# Khadaji’s Whatcha Reading Thread - February 2021 edition **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** books-writing-myths\ **Created:** [February 1, 2021, 4:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-february-2021-edition/931955 "2021-02-01T04:04:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**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:** [February 5, 2021, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-february-2021-edition/931955/21 "2021-02-05T17:52:51Z")
I read it all but ended up regretting it. ---
**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:** [February 5, 2021, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-february-2021-edition/931955/22 "2021-02-05T20:27:38Z")
Hmm. Thanks. Well, it’s short enough, I think I’ll keep going with 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:** [February 6, 2021, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-february-2021-edition/931955/23 "2021-02-06T16:53:00Z")
Apparently I am. I read it last year, and it was on my Top Ten Fiction list for 2020. (I think only _Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell_ beat it.) Anyway, finished _The Book of Eels_ , by Patrik Svensson. Meh. Now I’m reading _Song of Solomon_, by Toni Morrison. ---
**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:** [February 6, 2021, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-february-2021-edition/931955/24 "2021-02-06T18:09:01Z")
We are polar opposites, I think. I liked bits of Jonathan Strange but hated the overall book. I am ditching Time War at 50% point, I just can’t get interested in it, it feels too much like a story that keeps trying to start but can’t quite turn over. I’ll be interested in what you think of _Song of Solomon_ I DNFed it 😃 One reason I love this thread, is seeing different perspectives on thing I liked or hated. Often, I find my self, if not changing my opinion, at least, softening my criticism or, occasionally, my pleasure. ---
**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:** [February 7, 2021, 5:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-february-2021-edition/931955/25 "2021-02-07T05:25:24Z")
Three fourths of the way through _A Spy Among Friends: Kim Philby and the Great Betrayal_, by Ben MacIntyre. ---
**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:** [February 8, 2021, 12:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-february-2021-edition/931955/26 "2021-02-08T12:29:38Z")
I’m reading Poul Anderson’s **David Falkyn: Star Trader** , an omnibus volume of his works dealing with the title character – I haven’t read them all. On my tablet I’m reading **Twin Tracks** by James Burke, another “Connections”- style exploration of the history of science and technology. It’s a quick read, filled with little nuggets I hadn’t encountered before (Samuel Taylor Coleridge had dinner with Commander Preble of Old Ironsides in Malta !) I’ve also picked up three volumes of **Playboy’s Party Jokes** used. I’d previously read the “Little Big Book of Playboy Party Jokes” (which I also found in a used book shop), but that one lacked the cartoons that were in the older volumes. as I’ve remarked before, I doubt if anyone ever told these at parties. It’s a fascinating time capsule, in part because you couldn’t possibly tell some of these today – some of them are too racist (despite Playboy’s liberal leaning), far too sexist (surprise!) or condescending. And jokes about sex with the underage wouldn’t fly today. Lots of sexual harassment at work jokes, too. Times have definitely changed. On audio, I’m listening to Clive Cussler’s **Marauder**. Cussler left us a year ago this month, but there’s a long gestation period for books. In addition to which Cussler’s books for the past couple of decades have been collaborations. I imagine that he outlines the plots and leaves it to his collaborators to finish them up. If so, we could have years of Cussler novels yet to be released. This one is in the Oregon Files series. (His previous book in the series, _Final Option_, would have been a good one to nd the series with, but I’m sure he had no idea that he would be going away.) ---
**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:** [February 8, 2021, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-february-2021-edition/931955/27 "2021-02-08T16:45:11Z")
> [@Dung\_Beetle](#): > > Next up, a YA book by T. Kingfisher, [Minor Mage](https://www.amazon.com/Minor-Mage-T-Kingfisher/dp/1614505004/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1612273114&sr=1-1). It’s about a young wizard and his familiar (an armadillo) who go on a quest to bring rain to their village. Finished Minor Mage. I wish I still had a kid to funnel books to; this is the kind of stuff they ought to be reading! Today I started on [Sparrow Hill Road](https://www.amazon.com/Sparrow-Hill-Road-Ghost-Roads/dp/0756414407/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1612802527&sr=8-1) by Seanan McGuire. It’s a YA novel about the phantom hitchhiker, told from _her_ point of view. It hasn’t really grabbed me, but looks to be a quick read. ---
**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:** [February 8, 2021, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-february-2021-edition/931955/28 "2021-02-08T18:46:32Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > …On audio, I’m listening to Clive Cussler’s **Marauder**. Cussler left us a year ago this month, but there’s a long gestation period for books. In addition to which Cussler’s books for the past couple of decades have been collaborations. I imagine that he outlines the plots and leaves it to his collaborators to finish them up. If so, we could have years of Cussler novels yet to be released… As with Tom Clancy, I expect his name will keep appearing on new books for quite some time to come. ---
**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:** [February 8, 2021, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-february-2021-edition/931955/29 "2021-02-08T19:26:26Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > As with Tom Clancy, I expect his name will keep appearing on new books for quite some time to come. Yeah, but unlike Tom Clancy, a lot of the books with his name on them will probably have a lot of his input. Once they run out of Cussler plots, notes, scribblings, and laundry lists, THEN they’ll start making up new Dirk Pitt/ NUMA File/ Oregon File/ Isaac Bell/ Fargo adventures. They might also start making movie adaptations again. the only two they made, both Dirk Pitt stories, supposedly didn’t meet with his approval. Cussler’s wonderfully absurd stories are perfectly cinematic. I think _Sahara._ is a perfect Bad Film. ---
**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:** [February 8, 2021, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-february-2021-edition/931955/30 "2021-02-08T21:26:27Z")
I thought _Sparrow Hill Road_ was wonderful. I think it made my Top Ten list that year. (I didn’t split it into Fiction and Nonfiction that year.) And speaking of Top Ten lists…_Song of Solomon_, by Toni Morrison, will probably be on it. It was brilliant. The language, characterization,and themes were all excellent. Just started _I, Claudius: from the autobiography of Tiberius Claudis, born 10 B.C., murdered and deified A.D. 54_, by Robert Graves. ---
**Author:** ![Boycott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boycott/32/6741_2.png) [@Boycott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boycott)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2021, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-february-2021-edition/931955/31 "2021-02-08T23:36:13Z")
Finished **Space Exploration: Past, Present, Future** by Carolyn Collins Petersen and **The Couple Next Door** by Shari Lapena. Two excellent books. Now moving on to **The Man Who Sold The Moon** by Robert A . Heinlein. ---
**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:** [February 12, 2021, 12:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-february-2021-edition/931955/32 "2021-02-12T12:17:52Z")
> [@Dung\_Beetle](#): > > Finished Minor Mage. I wish I still had a kid to funnel books to; this is the kind of stuff they ought to be reading! How young? I’m gonna finish my read-aloud of _Neverending Story_ for my second-grader tonight, and am looking for a new read-aloud. ---
**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:** [February 12, 2021, 12:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-february-2021-edition/931955/33 "2021-02-12T12:28:03Z")
I’ve read three books since the last time I posted. First, I finished _The Two Towers_ as a read-aloud. It’s been a long time since I’ve read the trilogy, and my feelings about it haven’t really changed: Tolkien just loves geography so much more than I do. His descriptions are lyrical and precise, but there are _so many_ descriptions. But I got my Gollum voice good enough that my 8-year-old has to run out of the room whenever he shows up, so that’s good :). And when Tolkien does action sequences, hot damn he’s good. [The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/50623864-the-invisible-life-of-addie-larue), by VE Schwab, was a lot of fun. It owes a great deal to both _The Sudden Appearance of Hope_ and _Spinning Silver_, but since I loved both those books, I didn’t mind. The first section, establishing the protagonist and her schtick, was a little long; but once the plot gets going, I appreciated where the author took it. A very solid fantasy, not mind-blowing, but definitely worth reading. Finally, [Earthlings](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/50269327-earthlings?from_search=true&from_srp=true&qid=f4l7rmmjzd&rank=1). I can review this book in four words: **man, what the fuck?** The cover has a plush animal and quotes about how funny it is. It looks like a gently satirical science fiction book. **Bullshit**. I am not the least bit kidding when I say this book needs content warnings. Don’t believe me? There’s a graphic scene of the first-person protagonist, at the age of twelve, being orally raped by her teacher. There’s a graphic scene of her pressuring her cousin into sexual intercourse. The book ends with three characters eating one another alive, after murdering and eating two other people. It’s short, and I stayed up late reading it because it’s compelling, but I wish I’d never picked it up. Now I’m reading the YA book [Piratica: Being a Daring Tale of a Singular Girl’s Adventure Upon the High Seas](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/616049.Piratica), by Tanith Lee. It’s silly swashbuckling fun, and an excellent antidote to fuckin’ Earthlings. ---
**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:** [February 12, 2021, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-february-2021-edition/931955/34 "2021-02-12T13:37:18Z")
I’m not entirely sure, **LHOD**. It always depends on the kid! There are “ghuls” (ghouls) which pursue the main character with the clear intention of eating him, I can imagine that being troublesome. To me, the most disturbing scene was a man whipping a boy. It isn’t terribly graphic, but the hopelessness of the situation at that point was upsetting. But everything turns out well in the end, and I can’t say enough about the snarky armadillo sidekick. 🙂 As for myself, I’m not going be able to finish Sparrow Hill Road. I’m picking up lots of stuff at the library tomorrow that needs a quick turnaround time, so I have to move on. ---
**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:** [February 12, 2021, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-february-2021-edition/931955/35 "2021-02-12T14:54:45Z")
I think if your kid isn’t overly sensitive or the nightmare type, they’d be okay with it. There are tense parts, as Dung Beetle said, but it works out in the end. ---
**Author:** ![The\_wind\_of\_my\_soul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecc23a/32.png) [@The\_wind\_of\_my\_soul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_wind_of_my_soul)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2021, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-february-2021-edition/931955/36 "2021-02-12T15:21:48Z")
I finished _Antifragile_, after six weeks of reading. It was dense with ideas, but I’m glad I stuck with it because the book had some fascinating insights. Also read _Confessions of a Shopaholic_, which was a nice light-hearted counter to the other book I was reading. Nothing spectacular, but it was enjoyable and good enough to finish. ---
**Author:** ![zimaane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a3d4f5/32.png) [@zimaane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zimaane)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2021, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-february-2021-edition/931955/37 "2021-02-12T15:43:25Z")
A Mad Catastrophe: The Outbreak of World War I and the Collapse of the Habsburg Empire Geoffrey Wawro The outbreak of the First World War from the perspective of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Calling it a “catastrophe” is something of an understatement. The Austrian army, undermanned and underequipped, attacked Serbia and Russia at the same time, throwing away tens of thousands of lives in futile charges against machine guns and artillery. They did manage to kill a lot of Serbian and Ukrainian civilians though. The book is a very old-school military history. There are lots of maps with little numbered squares and arrows. I mostly enjoyed the book, although there were some sections where I got lost in the lists of battalions and divisions and the unfamiliar place names - Nis, Pryzemal, Lemberg, etc… ---
**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:** [February 12, 2021, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-february-2021-edition/931955/38 "2021-02-12T16:39:20Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > …Just began an audiobook of _This Is How You Lose the Time War_ by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone, about a pair of operatives, each on a different side of a time-traveling war, who become attracted to, and start leaving letters for, each other across the eons. I like it so far. The authors have a dreamy, lyrical writing style that is unusual [for] sf (at least the sf I tend to read)… I finished it and mostly liked it, although I pretty much figured out how it was going to end. Could be a good movie someday, I’d say. Now I’m just over a third of the way through an audiobook of _Barry Sonnenfeld, Call Your Mother_, an autobiography read by the author, who directed the early _Addams Family_ and _Men in Black_ movies, among others. Pretty funny, although there’s more about his neurotic, bullied New York Jewish childhood than I really cared for. If he’s at all truthful, his parents were just about as bad as they could be without actually physically abusing him. ---
**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:** [February 13, 2021, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-february-2021-edition/931955/39 "2021-02-13T19:05:41Z")
Finished _I, Claudius: from the autobiography of Tiberius Claudis, born 10 B.C., murdered and deified A.D. 54_ , by Robert Graves, which was excellent. Now I’m reading _A Shark Out of Water_ by Emma Lathen. It’s a mystery featuring John Putnam Thatcher. ---
**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:** [February 13, 2021, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-february-2021-edition/931955/40 "2021-02-13T23:50:46Z")
Finished _The Trouble Twisters_ by Poul Anderson, another of his David Falkyn, Star Trader stories. Not as fun as I’d hoped. I’m taking a break from him. Finished the third volume of Playboy Party Jokes, Finished Clive Cussler’s _The Marauder_ on audio. Now listening to the score of the musical _Metropolis_, based on Fritz Lang’s film. I’m re-reading both translations I have of Jules Verne’s _The Begum’s Fortune_. I have a project in mind for it. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-february-2021-edition/931955.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-february-2021-edition/931955.md?page=3)