# Khadaji’s Whatcha Reading Thread - July 2020 edition **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 30, 2020, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-july-2020-edition/913825 "2020-06-30T18:09:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**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:** [July 8, 2020, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-july-2020-edition/913825/21 "2020-07-08T02:08:15Z")
Rereading _1635: The Eastern Front_ by Eric Flint, part of his “Ring of Fire” series about a small West Virginia town that ends up in 1632 Germany in the midst of the 30 Years War. This isn’t one of his best, it’s something of a ‘transition’ book to get us to the Great Turkish Invasion of 1636 a little farther on, but it does tell a solid story well. Can’t recommend it unless you want to read a lot of previous work (minimum 3 books). But the series is still one of my go-to reads when I need to pull something off the bookcase. ---
**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:** [July 8, 2020, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-july-2020-edition/913825/22 "2020-07-08T18:58:26Z")
Finished _The Ballad of the White Horse_ by G.K. Chesterton, which I thought was interesting. Now I’m reading _The Big Sheep_ by Robert Kroese. It’s the second science fiction novel I’ve ever read in which a large sheep is important. (The other is Norstrilia, by Cordwainer Smith. That has a much larger sheep.) ---
**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:** [July 8, 2020, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-july-2020-edition/913825/23 "2020-07-08T20:25:48Z")
Finished [Merci Suarez Changes Gears](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/38185346-merci-su-rez-changes-gears), the 2019 Newbery Winner, a story of a Latina girl entering 6th grade at an elite middle school by virtue of her genius older brother’s scholarship, and her family and school struggles. It’s funny and warm and a genuinely good book, worthy of the award. ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2020, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-july-2020-edition/913825/24 "2020-07-09T18:20:32Z")
> [@Dendarii\_Dame](#): > > It’s the second science fiction novel I’ve ever read in which a large sheep is important. Scalzi, The Android’s Dream, sort of, if you’re collecting 🙂 ---
**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:** [July 9, 2020, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-july-2020-edition/913825/25 "2020-07-09T20:13:31Z")
Ooo, that’s a good Scalzi. ---
**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:** [July 10, 2020, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-july-2020-edition/913825/26 "2020-07-10T18:23:43Z")
Finished _The Big Sheep_ by Robert Kroese, which I enjoyed very much. I was amused that the blurb on the front cover was from Hugh Howey, author of _Wool_, which my husband informs me is not about a giant sheep. (I know it’s SF.) I am also amused by the title of another of Kroese’s books: _Out of the Soylent Planet_. Now I’m reading _The Code Book: The Evolution of Secrecy from Mary, Queen of Scots to Quantum Cryptography_, by Simon Singh. ---
**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:** [July 12, 2020, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-july-2020-edition/913825/27 "2020-07-12T01:12:40Z")
Finished _Indigo Slam_, an Elvis Cole-Joe Pike noir by Robert Crais. A 15-year-old girl and her two younger siblings hire Cole and Pike to find their father, who’s been missing for 11 days. What the kids fail to mention is the whole family was placed in the Witness Protection program. Odd, but the book has two titles, as I’ve seen it also called _Indigo Blues_. But either way, the title is a reference to the color of a main ink used in counterfeiting. A good read. Have started _Blood on the Moon: The Assassination of Abraham Lincoln_, by Edward Steers Jr. I believe it’s been highly recommended in these threads. Very good so far. ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2020, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-july-2020-edition/913825/28 "2020-07-12T02:54:11Z")
Still reading the interminable _Antifragile: Things That Gain from Disorder_ (iPod) and the much better _A Quiet Life in the Country_ (Lady Hardcastle #1) (Kindle on phone), _Pilgrimage: Europe’s Mot Inspiring Pilgrim Routes_ (hardback, bedroom), _This is How You Lose the Time War_ (Kindle on laptop), and Martin Sheen and Emilio Estavez’s _Along the Way: The Journey of a Father and Son_ (hardback, bathtub). Will return to _The Physicians of Vilnoc_ (Kindle on phone) soon. ---
**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:** [July 12, 2020, 3:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-july-2020-edition/913825/29 "2020-07-12T03:50:28Z")
I finished Elmore Leonard’s _Road Dogs_, which was about average for his darkly comic crime novels, although it was fun to read more of Jack Foley (the easygoing bank robber from _Out of Sight_, played by George Clooney in the movie) and it got better towards the end. I’ve now returned to Iain Banks’s sf novel _The Player of Games_, and am about two-thirds done. A master tactician takes part in a complicated alien game that has enormous political implications, including the potential rule of a barbarous interstellar empire. ---
**Author:** ![Dropo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ce7236/32.png) [@Dropo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dropo)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2020, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-july-2020-edition/913825/30 "2020-07-12T23:27:45Z")
_H.P. Lovecraft’s At the Mountains of Madness_, vols. I & II. Adaptation and artwork by Gou Tanabe. I thought this was an outstanding adaptation. Presented in _manga_ form and read right to left in English, it’s beautifully illustrated while faithfully recreating the original story’s slow-building eldritch sense of unspeakable horror. For samples of the art… [https://www.google.com/search?q=At+the+Mountains+of+Madness+Gou+Tanabe&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiJ\_9jW6cjqAhXxJDQIHQoVAmA4ChD8BSgCegQIDBAE&biw=1920&bih=1005](https://www.google.com/search?q=At+the+Mountains+of+Madness+Gou+Tanabe&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiJ_9jW6cjqAhXxJDQIHQoVAmA4ChD8BSgCegQIDBAE&biw=1920&bih=1005) ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2020, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-july-2020-edition/913825/31 "2020-07-13T02:25:49Z")
That looks great! ---
**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:** [July 13, 2020, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-july-2020-edition/913825/32 "2020-07-13T13:56:27Z")
Wow, it does - thanks, **Dropo**. I’ve added it to my Amazon wishlist. ---
**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:** [July 13, 2020, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-july-2020-edition/913825/33 "2020-07-13T15:00:16Z")
Finished _The Code Book: The Evolution of Secrecy from Mary, Queen of Scots to Quantum Cryptography_ , by Simon Singh. It was excellent, one of the best books I’ve read so far this year, which is surprising, because I’m really not interested in the subject. (I read it because I bought it for my husband twenty years ago as a present I thought he’d enjoy and he hasn’t read it yet.) Now I’m reading a book my husband has read (and recommended): _The Face in the Frost_, by John Bellairs. ---
**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:** [July 13, 2020, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-july-2020-edition/913825/34 "2020-07-13T15:53:20Z")
Finally starting today on [The Chill](https://www.amazon.com/Chill-Novel-Scott-Carson/dp/1982104597/ref=tmm_hrd_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1594655395&sr=8-1) by Scott Carson. Carson is a pen name Michael Koryta has adopted for his supernatural tales, and I’m a big fan of Koryta, so I’m expecting good things! I’ve actually had this for a while as an ebook, but I just can’t enjoy reading books on my phone, ugh. ---
**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:** [July 13, 2020, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-july-2020-edition/913825/35 "2020-07-13T20:08:21Z")
> [@Dendarii\_Dame](#): > > Now I’m reading a book my husband has read (and recommended): _The Face in the Frost_ , by John Bellairs. I have that one. I’m a John Bellairs fan from waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay back 😃 ---
**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:** [July 13, 2020, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-july-2020-edition/913825/36 "2020-07-13T21:20:19Z")
So is he. ---
**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:** [July 14, 2020, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-july-2020-edition/913825/37 "2020-07-14T02:28:26Z")
He has awesome taste 😉 ---
**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:** [July 14, 2020, 4:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-july-2020-edition/913825/38 "2020-07-14T04:03:52Z")
I’m working my way through the Hugo and Nebula nominees for 2020 and just finished [The Ten Thousand Doors of January](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/43521657-the-ten-thousand-doors-of-january). This is my penultimate book on each list and also my favorite on each list. The prose is clear, the plot gallops along, the multiple storylines interweave adroitly. It’s hardly an original premise, but it’s a gorgeous take on an old idea. If I didn’t know better, I’d think Alix Harrow was another pseudonym for early Claire North. Great fun, highly recommended! ---
**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:** [July 14, 2020, 12:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-july-2020-edition/913825/39 "2020-07-14T12:38:08Z")
And a few days ago I finished [Gods of Jade and Shadow](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/36510722-gods-of-jade-and-shadow?from_search=true&from_srp=true&qid=PX0I2Czjt0&rank=1), another Nebula nominee. Fairly standard magical adventure story based on Mayan mythology. The setting was great, but nothing in the prose or the characterization really grabbed me, and the plot twists were all, in broad strokes, predictable. Still, an enjoyable 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:** [July 14, 2020, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-july-2020-edition/913825/40 "2020-07-14T13:40:04Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > …I’ve now returned to Iain Banks’s sf novel _The Player of Games_, and am about two-thirds done. A master tactician takes part in a complicated alien game that has enormous political implications, including the potential rule of a barbarous interstellar empire. Finished it. A pretty good sf novel, although not up to some of the rave reviews I’ve read of it. I figured out one twist before it was revealed and was pretty close on another. I’ve now started _Pale Kings and Princes_, a Robert B. Parker crime novel. The smartass Boston private eye Spenser tries to find out who killed a reporter digging into the cocaine trade in a depressed western Massachusetts mill town. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-july-2020-edition/913825.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-july-2020-edition/913825.md?page=3)