# Khadaji’s Whatcha Reading Thread - July 2022 edition **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** books-writing-myths\ **Created:** [June 30, 2022, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-july-2022-edition/967158 "2022-06-30T00:40:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**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 8, 2022, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-july-2022-edition/967158/21 "2022-07-08T03:28:26Z")
I’m glad I read _Educated,_ but lost track of the number of times I found myself shouting back at the audiobook this or that variation on, “No. _No!_ What are you _thinking?_ You _know_ about your family by now, and you _know_ that’s a bad idea.” ---
**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:** [July 8, 2022, 11:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-july-2022-edition/967158/22 "2022-07-08T11:57:13Z")
I gave up on that book halfway through for the exact same reason. ---
**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:** [July 8, 2022, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-july-2022-edition/967158/23 "2022-07-08T13:46:31Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > I’m glad I read _Educated,_ but lost track of the number of times I found myself shouting back at the audiobook this or that variation on, “No. _No!_ What are you _thinking?_ You _know_ about your family by now, and you _know_ that’s a bad idea.” Ha! I’ve read some reviews where people said how frustrated they were with her for how often she tried to come back home and fix things. I just finished Part 1, so she hasn’t even left home yet, let alone come back. But I’m hoping I’ll be less frustrated since I’ve been adequately forewarned. We shall see. ---
**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, 2022, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-july-2022-edition/967158/24 "2022-07-08T15:50:33Z")
Finished _Khabaar: An Immigrant Journey of Food, Memory, and Family_, by Madhushree Ghosh, which was interesting. Started _The Fell_ by Sarah Moss. ---
**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:** [July 8, 2022, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-july-2022-edition/967158/25 "2022-07-08T17:04:32Z")
Finished **The Hidden History of Lake Winnipesaukee**. Now I’m reading Shakespeare’s **Titus Andronicus** in the Folger edition. I’d never read the play before (I saw that Julie Taymor, who did the Lion King stage play, made a movie version several years ago starring Anthony Hopkins, but I never saw it). The reason I wanted to read it is that a line from it is used as an epigraph in **The Annotated Flatland** , which I read last month (The author, Edwin A. Abbott, was a noted Shakespeare scholar), and I was intrigued. This is one of the Bard’s earliest and bloodiest plays – gorier than _Hamlet_ or _Macbeth_ or even _King Lear_. It’s dripping with atrocities and bloodletting. It’s as if Shakespeare wrote an episode of _Game of Thrones._ ---
**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 8, 2022, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-july-2022-edition/967158/26 "2022-07-08T17:36:28Z")
Finished Hide, and quite liked it! It was marketed as the author’s first adult novel, but I really couldn’t detect any way in which it differed from YA. ---
**Author:** ![Meurglys](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/258eb7/32.png) [@Meurglys](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Meurglys)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2022, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-july-2022-edition/967158/27 "2022-07-09T14:03:55Z")
Just finished _Dark Earth_ by **Rebecca Stott** , which is set in and around the post-Roman ruins of London in around 500 A.D. It’s very well researched and also manages to be almost Arthurian but not have him effect events at all - he’s mentioned as as a young warrior away in the west who might become important, or not! Current book is _The Half-Life of Valery K_ by **Natasha Pulley**. She’s known as a fantasy/sf author but this reads like a straight historical novel so far (1/3 through it) and an afterword says that it’s firmly based on reality (apart from the 2 main chaacters!) Set in 1963 a Soviet scientist is summoned from the Gulag and assigned to help study a radioactive area in a remore area of Russia. He’s told it’s a deliberate large scale experiment to assess how ecologies are affected by radiation but soon realises that’s only a cover story. The other main character is the KGB officer there in charge of security, who was on leave when the original incident happened Gripping, and like none of her other books. ---
**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 9, 2022, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-july-2022-edition/967158/28 "2022-07-09T22:38:25Z")
Finished _The Fell_ by Sarah Moss, which was very well written. Now I’m reading _Hooked: How Crafting Saved My Life_, by Sutton Foster. ---
**Author:** ![TroutMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troutman/32/6721_2.png) [@TroutMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TroutMan)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2022, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-july-2022-edition/967158/29 "2022-07-09T23:40:47Z")
I finished _Passersthrough_ by Peter Rock and am not quite sure what to think. It has an old man trying to reconnect with his estranged daughter, a mystery of her disappearance when she was a child, the line between life and death, and a bit of the supernatural. But it doesn’t read like a mystery at all. I saw one review that compared it to _Annihilation_ by Jeff VanderMeer. It doesn’t have the body horror or science fiction aspects, but it does have the same unsettling feel and minimalistic description of characters and motivations. And like _Annihilation_, at the end you kind of know what happened while at the same time having no clue. It’s a quick read, so no big commitment if you want to give a shot. If anyone reads it, please @ me - I’d appreciate other opinions. ---
**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 10, 2022, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-july-2022-edition/967158/30 "2022-07-10T21:12:01Z")
Finished _To Have and Have Not_, by Ernest Hemingway. An honest man is forced by circumstances to run contraband on his boat between Cuba and the Florida Keys. The movie version was the first pairing of Bogie and Bacall – it’s where they met and started their relationship. Next up is _The Water-Method Man_, bu John Irving. His second novel. ---
**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 11, 2022, 1:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-july-2022-edition/967158/31 "2022-07-11T13:32:27Z")
Started yesterday on [The Change](https://www.amazon.com/Change-Novel-Kirsten-Miller/dp/0063241854/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1657545294&sr=1-1) by Kirsten Miller, but didn’t get very far. I knew it was a book about some women developing supernatural powers and fighting back against men, but it was too much misandry for me. Moving on today with [Just Like Mother](https://www.amazon.com/Just-Like-Mother-Anne-Heltzel/dp/1250787513/ref=tmm_hrd_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1657545741&sr=1-1), which looks like a Stepford Wives sort of thing, only with kids. ---
**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 11, 2022, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-july-2022-edition/967158/32 "2022-07-11T18:52:57Z")
Finished _Hooked: How Crafting Saved My Life_, by Sutton Foster, which was okay. Now I’m reading _The Kaiju Preservation Society_, by John Scalzi. ---
**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, 2022, 12:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-july-2022-edition/967158/33 "2022-07-13T12:43:32Z")
I had to let go of Just Like Mother because I was dreading it instead of looking forward to it. There were a couple of icky sex scenes, and foreshadowing of child abuse to come. I mean, it is a horror novel, but some things are better implied than given too much detail. Plus, the main character keeps hanging around people who say insane things. Why? Started this morning on [A Black and Endless Sky](https://www.amazon.com/Black-Endless-Sky-Matthew-Lyons/dp/1684427096/ref=sr_1_1?crid=28RRHDKIJXNH1&keywords=black+and+endless+sky&qid=1657714565&s=books&sprefix=black+and+en%2Cstripbooks%2C85&sr=1-1). Prologue: Something evil is unearthed in the Mojave Desert. Chapter one: Brother and sister start on a road trip. I am pleased. 😁 Seems very well-written so far! ---
**Author:** ![zimaane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a3d4f5/32.png) [@zimaane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zimaane)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2022, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-july-2022-edition/967158/34 "2022-07-13T14:26:05Z")
**Girl in Ice** Erica Ferencik A mystery/thriller set on a remote research station in Greenland, with some supernatural stuff. I didn’t enjoy it that much. Too weird, especially at the end. ---
**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, 2022, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-july-2022-edition/967158/35 "2022-07-13T15:02:08Z")
Finished _The Kaiju Preservation Society_, by John Scalzi, which was a lot of fun. One of the best novels I’ve read this year. Now I’m reading _Downtown Shabby: One American’s Ultimate DIY Adventure Restoring His Family’s English Castle_, by Hopwood DePree. ---
**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 15, 2022, 1:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-july-2022-edition/967158/36 "2022-07-15T13:04:39Z")
Finished _Downtown Shabby: One American’s Ultimate DIY Adventure Restoring His Family’s English Castle_, by Hopwood DePree, which was okay. Now I’m reading _The Audacity of Sara Grayson_, by Joani Elliott. ---
**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 15, 2022, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-july-2022-edition/967158/37 "2022-07-15T17:47:41Z")
> [@Dendarii\_Dame](#): > > Finished _The Kaiju Preservation Society_, by John Scalzi, which was a lot of fun. One of the best novels I’ve read this year… My teenage son and I enjoyed it, too. Not Scalzi’s best (I’d give _Old Man’s War, Fuzzy Nation, The End of All Things_ or _Redshirts_ the trophy), but a damn good read. Recently finished: _The Last Stand of the Tin Can Sailors_ by James D. Hornfischer, Doug Murray and Steven Sanders, a pretty good graphic novel about the 1944 naval battle off Samar. _Sleepwalk_ by Dan Chaon, about a near-future dystopic road trip by a schlub of a hitman/courier/fixer who’s contacted by his maybe-daughter and then finds himself on the run from his very dangerous employers. Very, very good stuff. _Star Trek: The New Voyages 2_ ed. by Sondra Marshak and Myrna Culbreath, a so-so collection of _ST:TOS_ short stories. _Travels with George_ by Nathaniel Philbrick, in which the author retraces the routes of Washington’s trips around the early republic. Quite good. Now underway: _Childhood’s End_ by Arthur C. Clarke, one of my favorites of his, which I’m rereading with my son. It still holds up well. _Assignment in Eternity_ by Robert A. Heinlein, a 1953 short-story collection. I’m very unimpressed, but expect I’ll finish it. _The Face of the Third Reich: Portrait of the Nazi Leadership_ by Joachim E. Fest, with concise, well-crafted profiles of Hitler and his henchmen. Both interesting and chilling. Finally, I’m taking an involuntary break (the library pulled back the audiobook) from _Shattered Sword: The Untold Story of the Battle of Midway_ by Jonathan Parshall and Anthony P. Tully, focusing on the Japanese side of things in the key WWII carrier battle. ---
**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:** [July 15, 2022, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-july-2022-edition/967158/38 "2022-07-15T18:07:43Z")
Just downloaded and started _The Good Sister_ by Sally Hepworth. It’s a drama about twin sisters, told from their points of view. I’m listening to the audiobook, which feature two different narrators for the two sisters. ---
**Author:** ![SuntanLotion](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/suntanlotion/32/16165_2.png) [@SuntanLotion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SuntanLotion)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2022, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-july-2022-edition/967158/39 "2022-07-15T19:02:10Z")
Love That Story by Jonathan Van Ness. ---
**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:** [July 17, 2022, 9:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-july-2022-edition/967158/40 "2022-07-17T09:52:02Z")
Finished **Boy Swallows Universe** by Trent Dalton. It is an outstanding coming-of-age story of two brothers in 1980s Australia growing up through hardships of a broken family, drugs, violence, adversary, trauma, setbacks and an unvarnished insight into what adulthood really is like for so many people. Not the idealistic dreams most kids have but the quite literally brutal reality. All the while maintaining an innocence, desire, hopes and aspirations to go above and beyond what they witness and be who they want to be. I’m glad I picked this up since it is not really the kind of theme I often read. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-july-2022-edition/967158.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-july-2022-edition/967158.md?page=3)