# Khadaji’s Whatcha Reading Thread - April 2025 edition **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** books-writing-myths\ **Created:** [March 30, 2025, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-april-2025-edition/1016359 "2025-03-30T20:38:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**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 4, 2025, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-april-2025-edition/1016359/21 "2025-04-04T01:14:19Z")
> [@Railer13](#): > > My daughter was going to return another book but accidentally returned this one. OOPS! Honestly, I could see myself doing that if I shared the app, I hope she doesn’t feel too bad about it. I finished _Empress of Salt and Fortune_ by Nghio Vo. I enjoyed it a lot, though I think it should have been longer. Also finished _The Framed Women of Ardemore House_ by Brandy Shillace. Surprisingly good, I enoyed it a lot. Started _By the Pricking of my Thumbs_ by Agatha Christie. It’s her 4th Tommy & Tuppence Beresford book. It’s off to a great start. ---
**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 4, 2025, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-april-2025-edition/1016359/22 "2025-04-04T01:22:59Z")
> [@DZedNConfused](#): > > I hope she doesn’t feel too bad about it. She thought it was funny. ---
**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 4, 2025, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-april-2025-edition/1016359/23 "2025-04-04T01:35:50Z")
> [@Railer13](#): > > She thought it was funny. Oh good! It is really, when I first read it, I thought “Well sh\*t” then laughed. ---
**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 4, 2025, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-april-2025-edition/1016359/24 "2025-04-04T16:01:36Z")
> [@Dendarii\_Dame](#): > > Finished _The Velveteen Rabbit_, by Margery Williams, a classic picture book which I somehow never got around to reading which was wonderful… I remember on _Friends_, Joey gave the book to his girlfriend, “because I know you like cheese.” 😄 ---
**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 5, 2025, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-april-2025-edition/1016359/25 "2025-04-05T23:25:32Z")
Finished _An Easter Sourcebook: The Fifty Days_, edited by Gabe Huck et al, which had numerous wonderful passages of prose and poetry and _Rose/House_, a science fiction novella by Arkady Martine, which is one of the best works of fiction I’ve read this year. Next up: _April Morning_ by Howard Fast; and _Coop: A Year of Poultry, Pigs, and Parenting_, by Michael Perry. I’m also still reading _Howdunit: A Masterclass in Crime Writing by Members of the Detection Club_, edited by Martin Edwards. ---
**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:** [April 7, 2025, 4:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-april-2025-edition/1016359/26 "2025-04-07T04:02:02Z")
Finished _Sparring Partners_, a collection of three novellas by John Grisham. Very good. About what you would expect. Next up is _Honolulu Noir_, a collection of noir stories by Hawaii writers, all set in Honolulu. Published by Akashic Books in Brooklyn, whom I have never heard of before but who have put out an impressive number of similar noir collections for cities all over the world. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2025, 12:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-april-2025-edition/1016359/27 "2025-04-07T12:20:01Z")
I’m working my way through **Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency** by Douglas Adams, an which I hadn’t read before. My wife, Pepper Mill, volunteered that she had. “Does eventually start to make sense?” I asked. I’m pretty far into it, and it shows no signs of congealing into a coherent narrative. “No,” she replied. On audio, I’ve gotten tired of Breckenridge Elkins’ antics – I find I can only take so much of Robert E. Howards’ brainless Texas Conan – and have moved on to Stephen King’s **Revival** , which is turning out to be not at all what I thought it might be. Very well-written (as always) and involving. ---
**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 7, 2025, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-april-2025-edition/1016359/28 "2025-04-07T21:41:56Z")
Finished _The Texas Murders_ by James Patterson. Not a bad read about two cases being worked on by the protagonist, a Texas Ranger. Lots of action, but a really unbelievable plot twist at the end which dampened my enthusiasm for this book. Next up: _The Locked Door_ by Freida McFadden. ---
**Author:** ![zimaane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a3d4f5/32.png) [@zimaane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zimaane)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2025, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-april-2025-edition/1016359/29 "2025-04-09T16:03:59Z")
**Death on a Pale Horse** Donald Thomas A Sherlock Holmes pastiche (the fancy word for fan fiction) which has Holmes, Watson, and Mycroft battling a rogue British soldier turned murderer. More of a thriller than a whodunit. Pretty good all in all ---
**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, 2025, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-april-2025-edition/1016359/30 "2025-04-11T16:44:55Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > …I’m also listening to an audiobook of Scott Turow’s debut novel, _Presumed Innocent_. Hadn’t read it since it first came out in 1987, and I’d forgotten quite a bit of the plot, but it holds up very well indeed. Fully-realized characters; interesting legal wrangling and courtroom scenes. The late Edward Herrmann was the reader and he did a good job. Finished it. Very good stuff. And jeez, I’d forgotten just how messed up the protagonist’s marriage was! Turow wrote two sequels, _Innocent_ and _Presumed Guilty_, and now I’d like to read them, too. For the moment, though, my next audiobook is _The Only Plane in the Sky: An Oral History of September 11, 2001_ by Garrett M. Graff, which includes actors reading the parts of people ranging from Laura Bush and White House Chief of Staff Andrew Card to a NY/NJ Port Authority cop and a schoolteacher who lost her husband on one of the planes. The new FAA director, also interviewed, took office that morning, the poor bastard. There are actual audio excerpts of panicked phone calls made by those on the hijacked planes - deeply moving and heartbreaking. ---
**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, 2025, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-april-2025-edition/1016359/31 "2025-04-12T13:57:25Z")
Finished _April Morning_, a historical novel about Lexington and Concord by Howard Fast which was very good; and _Coop: A Year of Poultry, Pigs, and Parenting_, by Michael Perry, which was outstanding. I’m also still reading _Howdunit: A Masterclass in Crime Writing by Members of the Detection Club_, edited by Martin Edwards. Next: Century Rain, a science fiction novel by Alastair Reynolds. ---
**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 12, 2025, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-april-2025-edition/1016359/32 "2025-04-12T21:42:07Z")
Read _The President’s Brain is Missing_ by John Scalzi. Nice to know the shaggy dog story is still alive in certain circles; it’s eerily precient too, though I’m not convinced the current President has a brain in the first place. ---
**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 13, 2025, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-april-2025-edition/1016359/33 "2025-04-13T02:40:42Z")
> [@Dendarii\_Dame](#): > > Finished _April Morning_, a historical novel about Lexington and Concord by Howard Fast which was very good… Rick Atkinson’s _The British Are Coming_ is a very good historical account of the first two years or so of the Revolution. Highly recommended. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2025, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-april-2025-edition/1016359/34 "2025-04-13T03:02:38Z")
I’ve finished Douglas Adams’ **Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency** (which actually did eventually draw together and make some sort of sense, although I’m not a fan), and have moved on to **Dance of the Comedians: 75 Years of the Road Runner and Wile E. Coyote** by Dan Sendker. It’s labeled “An Unauthorized History”, but that isn’t a put-down. It appears to be impeccably researched and is just under 500 pages long, not counting the endnotes. It was a gift from a friend who clearly knows my tastes. There’s probably more here than even I want to know. On audio, I finished Stephen King’s **Revival** and am now listening to Peter Ackroyd’s **Rebellion: The History of England from James I to the Glorious Revolution**. It’s evidently the third volume in his “History of England” series, but this is the only audiobook of his I saw in the used book store. It’s fascinating stuff. James comes off as a real jerk. I’ve just started on Charles, and I can’t wait to get to the others. ---
**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 13, 2025, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-april-2025-edition/1016359/35 "2025-04-13T21:29:41Z")
Today I read Something In the Walls, by Daisy Pearce. It really wanted to be a horror novel, had a premise and a bunch of set pieces (black stuff leaking out of the walls, mysterious symbols appearing in various places, young girl speaks in a voice not her own, weird village traditions etc.), but in the end it was all piled together and left with no explanation. 💩 ---
**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 13, 2025, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-april-2025-edition/1016359/36 "2025-04-13T23:54:30Z")
I FINALLY finished my reread of _Stiletto_ by Daniel O’Malley. I knew I had started it at least a year ago but I hadn’t realized it was actually April of 2023! Goodness, time flies. 😆 305 pages in the last week… ---
**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, 2025, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-april-2025-edition/1016359/37 "2025-04-14T14:58:06Z")
Starting today on [Paladin’s Grace](https://www.amazon.com/Paladins-Grace-T-Kingfisher/dp/1614505217), first in the Saint of Steel series by T. Kingfisher. And I have the rest of the series here as well, so I’m all good. 😁 ---
**Author:** ![Frodo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/frodo/32/302_2.png) [@Frodo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frodo)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2025, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-april-2025-edition/1016359/38 "2025-04-14T17:45:13Z")
That feeling when you have a lot of books in a series and you _know_ they are going to be 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:** [April 14, 2025, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-april-2025-edition/1016359/39 "2025-04-14T17:47:48Z")
Yeah, I waited until I had all four because I know I’m going straight through. 😍 ---
**Author:** ![Frodo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/frodo/32/302_2.png) [@Frodo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frodo)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2025, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-april-2025-edition/1016359/40 "2025-04-14T17:49:16Z")
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