# Khadaji’s Whatcha Reading Thread - December 2025 edition **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** comic-books-manga, books-writing-myths\ **Created:** [November 30, 2025, 2:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-december-2025-edition/1025247 "2025-11-30T02:12:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**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 11, 2025, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-december-2025-edition/1025247/41 "2025-12-11T20:37:34Z")
Today I read [Heartless](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/200200450-heartless), by H.G. Parry. I don’t care much about Peter Pan, but I’ve really enjoyed some books inspired by it, and this was no exception. Plus she’s a great writer. It’s quite a short book, but packs a wallop. Recommended. ---
**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 12, 2025, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-december-2025-edition/1025247/42 "2025-12-12T20:40:26Z")
Finished _A Different Kind of Christmas_, by Alex Haley, not recommended; and _Is That a Fish in Your Ear? Translation and the Meaning of Everything_, by David Bellos, which is okay if you’re very interested in the topic. Next up: _A Highland Christmas_, by M. C. Beaton, and _Let It Glow_, by Marissa Meyer and Joanne Levy. ---
**Author:** ![Catamount](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/catamount/32/2840_2.png) [@Catamount](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Catamount)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2025, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-december-2025-edition/1025247/43 "2025-12-14T18:00:57Z")
I am here today to recommend Robert Jackson’s Bennett [The Tainted Cup](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/150247395-the-tainted-cup) with three words: Fantasy Nero Wolfe. I’m definitely reading the next book in the series. ---
**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:** [December 14, 2025, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-december-2025-edition/1025247/44 "2025-12-14T23:56:24Z")
I liked the first book very much, the second one… let’s say I’ll read the third (if there’s one) only in hopes that the second was some kind of outlier. ---
**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:** [December 15, 2025, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-december-2025-edition/1025247/45 "2025-12-15T01:20:02Z")
Finished listening to _The Hunting Wives_ by May Cobb. I had watched the Netflix series and enjoyed that, so I read the book. Per usual, the book was better than the TV series. Recommended. ---
**Author:** ![SuntanLotion](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/suntanlotion/32/16165_2.png) [@SuntanLotion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SuntanLotion)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2025, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-december-2025-edition/1025247/46 "2025-12-15T01:51:13Z")
Just read **You Thought You Knew** By Kevin Federline. It gave me another viewpoint on the whole Britney situation. ---
**Author:** ![SuntanLotion](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/suntanlotion/32/16165_2.png) [@SuntanLotion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SuntanLotion)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2025, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-december-2025-edition/1025247/47 "2025-12-15T15:04:30Z")
Since I can’t afford to buy books, I asked my library to order two books for me and they did! Just finished both in 4 days. The Dream The Reveal. Recommended. Awaiting The Road Map. ---
**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 15, 2025, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-december-2025-edition/1025247/48 "2025-12-15T20:18:12Z")
I’m currently reading [Kill the Beast](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/222377124-kill-the-beast) by Serra Swift. It’s a fantasy novel about two incompatible people who must work together to take vengeance on a magical creature who has killed their loved ones. It’s not wonderfully well-written, and I despise the main character, but the quest holds my interest. ---
**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 15, 2025, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-december-2025-edition/1025247/49 "2025-12-15T20:37:39Z")
Finished _A Highland Christmas_, by M. C. Beaton, not recommended, and _Let It Glow_, by Marissa Meyer and Joanne Levy, which was okay. Next up: _Got Your Answers: The 100 Greatest Sports Arguments–Settled_, by Mike Greenberg with Paul “Hembo” Hembekides, and _The Language God Talks: On Science and Religion_, by Herman Wouk. ---
**Author:** ![zimaane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a3d4f5/32.png) [@zimaane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zimaane)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2025, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-december-2025-edition/1025247/50 "2025-12-16T19:00:19Z")
The Buried City: Unearthing the Real Pompeii Gabriel Zuchtriegel The author, the current director of the site, describes some recent discoveries and ponders their meaning. Not a comprehensive description of the site, but more like a series of essays about a few aspects of Pompeii, especially art history. Not really particularly interesting or well-written (or maybe not well translated). ---
**Author:** ![MacDoc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/macdoc/32/18696_2.png) [@MacDoc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MacDoc)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2025, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-december-2025-edition/1025247/51 "2025-12-17T01:25:42Z")
**Tigers Between Empires** A modern success story rescuing Siberian tigers from the brink of extinction. Very engaging and long ranging…a few heart stoppers too. The geo-political world then was better than now. ---
**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 18, 2025, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-december-2025-edition/1025247/52 "2025-12-18T18:54:28Z")
Currently reading [The Place Where They Buried Your Heart](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/226744164-the-place-where-they-buried-your-heart), by Christina Henry. It’s a haunted house story, and has me riveted. ---
**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 18, 2025, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-december-2025-edition/1025247/53 "2025-12-18T20:29:44Z")
Finished _Got Your Answers: The 100 Greatest Sports Arguments–Settled_, by Mike Greenberg with Paul “Hembo” Hembekides, which was fun and would probably be enjoyed more by sports fans, which I’m not; and _The Language God Talks: On Science and Religion_, by Herman Wouk. This book is okay, but it’s all over the place, content wise. My favorite parts were about his writing life. The science in the book is well known to me from other places. Next up: _Tales of Time and Space_, edited by Ross R. Olney; and _The Amish Wedding and Other Special Occasions of the Old Order Communities_, by Stephen Scott. ---
**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:** [December 18, 2025, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-december-2025-edition/1025247/54 "2025-12-18T21:50:07Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > …I’m just a chapter into _It’s Only Drowning_ by David Litt, nonfiction by a former Obama speechwriter who turns to surfing, of all things, to deal with his stress over Trump and COVID. Hasn’t wowed me so far. Still going, and still feeling the same. Finished John McPhee’s _Coming Into the Country_, a 1976 nonfiction book about Alaska, its people, climate and challenges. It’s good but not great, I’d say. The most interesting part for me was about the expensive (and ultimately failed) effort to move the state capital from Juneau. I’m now about two-thirds of the way through an audiobook of Ian McEwan’s latest novel, _What We Can Know._ It’s pretty engrossing. A literature professor in 2119 England tries to find a famous lost poem, only one copy of which ever existed, and which was read in public only once, at a 2014 dinner party hosted by the poet. The future history is interesting, too, if mostly bleak: global climate change has flooded most of the British Isles, several limited nuclear wars (including no fewer than three between the U.S. and China) have left lingering radiation in the environment, AI is depended upon by young people for all major life decisions, and the Nigerian Empire is the world’s sole superpower. ---
**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:** [December 19, 2025, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-december-2025-edition/1025247/55 "2025-12-19T13:47:26Z")
Finished _Someone You Can Build a Nest In_, which was suitably weird. Now I’m reading _Murder of the Yellow Brick Road_ from 1977 by Stuart Kaminsky. On audio I’m finishing up Stephen King’s _Don’t Flinch_ ---
**Author:** ![SuntanLotion](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/suntanlotion/32/16165_2.png) [@SuntanLotion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SuntanLotion)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2025, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-december-2025-edition/1025247/56 "2025-12-19T22:46:13Z")
I usually get at least 20 books a month from the library. Recent bunch: Reckless by Chrissie Hynde Weird Al-Seriously Future Boy by Michael J. Fox The Story of Spinal Tap by Rob. I have actually never seen the movie yet. ---
**Author:** ![Tripler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripler/32/21807_2.png) [@Tripler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tripler)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2025, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-december-2025-edition/1025247/57 "2025-12-21T02:15:35Z")
I finished the last book, and am about halfway through _Grunt_ by Mary Roach. It leaves me bored and left wanting. . . It reminds me of a personal policy I have, that when I start a book, I really ought to finish it before moving on. Tripler It’s a “policy,” not a **law**. ---
**Author:** ![zimaane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a3d4f5/32.png) [@zimaane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zimaane)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2025, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-december-2025-edition/1025247/58 "2025-12-21T17:43:12Z")
Elephants: Birth, Life, and Death in the World of the Giants - Hannah Mumby A memoir by the author, a biologist who studies elephants. Pretty good, all in all ---
**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 21, 2025, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-december-2025-edition/1025247/59 "2025-12-21T19:16:26Z")
Finished _Tales of Time and Space_, edited by Ross R. Olney, of which my favorite story was “Puppet Show” by Fredric Brown; and _The Amish Wedding and Other Special Occasions of the Old Order Communities_, by Stephen Scott, which I thought was interesting. Next up: _Ancient Shores_, by Jack McDevitt; and _Ice Age Bones: Mammoth_, by Barbara Hehner. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2025, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-december-2025-edition/1025247/60 "2025-12-21T19:43:51Z")
Still reading Slough House book 5 (London Rules). The quality of the writing is still there. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-december-2025-edition/1025247.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-december-2025-edition/1025247.md?page=4)