# Khadaji’s Whatcha Reading Thread - August 2020 edition **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 31, 2020, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-august-2020-edition/916941 "2020-07-31T21:00:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**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:** [August 14, 2020, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-august-2020-edition/916941/41 "2020-08-14T19:59:24Z")
Now reading _Stars Beyond_, SF by S K Dunstall. It’s the sequel to _Stars Uncharted_; no idea if this book will finish the quest or there will be another. Next will be _Victorian London: The Tale of a City 1840-1870_, by Liza Picard, and/or _1636: The Atlantic Encounter_, by Eric Flint and Walter H Hunt. ---
**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:** [August 15, 2020, 4:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-august-2020-edition/916941/42 "2020-08-15T04:41:09Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > …Next up: Nico Walker’s _Cherry_, a novel about an Army medic who returns from overseas to the social wreckage of the opioid epidemic and eventually, I gather, becomes a bank robber. It’s grungy and dark so far. Just finished it. Some critics have compared it to Hemingway and Salinger, for its clear, straightforward prose, and I can see that. Pretty bleak, but worth a read, and it was fun to catch all the Cleveland references. One of the banks he robbed is within walking distance of my house. Just started _Turing’s Cathedral_ by George Dyson, a history of the early days of computing. It’s a bit dry so far; not sure I’ll keep going. ---
**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:** [August 15, 2020, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-august-2020-edition/916941/43 "2020-08-15T16:18:32Z")
I also zipped through _The German Aircraft Carrier Graf Zeppelin: Super Drawings in 3D_ by Stefan Draminski. Beautifully realistic computer-generated images of the carrier as she would have looked upon completion during WWII, with her flight deck full of planes, and some line drawings. No cutaway views, though, and the text reads like it was run through Google Translate. ---
**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:** [August 15, 2020, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-august-2020-edition/916941/44 "2020-08-15T17:34:39Z")
Speaking of Cleveland, one of my favorite podcasters did episode on the 1930 butcher killings in Kingsbury Road… (One of my favorite episodes of his actually) ---
**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:** [August 16, 2020, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-august-2020-edition/916941/45 "2020-08-16T02:20:26Z")
Yes, those murders have almost become mythic in Cleveland, the way Jack the Ripper’s still are in London. The connection to Eliot Ness also helps. ---
**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:** [August 16, 2020, 4:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-august-2020-edition/916941/46 "2020-08-16T04:54:15Z")
Finished _The Guardians_, by John Grisham. In a small, backwater Florida town in 1988, a white lawyer is brutally murdered. A disgruntled black client is convicted for it but misses the death penalty when the lone black juror holds out. Twenty-two years later, an innocence group takes up his cause, as it appears to be an obvious frame. The real culprits seem to be the corrupt county sheriff and a drug cartel, and they don’t want any innocence proved. It was okay, nothing special. Next up is _Too Much and Never Enough: How My Family Created the World’s Most Dangerous Man_, by Mary L Trump, PhD. ---
**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:** [August 16, 2020, 5:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-august-2020-edition/916941/47 "2020-08-16T05:13:24Z")
Ah Ness, NOT the likeable baby saving fellow Costner made famous. He really was an awful man. I believe I read that he took most of the credit for catching Capone, work that was actaull done by his team. ---
**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:** [August 16, 2020, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-august-2020-edition/916941/48 "2020-08-16T20:50:13Z")
Finished _The House of Daniel_ , by Harry Turtledove. Meh. What would’ve been a good novella is weighed down by 200 pages of padding. Now I’m reading _The Art of War_, by Sun Tzu. My edition doesn’t say who did the translation. ---
**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:** [August 17, 2020, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-august-2020-edition/916941/49 "2020-08-17T03:28:12Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > …Just started _Turing’s Cathedral_ by George Dyson, a history of the early days of computing. It’s a bit dry so far; not sure I’ll keep going. Gave up on it. Tedious and not for me. Next up: _Windhaven_ by George R.R. Martin and Lisa Tuttle, a sf novel about a stormy waterworld over which human flyers with ultralight wings are a lifeline, elite couriers between the island colonies. Pretty good so far. ---
**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:** [August 17, 2020, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-august-2020-edition/916941/50 "2020-08-17T03:55:55Z")
I loved the book when I read it back in my 20s. ---
**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:** [August 17, 2020, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-august-2020-edition/916941/51 "2020-08-17T23:19:54Z")
Finished _The Art of War_ , by Sun Tzu. This edition was translated by Lionel Giles, with an introduction by James Clavell. It was very interesting, and reminded me of some parts of Simon Singh’s _The Code Book_. Now I’m reading _The Oysterville Sewing Circle_, by Susan Wiggs. ---
**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:** [August 20, 2020, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-august-2020-edition/916941/52 "2020-08-20T23:32:28Z")
Started _The Lamppost Huggers and Other Wretched Tales_, by Christopher Stanley, which is a dark fantasy/horror flash fiction collection. ---
**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:** [August 21, 2020, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-august-2020-edition/916941/53 "2020-08-21T01:30:02Z")
I’m about 1/3 through Stephen King’s _If It Bleeds_. The book is actually four previously unpublished novellas. The novella with the same title as the book features Holly Gibney of the detective agency Finders Keepers. We first met Holly in King’s _Bill Hodges_ trilogy. ---
**Author:** ![lobotomyboy63](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobotomyboy63/32/2900_2.png) [@lobotomyboy63](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lobotomyboy63)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2020, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-august-2020-edition/916941/54 "2020-08-21T02:44:26Z")
Today I read this: > **[The Prophecies of Q](https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2020/06/qanon-nothing-can-stop-what-is-coming/610567/)** > > American conspiracy theories are entering a dangerous new phase. I heard the author on NPR and although I’d heard ,about QAnon I didn’t know much about it. I can’t commit to a book right now, but I need to push myself to read more. ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2020, 3:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-august-2020-edition/916941/55 "2020-08-21T03:43:35Z")
Mostly Lang’s _The Pink Fairy Book,_ which is _eh_ compared to the originals of the stories I’m familiar with. ---
**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:** [August 21, 2020, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-august-2020-edition/916941/56 "2020-08-21T14:40:01Z")
Finished _The Oysterville Sewing Circle_ by Susan Wiggs, which is okay. Just started _Women Aren’t Supposed to Fly: The Memoirs of a Female Flight Surgeon_, by Harriet A. Hall. ---
**Author:** ![RealBigOleDummy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realbigoledummy/32/4415_2.png) [@RealBigOleDummy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealBigOleDummy)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2020, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-august-2020-edition/916941/57 "2020-08-21T14:49:29Z")
Infinity Welcomes Careful Drivers by Grant Naylor. Comedy/Science Fiction. Pretty much just the first season of Red Dwarf as a novel. Pretty good though with some interesting, quite funny, additions. Also reading a Bio of Al Capone I picked up from the waiting room at the V.A. clinic I go to. By John Kobler btw. Its …ok… but quite superficial. Very little to no deep digging or new revelations. The picture section though fairly widespread as far as his associates and friends looks to be taken directly from photocopies of period newspapers. Not sure I can recommend it tbh. If you enjoy a good laugh or are a Red Dwarf fan who hasn’t read it already though, pick up a copy of Infinity TODAY! lol ---
**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:** [August 21, 2020, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-august-2020-edition/916941/58 "2020-08-21T22:59:08Z")
Finished _The Lamppost Huggers and Other Wretched Tales_ , by Christopher Stanley, of which the best stories are the title one and “Norfolk”. ---
**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:** [August 22, 2020, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-august-2020-edition/916941/59 "2020-08-22T22:02:25Z")
I finished _If It Bleeds_ by Stephen King. IMO, not quite as good as _Full Dark, No Stars_, but entertaining nonetheless. The 4th of the four novellas, entitled _Rat_, is the best of the lot. ---
**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:** [August 23, 2020, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-august-2020-edition/916941/60 "2020-08-23T04:15:39Z")
Finished _Too Much and Never Enough: How My Family Created the World’s Most Dangerous Man_, by Mary L Trump, PhD, Chump’s niece. A slim volume, barely 200 pages, but it packs a punch. It should be required reading for every American. While Mary does not state it explicitly, it becomes evident that the family motto must be twofold: 1) Only suckers serve their country – one of the president’s nephews was actually threatened with being disinherited if he followed through with his desire to join the Army; and 2) Lying and cheating are perfectly acceptable business tactics, even if you get caught, as long as you can show a profit. The real villain in the family though is Fred, the president’s father and author’s grandfather. The author meticulously details how his own sociopathy turned the president into who he became while destroying her own father for daring to want to strike out on his own. At the start of the book, the author gives a quote from Victor Hugo: “If the soul is left in darkness, sins will be committed. The guilty one is not he who commits the sin, but the one who causes the darkness,” a clear reference here to Fred Trump. I did find it amusing that the president’'s paternal grandfather Friedrich left Germany to avoid mandatory military service and owned a few brothels in British Columbia. Next up is _Les Miserables_, by Victor Hugo, a 1400-page unabridged version and the source of the quote mentioned above. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-august-2020-edition/916941.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-august-2020-edition/916941.md?page=4)