# Khadaji’s Whatcha Reading Thread - April 2023 edition **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** books-writing-myths\ **Created:** [March 29, 2023, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-april-2023-edition/981855 "2023-03-29T19:24:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**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:** [April 11, 2023, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-april-2023-edition/981855/41 "2023-04-11T13:22:04Z")
I finished [The Future is Female](https://www.amazon.com/Future-Female-Two-1970s-Publication/dp/1598537326/ref=sr_1_1?crid=RZQIO63YSOR5&keywords=the+future+is+female+book+sci+fi&qid=1681217966&sprefix=the+future+is+female+book%2Caps%2C101&sr=8-1). My favorite stories were actually two I had read before, and written by the same person (The Girl Who Was Plugged In, and The Screwfly Solution), but all of them were decent. Yesterday I read [The Thing in the Snow](https://www.amazon.com/Thing-Snow-Novel-Sean-Adams-ebook/dp/B09Y93W3TQ/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1G2TMHUH8VTD4&keywords=the+thing+in+the+snow+sean+adams&qid=1681218208&sprefix=the+thing+in+the+%2Caps%2C106&sr=8-1) by Sean Adams. It’s about a group of co-workers in an extremely remote office building, doing incredibly tedious and meaningless tasks. Because of the constant snow, they never go out. And one day they see an object out in the snow. If I tell you that this book reminded me of Waiting for Godot, maybe you’ll understand how it ends. Not recommended. Today I read almost 70 pages of [The Mostly True Story of Tanner and Louise](https://www.amazon.com/Mostly-True-Story-Tanner-Louise/dp/0593200802), by Colleen Oakley. This is not the kind of book I usually read, but I thought the characters might make it interesting (a college dropout and an elderly lady who has committed a crime, they go on the run). I doubt I will finish. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2023, 1:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-april-2023-edition/981855/42 "2023-04-11T13:27:10Z")
I just reread Elmore Leonard’s **Gold Coast**. I had read an article on Leonard’s work and Gold Coast was discussed. Realizing I’d only read it once, long ago, it was a good read. Weird ending. Feeling like short stories, I’m now rereading Elmore Leonard’s **When the Women Come Out to Dance: Stories**. A great collection of short stories. ---
**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:** [April 11, 2023, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-april-2023-edition/981855/43 "2023-04-11T21:23:35Z")
Just started _The Old Man_ by Thomas Perry, a novel about a retired CIA operative who gets dragged back into action much against his will. On the home stretch of _Children of Time_ by Adrian Tchaikovsky, a distant-future sf novel about a terraforming project gone badly, and dangerously, awry. Recently finished: _A Sea of Words: A Lexicon and Companion to the Complete Seafaring Tales of Patrick O’Brian_ by Dean King, with essays by John B. Hattendorf and J. Worth Estes. Worth a read for any O’Brian fan, although, as I wrote last month, his choice of emphasis is sometimes inexplicable. He writes two pages about a single naval battle featured in only one of the 21 books in the series, but then just a single short paragraph about HMS _Surprise_, the British frigate which is the setting of most of the books. He also doesn’t cite to the novels to explain why he’s telling us about this or that obscure thing, which I would’ve appreciated. _The Bald Eagle_ by Jack E. Davis, an interesting history of Americans’ love/hate relationship with our winged national symbol (much more love than hate these days, fortunately). I liked it, and learned quite a bit about those magnificent birds. _Sympathy for the Devil_ by Seth MacFarlane, a sf novella set in the _Orville_ universe about, in essence, what happens when you let a Holodeck raise a baby. Pretty good, despite some clunky turns of phrase. > [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > Finished _Dead Wake: The Last Crossing of the Lusitania_, by Erik Larson. Quite good, although I could probably have done without President Wilson’s courtship of Edith Galt… Did Larson include the British ambassador’s joke that got him recalled to London? ---
**Author:** ![Galactus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/galactus/32/3581_2.png) [@Galactus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Galactus)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2023, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-april-2023-edition/981855/44 "2023-04-12T02:43:16Z")
Finishing THE LAST DAYS OF NIGHT by Graham Moore. A lawyer’s tale of defending Westinghouse in his battle with Edison over electricity and the lightbulb. With a bit of Tesla to stir the pot. Next up is [PRISONERS of the CASTLE,](https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/59883560) An epic story of survival and escape from Colditz, the nazi fortress prison, by Ben Macintyre. I’ve read many WWII books, but somehow this story escaped my notice. ---
**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:** [April 12, 2023, 12:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-april-2023-edition/981855/45 "2023-04-12T12:21:54Z")
Started today on [Elsewhere](https://www.amazon.com/Elsewhere-Gabrielle-Zevin/dp/0374320918/ref=tmm_hrd_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=) by Gabrielle Zevin. This is a YA novel about a 15 year old who dies, and her experience of the afterlife, in which people become younger and younger until they are reincarnated. ---
**Author:** ![Lancia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lancia/32/17174_2.png) [@Lancia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lancia)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2023, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-april-2023-edition/981855/46 "2023-04-12T16:19:56Z")
_Last night I dreamt I went to Manderley again._ I confess I’ve never actually read this and in an attempt to become somewhat less of an uncultured lout I acquired an ancient, tattered copy and am giving it my best shot. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Borgia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/larry_borgia/32/156_2.png) [@Larry\_Borgia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Borgia)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2023, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-april-2023-edition/981855/47 "2023-04-12T16:44:11Z")
> [@zimaane](#): > > The inspiration for the film **Blade Runner**. In a post nuclear war dystopia, Rick Deckard, a police officer, is assigned to hunt down a group of androids who are posing as humans. Because the androids look and sound exactly like people, there’s a lot of musing about what is real and what is illusion The book is completely different than the movie. Only the names and the basic concept are the same I’ve been reading the Shadow and Bone series, after watching the show on Netflix. I loved the show and like the books, but boy are the books YA. So much so I almost feel like a creep reading them. ---
**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:** [April 12, 2023, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-april-2023-edition/981855/48 "2023-04-12T20:37:27Z")
Finished _The Best Crime Stories of the 19th Century_, edited by Isaac Asimov, Charles G. Waugh, and Martin H. Greenberg. My favorite (setting aside “The Red-Headed League”, which I’ve read many times before) is “The Three Strangers” by Thomas Hardy. This story raises an interesting legal question, which I’m going to start a thread about in Cafe Society. Now I’m reading _Sailor and Fiddler: Reflections of a 100-Year-Old Author_, by Herman Wouk. ---
**Author:** ![TruePisces](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/truepisces/32/13628_2.png) [@TruePisces](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruePisces)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2023, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-april-2023-edition/981855/49 "2023-04-12T20:59:03Z")
I finished reading _The Dreaming: Waking Hours_ by G Williow Wilson. I’m finishing up _Birds of Prey: The End of the Beginning_ by Sean McKeever and getting ready to start _The Raven Thief_ by Gigi Pandian, _Ace Voices_ edited by Eris Young and _The Clitoris: A Graphic Novel_ by Rikke Villadsen. ---
**Author:** ![Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulf_the_Unwashed)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2023, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-april-2023-edition/981855/50 "2023-04-13T14:41:55Z")
I finished _The Boys from Biloxi_ – John Grisham. Not one of his better ones; the plot kind of meanders, and not in a good way, and it takes quite some time to build toward real action. Two childhood friends move in very different directions, one following in his father’s footsteps to become a DA fighting corruption on Mississippi’s Gulf Coast, while the other follows in _his_ father’s footsteps to become a kingpin of that very same corruption. The relationship between the two kind of gets buried, unfortunately. Still, I enjoyed reading it. Not sure what’s next. So many library books, so little time… ---
**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:** [April 13, 2023, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-april-2023-edition/981855/51 "2023-04-13T18:52:01Z")
Finished _Sailor and Fiddler: Reflections of a 100-Year-Old Author_, by Herman Wouk, which I enjoyed. Now I’m reading _To Be Taught If Fortunate_, by Becky Chambers. ---
**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:** [April 14, 2023, 1:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-april-2023-edition/981855/52 "2023-04-14T13:13:36Z")
> [@Dung\_Beetle](#): > > Started today on [Elsewhere](https://www.amazon.com/Elsewhere-Gabrielle-Zevin/dp/0374320918/ref=tmm_hrd_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=) by Gabrielle Zevin. Ditched. I’ve been on quite a streak lately! ---
**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:** [April 14, 2023, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-april-2023-edition/981855/53 "2023-04-14T14:47:05Z")
Finished _To Be Taught, If Fortunate_, by Becky Chambers, which I enjoyed. Now I’m reading _The Optimist’s Daughter_, by Eudora Welty. ---
**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:** [April 14, 2023, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-april-2023-edition/981855/54 "2023-04-14T20:43:51Z")
I started _Infomocracy_ by Malka Ann Older today. Interesting premise so far, itstead of voting for people you vote for ideas. I’m sure it’s all going to go horribly wrong, but so far it’s interesting. ---
**Author:** ![SCAdian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scadian/32/3292_2.png) [@SCAdian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SCAdian)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2023, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-april-2023-edition/981855/55 "2023-04-15T22:14:04Z")
Finished _The Journey of Man_, by Spencer Wells. Started _The Intimate Bond: How Animals Shaped Human History_, by Brian Fagan. Also reading “True Faith and Allegiance”, by Michael Gants, in _Voices of the Fall_, edited by John Ringo and Gary Poole. The book is a collection of zombie-apocalypse stories, which I normally don’t like, but Gants is a former bubblehead and his story is set on USS _Key West_ (SSN 722) Next up: _The Great Journey: The Peopling of Ancient America_, by Brian M Fagan ---
**Author:** ![SCAdian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scadian/32/3292_2.png) [@SCAdian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SCAdian)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2023, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-april-2023-edition/981855/56 "2023-04-15T22:14:29Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > Just started _The Old Man_ by Thomas Perry, a novel about a retired CIA operative who gets dragged back into action much against his will. Excellent book! ---
**Author:** ![TruePisces](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/truepisces/32/13628_2.png) [@TruePisces](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruePisces)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2023, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-april-2023-edition/981855/57 "2023-04-16T01:56:37Z")
I just finished _The Panic_ by Neik Kleid and Andrea Mutti. All I can say is… wow. It’s not about 9/11, but it very much reminds me of how bad it could have been. Taking place present day, 10 strangers are the only ones left alive after some unknown apocalypse crashes the PATH train they were on. It’s a very diverse group with a lot of tension and setting how those differing views and differing viewpoints cause people to act is what the story is really about. I’m so glad I picked this up. Not sure which book will be next, but I’ve got plenty to choose from. ---
**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:** [April 16, 2023, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-april-2023-edition/981855/58 "2023-04-16T02:54:54Z")
> [@SCAdian](#): > > > [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > > > Just started _The Old Man_ by Thomas Perry, a novel about a retired CIA operative who gets dragged back into action much against his will. > > Excellent book! I have to admit, I’m underwhelmed so far (about a third of the way in), but I’m sticking with it. ---
**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:** [April 16, 2023, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-april-2023-edition/981855/59 "2023-04-16T19:58:56Z")
Finished _The Optimist’s Daughter_, by Eudora Welty, which was okay. Now I’m reading _When Bad Things Happen to Good People_, by Harold S. Kushner ---
**Author:** ![TruePisces](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/truepisces/32/13628_2.png) [@TruePisces](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruePisces)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2023, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-april-2023-edition/981855/60 "2023-04-17T01:26:03Z")
I knocked out two graphic novels today: _Murder Inc: Valentine’s Trust_ by Brian Michael Bendis, Michael Avon Oeming and Taki Soma, and _DC vs Vampires, vol 1_ by James Tynion IV, Matthew Rosenberg and Otto Schmidt. I’ve started reading _Nightmare Country_ by James Tynion IV, with art by Lisandro Estherren, Patricio Delpeche, Maria Llovet, Yanick Paquette, Andrea Sorrentino, Francesco Francavilla, Dani and Aaron Campbell. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-april-2023-edition/981855.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-april-2023-edition/981855.md?page=4)