# Khadaji’s Whatcha Reading Thread - December 2024 edition
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-december-2024-edition/1011041
**Category:** Cafe Society
**Tags:** books-writing-myths
**Created:** [December 2, 2024, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-december-2024-edition/1011041 "2024-12-02T01:13:40Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 2
### Author:  [@rocking\_chair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rocking_chair)
#### Post date: [December 7, 2024, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-december-2024-edition/1011041/21 "2024-12-07T01:37:35Z")
Don’t mess with crows, also Ragnar is awesome.
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### Author:  [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)
#### Post date: [December 7, 2024, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-december-2024-edition/1011041/22 "2024-12-07T01:59:06Z")
> [@Dung\_Beetle](#):
>
> > [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#):
> >
> > _James_ by Percival Everett
>
> Huh, so that’s what that book’s about! I keep seeing it pop up everywhere, but the title just didn’t grab me. Now that I know, I think I’ll give it a whirl.
I’m almost two-thirds of the way through now, and highly recommend it.
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### Author:  [@Dendarii\_Dame](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dendarii_Dame)
#### Post date: [December 8, 2024, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-december-2024-edition/1011041/23 "2024-12-08T21:00:22Z")
Finished _A Christmas Sourcebook_, edited by Mary Ann Simcoe, which had some wonderful verse and interesting information about the origins of Christmas tree decoration; and _Reincarnations_, a collection of stories by Harry Turtledove, of which the best was “The Haunted Biscuspid”.
Next up: _Liberia: A Visit Through Books_, by Izetta Roberts Cooper with Kyra E. Hicks; and _The Flying Classroom_, by Erich Kastner.
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### Author:  [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)
#### Post date: [December 9, 2024, 4:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-december-2024-edition/1011041/24 "2024-12-09T04:23:19Z")
Finished _Henry V: The Astonishing Triumph of England’s Greatest Warrior King_, by Dan Jones. Very good. Fits between his _Plantagenets_ and _Wars of the Roses_ to form a nice little triptych.
Have started _Infinite Jest_, by David Foster Wallace.
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### Author:  [@Dendarii\_Dame](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dendarii_Dame)
#### Post date: [December 10, 2024, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-december-2024-edition/1011041/25 "2024-12-10T21:31:29Z")
Finished _Liberia: A Visit Through Books_, by Izetta Roberts Cooper with Kyra E. Hicks (which was interesting); and _The Flying Classroom_, by Erich Kastner (Not recommended).
Next up: _Dinner with Eleanor_, by Helen Niemtzow Pratt and _Minor Mage_, by T. Kingfisher.
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### Author:  [@DZedNConfused](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DZedNConfused)
#### Post date: [December 10, 2024, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-december-2024-edition/1011041/26 "2024-12-10T23:27:54Z")
> [@Dendarii\_Dame](#):
>
> _Minor Mage_, by T. Kingfisher.
I really enjoyed this one and am glad I didn’t know it was a bit controversial when I read it.
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### Author:  [@Frodo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frodo)
#### Post date: [December 11, 2024, 12:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-december-2024-edition/1011041/27 "2024-12-11T12:07:53Z")
What could be controversial about that book? The age of the protagonist?
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### Author:  [@DZedNConfused](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DZedNConfused)
#### Post date: [December 11, 2024, 12:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-december-2024-edition/1011041/28 "2024-12-11T12:41:03Z")
It was “too violent” was the complaint I heard in many places.
I suspect a lot of people saw that Oliver was 12 and assumed it was going to be a sweet going on a quest book… forgetting WHO the author was.
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### Author:  [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)
#### Post date: [December 11, 2024, 12:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-december-2024-edition/1011041/29 "2024-12-11T12:42:59Z")
Halfway through _The Last Dangerous Visions_. It’s really weird, because the lineup of stories has changed so much from the original roster. A lot of writers dropped out and published elsewhere in the intervening decades, so you’ve got a mix of stories that appear to be from the 1970s and ones that appear to have been written yesterday. You’ve got old-time names like A.E. Van Vogt (!) and Howard Fast next to ones you never heard of. The little bios after the stories might tell you where they’re publishing now, or they might tell you when they died. Stories with analog technology sit side by side with the latest digital tech. It’s a little jarring. But the stories are all good.
I visited a used book store yesterday and picked up a slim volume called **Politically Correct Holiday Stories** by James Finn Garner. I vaguely recall him writing other “Politically Correct” books back in the day (1995). That the book is slim is a good thing, because it’s basically a one-joke romp (how ludicrously convoluted can we make straightforward sentences sound if we insisted they all be PC?), but it does give him an excuse to write gems like this:
> [@](#):
>
> It’s true that from birth Rudolph was a unique individual, that his luminescent olfactory organ made him different from (but not inferior to) the other reindeer in his age category, and that they often maliciously taunted him about his supra-nasal capabilities.
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### Author:  [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)
#### Post date: [December 11, 2024, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-december-2024-edition/1011041/30 "2024-12-11T20:14:12Z")
I just finished [The Reformatory](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/62919847-the-reformatory).
Ooof.
It’s horror, set in Jim Crow Florida, in a reform school for boys, and it’s hardly a spoiler to say that the most horrific parts aren’t supernatural. Trigger warnings galore.
Very tough read for the first two thirds, and then the final third became a much more exciting book almost in a different genre.
I’m glad I read it, but I’m also glad I’ve got something light coming up next–Robert Jackson Bennett’s latest.
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### Author:  [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)
#### Post date: [December 11, 2024, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-december-2024-edition/1011041/31 "2024-12-11T20:18:46Z")
Yeah, I think I picked this one up, but chickened out fast. I still want to read it…but probably won’t! 🐔
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### Author:  [@Dendarii\_Dame](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dendarii_Dame)
#### Post date: [December 12, 2024, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-december-2024-edition/1011041/32 "2024-12-12T21:34:25Z")
Finished _Dinner with Eleanor_, by Helen Niemtzow Pratt (not recommended) and _Minor Mage_, by T. Kingfisher, which was okay.
Now I’m reading _Mistletoe Mysteries_, collected by Charlotte MacLeod.
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### Author:  [@DZedNConfused](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DZedNConfused)
#### Post date: [December 12, 2024, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-december-2024-edition/1011041/33 "2024-12-12T22:35:20Z")
> [@Dendarii\_Dame](#):
>
> Now I’m reading _Mistletoe Mysteries_, collected by Charlotte MacLeod.
Ahhh I read all her stuff in my 20s, some of it hasn’t aged as well, but I mostly still enjoy her.
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### Author:  [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)
#### Post date: [December 12, 2024, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-december-2024-edition/1011041/34 "2024-12-12T22:36:46Z")
> [@Dung\_Beetle](#):
>
> Yeah, I think I picked this one up, but chickened out fast. I still want to read it…but probably won’t! 🐔
No shame in that. Horror that’s based on real-world atrocities, for entertainment reading, is always dicey. It’s a great book, and it’s a miserable read for a lot of it.
For similar reasons I can only read a John LeCarre novel about once every five years, and I’m pretty sure it’ll be long after Trump leaves office that I attempt another one.
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### Author:  [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)
#### Post date: [December 14, 2024, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-december-2024-edition/1011041/35 "2024-12-14T14:00:43Z")
I was going to post this question in the “TV shows you are currently watching” thread but was afraid it would be too hijacky, so I’m putting it here.
A new season of the show “Shetland” has started. I know that the episodes in the first couple of seasons of the show were based on books by Anne Cleeves. Having seen the earlier episodes, is it still worth checking out the books or has too much been spoiled?
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### Author:  [@Dendarii\_Dame](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dendarii_Dame)
#### Post date: [December 14, 2024, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-december-2024-edition/1011041/36 "2024-12-14T20:30:54Z")
Finished _Mistletoe Mysteries_, collected by Charlotte MacLeod, of which the best story was “Kaput” by Eric Wright.
Now I’m reading _Right Thing, Right Now: Good Values, Good Character, Good Deeds_, by Ryan Holiday.
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### Author:  [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)
#### Post date: [December 14, 2024, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-december-2024-edition/1011041/37 "2024-12-14T21:27:32Z")
> [@Dendarii\_Dame](#):
>
> Right Thing, Right Now: Good Values, Good Character, Good Deeds
This makes me laugh, as the book I’m about to start is called Long Live Evil. 😄
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### Author:  [@DZedNConfused](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DZedNConfused)
#### Post date: [December 14, 2024, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-december-2024-edition/1011041/38 "2024-12-14T21:40:11Z")
I started _Doomsday book_ by Connie Willis… I’m sure there’s a good story in there somewhere, probably hiding behind all the people on the phone and the ones standing around discussing a couple of characters’ sickness.
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### Author:  [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)
#### Post date: [December 15, 2024, 4:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-december-2024-edition/1011041/39 "2024-12-15T04:49:40Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#):
>
> …My book club’s latest book is _James_ by Percival Everett, a retelling of Twain’s _Adventures of Huckleberry Finn_ from the POV of Jim, the runaway slave who was Huck’s companion. I’m really enjoying it, although there are some passages which sound a bit more 2024 than 1884.
Finished it. Quite good - now I want to read Twain’s original and see how well the pieces fit together.
I’ve returned to _The Lies of Locke Lamora_ by Scott Lynch, a fantasy novel about a master thief and con artist in a decaying Renaissance Venice-like seaport. I’m now about 70% done. It’s gotten better (including several twists I didn’t see coming), and I’m interested to see how it turns out.
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### Author:  [@Galactus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Galactus)
#### Post date: [December 15, 2024, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-december-2024-edition/1011041/40 "2024-12-15T16:56:01Z")
I’m about 100 pages into THE BEAUTIFUL CIGAR GIRL: MARY ROGERS, EDGAR ALLAN POE, and THE INVENTION OF MURDER by DANIEL STASHOWER. “On July 28, 1841, the battered body of a young woman was found floating in the Hudson River. The victim was Mary Rogers, a captivating 20 year old cigar salesgirl, who inspired one of the great authors of a generation to write ‘The Mystery of Marie Roget’. This book sets out to investigate this crime.”(google books quote)
It’s pretty good so far.
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