# Khadaji’s Whatcha Reading Thread - August 2024 edition **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** books-writing-myths\ **Created:** [July 29, 2024, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-august-2024-edition/1004964 "2024-07-29T17:20:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**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:** [August 7, 2024, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-august-2024-edition/1004964/21 "2024-08-07T20:32:13Z")
Started today on [We Used To Live Here](https://www.amazon.com/We-Used-Live-Here-Novel/dp/1982198788), by Marcus Kliewer. It’s about a couple who are renovating an old Victorian house in an isolated area. Then a family drops by to see the place, and won’t leave. Pretty good so far! ---
**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 7, 2024, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-august-2024-edition/1004964/22 "2024-08-07T21:38:17Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > Finished _You Like It Darker_, Stephen King’s latest volume of short stories I also just finished listening to this. As I posted in the thread dedicated to this book, I thought all of the stories were good, and about half of them were great. Next up, _North Woods_ by Daniel Mason. ---
**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 8, 2024, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-august-2024-edition/1004964/23 "2024-08-08T20:14:39Z")
Finished _The Man Who Solved Mysteries_ by William Brittain, of which the two best stories were “Mr. Strang Picks Up the Pieces” and “Mr. Strang and the Lost Ship”. Now I’m reading _Brilliant Maps for Curious Minds: 100 New Ways to See the World_, by Ian Wright, and _Seven Guitars_, by August Wilson. ---
**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 8, 2024, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-august-2024-edition/1004964/24 "2024-08-08T20:24:22Z")
Started on _The Ghost Orchid_ by Jonathan Kellerman. The latest Alex Delaware/Milo Sturgis murder mystery. ---
**Author:** ![zimaane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a3d4f5/32.png) [@zimaane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zimaane)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2024, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-august-2024-edition/1004964/25 "2024-08-09T14:54:46Z")
**Starter Villian** John Scalzi Comic sci-fi set in the present day. A young down-on-his-luck man inherits a business from his long-lost uncle. The business is essentially being a James Bond style supervillain. Some pretty amusing moments, such as when the main character tries to organize a Zoom call with the other villains. Recommended. ---
**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 9, 2024, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-august-2024-edition/1004964/26 "2024-08-09T18:38:38Z")
I love Scalzi, so I’ll definitely read it sooner or later. Just finished _Eye of the Needle_ by Ken Follett, a great WWII spy-on-the-run thriller. Highly recommended. Halfway through a re-read of _Fatherland_ by Robert Harris. Realistic, well-written and chilling. It’s one of my all-time favorite alternative-history novels and is also a great police procedural. An SS criminal investigator in 1964 Berlin looks into the mysterious deaths of several Nazi bigwigs, not long before Hitler’s 75th birthday celebration and an upcoming summit with President Joseph Kennedy Sr. Really, really good. Now starting _Earning the Rockies_ by Robert D. Kaplan, nonfiction about how continent-wide geography has shaped the development of the United States. ---
**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:** [August 9, 2024, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-august-2024-edition/1004964/27 "2024-08-09T19:15:26Z")
Finished We Used to Live Here. It was just all right. I enjoyed most of the journey; the author really knew how to set up some creepiness. There was a particular scene that made me shudder and think, “Oh man, here it comes!” But then it never really did. In the end, there were so many puzzle pieces, but not a whole picture. ---
**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 9, 2024, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-august-2024-edition/1004964/28 "2024-08-09T19:49:53Z")
> [@zimaane](#): > > **Starter Villian** John Scalzi Read it last year and loved it. Just silly enough to be fun, but serious enough to be alllllllmost plausible. ---
**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 9, 2024, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-august-2024-edition/1004964/29 "2024-08-09T21:16:48Z")
Finished _Brilliant Maps for Curious Minds: 100 New Ways to See the World_, by Ian Wright, and _Seven Guitars_, by August Wilson. My favorite map of the former was “Number of Heavy Metal Bands per 100K People”. Finland was far in the lead, with 65.9. (Note this was as of 2019.) Wilson’s play had powerful characterization. Now I’m reading _The Cautious Traveller’s Guide to the Wastelands_, by Sarah Brooks. I picked it up recently and moved it up on my TBR list based on the recommendation of [Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness). ---
**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 12, 2024, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-august-2024-edition/1004964/30 "2024-08-12T14:28:05Z")
Finished _The Cautious Traveller’s Guide to the Wastelands_, by Sarah Brooks, which I enjoyed. (My copy didn’t have a map, however.) Now I’m reading _The Nine Old Men: Lessons, Techniques, and Inspiration from Disney’s Great Animators_, by Andreas Deja. ---
**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:** [August 12, 2024, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-august-2024-edition/1004964/31 "2024-08-12T19:07:19Z")
Oh frabjous day! Started this morning on the new one by Jonathan L. Howard: [The Shadow on The Glass](https://www.amazon.com/Shadow-Glass-Cthulhu-Gaslight-Novel/dp/1839082992), a Cthulhu by Gaslight novel. It sparks joy. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2024, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-august-2024-edition/1004964/32 "2024-08-12T21:10:20Z")
> [@Dendarii\_Dame](#): > > Finished _The Cautious Traveller’s Guide to the Wastelands_, by Sarah Brooks, which I enjoyed. (My copy didn’t have a map, however.) So glad you liked it! The map I was referring to was the map of the train. Does yours not have that map? ---
**Author:** ![zimaane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a3d4f5/32.png) [@zimaane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zimaane)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2024, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-august-2024-edition/1004964/33 "2024-08-13T18:09:21Z")
**Great Adaptations: Star-Nosed Moles, Electric Eels, and Other Tales of Evolution’s Mysteries Solved** Kenneth Catania A zoologist describes some of his interesting research on unusual animals. Enjoyable book. Hat tip to @Dendarii_Dame who recommended it in a previous thread ---
**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 13, 2024, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-august-2024-edition/1004964/34 "2024-08-13T19:22:51Z")
No, mine doesn’t have anything like that at all, which is a shame. Your welcome, zimaane! Finished _The Nine Old Men: Lessons, Techniques, and Inspiration from Disney’s Great Animators_, by Andreas Deja, which I enjoyed, but which has quite a few typos and other minor errors. Now I’m reading _Creativity: A Short and Cheerful Guide_, by John Cleese. ---
**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:** [August 13, 2024, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-august-2024-edition/1004964/35 "2024-08-13T19:39:08Z")
I finished reading **Phallic Worship** by George Scott. I picked it up for two bucks because it looked interesting. Instead, I got a book that somehow managed to make a subject like Phallic Worship dull and boring. I also disagreed with most of the author’s assertions and assumptions. You’d think a book about this topic would at least be _sexy_. But no… So I’m reading **The Crime of the Century : How the Brink’s Robbers Stole Millions and the Hearts of Boston** by a colleague who’s in two of my writing groups, Stephanie Schorow. I highly recommend all of Stephanie’s books, which are mainly about Boston history. If she chose to write a book about phallic worship, it wouldn’t be boring. ---
**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 14, 2024, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-august-2024-edition/1004964/36 "2024-08-14T20:04:26Z")
Finished _Creativity: A Short and Cheerful Guide_, by John Cleese, which was okay. Now I’m reading _Housekeeping_, by Marilynne Robinson. ---
**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 14, 2024, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-august-2024-edition/1004964/37 "2024-08-14T21:25:40Z")
Finished _The Ghost Orchid_ by Jonathan Kellerman. Next up: _Paper Cage_, a debut novel by Tom Baragwanath, an author from New Zealand. I’ll see how it goes. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2024, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-august-2024-edition/1004964/38 "2024-08-15T14:21:11Z")
> [@Dendarii\_Dame](#): > > No, mine doesn’t have anything like that at all, which is a shame. That is a shame–the map was delightful, and I referred to it constantly. Latest read: [Service Model](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/195790861-service-model), by Adrian Tchaikovsky. I’ve really enjoyed other books by Tchaikovsky–especially City of Last Chances and House of Open Wounds. I’m very cold on the Murderbot books by Martha Wells. This felt like Tchaikovsky was writing a Murderbot book as a satire on the modern world, and boy did it ever fall flat for me. The satire felt obvious and on-the-nose, the jokes felt repetitive, the characters were one-note and dull, and the plot was predictable. I’m glad it works for other people, but it ain’t for me at all. ---
**Author:** ![NegativeZer0](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/negativezer0/32/14307_2.png) [@NegativeZer0](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NegativeZer0)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2024, 12:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-august-2024-edition/1004964/39 "2024-08-16T12:43:25Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > Finished _You Like It Darker_, Stephen King’s latest volume of short stories. Very good. Every one of them a winner, but my favorite was actually the shortest one, “The Fifth Step.” Recommended Glad to hear this! I just Kindled it as I begin prepping my “spooky season” reading list. Think it’ll be my first fall read. Excited for 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:** [August 16, 2024, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-august-2024-edition/1004964/40 "2024-08-16T18:00:27Z")
Finished _Housekeeping_, by Marilynne Robinson, which was excellent. Now I’m reading _The Longmire Defense_, by Craig Johnson. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-august-2024-edition/1004964.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-august-2024-edition/1004964.md?page=3)