# Khadaji’s Whatcha Reading Thread - January 2024 edition **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** books-writing-myths\ **Created:** [December 31, 2023, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-january-2024-edition/995416 "2023-12-31T19:32:25Z")\ **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 31, 2023, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-january-2024-edition/995416/1 "2023-12-31T19:32:25Z")
Well… here we are, another year in the can. I didn’t read as much as I expected to, however, I had some marvelous adventures with the ones I did read. T. Kingfisher for the win! I rediscovered my love for fantasy this year, I haven’t read much fantasy in decades, it was all too similar in the 80s and 90s, basically LoTR fanfic, but a wave of new writers have appeared bringing in their own cultures, ideas and humor. I am, to quote the Brits, absolutely chuffed. So in that vein, - I gotta do something while I wait for a new Murderbot book - I am reading: _The Raven and the Reindeer_ by T.Kingfisher, a retelling of "The Snow Queen (filtered through Ursula’s off the wall humor) _Fevered Star_ by Rebecca Roanhorse, apocalylptic doings in a world modeled on ancient Pre Columbian Americas. _P.S… I Spook You_ by S.E. Harmon. Ghost hunting with the FBI … _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 31, 2023, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-january-2024-edition/995416/2 "2023-12-31T19:33:43Z")
[Well that’s a wrap on 2023!](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-december-2023-edition/993931/104) ---
**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 31, 2023, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-january-2024-edition/995416/3 "2023-12-31T19:49:35Z")
Thank you so much for doing these threads, @DZedNConfused. They’re my favorites! ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2023, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-january-2024-edition/995416/4 "2023-12-31T19:52:52Z")
Got this for Christmas: > **[An Ugly Truth by Sheera Frenkel and Cecilia Kang review – Facebook’s battle...](https://www.theguardian.com/books/2021/jul/18/an-ugly-truth-inside-facebook-battle-for-domination-sheera-frenkel-cecilia-kang-review)** > > Russian hacking, smear campaigns and livestreamed massacres are the price of Mark Zuckerberg’s quest for connectivity, grippingly probed by two New York Times journalists Haven’t cracked it open yet but very much looking forward. ---
**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, 2023, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-january-2024-edition/995416/5 "2023-12-31T20:07:06Z")
You’re Welcome! ---
**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 2, 2024, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-january-2024-edition/995416/6 "2024-01-02T18:15:03Z")
Happy New Year and good reading in 2024 to you all! I’m halfway through Isaac Marion’s _The Burning World_, a sequel to the dark comedy/zombie romance _Warm Bodies_. Almost gave up on it after a slow start, but it’s gotten better. Finished _What’s the Deal with Deadman’s Curve? And Other Really Good Questions about Cleveland_ by Jim Sweeney, which has interesting short essays on all kinds of North Coast lore. A quick, fun read - I enjoyed it and learned a bit from it. And if you haven’t already posted: [Your Top Ten books of 2023](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-top-ten-books-of-2023/995319) ---
**Author:** ![The\_Stainless\_Steel\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_stainless_steel_rat/32/5727_2.png) [@The\_Stainless\_Steel\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Stainless_Steel_Rat)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2024, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-january-2024-edition/995416/7 "2024-01-02T18:46:04Z")
Still working my way through my older SF paperbacks, some of which I haven’t touched in years. Currently am reading _Tuf: Voyaging_ by George R.R. Martin (yes, **that** George R.R, Martin, but in 1986 he was still mostly a ‘hard’ SF author and this was 10 years before Game of Thrones took the world by storm). It’s a collection of tied-together short stories of a man named Haviland Tuf and his adventures after he ‘acquires’ an ancient, 30-mile long Ecological spaceship. Interesting reading and a quirky main character, but if you want to read some of Martin’s earlier work in the Starships and Strange New Worlds genre, this is a pretty good one. ---
**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 2, 2024, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-january-2024-edition/995416/8 "2024-01-02T18:52:10Z")
I finished listening to _Resurrection Walk_ by Michael Connelly. It is another fine read featuring both Mickey Haller (the Lincoln Lawyer) and Harry Bosch. Connelly does not disappoint. ---
**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 2, 2024, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-january-2024-edition/995416/9 "2024-01-02T19:06:32Z")
> [@The\_Stainless\_Steel\_Rat](#): > > Still working my way through my older SF paperbacks, some of which I haven’t touched in years. Currently am reading _Tuf: Voyaging_ by George R.R. Martin I wrote about it on one of these threads a couple of years back. The character struck me as “Varys in Space” (especially with the cover illustration they used), and Martin has apparently agreed that Conleth Hill would be a good choice to portray Tuf onscreen. Where did you get your copy? After hearing about this book for years, but never seeing it in any bookstore, I had to order a copy. ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2024, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-january-2024-edition/995416/10 "2024-01-02T19:10:42Z")
Still working on _Paladin’s Grace_ by T. Kingfisher. I just read through the “disastrous first kiss” passage. “Can we pretend that the only thing that happened today was the severed head?” 😂 In all fairness, the first kiss is always a mistake. I was telling **Spouse Weasel** about it and it took him ages to figure out I wasn’t talking about the novel I’m writing. It has hints of something I would write. ---
**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, 2024, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-january-2024-edition/995416/11 "2024-01-02T19:26:36Z")
Welcome to T. Kindfisher’s humor! So glad you are still enjoying it! ---
**Author:** ![The\_Stainless\_Steel\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_stainless_steel_rat/32/5727_2.png) [@The\_Stainless\_Steel\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Stainless_Steel_Rat)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2024, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-january-2024-edition/995416/12 "2024-01-02T20:35:09Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > Where did you get your copy? After hearing about this book for years, but never seeing it in any bookstore, I had to order a copy. I’m old, probably bought it new back in 1986-87 (I would have been 33-34 years old). ---
**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 2, 2024, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-january-2024-edition/995416/13 "2024-01-02T21:08:11Z")
Currently reading [Grave Expectations](https://www.amazon.com/Grave-Expectations-Mystery-Alice-Bell/dp/059347063X/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1704229157&sr=8-1) by Alice Bell. It’s a veddy veddy English murder mystery starring a medium, her ghost friend, and a couple of black sheep members of a wealthy family, set in a sprawling estate with Bisto and ha-has and fags and jumpers and such like. Loving it so far. ---
**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 2, 2024, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-january-2024-edition/995416/14 "2024-01-02T22:19:50Z")
I’m a _huge_ fan of George R.R. Martin’s _Tuf Voyaging_ - I’ve read it five times now, I think. One of my all-time favorite sf novels. A giant derelict starship, ecological engineering, deadpan humor, political satire, razor-sharp sarcasm, mushroom wine, psionic cats - what’s not to like? ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2024, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-january-2024-edition/995416/15 "2024-01-02T23:51:45Z")
You sold me. Sampled. (I have over 200 samples on my Kindle. I know it’s hopeless, but let me dream.) ---
**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 3, 2024, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-january-2024-edition/995416/16 "2024-01-03T00:24:12Z")
Finished _Let’s Go Let’s Go Let’s Go: Stories_, by Cleo Qian. I thought “Seagull Village” was the best. Now I’m reading _Surely You Can’t Be Serious: The True Story of Airplane!_ by David Zucker, Jim Abrahams, and Jerry Zucker. ---
**Author:** ![Le\_Ministre\_de\_l\_au-dela](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/le_ministre_de_l_au-dela/32/12181_2.png) [@Le\_Ministre\_de\_l\_au-dela](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Le_Ministre_de_l_au-dela)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2024, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-january-2024-edition/995416/17 "2024-01-03T15:15:44Z")
Two books on the go at the moment - _Braiding Sweetgrass_ by Robin Wall Kimmerer, and _The Memoirs of Miss Chief Eagle Testickle, Vol. Two - A True and Exact Accounting of the History of ~~North America~~ Turtle Island_ by Kent Monkman and Gisèle Gordon. They are both outstanding books written from an Indigenous perspective. _Braiding Sweetgrass_ is thoughtful non-fiction written about the contrasts and the similarities in an Indigenous woman’s studies and teachings in biology, botany, and ecological sciences and her experience and teachings as a knowledge keeper. For those of you who don’t know Kent Monkman and his alter-ego Miss Chief Eagle Testickle, this is as fine an introduction as you’ll ever get. Vol. One was full of satire and ribald humour, though it also conveyed the tragedy of pre-confederation Canada. Vol. Two is where we hit the history of lies, broken promises, and genocide in post-confederation. Both books are a deeper guide and background to Kent Monkman’s paintings, and the text gives a fantastic background to the paintings chosen for the book. So far, Vol. Two is heavy going, even for someone who was aware of our shameful history. But ultimately, there will be a celebration of the Indigenous people’s resilliance. Highly recommended! [https://www.kentmonkman.com/](https://www.kentmonkman.com/) (Full disclosure - I’ve posed for him on two separate occasions…) ---
**Author:** ![Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulf_the_Unwashed)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2024, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-january-2024-edition/995416/18 "2024-01-03T17:43:11Z")
I read _The Appeal_ by Janice Hallett. A rather closed-in amateur theater group in Britain is putting on a production of “All My Sons,” when people learn that Poppy, the 2-y-o granddaughter of the “alpha couple” who run the company, is seriously ill with cancer. The only known medication to fight it is deemed “experimental” in the UK and will therefore cost millions to obtain, so the family and their friends start, well, an appeal for funds to save Poppy. However, there are many, many twists and turns along the way, and eventually one of the cast members dies and someone else is arrested for murder, and a law firm launches, well, an appeal to get that conviction overturned. I liked the book. I thought too much was made of the whole “alpha couple” thing, plus which the “detectives” were very quick to see only good in the person that was killed long before I think that’s warranted. And the story is told in emails and emessages, and that works better for a short story than for a 300+ page novel. Still, it’s funny, and the plot largely works, and its depiction of an amateur theater society is pretty accurate (says the veteran of a couple of them). I requested Hallett’s second book from the library yesterday and am looking forward to it. ---
**Author:** ![JackieLikesVariety](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackielikesvariety/32/296_2.png) [@JackieLikesVariety](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JackieLikesVariety)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2024, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-january-2024-edition/995416/19 "2024-01-03T18:14:03Z")
I recently finished Fire Weather by John Vaillant and learned a lot, most of it scary or depressing. fascinating, though. ---
**Author:** ![Misnomer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/misnomer/32/14897_2.png) [@Misnomer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Misnomer)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2024, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-january-2024-edition/995416/20 "2024-01-03T20:46:34Z")
Hi, all! I was a regular in these threads for a while many (many) moons ago. Lately I’ve been finding myself at a loss when it comes to what to read: I always learned about great books from y’all, so I figured I’d jump back in. 😃 After my aunt introduced me to the [Chief Inspector Gamache](https://www.gamacheseries.com/) books, I spent about a year catching up on all of them; tomorrow, author Louise Penny will announce the publication date of #19. I’m looking forward to it, but in the meantime I’ve been struggling to find new stories – i.e., not just a new book in a beloved series (like Gamache or [Cormoran Strike](https://robert-galbraith.com/stories/)) – that I like enough to finish. Several weeks ago I started _[**What The Neighbors Saw**](https://www.amazon.com/What-Neighbors-Saw-Melissa-Adelman/dp/1250876583/)_, which felt promising partly because it’s set in a location I’m familiar with, but it hasn’t grabbed me and I haven’t made any progress in quite a while. I’ll give it another go, though, before switching to a book I learned about a few days ago called _[Your Guide to Not Getting Murdered in a Quaint English Village](https://www.amazon.com/Getting-Murdered-Quaint-English-Village/dp/1984859625/)_ – which sounds like a fun and quick read. 🙂 > [@Dung\_Beetle](#): > > Currently reading [Grave Expectations](https://www.amazon.com/Grave-Expectations-Mystery-Alice-Bell/dp/059347063X/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1704229157&sr=8-1) by Alice Bell. I just downloaded the sample to my Kindle…this is _exactly_ why I came back to this thread!! 😁 [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-january-2024-edition/995416.md?page=2)