# Khadaji’s Whatcha Reading Thread - December 2023 edition **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** books-writing-myths\ **Created:** [December 1, 2023, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-december-2023-edition/993931 "2023-12-01T01:31:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulf_the_Unwashed)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2023, 5:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-december-2023-edition/993931/101 "2023-12-30T05:05:47Z")
I have not read all of Grisham’s novels, but I have read many, probably most, and I think your review is spot on. What a very dull and boring book _The Exchange_ turned out to be. So many things left unexplained; so difficult to find a reason to care about the characters. I’ll remember it mainly, if at all, as “the book in which the main character spends most of his time flying first or business class around the globe for little apparent reason.” I think many of the Grisham novels I’ve read have been excellent, most have been at least enjoyable. This was neither. Disappointing. ---
**Author:** ![Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulf_the_Unwashed)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2023, 5:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-december-2023-edition/993931/102 "2023-12-30T05:11:44Z")
Heh. _Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus_–the first in the series–is one of my seven-year-old grandson’s favorite books at present, especially for bedtime reading. He was delighted when we found \*The Pigeon Has to Go to School" in the library last week and he read it out loud to me on the drive home. We’ll look for the sleigh book. Thanks. In addition to books about pigeons, I am currently reading _The Appeal_ by Janice Hallett, which is 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:** [December 30, 2023, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-december-2023-edition/993931/103 "2023-12-30T18:28:18Z")
Finished _A House with Good Bones_ by T. Kingfisher. The book’s set up took a bit longer than I generally enjoy, but in the end the climax was well worth it. I enjoyed the characters and their interactions with each other and slow climb into abject horror. I feel for both Sam and her Gran, I too had a mean, deeply unhappy grandmother, though I’m pretty sure she’s still dead. However, if anyone was going to come back and torment her family, it was my dad’s mom, for sure Next up, I think, is _Fevered Star_ by Rebecca Roanhorse. ---
**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:** [December 31, 2023, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-december-2023-edition/993931/104 "2023-12-31T19:33:06Z")
[HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-january-2024-edition/995416) ---
**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:** [December 31, 2023, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-december-2023-edition/993931/105 "2023-12-31T19:47:51Z")
Okay, but I have one more post for this thread, my for-real last book of the year. Just finished What Stalks Among Us, by Sarah Hollowell. It’s a YA novel about two friends who get lost in a supernatural corn maze. It reminded me quite a bit of Drew Magary’s The Hike, or William Sleator’s House of Stairs, in which people find themselves in an impossible reality and have to learn to navigate it correctly to survive. A weird book, and I enjoyed the journey, even though I’m not sure it stuck the landing. ---
**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:** [December 31, 2023, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-december-2023-edition/993931/106 "2023-12-31T21:15:03Z")
Finished _1000 Hours Outside: Activities to Match Screen Time with Green Time_, by Ginny Yurich, which had what seemed like lots of fun crafts to do. This will be my last book of the year. Tomorrow I’ll start a story collection by Cleo Qian called _Let’s Go Let’s Go Let’s Go_, which is speculative fiction. ---
**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:** [January 1, 2024, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-december-2023-edition/993931/107 "2024-01-01T01:12:38Z")
I squoze one more in this year. Read _My Ultramarine Sky_ by Nagisa Furuya. It’s a BL manga. I love Furuya sensei’s art and her storytelling, no epic misunderstandings, no wallowing in self pity, no grandstanding, just two young men sorting out their feeling for one another. ---
**Author:** ![zimaane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a3d4f5/32.png) [@zimaane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zimaane)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2024, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-december-2023-edition/993931/108 "2024-01-02T15:31:03Z")
**Nuts and Bolts: Seven Small Inventions That Changed the World in a Big Way** Roma Agrawal A strucutral engineer examines the history of the basic elements of modern devices: nails, springs, magnets, etc… A short book, it doesn’t cover any of them comprehensively, but it does have a lot of interesting historical tidbits, like an early version of the telegraph that delivered a shock to the receiver’s hand to send a message. 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:** [January 2, 2024, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-december-2023-edition/993931/109 "2024-01-02T18:07:22Z")
New thread: [Khadaji’s Whatcha Reading Thread - January 2024 edition](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-january-2024-edition/995416) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-december-2023-edition/993931.md?page=5)