# Khadaji’s Whatcha Reading Thread - April 2021 edition
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-april-2021-edition/939109
**Category:** Cafe Society
**Tags:** books-writing-myths
**Created:** [March 31, 2021, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-april-2021-edition/939109 "2021-03-31T19:39:54Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 3
### Author:  [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)
#### Post date: [April 12, 2021, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-april-2021-edition/939109/41 "2021-04-12T20:02:10Z")
Finished: Later by Stephen King ← recommended!
Reading: Slaughterhouse Five by Kurt Vonnegut
Next up: Forever War by Joe Haldeman
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### Author:  [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)
#### Post date: [April 12, 2021, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-april-2021-edition/939109/42 "2021-04-12T20:07:06Z")
Ah! _The Forever War_ is one of my all-time favorite works of military sf, and likewise of Haldeman’s. If you love or even like it, I hope you’ll also check out the title short story from his _A Separate War and Other Stories_ (2006), which focuses on another key character during and after the events covered in the novel. An excellent followup.
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### Author:  [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)
#### Post date: [April 12, 2021, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-april-2021-edition/939109/43 "2021-04-12T21:00:33Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#):
>
> Ah! _The Forever War_ is one of my all-time favorite works of military sf, and likewise of Haldeman’s. If you love or even like it,
I’ll try to remember. It and Slaughterhouse Five have been on my reading list for a long time. I find I am really enjoying Slaughterhouse Five. It’s inspired me to go try to learn more about the Dresden massacre/bombing. I don’t think I understood its scope until Vonnegut wrote about what it was like to come out of his prison camp and see the silence and destruction.
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### Author:  [@DZedNConfused](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DZedNConfused)
#### Post date: [April 13, 2021, 6:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-april-2021-edition/939109/44 "2021-04-13T06:23:05Z")
I never do… mind that is.
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### Author:  [@zimaane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zimaane)
#### Post date: [April 13, 2021, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-april-2021-edition/939109/45 "2021-04-13T15:56:43Z")
You are welcome. If you are at all interested in nature/travel/science I would encourage you to check out the book.
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### Author:  [@Misnomer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Misnomer)
#### Post date: [April 13, 2021, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-april-2021-edition/939109/46 "2021-04-13T19:16:52Z")
I seem to have abandoned Goodreads. After joining in 2008 and adding _hundreds_ of books, a few months ago I suddenly stopped caring about keeping it updated (and, in fact, forgot about it entirely for a while). I’ve lost track of it before, but always eventually caught up…this time, though, I have zero motivation to return. Ah, well; it was a good run. Anyway, I miss seeing what others are reading and getting recommendations, and I finally remembered to find/post in this thread! 🙂
The last book I finished was _[Troubled Blood](https://www.amazon.com/Troubled-Blood-Cormoran-Strike-Novel/dp/0316498955/)_, by Robert Galbraith (J.K. Rowling’s alter ego). It’s #5 in the Cormoran Strike series, which I really enjoy. A couple of months ago I found the UK television show _C.B. Strike_ (on HBO), which led me to discover that there was a new-to-me Strike book. Yay!
I’m currently reading [_ **This Is The Voice** _](https://www.amazon.com/This-Voice-John-Colapinto/dp/1982128747/), by John Colapinto. I’m usually not much for nonfiction, but I saw this book reviewed somewhere and decided it was worth downloading a sample to my Kindle. I’m maybe 20% in, but really enjoying it so far. The book opens with a narrative of the author’s troubles with his singing voice (which resonated with me, a singer), but it’s really about _all_ of our vocalizations and how the use of our voices sets humans apart. The content on babies and how speech develops is interesting – as is his disagreement with Noam Chomsky in some areas. I give a lot of credit to the author for his style: in the hands of a lesser writer, the subject matter could be pretty dry.
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### Author:  [@Dendarii\_Dame](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dendarii_Dame)
#### Post date: [April 14, 2021, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-april-2021-edition/939109/47 "2021-04-14T22:57:50Z")
Finished _Tropic of Stupid_ , by Tim Dorsey, which was okay.
Now I’m reading _Mad’s Greatest Writers: Frank Jacobs, Five Decades of His Greatest Works._ It’s been on my TBR shelf for months, and I’m picking it up after seeing his obituary the other day.
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### Author:  [@SCAdian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SCAdian)
#### Post date: [April 15, 2021, 3:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-april-2021-edition/939109/48 "2021-04-15T03:40:54Z")
Finished: _Second Chance Bird_, by Garrett W Vance
Now reading: _1635: The Eastern Front_, by Eric Flint (reread)
Next up: _The Battle for Newfoundland_, by Herb Sakalaucks
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### Author:  [@Dendarii\_Dame](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dendarii_Dame)
#### Post date: [April 16, 2021, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-april-2021-edition/939109/49 "2021-04-16T14:15:27Z")
Finished _Mad’s Greatest Writers: Frank Jacobs, Five Decades of His Greatest Works._ My favorite was the “All-Purpose Country-Western Song”.
Now I’m reading _Here and Now and Then_ by Mike Chen. It’s a science fiction novel.
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### Author:  [@Railer13](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Railer13)
#### Post date: [April 16, 2021, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-april-2021-edition/939109/50 "2021-04-16T15:01:57Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#):
>
> Finished: Later by Stephen King ← recommended!
I also just finished _Later_. Highly recommended!
It’s a vintage King book, in that it’s interesting and entertaining from the start, but when you get to the last 25% of the story, you will not put it down until you’re finished.
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### Author:  [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)
#### Post date: [April 16, 2021, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-april-2021-edition/939109/51 "2021-04-16T16:17:59Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#):
>
> Still enjoying O’Brian’s _The Nutmeg of Consolation_. The frigate _Surprise_ has just left a Polynesian island, the native tribe of which was devastated by smallpox.
> …
> I’ve now begun _The Answer Is…_ by Alex Trebek - not an autobiography, as such, but a collection of vignettes from his life and career. An easy read, and some nice photos, too.
Finished both. _Nutmeg_ is the usual great O’Brian sea adventure, although it ends with an extended visit to dusty, hot, squalid, violent Sydney, Australia c. 1813.
Trebek’s book is low-key and quietly charming - you can almost imagine him telling you these stories over coffee. My favorite line: Trebek joked that _Jeopardy!_ announcer Johnny Gilbert has been in the profession so long, he was the first to make the introduction, “Ladies and gentlemen, the President of the United States… Abraham Lincoln.”
Just started Ernest Hemingway’s _For Whom the Bell Tolls_, the first time I’ve read it, and the first Hemingway my book club has ever read. So far it isn’t wowing me, but I’ll keep going.
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### Author:  [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)
#### Post date: [April 16, 2021, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-april-2021-edition/939109/52 "2021-04-16T16:57:10Z")
> [@Railer13](#):
>
> It’s a vintage King book, in that it’s interesting and entertaining from the start, but when you get to the last 25% of the story, you will not put it down until you’re finished.
It did feel very vintage, like he wrote it in the mid-80’s. I loved it.
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### Author:  [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)
#### Post date: [April 16, 2021, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-april-2021-edition/939109/53 "2021-04-16T16:58:07Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#):
>
> I find I am really enjoying Slaughterhouse Five.
I finished this book today and liked it quite a bit. A great short novel.
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### Author:  [@Railer13](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Railer13)
#### Post date: [April 16, 2021, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-april-2021-edition/939109/54 "2021-04-16T18:03:49Z")
Based on a recommendation from a friend who’s an avid reader, I just started _Edge of Evil_ by J.A. Jance. I’ve not read any of her works, but I like it thus far.
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### Author:  [@Boycott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boycott)
#### Post date: [April 17, 2021, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-april-2021-edition/939109/55 "2021-04-17T21:28:19Z")
Finished Fatherland by Robert Harris today. Thanks to the fellow member who recommended it. Really good alternate history book which had a strong ending to conclude the thrilling plot - something that the book I read last month of a similar theme, The Seventh Secret, was let down by.
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### Author:  [@SCAdian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SCAdian)
#### Post date: [April 18, 2021, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-april-2021-edition/939109/56 "2021-04-18T03:13:47Z")
Finished: _1635: The Eastern Front_, by Eric Flint (reread)
Now reading: _The Battle for Newfoundland_, by Herb Sakalaucks
Next up: _1636: The Saxon Uprising_, by Eric Flint (reread)
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### Author:  [@Dendarii\_Dame](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dendarii_Dame)
#### Post date: [April 18, 2021, 12:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-april-2021-edition/939109/57 "2021-04-18T12:34:08Z")
Finished _Here and Now and Then_ by Mike Chen. Meh.
Now I’m reading _Unbowed: A Memoir_, by Wangari Maathai. She won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2004.
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### Author:  [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)
#### Post date: [April 18, 2021, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-april-2021-edition/939109/58 "2021-04-18T16:36:31Z")
> [@Boycott](#):
>
> Finished Fatherland by Robert Harris today. Thanks to the fellow member who recommended it. Really good alternate history book which had a strong ending to conclude the thrilling plot - something that the book I read last month of a similar theme, The Seventh Secret, was let down by.
Might’ve been me. _Fatherland_ is one of my favorite alt-hist books, and I know I’ve mentioned it in these threads before: well-written, plausible, detailed, clever and deeply chilling. And I agree - it’s got a great ending.
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### Author:  [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)
#### Post date: [April 18, 2021, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-april-2021-edition/939109/59 "2021-04-18T17:47:35Z")
Finally finished Clive Leatherdale’s **Dracula Unearthed**. Of the annotated editions of Dracula that I’ve read (his is the fifth), it’s easily the most heavily footnoted, and it took forever to read, even though it’s “only” 500 pages long.
Yesterday I picked up a copy of a book I’ve long wanted to read, but had never before seen – Tom Standage’s **The Victorian Internet** , a history of the telegraph and how it essentially created cyberspace, with all its attendant features and woes. Some of the stories are hilarious (such as the one about someone sending a live cat through a pneumatic mail-delivery system), but more interesting to me was the difficulty Morse had in getting his system accepted – it was a long time between his bringing the idea up to the US government and “What hath God wrought”. And even longer after that until the telegraph was really accepted. Charles Wheatstone and William Cooke in England had similar difficulties with their competing system.
Well worth the read, and I’m almost finished with it already.
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### Author:  [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)
#### Post date: [April 18, 2021, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-april-2021-edition/939109/60 "2021-04-18T18:55:03Z")
> [@Boycott](#):
>
> Finished Fatherland by Robert Harris today. Thanks to the fellow member who recommended it. Really good alternate history book which had a strong ending to conclude the thrilling plot - something that the book I read last month of a similar theme, The Seventh Secret, was let down by.
I’ve made this recommendation before; if you liked _Fatherland_, you might like _Resurrection Day_ by Brendan DuBois. It’s another AH political/crime thriller.
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