Khadaji’s Whatcha Reading Thread - April 2023 edition

I finished The Future is Female. 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 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, 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.

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.

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.

Did Larson include the British ambassador’s joke that got him recalled to London?

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, 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.

Started today on Elsewhere 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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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…

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.

Ditched. I’ve been on quite a streak lately!

Finished To Be Taught, If Fortunate, by Becky Chambers, which I enjoyed.

Now I’m reading The Optimist’s Daughter, by Eudora Welty.

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.

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

Excellent book!

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.

I have to admit, I’m underwhelmed so far (about a third of the way in), but I’m sticking with it.

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

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.