# Whatcha reading Nov. (08) edition **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 31, 2008, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-reading-nov-08-edition/470446 "2008-10-31T16:05:48Z")\ **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:** [October 31, 2008, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-reading-nov-08-edition/470446/1 "2008-10-31T16:05:48Z")
Happy halloween! Here is the November edition of our reader’s threads. (This time I got it right, I checked!) [Traditional link to old thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=485740). I am in the middle of Sea of Trolls by Nancy Farmer. I took this off my shelf as one that I bought years ago and didn’t read. The rule is now that if I don’t read these \*this \*time, out they go. I don’t recall buying it and didn’t know it was aimed at children (I didn’t know my other book was when I bought it either.) This isn’t really a problem, I buy books for youths all the time. It was slow at first, but is picking up. I think I’m going to like it. I’m about half way through. I am 1/4 of the way through Un Lun Don. I bought it in London and had no idea it was aimed at kids. This one is either trying too hard to be silly for kids, or trying too hard to be odd for fantasy. Either way, it isn’t really working for me. As an example, the inventor who invented clothing made from popular books so you always have something to read. And there is a milk jug following the kids around. I any case, I may end up laying this one down, it just isn’t catching me. ---
**Author:** ![Walker\_in\_Eternity](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/46a35a/32.png) [@Walker\_in\_Eternity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walker_in_Eternity)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2008, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-reading-nov-08-edition/470446/2 "2008-10-31T16:16:36Z")
By Royal Command, a young bond book by Charlie Higson, it’s a book for teenagers, but it’s not bad. The Satanic Bible, by Anton La Vey, just to see what all the fuss is about. Plus some non fiction stuff for work. ---
**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:** [October 31, 2008, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-reading-nov-08-edition/470446/3 "2008-10-31T16:48:36Z")
I’m going to pick up Anathem again this month. I put it down last month after the treck to the north started. the story just kind of lost me, but I want to find out how everything ends in that world. Currently re-reading world War Z, and next on the list are The Leather Maiden by Joe Landsdale, Nation from Pterry, and To Say Nothing of the Dog from Connie Willis. It’s a good month for reading! ---
**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:** [October 31, 2008, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-reading-nov-08-edition/470446/4 "2008-10-31T17:38:08Z")
Currently reading: _The Venus Throw_, by Steven Saylor _Twilight_, by Stephenie Meyer Waiting on deck: _Cetaganda_, by Lois McMaster Bujold _Turquoise Girl_, by someone I can’t remember _The Grand Tour_, by Wrede and… my mind is a blank ---
**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:** [October 31, 2008, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-reading-nov-08-edition/470446/5 "2008-10-31T17:47:50Z")
I’m about two-thirds of the way through _The Amber Spyglass_. The pace has picked up quite a bit from the first two books, but it still hasn’t completely grabbed me. I think I’m just slightly too old for this trilogy. Interesting note: the bookmark I’m using is a bumper sticker that says “I have nothing against God, it’s his fan club I can’t stand.” Appropriate! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2008, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-reading-nov-08-edition/470446/6 "2008-10-31T18:05:31Z")
> [@SpazCat](#): > > I’m about two-thirds of the way through _The Amber Spyglass_. The pace has picked up quite a bit from the first two books, but it still hasn’t completely grabbed me. I think I’m just slightly too old for this trilogy. > > Interesting note: the bookmark I’m using is a bumper sticker that says “I have nothing against God, it’s his fan club I can’t stand.” Appropriate! 😃 I hated the trilogy. It bored the piss out of me. I’m an agnostic at best, so I had no problem with the story, I just was bored. ---
**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:** [October 31, 2008, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-reading-nov-08-edition/470446/7 "2008-10-31T18:46:36Z")
**jsgoddess** , _The Venus Throw_ is one of my least favorite in Saylor’s series, but I really liked the book that came after it. I’m almost finished with the 8th Honor Harrington book, _Echoes of Honor_. I like it better than the previous book, which went overboard with the Honor-worship. Not that people aren’t still venerating her in this book, but since everybody thinks she’s dead it seems more palatable. ---
**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:** [October 31, 2008, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-reading-nov-08-edition/470446/8 "2008-10-31T19:18:43Z")
> [@Eleanor\_of\_Aquitaine](#): > > **jsgoddess** , _The Venus Throw_ is one of my least favorite in Saylor’s series, but I really liked the book that came after it. He’s going a bit overboard with the expository dialogue (one of my biggest annoyances with the series) but the book is okay. Not great, but okay. ---
**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:** [October 31, 2008, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-reading-nov-08-edition/470446/9 "2008-10-31T19:22:14Z")
> [@Khadaji](#): > > I am 1/4 of the way through Un Lun Don. I bought it in London and had no idea it was aimed at kids. This one is either trying too hard to be silly for kids, or trying too hard to be odd for fantasy. Either way, it isn’t really working for me. As an example, the inventor who invented clothing made from popular books so you always have something to read. And there is a milk jug following the kids around. I any case, I may end up laying this one down, it just isn’t catching me. I loved Un Lun Dun. It did take me a while to get into it but I fully enjoyed it once I realized that the story wasn’t going the way I had assumed it would. (However the constant use of the word “said” drove me nuts and makes it an annoying book to read out loud.) Presently reading: _More Annotated HP Lovecraft_ _Three Musketeers_ by Alexandre Dumas(Which is much cooler than I thought it would be) _The Oxford Companion to Food_ by Alan Davidson _Toll the Hounds_ by Steven Erikson and rereading the Jean Auel series for fluff. ---
**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:** [October 31, 2008, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-reading-nov-08-edition/470446/10 "2008-10-31T19:27:55Z")
I’ve been too busy to read a word since I last posted on this topic three days ago and I’m getting seriously annoyed about it. I’m thinking of doing something crazy like waking up an hour early every day to read, only I don’t get enough sleep, either! ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2008, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-reading-nov-08-edition/470446/11 "2008-10-31T19:29:36Z")
> [@Gulo\_gulo](#): > > _Toll the Hounds_ by Steven Erikson I hope to get to that one by December. It took almost all of October to finish _The Bonehunters_. I’m reading _Reaper’s Gale_ now, and I’ve been told by the Erikson fans at SFF World to read Esslemont’s Crimson Guard book **before** reading _Toll the Hounds_. Apparently there’s stuff in the Esslemont book that’s important to the Hounds plot. Also re-reading _Dracula_ and enjoying it very much. ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2008, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-reading-nov-08-edition/470446/12 "2008-10-31T19:42:11Z")
Ok **Gulo gulo** , I’ll keep giving it a go. Maybe it will hook me. ---
**Author:** ![RikWriter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/49beb7/32.png) [@RikWriter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RikWriter)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2008, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-reading-nov-08-edition/470446/13 "2008-10-31T19:44:19Z")
Kill Bin Laden by Dalton Fury. Interesting but not particularly well-written. ---
**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:** [October 31, 2008, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-reading-nov-08-edition/470446/14 "2008-10-31T20:38:33Z")
Just finished _The Amber Spyglass_. I give it a 3 out of five. Like I said, if I had read this ten or fifteen years ago I would have been all over it, but not now. The rest of my list consists of _The Business of Fancydancing_ by Sherman Alexie _Ceremony_ by Leslie Marmon Silko _Tapping the Dream Tree_ by Charles de Lint _Hyperion_ by Friedrich Holderlin _House Corrino_ by Brian Herbert & Kevin J. Anderson ---
**Author:** ![Hazle\_Weatherfield](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Hazle\_Weatherfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hazle_Weatherfield)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2008, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-reading-nov-08-edition/470446/15 "2008-10-31T20:50:28Z")
Just finished “Are You There God, It’s Me, Chelsea?” and “Waiter Rant.” Both were tremendously entertaining. Finished “Duma Key” last week. Typical King, many chapters ending with some variation on "and it was the last time I saw/spoke to/hung out with/blah, blah, blah him/her/whatever. Started out fairly well, total shark jumpage on exactly page 445. It so sucks to get 75% of the book read and then have it suck as much as “Dreamcatchers” did from start to finish. I don’t even know why I bother with King anymore. Loved “The Stand” and most of his novellas and shorts. “On Writing” was great. Why do his editors let him do this to himself. Anyway, I’m going to try to find my copy of “The Thief of Always” or “Something Wicked This Way Comes,” to fulfill my scary reading for this evening. ---
**Author:** ![Wygtya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f08c70/32.png) [@Wygtya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wygtya)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2008, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-reading-nov-08-edition/470446/16 "2008-10-31T21:01:46Z")
Just finished Night Watch and Equal Rites and started Pyramids last night. I’m on a bit of a Pratchett kick. ---
**Author:** ![akira5822](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/53a042/32.png) [@akira5822](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/akira5822)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2008, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-reading-nov-08-edition/470446/17 "2008-10-31T21:09:57Z")
I just finished The Diamond Age by Neal Stephenson now i’m starting on Spook Country by William Gibson. ---
**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:** [October 31, 2008, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-reading-nov-08-edition/470446/18 "2008-10-31T21:15:19Z")
Wrapped up _Bid Time Return_ by Richard Matheson; you might know it by the title of the movie _Somewhere In Time_. I strongly disliked it; the protagonist was unpleasant without being interesting and Matheson’s choice of style gave me a head ache. It’s apparently diary entries except when it’s tape recorded thoughts or something else so tense and form are erratic and no one I know talks in staccato sentence fragments. Next up for me is _Doctor Rat_ by William Kotzwinkle which frankly I don’t have much hope for but then comes _Our Lady of Darkness_ by Fritz Leiber and _Gloriana_ by Michael Moorcock which I do. ---
**Author:** ![Stauderhorse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce7236/32.png) [@Stauderhorse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stauderhorse)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2008, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-reading-nov-08-edition/470446/19 "2008-10-31T21:44:18Z")
_Throwback_ by Frank Strunk. A forgettable “thriller” about a rapist/killer on the run with his girlfriend. He also manages to kidnap the protagonist’s precocious granddaughter to use as a bargaining chip. The protagonist, a lonely, borderline-suicidal mountain man, must rely on his intution and years of hard-won tracking skills to find his granddaughter. I’m already a third of the way through, and I’ve been reading it for all of an hour. Here’s a little indication of how well the book is written and how much the author makes me empathize with the characters; when the protagonist gets shot and falls off a cliff, presumably to die I simply say “Huh. Wonder when the kids’ll start coming around?” ---
**Author:** ![gallows\_fodder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8c91f0/32.png) [@gallows\_fodder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gallows_fodder)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2008, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-reading-nov-08-edition/470446/20 "2008-10-31T23:18:07Z")
Currently reading: _Dangerous Laughter_ by Stephen Millhauser _Black Swan Green_ by David Mitchell (technically, I haven’t started it yet) _The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian_ by Sherman Alexie _Joy in the Morning_ by P.G. Wodehouse > [@SpazCat](#): > > The Business of Fancydancing by Sherman Alexie Is that a book of poetry, and if so, how is it? I’ve read almost all of the prose he’s written, but have never tried his poetry. (He’s one of my Writer Crushes. _sigh_) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-reading-nov-08-edition/470446.md?page=2)