# 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:** 4
**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 17, 2023, 1:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-april-2023-edition/981855/61 "2023-04-17T13:01:32Z")
Started today on [The Strange](https://www.amazon.com/Strange-Nathan-Ballingrud/dp/1534449957/ref=sr_1_1?crid=3J9N4I8CBLQVN&keywords=the+strange+nathan+ballingrud&qid=1681736079&sprefix=the+strange+%2Caps%2C144&sr=8-1), by Nathan Ballingrud. It’s a science fiction novel that reads like a western, about a young girl on Mars tracking the people who robbed her family business. ---
**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 17, 2023, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-april-2023-edition/981855/62 "2023-04-17T18:13:56Z")
> [@Lancia](#): > > _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. I enjoyed _Rebecca_ very much, and once you’ve finished it, recommend Du Maurier’s _The_ Rebecca _Notebook and Other Memories_. It includes her essay on how she wrote the novel, her working notes on the first draft, and the omitted epilogue. There’s also an interesting essay on Menabilly, the broken-down Cornwall estate which inspired Manderley, and several short stories from various points in her career. ---
**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 17, 2023, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-april-2023-edition/981855/63 "2023-04-17T20:21:04Z")
Finished _When Bad Things Happen to Good People_, by Harold S. Kushner, which is powerful. Now I’m reading _Death by Water_, a Phryne Fisher mystery by Kerry Greenwood. ---
**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 18, 2023, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-april-2023-edition/981855/64 "2023-04-18T13:47:16Z")
Woo hoo! I won a Goodreads giveaway for T. Kingfisher’s [Thornhedge](https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1250244099/ref=x_gr_bb_amazon?ie=UTF8&tag=x_gr_bb_amazon-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=1250244099&SubscriptionId=1MGPYB6YW3HWK55XCGG2)! I won’t have it for a while but that’s a nice thing to look forward to. 🥰 ---
**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 18, 2023, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-april-2023-edition/981855/65 "2023-04-18T15:03:40Z")
YAY!!! So jealous! Congrats! ---
**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 18, 2023, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-april-2023-edition/981855/66 "2023-04-18T15:13:20Z")
Thanks! This is the second time I won a giveaway. The first time, I didn’t like the book very much, but this one I feel is a sure bet. ---
**Author:** ![Railer13](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/railer13/32/9742_2.png) [@Railer13](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Railer13)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2023, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-april-2023-edition/981855/67 "2023-04-18T17:53:26Z")
Finished _Shadows Reel_ by C.J. Box. While I enjoy reading the novels about Game Warden Joe Pickett, I fear that the plot lines are becoming far, far too unrealistic, even venturing into Jack Reacher territory. But the books are still good reads. Next up: _The Last Thing He Told Me_ by Laura Dave. ---
**Author:** ![wguy123](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wguy123/32/3161_2.png) [@wguy123](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wguy123)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2023, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-april-2023-edition/981855/68 "2023-04-18T19:31:02Z")
Just started reading _A Gentleman in Moscow_ by Amor Towles. We listened to _Lincoln Highway_ on a recent roadtrip and I liked it well enough to read another of his books. ---
**Author:** ![Railer13](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/railer13/32/9742_2.png) [@Railer13](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Railer13)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2023, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-april-2023-edition/981855/69 "2023-04-18T20:25:21Z")
> [@wguy123](#): > > Just started reading _A Gentleman in Moscow_ by Amor Towles. We listened to _Lincoln Highway_ on a recent roadtrip and I liked it well enough to read another of his books I’ll be interested in your reaction to your second Towles read. I read both of these not long ago, in the same order as you. ---
**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 18, 2023, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-april-2023-edition/981855/70 "2023-04-18T20:35:12Z")
Finished _The Intimate Bond: How Animals Shaped Human History_, by Brian Fagan. Started: _The Great Journey: The Peopling of Ancient America_, by Brian M Fagan, and _First Steps: How Upright Walking Made Us Human_, by Jeremy DeSilva. Next up: _The Moon-Spinners_, by Mary Stewart. ---
**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 18, 2023, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-april-2023-edition/981855/71 "2023-04-18T21:12:57Z")
I thought _Gentleman_ was a far better book than _Lincoln_, FWIW. ---
**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 18, 2023, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-april-2023-edition/981855/72 "2023-04-18T22:14:24Z")
> [@SCAdian](#): > > Finished _The Intimate Bond: How Animals Shaped Human History_, by Brian Fagan. > > Started: _The Great Journey: The Peopling of Ancient America_, by Brian M Fagan, and _First Steps: How Upright Walking Made Us Human_, by Jeremy DeSilva. > > Next up: _The Moon-Spinners_, by Mary Stewart. I’ve heard good things about Brian Fagan’s books, I have several on my want to read list. I read _The Moon Spinners_ ages ago in my late teens or early 20s. Just picked it up on Kindle last week to reread. ---
**Author:** ![Railer13](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/railer13/32/9742_2.png) [@Railer13](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Railer13)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2023, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-april-2023-edition/981855/73 "2023-04-18T22:15:30Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > I thought _Gentleman_ was a far better book than _Lincoln_, FWIW. Heh. I thought EXACTLY the opposite. YMMV, indeed! ---
**Author:** ![wguy123](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wguy123/32/3161_2.png) [@wguy123](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wguy123)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2023, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-april-2023-edition/981855/74 "2023-04-18T22:27:14Z")
I’m only a couple chapters in, but I am already liking _A Gentleman in Moscow_ better. But, this will not be a fair comparison: We listened to Lincoln Highway while I’m reading the print version of AGiM. I don’t listen to a lot of audio books, but it isn’t always my cup of tea, particularly with fiction, and I generally prefer to read. The narration of the different character voices throws me (I guess I like my internal voicing better?). This isn’t true of the few nonfiction books I’ve listened to. I thoroughly enjoyed listening to Obama read his _A Promised Land._ ---
**Author:** ![InternetLegend](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/internetlegend/32/13154_2.png) [@InternetLegend](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/InternetLegend)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2023, 4:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-april-2023-edition/981855/75 "2023-04-19T04:04:48Z")
I’ve noticed this with audio books as well. I’ve enjoyed the nonfiction I’ve listened to, but about half of the fiction ones just grated. Part of the problem was the sheer number of accents the narrators attempted. I never realized how many characters in novels are written as having accents, and how few narrators can do those accents passably. And I understand that if you’re narrating a book, you want to make each characters’ dialogue distinct, but after a while I feel like a toddler being read “The Billy Goats Gruff.” Ahem. I’m in the middle of “What Would Mrs. Astor Do?” which is a pretty light read about New York society during the Gilded Age. It’s a fast read, and it doesn’t cover a lot about the subject I wasn’t aware of already, but it’s kind of fun. It does kind of put me in an “eat the rich” mood, though. ---
**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 19, 2023, 1:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-april-2023-edition/981855/76 "2023-04-19T13:27:29Z")
Finished _Death by Water_, a Phryne Fisher mystery by Kerry Greenwood. Now I’m reading _12 Seconds of Silence: How a Team of Inventors, Tinkerers, and Spies Took Down a Nazi Superweapon_, by Jamie Holmes. ---
**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 19, 2023, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-april-2023-edition/981855/77 "2023-04-19T14:05:25Z")
> [@InternetLegend](#): > > …I’m in the middle of “What Would Mrs. Astor Do?” which is a pretty light read about New York society during the Gilded Age. It’s a fast read, and it doesn’t cover a lot about the subject I wasn’t aware of already, but it’s kind of fun. It does kind of put me in an “eat the rich” mood, though. Have you seen HBO’s _The Gilded Age_, created by Julian Fellowes? Pretty good, I thought. It’s been renewed for a second season. ---
**Author:** ![InternetLegend](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/internetlegend/32/13154_2.png) [@InternetLegend](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/InternetLegend)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2023, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-april-2023-edition/981855/78 "2023-04-20T00:20:03Z")
That’s why I ended up with the book! HBO is taking its sweet time about that next season. ---
**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 20, 2023, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-april-2023-edition/981855/79 "2023-04-20T02:35:17Z")
Finished _First Steps: How Upright Walking Made Us Human_, by Jeremy DeSilva. Still reading _The Great Journey: The Peopling of Ancient America_, by Brian M Fagan. Started _The Moon-Spinners_, by Mary Stewart. Next up: Either _A Dangerous Mourning_ or _The Cater Street Hangman_, by Anne Perry. ---
**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 20, 2023, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-april-2023-edition/981855/80 "2023-04-20T20:01:15Z")
> [@InternetLegend](#): > > That’s why I ended up with the book! HBO is taking its sweet time about that next season. Ha! Gotcha. Thanks. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-april-2023-edition/981855.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-april-2023-edition/981855.md?page=5)