# Whatcha reading Oct. (08) edition **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 30, 2008, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-reading-oct-08-edition/465904 "2008-09-30T19:40:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2008, 12:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-reading-oct-08-edition/465904/41 "2008-10-07T12:52:42Z")
> [@Walpurgis](#): > > Also reading _Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World_ by Haruki Murakami, and am a little disappointed. I loved _Kafka on the Shore_, and was expecting to be eaten alive by the story in much the same way. It hasn’t happened yet. I’m still waiting to be swept off my feet. Don’t give up, \*\*Wal \*\*- lordy I LOVE that book. Murakami is a top-3 author for me - he has 3 books similar in feel: A Wild Sheep Chase, Hard Boiled and Kafka - although they were written years apart with other books in between. They, IMHO are best read in that order given his progression as a writer, but that is hard to control if you stumble across a book and like it. Give it time - and if you can, read his collection of short stories, The Elephant Vanishes. Much Murakami goodness. I just finished **Backstage Passes and Back-Stabbing Bastards by Al Kooper**. He played the organ part on Dylan’s Like a Rolling Stone - with a legendary story behind that how, not playing the organ, he talked his way into the session. He was EVERYWHERE back then - he played when Dylan went electric at Newport; he produced Lynyrd Skynyrd, played with Hendrix and was given a guitar by him, started the band Blood, Sweat and Tears and was working with George Harrison the day Lennon got shot. He shares all this with a “jeez, there I was” self-deprecating kind of humor and he touches on a lot of the more colorful aspects of 60’s and 70’s life, including drugs and sex…and you get an overview of the history of pop music from the 50’s through today from one person’s perspective - entirely worth the read. I also just finished **Born Standing Up by Steve Martin**. It isn’t an autobiography, because it doesn’t cover everything. The central theme is how he came to be a stand up comedian, how he came up with his unique style and perfected it and why he ended up walking away. It is similar in intent to Dylan’s Chronicles Volume 1 which is essentially about how Dylan found his voice - but Martin’s book is shorter, references a lot of his famous material and is written in a much more clear, linear style. Superfast and very, very insightful - Martin clearly dug deep into himself to create his comedy but was fully aware the entire time, so can articulate the experience. He touches on his relationship with his father as the central pain that fueled his desire to succeed and provides real insight as to how that played out - and somewhat resolved. Again, entirely worth reading… ---
**Author:** ![Sigmagirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c89c15/32.png) [@Sigmagirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigmagirl)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2008, 1:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-reading-oct-08-edition/465904/42 "2008-10-07T13:00:46Z")
Just started \*Not in the Flesh \*by Ruth Rendell. ---
**Author:** ![koeeoaddi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/koeeoaddi/32/408_2.png) [@koeeoaddi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/koeeoaddi)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2008, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-reading-oct-08-edition/465904/43 "2008-10-07T20:28:11Z")
> [@AuntiePam](#): > > 😃 So glad you liked it. I was nauseated at the end, and not because of blood and gore. I felt gutshot. > > Was this your first Shepard? He’s usually easier to handle. It’s my first Shepard novel, **AuntiePam** and ‘gutshot’ is a perfect way to put it. Speaking of gutshot, now I’m reading _Going After Cacciato_, by Tim O’Brien. Excellent. Maybe even better than _The Things They Carried_. ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2008, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-reading-oct-08-edition/465904/44 "2008-10-07T20:30:31Z")
> [@koeeoaddi](#): > > Speaking of gutshot, now I’m reading _Going After Cacciato_, by Tim O’Brien. Excellent. Maybe even better than \The Things They Carried\. oooo - good stuff. If that freezes your blood, try reading **In the Lake of the Woods** by O’Brien. Amazing. ---
**Author:** ![Sublata](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/7cd45c/32.png) [@Sublata](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sublata)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2008, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-reading-oct-08-edition/465904/45 "2008-10-07T21:22:56Z")
Just finished _Bad Land: An American Romance_ by Jonathan Raban, nonfiction dealing with the early 19th-century experiment in farming the high plains of Montana. Good enough to make me overlook the annoying way he handles dialogue. Just abandoned half-way through _Only a Few Bones: A True Account of the Rolling Fork Tragedy & Its Aftermath_ by John Philip Colletta. Author tries too hard to bring story to life, ends up distracting reader with overly modified prose. ---
**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 8, 2008, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-reading-oct-08-edition/465904/46 "2008-10-08T01:55:59Z")
I finished _Lolita_ the other day. Out of the three Nabokov novels I’ve started, this is the only one I’ve finished. I’m not sure what to think of that. ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2008, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-reading-oct-08-edition/465904/47 "2008-10-08T01:59:39Z")
I’m 83 pages into Darkly Dreaming Dexter. ---
**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:** [October 8, 2008, 4:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-reading-oct-08-edition/465904/48 "2008-10-08T04:32:02Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > The book was pretty good, and I liked it more than most Crichton. It’s essentially a retelling of “Beowulf”, although with lots of odd twists. You could make an interesting movie night out of the three recent versions of Beowulf and The 13th Warrior. I finished Michael Crichton’s _The 13th Warrior_, previously known as _Eaters of the Dead_. Very good, and you’re right, it’s a retelling of _Beowulf_. In particular, Crichton tried to tell the actual events that may have led eventually to the _Beowulf_ legend, as viewed by an outsider, Ibn Fadlan, a real-life Arab who in the 10th century AD really did travel to Scandinavia and write about the Vikings he encountered. Today, I begin reading John Burdett’s _Bangkok Haunts_, the third in a truly excellent series featuring Bangkok policeman Sonchai Jitpleecheep, who is the product of an affair between a Vietnam War-era US soldier and a Thai prostitute. John Burdett and his creation, Sonchai Jitpleecheep, are firmly up there with Tony Hillerman and HIS creation, Navajo policeman Joe Leaphorn. ---
**Author:** ![Idle\_Thoughts](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/838e76/32.png) [@Idle\_Thoughts](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Idle_Thoughts)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2008, 5:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-reading-oct-08-edition/465904/49 "2008-10-08T05:39:30Z")
Jonathan Kellerman’s _The Web_ and Harlan Coben’s _The Woods_. ---
**Author:** ![Cunctator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/43a26b/32.png) [@Cunctator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cunctator)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2008, 5:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-reading-oct-08-edition/465904/50 "2008-10-08T05:48:49Z")
[A Daughter’s Love,](http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/reviews/a-daughters-love-by-john-guy-870369.html) by John Guy, which details the relationship between Saint Thomas More and his eldest daughter Margaret. ---
**Author:** ![DataZak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ea666f/32.png) [@DataZak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DataZak)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2008, 7:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-reading-oct-08-edition/465904/51 "2008-10-08T07:02:30Z")
_Dear Fatty_, the autobiography of British comedy actress, Dawn French. ---
**Author:** ![kitefox](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/a587f6/32.png) [@kitefox](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kitefox)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2008, 8:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-reading-oct-08-edition/465904/52 "2008-10-08T08:14:19Z")
_The Wounded Land_ by Stephen R. Donaldson. ---
**Author:** ![Oswald\_Bastable](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/oswald_bastable/32/214_2.png) [@Oswald\_Bastable](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oswald_Bastable)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2008, 10:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-reading-oct-08-edition/465904/53 "2008-10-08T10:27:44Z")
Well, look at me reading early 20th Century heroic fiction… I’m reading _King Kull_ by Robert E Howard. I haven’t read this kind of straight fantasy since my teens, so it’s, um, interesting - I keep reading irony where there probably isn’t any. OB ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2008, 11:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-reading-oct-08-edition/465904/54 "2008-10-08T11:55:31Z")
> [@blondebear](#): > > I’m 83 pages into Darkly Dreaming Dexter. I enjoyed the first two, but I’ll warn you away from the 3rd. It put me off the Dexter series. Skip it and see if the forth (when it comes out) is any good. ---
**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 8, 2008, 12:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-reading-oct-08-edition/465904/55 "2008-10-08T12:32:25Z")
Last night I started on Trespassers Will Be Baptized : the unordained memoir of a preacher’s daughter, by Elizabeth Emerson Hancock. It’s light and mildly amusing, which is about what I’m looking for at the moment. I was raised Southern Baptist, so it rings true to me. Although I’m now an atheist who gets easily irritated in discussions of religion, and the author of this book still seems to be a believer, I’m not finding it a problem. I don’t think there’s anything here that would upset anyone on either side of the fence. ---
**Author:** ![TheMerchandise](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b487fb/32.png) [@TheMerchandise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheMerchandise)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2008, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-reading-oct-08-edition/465904/56 "2008-10-08T13:14:41Z")
> [@Sublata](#): > > Just finished _Bad Land: An American Romance_ by Jonathan Raban, nonfiction dealing with the early 19th-century experiment in farming the high plains of Montana. Good enough to make me overlook the annoying way he handles dialogue. I read this last month. Do you have a Montana connection? That’s why I picked it up; most of my family is still there. It was interesting to hear locations and towns that I know so well described by someone so alien to the place. Reading _The Name of the Wind_ now and enjoying it so far. I know many people on the board have read it, so here’s my question: Does the entire book take place in flashback? Or will they switch back and forth between the present time and Kvothe’s story? ---
**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 8, 2008, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-reading-oct-08-edition/465904/57 "2008-10-08T14:01:41Z")
I read Naomi Novik’s newest book in the Temeraire series, _Victory of Eagles_, where Napoleon invades England. It was good, but terribly depressing. These have been getting darker, and this one was really a downer, with hardly any of the ususal humor. I’ve caught up to the author now, so it will be a year before I find out of poor Laurence gets any relief. I’ve started _The Time Traveler’s Wife_. At 100 pages in I’m fascinated. I only hope she doesn’t continue with the pitiful attempts to explain the time travel as some sort of genetic anomaly. ---
**Author:** ![Sublata](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/7cd45c/32.png) [@Sublata](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sublata)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2008, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-reading-oct-08-edition/465904/58 "2008-10-08T14:12:06Z")
> [@TheMerchandise](#): > > I read this last month. Do you have a Montana connection? That’s why I picked it up; most of my family is still there. It was interesting to hear locations and towns that I know so well described by someone so alien to the place. No, no Montana connection, just a grandparents-were-poor-farmers connection. 🙂 Still, Raban is such a good writer that he had me fascinated by people I had never heard of and places I have never seen and probably never will. I think I picked up _Bad Land_ because of its subject-matter relation to Timothy Egan’s _The Worst Hard Time_, which had impressed me so much. ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2008, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-reading-oct-08-edition/465904/59 "2008-10-08T14:55:10Z")
> [@TheMerchandise](#): > > Reading _The Name of the Wind_ now and enjoying it so far. I know many people on the board have read it, so here’s my question: Does the entire book take place in flashback? Or will they switch back and forth between the present time and Kvothe’s story? It’s been awhile since I read it, but I’m pretty sure it’s 99% flashback. That worked for me – gave it a storyteller feel. The next one’s due out next April, I think. ---
**Author:** ![koeeoaddi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/koeeoaddi/32/408_2.png) [@koeeoaddi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/koeeoaddi)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2008, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-reading-oct-08-edition/465904/60 "2008-10-08T21:16:55Z")
> [@WordMan](#): > > oooo - good stuff. If that freezes your blood, try reading **In the Lake of the Woods** by O’Brien. Amazing. I read it years ago and it _still_ creeps me out. In fact, IIRC, it took several months for my blood to completely thaw. Has this guy written a bad book? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-reading-oct-08-edition/465904.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatcha-reading-oct-08-edition/465904.md?page=4)