# Whatcha reading Jan. (09) edition **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 31, 2008, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-reading-jan-09-edition/479409 "2008-12-31T21:57:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2008, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-reading-jan-09-edition/479409/1 "2008-12-31T21:57:16Z")
Happy New Years all! May your year be filled with good food, good fortune and good reads! I have not picked out my next book yet, so I have nothing to report, but I’m sure I’ll get one going soon. [Link](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=495324&page=4#post10636029) to last year’s last thread. ---
**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:** [December 31, 2008, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-reading-jan-09-edition/479409/2 "2008-12-31T22:05:28Z")
I’ve gone back to The Year’s Best Fantasy and Horror 2008/21st annual collection, edited by Ellen Datlow, which I was forced to lay aside for a while to catch up with library deadlines on other stuff. As always, when it is good, it is very very good, and when it is bad it is horrid. I am skipping over some stories without a smidge of guilt (ha ha, Joyce Carol Oates!), but the one I read last night was wonderful: The Merchant and the Alchemist’s Gate, by Ted Chiang. ---
**Author:** ![Frostillicus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Frostillicus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frostillicus)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2009, 4:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-reading-jan-09-edition/479409/3 "2009-01-01T04:03:32Z")
\*\*Traitor to His Class \*\*by HW Brands, a biography of FDR that is especially interesting considering the current times in which we live. ---
**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:** [January 1, 2009, 4:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-reading-jan-09-edition/479409/4 "2009-01-01T04:27:58Z")
Just finished John Scalzi’s _Old Man’s War_, a military scifi novel that I highly recommend. I started a thread about it (open spoilers): [John Scalzi's "Old Man's War" (open spoilers) - Cafe Society - Straight Dope Message Board](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=499776) ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2009, 4:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-reading-jan-09-edition/479409/5 "2009-01-01T04:44:33Z")
Flashman and the Tiger, inspired to read the George McDonald Fraser series again from a post on the 'Dope. ---
**Author:** ![schnuckiputzi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecb155/32.png) [@schnuckiputzi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/schnuckiputzi)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2009, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-reading-jan-09-edition/479409/6 "2009-01-01T18:34:25Z")
Does post-Christmas count? My MIL gave me the first seven books of Sookie Stackhouse novels, and I devoured them greedily. Then I just finished The Sunne in Splendour. Ack. Please tell me, are all her novels so depressing? I spent the first few chapters trying to peel my brain out of George R. R. Martin’s Sword of Fire and Ice books and get it in the real world. Does anyone else think Ned in both books is the same character??? ---
**Author:** ![SuntanTigerTamer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e5b9ba/32.png) [@SuntanTigerTamer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SuntanTigerTamer)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2009, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-reading-jan-09-edition/479409/7 "2009-01-01T19:39:00Z")
I am currently reading The Proffessor and The Madman by Simon Winchester. Great book, but it seems like the author really had to reach to explain/justify Dr Minor’s mania. I have Notes on Blood Meridian, Knockemstiff, and To Say Nothing Of The Dog on deck. Can’t wait… ---
**Author:** ![uncle\_squeegee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/b5e925/32.png) [@uncle\_squeegee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/uncle_squeegee)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2009, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-reading-jan-09-edition/479409/8 "2009-01-01T20:08:33Z")
Started _[Godel, Escher, Bach](http://www.amazon.com/Godel-Escher-Bach-Eternal-Golden/dp/0394745027/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1228185409&sr=1-2)_ by Douglas Hofstader, like I’d hoped to do when I posted last month. (\*[Infinite Jest](http://www.amazon.com/Infinite-Jest-David-Foster-Wallace/dp/0316066524/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1228185363&sr=1-1) \* is setting on the nightstand, waiting to be cracked) and working my way through _[Jimmy Corrigan: The Smartest Kid on Earth](http://www.amazon.com/Jimmy-Corrigan-Smartest-Kid-Earth/dp/0224063979/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1230840232&sr=1-1)_ by Chris Ware. Just finished _[The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle](http://www.amazon.com/Wind-Up-Bird-Chronicle-Novel/dp/0679775439/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1230840019&sr=8-1)_ by Haruki Murakami and _[Stumbling on Happiness](http://www.amazon.com/Stumbling-Happiness-Daniel-Gilbert/dp/1400077427/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1230840125&sr=1-1)_ by Daniel Gilbert (the latter was for my book club). ---
**Author:** ![nivlac](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/3bc359/32.png) [@nivlac](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nivlac)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2009, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-reading-jan-09-edition/479409/9 "2009-01-01T20:09:51Z")
_Is This a Great Game, or What?_ by Tim Kurkjian. It was a gift since people know I’m a big baseball nut. I would rate the book above average, but not as good as I had expected. I guess there aren’t too many George Wills out there who know baseball and can also write. ---
**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:** [January 1, 2009, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-reading-jan-09-edition/479409/10 "2009-01-01T20:10:44Z")
> [@schnuckiputzi](#): > > Does post-Christmas count? My MIL gave me the first seven books of Sookie Stackhouse novels, and I devoured them greedily. Then I just finished The Sunne in Splendour. Ack. Please tell me, are all her novels so depressing? I spent the first few chapters trying to peel my brain out of George R. R. Martin’s Sword of Fire and Ice books and get it in the real world. Does anyone else think Ned in both books is the same character??? If you think \*Sunne \*was depressing, you should try her Welsh trilogy. It all seems so futile when you know that the English are going to win in the end. Although on her website Penn says that _Here Be Dragons_, the first in that series, is her favorite of her own books because there are actually some characters left alive at the end. And _A Game of Thrones_ clearly borrows from the story of Edward IV and Richard III. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Some\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ad7895/32.png) [@Just\_Some\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Some_Guy)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2009, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-reading-jan-09-edition/479409/11 "2009-01-01T21:25:58Z")
I am slowly working my way through _Little, Big_ mainly hindered by the dense prose and the fact that I’ve had to run around any take care of everyone else for the past week. So far it’s cute but it hasn’t hooked me. Next books in my pile are _Nifft the Lean_ and _The Dragon Waiting_ both of which sounded fairly interesting to me so I’ve got high hopes. ---
**Author:** ![susan\_foster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d9b06d/32.png) [@susan\_foster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan_foster)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2009, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-reading-jan-09-edition/479409/12 "2009-01-01T22:22:33Z")
I’m trying to work my way through my massive collection of unread books. Right now I’m reading a compilation of **Frankenstein/Dracula/Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde**. On Frankenstein right now, and am enjoying it. ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2009, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-reading-jan-09-edition/479409/13 "2009-01-02T01:33:34Z")
Today I finished _Dissolution_ by CJ Sansom, a mystery set during the Reformation and the dissolution of the monasteries in England. Very good. I also just finished _Bastard of Istanbul_ by Elif Shafak. That was a hard book to pin down, but it eventually turned into something well worth reading. I picked it up as part of the around the world reading challenge. I just started _Burnt Offerings_ by Robert Marasco. I asked on Goodreads for a book that might be scary without being gross. Other suggestions always welcome. And am still reading _Help the Poor Struggler_ in my quest to reread all of the Martha Grimes I have before setting off to finish the Jury series. On deck is _The Eight_ and _The Far Pavilions_. ---
**Author:** ![Catamount](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/catamount/32/2840_2.png) [@Catamount](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Catamount)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2009, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-reading-jan-09-edition/479409/14 "2009-01-02T02:10:59Z")
I’m rereading _Children of Dune_ and _The Letters of Abelard and Heloise_. I’ve got _The Baker’s Boy_ by J.V. Jones out in my car, but it’s dark out there and bears have been seen in the area so there it shall sit. I’m forcing myself to finish _How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents_ as well. Yeah, that one’s not returning to the bookshelf. ---
**Author:** ![Alpine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alpine/32/17813_2.png) [@Alpine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alpine)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2009, 3:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-reading-jan-09-edition/479409/15 "2009-01-02T03:29:12Z")
Started **The Wordy Shipmates** , by Sarah Vowell today. She makes history fun and interesting to me. I’ve either read, or listened to her read, her previous books. I’m planning to reread the short stories & novelette in Connie Willis’ **The Winds of Marble Arch** this weekend. ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2009, 4:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-reading-jan-09-edition/479409/16 "2009-01-02T04:13:23Z")
> [@Alpine](#): > > Started **The Wordy Shipmates** , by Sarah Vowell today. I just put that on hold. I’ve been meaning to read it. I’ve also put all these books on hold at my library: _All the President’s Men_ _Dark Fire_, by CJ Sansom _The devil you know_, by Mike Carey _The mill on the Floss_, by George Eliot _The pillars of the earth_, by Ken Follett _The years of rice and salt_, Kim Stanley Robinson ---
**Author:** ![Roderick\_Femm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/roderick_femm/32/14875_2.png) [@Roderick\_Femm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roderick_Femm)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2009, 4:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-reading-jan-09-edition/479409/17 "2009-01-02T04:23:28Z")
I recently started re-reading _The Man Who Laughs_ by Victor Hugo (it’s been over 30 years since the last time). I swear the man must have been paid by the word. But I still love it, once it gets going. The title character is a man who has been surgically altered when a child to become someone’s jester or something, by a heartless band of “comprachicos”, so that he always has a wide grin on his face (think Jack Nicholson as the Joker, but the face always looks genuinely amused). Unlike the Joker, this boy becomes a man of character and heart. I remember the climactic scene as heartbreaking and uplifting at the same time. I hope I’m right. Roddy ---
**Author:** ![valleyofthedolls](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/a4c791/32.png) [@valleyofthedolls](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/valleyofthedolls)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2009, 8:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-reading-jan-09-edition/479409/18 "2009-01-02T08:07:36Z")
I’m reading 2666 by Roberto Bolano. Once that’s done, I want to read: The Ten Cent Plague by David Hajdu The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery Netherland by Joseph O’Neil. And I’m stoked because I just read that the transation of Les Bienveillantes by Jonathan Littel is coming out in March. ---
**Author:** ![Hunter\_Hawk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/50afbb/32.png) [@Hunter\_Hawk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hunter_Hawk)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2009, 8:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-reading-jan-09-edition/479409/19 "2009-01-02T08:18:18Z")
I just started _[Martian Quest: The Early Brackett](http://www.haffnerpress.com/1893887111.html)_. ---
**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:** [January 2, 2009, 12:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-reading-jan-09-edition/479409/20 "2009-01-02T12:58:13Z")
I’m also re-reading Stephen King’s The Shining for a book discussion at Goodreads. The Shining is my all-time favorite of his and I wanted to read it again anyway because I may get to visit the Stanley Hotel next month. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-reading-jan-09-edition/479409.md?page=2)