# 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:** 3
**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 17, 2022, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-july-2022-edition/967158/41 "2022-07-17T14:10:44Z")
My favorite Scalzi works are those set in the Lock In universe. I hope he writes more of them. Finished _The Audacity of Sara Grayson_, by Joani Elliott. Meh. Now I’m reading _In Praise of Walking: A New Scientific Exploration_, by Shane O’Mara. ---
**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, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-july-2022-edition/967158/42 "2022-07-17T16:12:00Z")
Years ago I watched all four of the Matt Helm movies starring Dean Martin. They are essentially a parody of James Bond and the wave of spy thrillers that was the trend at the time. Perfect for Dean Martin who had the charisma of a ladies man and killer secret agent but instead of having to be serious he got to fool around and have fun. It wasn’t until fairly recent however that I found out Matt Helm was in fact a literary spy adapted into movies. And after reading into some reviews the book character was nothing how Martin played him in the movies. So with that I have picked up the first Matt Helm book **Death of a Citizen** by Donald Hamilton. There are 27 books in the series (a 28th remains unpublished apparently). I’m in no rush to go through all these books but I’m always interested in checking out new spy series and in this case an old one that began in the golden age of spy novels. ---
**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 17, 2022, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-july-2022-edition/967158/43 "2022-07-17T17:16:24Z")
> [@Dung\_Beetle](#): > > 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. Well, my goodness. After that auspicious start, things went downhill. My top problems with this book: 1. The content-free, cliche-ridden bickering of the brother and sister. Like watching one of my grandma’s soap operas. 2. After about the mid-point, this book was nothing but fight scenes, given in great detail. Tedious. 3. After fighting like Terminators, someone who surely seemed to be dead would come back for the next fight like Jason from Friday the 13th. After a while I just rolled my eyes whenever anyone “died”. 4. The “happy” ending. The book wasn’t a total loss, if you dig demon possession and Lovecraftian imagery, and it did keep me reading all the way to the end. I wish it had lived up to its potential. ---
**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 17, 2022, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-july-2022-edition/967158/44 "2022-07-17T20:26:01Z")
> [@Dendarii\_Dame](#): > > My favorite Scalzi works are those set in the Lock In universe. I hope he writes more of them…. I read all of those, too, and liked ‘em, but never thought they were among his best. To each their own. ---
**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 18, 2022, 12:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-july-2022-edition/967158/45 "2022-07-18T12:42:53Z")
After three duds in a row, I decided to crack open a sure thing. Started this morning on [What Moves the Dead](https://www.amazon.com/What-Moves-Dead-T-Kingfisher/dp/1250830753/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=what+moves+the+dead&qid=1658147645&sr=8-1) by T. Kingfisher, a retelling of The Fall of the House of Usher. Right away, I have a complaint: it’s too short. Only 176 pages! ---
**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 18, 2022, 1:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-july-2022-edition/967158/46 "2022-07-18T13:24:58Z")
My copy arrived last week and I was surprised at how small it was! I’m hoping to get to it this week! ---
**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 18, 2022, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-july-2022-edition/967158/47 "2022-07-18T13:41:24Z")
Finished _In Praise of Walking: A New Scientific Exploration_, by Shane O’Mara, which was okay. Now I’m reading _Reader, I Buried Them and Other Stories_, by Peter Lovesey. ---
**Author:** ![zimaane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a3d4f5/32.png) [@zimaane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zimaane)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2022, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-july-2022-edition/967158/48 "2022-07-18T15:29:31Z")
**River of the Gods: Genius, Courage, and Betrayal in the Search for the Source of the Nile** Candice Millard The fascinating history of the Burton and Speke expeditions to discover the source of the Nile river in East Africa, a subject of huge interest in the 1800s. The two men who were chosen to try to resolve the issue, Burton and Speke, were both Britons, but that’s where their similarity ended. Burton was a commoner, and an atheist libertine. He was also so good at linguistics that he journeyed to Mecca disguised as an Arabic-speaking Afghan. Speke was a conservative aristocrat. Of course, they ended up hating each other. But after unimaginable hardships (Burton was so sick that he had to be carried most of the way and Speke’s eyes were infected so badly that he couldn’t see and he was partially deaf because a bug crawled into his ear and died) they did find Lake Victoria and later confirm that it was the source of the Nile. Highly recommended ---
**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 18, 2022, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-july-2022-edition/967158/49 "2022-07-18T17:32:05Z")
I’ve begun Robert Harris’s _The Second Sleep_, a novel in which an English priest investigates the death, under suspicious circumstances, of another priest in an isolated Wessex village. The book is apparently set in the Middle Ages, but there are hints along the way to suggest that all is not as it seems. So far, so good. ---
**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 19, 2022, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-july-2022-edition/967158/50 "2022-07-19T15:34:26Z")
What Moves the Dead was just lovely. It’ll only take you about an hour to read it, though! ---
**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 19, 2022, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-july-2022-edition/967158/51 "2022-07-19T15:41:23Z")
> [@Dung\_Beetle](#): > > After three duds in a row, I decided to crack open a sure thing. I’ve been in the land of sure things myself lately. On the fiction front, I’m reading [Grown Ups](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/43779862-grown-ups) by Marian Keyes. This is my seventh book of hers that I’m reading, and aside from one dud, I’ve adored all of them. On the non-fiction front, I’m reading [In Defense of Food](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/315425.In_Defense_of_Food) by Michael Pollan–my fourth book of his that I’ve read. Sometimes I’m in the mood to discover new authors, but sometimes I just feel like sticking to what I know and love. ---
**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 19, 2022, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-july-2022-edition/967158/52 "2022-07-19T16:14:18Z")
YAY!! Looking forward to it! ---
**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 19, 2022, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-july-2022-edition/967158/53 "2022-07-19T17:44:12Z")
Finished _Reader, I Buried Them and Other Stories_, by Peter Lovesey, of which the best story is “A Three Pie Problem”. Now I’m reading _In On the Joke: The Original Queens of Stand-Up Comedy_, by Shawn Levy. ---
**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 19, 2022, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-july-2022-edition/967158/54 "2022-07-19T21:01:40Z")
> [@Dendarii\_Dame](#): > > Finished _Reader, I Buried Them and Other Stories_, by Peter Lovesey… I just have to say, I _love_ that title! ---
**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 19, 2022, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-july-2022-edition/967158/55 "2022-07-19T22:22:06Z")
So do I! ---
**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 20, 2022, 12:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-july-2022-edition/967158/56 "2022-07-20T12:05:02Z")
Getting close to the end of **Pauper Auction**. She went in some unexpected directions with that. Next up is a trio of short Jules Verne novels. I like reading Verne in the summer, and one day I swear I will finish reading them all. But they keep finding new Verne works and generating newer and better translations, freeing Verne from impositions by editors and other authors (like his son). But the three I’ve picked up are older ones I simply haven’t yet read, and are probably unfamiliar to most people **The Green Ray** **Cesar Cascabel** **The Family Without a Name** ---
**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 20, 2022, 12:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-july-2022-edition/967158/57 "2022-07-20T12:54:25Z")
Started today on [Dietland](https://www.amazon.com/Dietland-Sarai-Walker/dp/054437343X/ref=tmm_hrd_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1658321222&sr=1-1) by Sarai Walker, a novel about a woman who joins a group of feminist vigilantes. Not my usual cup of tea, and it’s getting off to a slow start, but I’ll continue. ---
**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 22, 2022, 12:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-july-2022-edition/967158/58 "2022-07-22T12:28:03Z")
At 170 pages, more than halfway through [Dietland](https://www.amazon.com/Dietland-Sarai-Walker/dp/054437343X/ref=tmm_hrd_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1658492504&sr=8-1), I give up. Individual scenes are interesting, but somehow it’s not adding up to anything. I can’t identify with the main character at all. I have one more book by this author in the TBR pile, which is now likely to get short shrift. ---
**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 22, 2022, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-july-2022-edition/967158/59 "2022-07-22T14:09:35Z")
Finished _In On the Joke: The Original Queens of Stand-Up Comedy_, by Shawn Levy, which I enjoyed. Now I’m reading _Clarkesworld: Year Twelve - Volume One_, edited by Neil Clarke and Sean Wallace. ---
**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 22, 2022, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-july-2022-edition/967158/60 "2022-07-22T17:31:34Z")
I finished _Criminal Past_ by Gregory Ashe, the 6th in his Hazard & Somerset series. (The last in the first series as well, he has two succeeding series with the same characters as they open new “doors” in their lives.) Wow, that book was intense and I now know I can hold a Kindle with my finger curled tightly into my palms. There was finger torture in this book This entry in the series was the best paced book so far, so I have high hopes for ther next series. But first I need some palate cleansers, I’m thinking T. Kingfisher and Mrs. Pollifax. EDIT: Damn sorry, I messed up the spoiler. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-july-2022-edition/967158.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-july-2022-edition/967158.md?page=4)