novel was the blight.) ---
**Author:** ![Malthus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/85f322/32.png) [@Malthus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malthus)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2012, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-sept-2012-edition/633257/152 "2012-09-28T14:05:28Z")
> [@JohnT](#): > > Finished. It was OK, not as epic as I thought it would be. I got a lot of the references, but nowhere close to every one. Well written. > > Now starting Vernor Vinge’s [Children of Time](http://www.amazon.com/Children-Sky-Zones-Thought/dp/0812579925/ref=la_B000APOW0E_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1348803456&sr=1-3), a book I actually bought new in July, 2011, and never got around to reading it. (Never cared for the tines in _A Fire Upon the Deep_, the most interesting part of that novel was the blight.) Sadly, I found Vinge’s sequel very disappointing. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2012, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-sept-2012-edition/633257/153 "2012-09-28T14:25:04Z")
I finished _Joseph Anton_ and I’m back to _From A Broken Bottle Traces of Perfume Still Emanate_. It’s a challenge but I will finish this freaking thing, so help me. ---
**Author:** ![DZedNConfused](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dzednconfused/32/15991_2.png) [@DZedNConfused](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DZedNConfused)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2012, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-sept-2012-edition/633257/154 "2012-09-28T15:15:02Z")
Finished _The Long Earth_, first book I have EVER read that was completely anticlimatic… Who knew God was a giant nudibranch?😃 ---
**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 28, 2012, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-sept-2012-edition/633257/155 "2012-09-28T16:15:20Z")
Not me, that’s for sure! [Nudibranch - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nudibranch) ---
**Author:** ![Dendarii\_Dame](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bbce88/32.png) [@Dendarii\_Dame](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dendarii_Dame)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2012, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-sept-2012-edition/633257/156 "2012-09-28T17:14:08Z")
I’m reading _The Violinist’s Thumb_ by Sam Kean, which is about genetics. It’s very interesting. ---
**Author:** ![TheMerchandise](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b487fb/32.png) [@TheMerchandise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheMerchandise)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2012, 11:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-sept-2012-edition/633257/157 "2012-09-29T11:48:24Z")
Finished **Devil Said Bang** by Richard Kadrey, the fourth in his Sandman Slim series. These books are more style than substance, but oh! _what_ style. The plot follows James Stark (aka Sandman Slim, aka the new Lucifer) as he tries to reform hell, save the world from other dimensional beings and win the heart of a beautiful woman/monster. Fun stuff and snappy dialog. Also read **The Name of the Star** by Maureen Johnson. this book is about Rory, a girl from Louisiana spending an adventurous year at school in London. Things become just a mite too adventurous when Jack the Ripper makes a modern return and it turns out Rory can see ghosts. A book very much in the style of Meg Cabot, with a lot of teenage mundanities and just enough supernatural goings-on to keep things interesting. If you’ve ever wanted to experience an English boarding school without the pesky threat of having to take any A levels, this book is for you. ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2012, 12:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-sept-2012-edition/633257/158 "2012-09-29T12:43:45Z")
> [@TheMerchandise](#): > > Finished **Devil Said Bang** by Richard Kadrey, the fourth in his Sandman Slim series. These books are more style than substance, but oh! _what_ style. The plot follows James Stark (aka Sandman Slim, aka the new Lucifer) as he tries to reform hell, save the world from other dimensional beings and win the heart of a beautiful woman/monster. Fun stuff and snappy dialog. > > \ Yeah, I read the first two - and even though I read a lot of junk, I still have found it tough to get excited about the others… ---
**Author:** ![EvilMinion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/35a633/32.png) [@EvilMinion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EvilMinion)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2012, 1:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-sept-2012-edition/633257/159 "2012-09-29T13:00:34Z")
> [@Khadaji](#): > > Finished \*[Libriomancer](http://www.amazon.com/Libriomancer-Magic-Ex-Libris-Book/dp/0756407397/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1348705637&sr=8-1&keywords=libriomancer): (Magic Ex Libris Book 1) \*a fun new urban fantasy. That does fun! It’s going on my list. I’m reading “The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao” by Junot Diaz. I’m really enjoying it, I love the narrator’s voice. ---
**Author:** ![DZedNConfused](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dzednconfused/32/15991_2.png) [@DZedNConfused](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DZedNConfused)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2012, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-sept-2012-edition/633257/160 "2012-09-29T13:55:35Z")
Started “The Mask of Ra” by P.C.Doherty. He has a great grasp of Ancient Egypt and a way of painting the scene… we just need some actual plot here [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-sept-2012-edition/633257.md?page=7) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-readin-sept-2012-edition/633257.md?page=9)