# 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:** 4
**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 19, 2022, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-january-2022-edition/956869/61 "2022-01-19T18:41:33Z")
Finished _Our Kind of People: Inside America’s Black Upper Class_ , by Lawrence Otis Graham, which was interesting. Now I’m reading _The Operator_ by Gretchen Berg. ---
**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:** [January 21, 2022, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-january-2022-edition/956869/62 "2022-01-21T00:48:28Z")
I just wanted to note something I learned about in the book **H. G. Wells – Secret Agent** that I didn’t know before. The larger of the two **Îles Saint-Marcouf** , the one called **île du Large** , has a fort on it that was built on the orders of Napoleon Bonaparte. The fort is almost as large as the island, which sits four miles off the coast of Normandy. Nevertheless, the fort is surrounded by a moat. Let me repeat that, in case you missed it. A fort that is on an island just larger than itself four miles from land is also protected by a moat. Why? The moat is no longer filled, but it once was. Shvartsman, who wrote the book, says in a note that it’s the closest thing in the world he’s seen to a Bond villain’s lair. > **[Saint-Marcouf Island](https://www.manche-tourism.com/saint-marcouf-island-normandy)** > > Saint-Marcouf Island > **[France, Manche, Cotentin Eastern coast, archipel des Iles Saint Marcouf, L'...](https://www.alamy.com/stock-photo-france-manche-cotentin-eastern-coast-archipel-des-iles-saint-marcouf-35523507.html)** > > Download this stock image: France, Manche, Cotentin Eastern coast, archipel des Iles Saint Marcouf, L' Ile du large, circular barracks (aerial view) - C1P6GK from Alamy's library of millions of high resolution stock photos, illustrations and vectors. ---
**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 21, 2022, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-january-2022-edition/956869/63 "2022-01-21T14:15:08Z")
Finished _The Operator_ by Gretchen Berg. Meh. Now I’m reading _Wheels of Courage: How Paralyzed Veterans from World War II Invented Wheelchair Sports, Fought for Disability Rights, and Inspired a Nation_, by David Davis. ---
**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:** [January 21, 2022, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-january-2022-edition/956869/64 "2022-01-21T17:13:18Z")
I just finished reading a quite enjoyable book of thriller short stories. The title is _Matchup_, and it was edited by Lee Child. Published in 2017, the book features 11 stories, each of which is a collaboration by two authors of thriller books. For instance, Lee Child is paired up with Kathy Reichs, Sandra Brown wrote with C.J. Box, and Lisa Jackson collaborated with John Sandford. In most of the stories, a main character by the author is one of the protagonists: Joe Pickett, Virgil Flowers, Jack Reacher, etc. Highly recommended! ---
**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 23, 2022, 4:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-january-2022-edition/956869/65 "2022-01-23T04:53:55Z")
> [@DZedNConfused](#): > > Nah, the ambassador’s daughter You should check out her Wikipedia entry. She lived quite an interesting life after her time in Germany. Martha Dodd. ---
**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 23, 2022, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-january-2022-edition/956869/66 "2022-01-23T16:48:33Z")
_Wheels of Courage: How Paralyzed Veterans from World War II Invented Wheelchair Sports, Fought for Disability Rights, and Inspired a Nation_ , by David Davis, which was excellent. Now I’m reading _Sowed to Death_, by Peg Cochran. ---
**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 24, 2022, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-january-2022-edition/956869/67 "2022-01-24T16:03:55Z")
> [@Dendarii\_Dame](#): > > _Wheels of Courage: How Paralyzed Veterans from World War II Invented Wheelchair Sports, Fought for Disability Rights, and Inspired a Nation_ , by David Davis, which was excellent. I need to check that out. Thanks! I started the audio version of _The Future of Another Timeline_by Annalee Newitz. Authors, please don’t read your own book, get a professional to do it. This woman’s whiny voice is going to kill me for eleven and a half hours. (This is this month’s book club selection) On Kindle, I am reading _Strange Little Girl_ by John Dean. The second DCI Blizzard story and one with the twist at the start of the story! ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2022, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-january-2022-edition/956869/68 "2022-01-24T16:13:11Z")
_Nonzero_ by Robert Wright. Wright’s argument seems to be that society as a whole inherently moves in a direction he defines as progress. I tend to agree but Wright seems to be taking a long time to get to his central point. I’m almost a hundred pages into the book, which is less than three hundred and fifty pages long, and Wright is still building his base. ---
**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 24, 2022, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-january-2022-edition/956869/69 "2022-01-24T19:49:04Z")
Finished _Sowed to Death_ , by Peg Cochran. Not recommended. Now I’m reading _The Plant Hunter: A Scientist’s Quest for Nature’s Next Medicines_, by Cassandra Leah Quave. ---
**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 25, 2022, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-january-2022-edition/956869/70 "2022-01-25T16:50:48Z")
New Stephen King book coming in September, whoo hoo! > **[Fairy Tale: King, Stephen: 9781668002179: Amazon.com: Books](https://www.amazon.com/Fairy-Tale-Stephen-King/dp/1668002175)** > > Fairy Tale \[King, Stephen\] on Amazon.com. \*FREE\* shipping on qualifying offers. Fairy Tale ---
**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 25, 2022, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-january-2022-edition/956869/71 "2022-01-25T16:57:45Z")
The library pulled back my audiobook of the novel _Beautiful World, Where Are You_ by Irish author Sally Rooney and didn’t let me renew it, since someone else had a hold on it. So for now I’ve turned to Agatha Christie’s _Murder on the Orient Express_, two movie adaptations of which I’ve seen. Never read the book, though, and so far I like it. ---
**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:** [January 25, 2022, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-january-2022-edition/956869/72 "2022-01-25T22:53:11Z")
An infusion of books shared by a friend has me deep into _All the Light We Cannot See_ by Anthony Doerr. I only started on it last night. _Faster_ will have to wait. ---
**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 26, 2022, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-january-2022-edition/956869/73 "2022-01-26T00:41:27Z")
Finished **Prisoners of Geography: Ten Maps That Tell You Everything You Need To Know About Global Politics** by Tim Marshall. Written in 2015 this book is a good and thoughtful analysis on the history, present day challenges and future possibilities of global affairs branching out from geographic factors. The book is divided into ten maps (chapters) - Russia, China, USA, Western Europe, Africa, Middle East, India and Pakistan, Korea and Japan, Latin America and The Arctic. I took away a lot of good information on history and cultural backgrounds from each chapter and the geographical analysis was something different than you typically get from normal international affairs analysis. Some of the geographical analysis was a bit too repetitive in some places whereas in others there was more of a focus on military and human activity and not enough on the natural geographical factors. And the chapter on Western Europe hasn’t really aged well with regards to the UK but in fairness no one thought Brexit was a serious possibility at the time of writing. However Russia, Africa and China he did make some pretty accurate calls of what could happen with them in the near future and I liked the analysis on India and Pakistan too because it simplified a rather complex hatred between two nuclear powers which we all know exists but how many of us really understand what it is really about. I look forward to reading his follow-up book which came out last year. ---
**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 26, 2022, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-january-2022-edition/956869/74 "2022-01-26T14:35:43Z")
Six hundred pages into _Anathem_, I’ve finally figured out the point of the story is the philosophical upheaval that would occur in our worldviews if we did make contact with an interstellar alien race. Only 300-odd pages to go. At this point I’m sticking with it out of sheer cussedness. If I can get through Thomas Wolfe, I can get through this. Fortunately my hold on the third Marcus Didius Falco book just came in at the library so I can have some nice refreshing Ancient Rome to repair my poor, battered brain. ---
**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 26, 2022, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-january-2022-edition/956869/75 "2022-01-26T14:51:32Z")
Finished _The Plant Hunter: A Scientist’s Quest for Nature’s Next Medicines_ , by Cassandra Leah Quave, which had some interesting information about how plant derivatives can be used as medicines. For example, the botanist author says that she’s researching how a chemical from the beautyberry can be combined with an antibiotic which is now ineffective against a type of bacteria saw that the drug is effective again. She’s also researching medicines to use against Covid. Now I’m reading _Spare and Found Parts_ by Sarah Maria Griffin. ---
**Author:** ![kayT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayt/32/3633_2.png) [@kayT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayT)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2022, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-january-2022-edition/956869/76 "2022-01-26T17:28:09Z")
> [@Catamount](#): > > At this point I’m sticking with it out of sheer cussedness. If I can get through Thomas Wolfe, I can get through this. Thanks for my morning giggle. I think I’ll skip _Anathem_ tho. ---
**Author:** ![pullin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c57346/32.png) [@pullin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pullin)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2022, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-january-2022-edition/956869/77 "2022-01-26T17:54:01Z")
Audiobooks: _ **Middle Falls Time Travel series** _ by Shawn Inmon. A group of loosely related stories about people who mysteriously “repeat” portions of their lives, sometimes many times over. They occasionally encounter another “traveler” or at least suspect so. It’s very interesting, and I’m on the 5th of 15 books (_The Emancipation of Veronica McAlester_). There are a lot of interesting topics, including Nature vs Nurture elements (one is about a serial killer who repeats differently and becomes almost the opposite of his former self). Paperback: rereading _ **Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea** _ by Jules Vern. It’s probably been 40 years since I read that as a teen. I had forgotten how good it was. ---
**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:** [January 26, 2022, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-january-2022-edition/956869/78 "2022-01-26T19:26:33Z")
> [@pullin](#): > > Paperback: rereading _ **Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea** _ by Jules Vern. It’s probably been 40 years since I read that as a teen. I had forgotten how good it was. Which translation are you reading? It’s important. I didn’t realize how important until I read Walter James Miller’s **The Annotated Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea** , which points out every error and omission in what was for a long time the “standard translation” by Lewis Mercier. If you got one of those omnibus editions or a cheap paperback or an audiobook version, it’s probably this translation. And it is abysmal. when I say omissions, I’m talking about big chunks of the book cut out. The translation omits political discussions and technical discussions. It gets translation absurdly incorrect, sometimes hilariously so. There have been about a dozen new translations since 1960 that correct these errors. One by Miller himself. There have been two or three “Jules Verne’s Renaissances” since 1960, where Verne’s work was popular again and re-evaluated. Most of his works have been re-translated or re-edited in recent years. Miller wrote another annotated Verne, taking as his topic the book **From the Earth to the Moon**. Lewis Mercier/Mercier Lewis’ translation cut an outrageous amount out of that book. The ARCO/Fitzroy editions, edited by I.O. Evans, helped bring most of Verne’s works to a modern and English-speaking audience circa 1960, but he also cut out big portions of the books. Many of the books “edited” by Verne’s son, Michel, were extensively changed by the son. It’s only in recent years that we have fresh and accurate translation of **The Meteor Hunt** and **The Golden Volcano** and **The Secret of Wilhelm Storitz** , for instance, all of which Michel Verne seriously altered. ---
**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 26, 2022, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-january-2022-edition/956869/79 "2022-01-26T22:31:54Z")
At this point I’m in the same mindset I was in the summer before my sophomore year of high school when I had to read _Les Miserables_. All 2000 pages because I didn’t know there was an abridged edition available. It took me three godforsaken months. All I remember was that I lost interest after Fantine died and the scene near the end where freaking _angels from Heaven_ came down to watch Marius and Cosette consummate their marriage. I swear, I am not making that up. ---
**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:** [January 27, 2022, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-january-2022-edition/956869/80 "2022-01-27T13:29:00Z")
> [@Catamount](#): > > All I remember was that I lost interest after Fantine died and the scene near the end where freaking _angels from Heaven_ came down to watch Marius and Cosette consummate their marriage. I swear, I am not making that up. I haven’t yet read this, and now I’m curious. Do angels like tastefully done porn, or something? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-january-2022-edition/956869.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-january-2022-edition/956869.md?page=5)