# Khadaji’s Whatcha Reading Thread - January 2022 edition **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** books-writing-myths\ **Created:** [December 29, 2021, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-january-2022-edition/956869 "2021-12-29T19:18:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**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 29, 2021, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-january-2022-edition/956869/1 "2021-12-29T19:18:54Z")
_Peers around the doorframe_ Is it safe to hope for 2022 yet? I mean 2021 wasn’t the _worst_ year I’ve ever had, but it was … yeah. Anyway, at the moment I am reading: _A Redbird Christmas_ by Fannie Flagg. It’s the last of the Christmas books I picked up this year (I’m sure there’s a few lurking in my Kindle from previous years.) On audio, I’m nearly done with _Murder Aforethought_ the second Cabrini Law book by Parker St. John. It’s my favorite of the 3 I have read and I needed something to keep my attention on late nite drives home from the airport. (I’m doing Uber these days) _Khadaji was one of the earlier members of SDMB, and he was well-known as a kindly person who always had something encouraging to say, particularly in the self-improvement threads. He was also a voracious, omnivorous reader, who started these threads 'way back in the Stone Age of 2005. Consequently, when he suddenly and quite unexpectedly passed away in January 2013, we decided to rename this thread in his honor and to keep his memory, if not his ghost, alive._ ---
**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 29, 2021, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-january-2022-edition/956869/2 "2021-12-29T19:20:03Z")
For all you completists: [Last month](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-december-2021-edition/955243) ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2021, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-january-2022-edition/956869/3 "2021-12-30T01:34:33Z")
Just started Nancy Tucker’s [The First Day of Spring](https://www.amazon.com/First-Day-Spring-Novel/dp/0593191560?). In the voice of 8 year old Chrissie, it begins: I killed a little boy today. ---
**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 30, 2021, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-january-2022-edition/956869/4 "2021-12-30T02:06:41Z")
Dude. Okay. You got me. 🎣 I may be sorry, but you got me. ---
**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 31, 2021, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-january-2022-edition/956869/5 "2021-12-31T18:31:46Z")
Thanks for starting the new thread, **DZNC**! Just had several relaxing days away from home, warming my feet by the fire on a rustic family trip, and got a lot of reading done. Finished Pat Conroy’s _The Lords of Discipline_, a coming-of-age novel about four friends, cadets at a Southern military academy obviously inspired by The Citadel, during the Vietnam War. I think this is the third time I’ve read the book. I always enjoy it, but this time it hit me that the bad guys mostly get away with it, and will almost certainly keep doing the bad things the hero wanted to punish them for. Now reading _Churchill: An Illustrated Life_ by Brenda Ralph Lewis, which is well-illustrated but not breaking any new historical ground on my favorite British statesman. I zipped through a manga, _H.P. Lovecraft’s The Hound and Other Stories_ by Gou Tanabe, which was just ok. I enjoyed _Washington National Cathedral_, ed. by Anne-Catherine Fallen, a fine guide to the big church. ---
**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 31, 2021, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-january-2022-edition/956869/6 "2021-12-31T18:47:41Z")
This might also be of interest: [Your Top Ten books of 2021](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-top-ten-books-of-2021/956998) ---
**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, 2021, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-january-2022-edition/956869/7 "2021-12-31T21:05:55Z")
I was just thinking it was time for that thread! ---
**Author:** ![carnut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnut/32/3531_2.png) [@carnut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnut)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2021, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-january-2022-edition/956869/8 "2021-12-31T23:36:42Z")
I treated myself to _The Last Gift_, a Nobel prize winner written by Abdulrazak Gurnah. Imma crack it open tomorrow. Well, maybe yet tonight. ---
**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:** [January 1, 2022, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-january-2022-edition/956869/9 "2022-01-01T00:22:34Z")
I’ve got Shari Lapena’s latest thriller release **Not A Happy Family** ready to go. I’ve read her previous thrillers all within a few days or even in one sitting for the very first book I read of hers. That’s the sign of a great author in this field for me and I find her to be the best thriller writer right now. I also have the first-hand account by Howard Carter on his discovery of Tutankhamun aptly titled **The Discovery of the Tomb of Tutankhamun**. Was published in 1923 which was just a year after his discovery. Ancient Egypt is a subject that has always interested me whenever there is a documentary on TV or a new discovery reported in the media but I have to admit to being a little lazy in the sense my knowledge of it is only surface-level stuff because I’ve never gone out of my way to study it properly. ---
**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:** [January 1, 2022, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-january-2022-edition/956869/10 "2022-01-01T01:14:03Z")
The state of my current book pile: **Wolf Hall** , Hilary Mantel - almost done with this. It’s the rare Booker Prize winner that I don’t hate. **The Dutch Shoe Mystery** , Ellery Queen - one last re-read before it’s off my shelf for good (I need to make room for new books) **In Calabria** , Peter S. Beagle - a farmer in Italy discovers a pregnant unicorn in his field. Just started this, haven’t gotten to any mayhem ensuing yet. **The First Tycoon: The Epic Life of Cornelius Vanderbilt** , T.J. Stiles - in spite of all the financial talk, I’m really getting into this. It’s interesting to see the origins of the Vanderbilt money. **Among Others** , Jo Walton - Welsh fairy tale set in the late 1970s/early 1980s. I haven’t decided what I think of it yet but it’s certainly blowing up Mt. ToBeRead. (The main character’s an avid sci-fi reader and I’m jotting down lots of titles.) **Lord Byron: Selected Letters and Journals** - I’m fond of Byron’s poetry because of his sense of humor and the fact we share a birthday. His private letters are just as good as his public works. **Riders of the Purple Sage** , Zane Grey - I just pulled this off the to-read shelf so I haven’t started it yet. I read it once before in grad school and remembered liking it so I’m giving it a chance to earn a permanent place on the bookshelf. ---
**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:** [January 1, 2022, 5:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-january-2022-edition/956869/11 "2022-01-01T05:57:53Z")
Maybe a third of the way through _Blood Meridian, or The Evening Redness in the West_, by Cormac McCarthy. ---
**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:** [January 2, 2022, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-january-2022-edition/956869/12 "2022-01-02T00:10:23Z")
Finished _Metropolitan Diary: The Best Selections from_ The New York Times _Column_ , edited by Ron Alexander, which I enjoyed. Now I’m reading _The Island of Doctor Moreau_, by H. G. Wells. ---
**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:** [January 2, 2022, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-january-2022-edition/956869/13 "2022-01-02T21:32:59Z")
Finished _The Island of Doctor Moreau_ , by H. G. Wells. It was much better than I’d expected it to be. Now I’m reading _How to Stop Worrying and Start Living: Time-Tested Methods for Conquering Worry_, by Dale Carnegie. (I enjoyed reading my father’s copy of How to Win Friends and Influence People by the same author years ago.) ---
**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 2, 2022, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-january-2022-edition/956869/14 "2022-01-02T22:21:47Z")
I’m starting _Jack of Hearts (And Other Parts)_ by L.C. Rosen. It’s a teen lgtbtq+ about a gay teen who starts a love advice column… and gets a stalker. ---
**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:** [January 3, 2022, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-january-2022-edition/956869/15 "2022-01-03T13:35:03Z")
Starting the year off with a re-read, [Gwendy’s Button Box](https://www.amazon.com/Gwendys-Button-Box-Stephen-King/dp/1587676109/ref=tmm_hrd_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1641216458&sr=8-1), by Stephen King and Richard Chizmar. It took me maybe forty minutes. Next up, [Gwendy’s Magic Feather](https://www.amazon.com/Gwendys-Magic-Feather-Button-Trilogy/dp/1982139722/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1641216593&sr=8-1), by Chizmar, in preparation for the final book of the trilogy coming out in February. The story’s fine and all that, but may I just say, I’m disgruntled at having to shelve this book in my dedicated King bookcase. Disgruntled! ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2022, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-january-2022-edition/956869/16 "2022-01-03T15:25:29Z")
Over the weekend I reread some of Elmore Leonard’s novels. When he stopped writing westerns and began writing crime fiction, his first novel was **The Big Bounce** with the character _Jack Ryan_ (no relation to the Tom Clancy character). It’s a great book, one I enjoyed rereading. There were two attempts at movies based on the book, but they both sucked. I followed _Jack Ryan’s_ exploits by rereading **Unknown Man #89** which is even better. A great book. I think I’ll reread **Swag** next. Some people mistakenly refer to this as the third book in a three book series, however the main character is _ **Frank** Ryan_, who shares no history whatsoever with _Jack Ryan_. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2022, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-january-2022-edition/956869/17 "2022-01-03T15:32:46Z")
> [@Dung\_Beetle](#): > > a re-read, [Gwendy’s Button Box](https://www.amazon.com/Gwendys-Button-Box-Stephen-King/dp/1587676109/ref=tmm_hrd_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1641216458&sr=8-1), by Stephen King and Richard Chizmar. @Dung_Beetle I read it when it was first released. Should I reread it before reading Magic Feather? ---
**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:** [January 3, 2022, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-january-2022-edition/956869/18 "2022-01-03T15:39:14Z")
Actually, you can skim through a summary here if you need a refresher: > **[Gwendy's Button Box](https://stephenking.fandom.com/wiki/Gwendy%27s_Button_Box)** > > Gwendy's Button Box is a novella written by Stephen King and Richard Chizmar. It was first announced by Entertainment Weekly on February 28, 2017. It was released on hardcover on May 16, 2017, and on paperback on October 31, 2017. It is the 70th... Magic Feather will no doubt do a recap anyway. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2022, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-january-2022-edition/956869/19 "2022-01-03T15:53:38Z")
Heh. 2017. I was going to say I read it ten years ago. Who am I trying to fool, I’ll reread 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:** [January 3, 2022, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-january-2022-edition/956869/20 "2022-01-03T17:50:56Z")
I have two audiobooks going right now: _True Believer_ by Kati Marton, nonfiction about a Soviet mole in the U.S. State Department in the Thirties (a little dry), and Stanley Tucci’s _Taste_, about his lifelong love of food and the culinary arts (a lot of fun, in part because it’s read by the multitalented author). [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-january-2022-edition/956869.md?page=2)