# Khadaji’s Whatcha Reading Thread - July 2023 edition **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** books-writing-myths\ **Created:** [June 30, 2023, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-july-2023-edition/986381 "2023-06-30T23:05:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![zimaane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a3d4f5/32.png) [@zimaane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zimaane)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2023, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-july-2023-edition/986381/61 "2023-07-19T00:42:29Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > Ah, good. I’m a big fan of the book! Her _The Ladies of Grace Adieu_ is a collection of short stories that overlap with it a bit, and her more recent novel _Piranesi_ is quite different but also excellent. Thanks for the recommendation for The Ladies of Grace Adieu. I’ll check it out when I finish JS&MN. I read Piranesi a while back and really enjoyed it. ---
**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 19, 2023, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-july-2023-edition/986381/62 "2023-07-19T21:48:15Z")
_Heimskringla_ defeated me. I made it all the way through the St Olav section and I was looking forward to the Harold Hardrada bit, but the constant digressions wore me completely out. I’ve put it on the used book store trade-in pile and pulled _Joseph Andrews & Shamela_ off the shelf in its place. ---
**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 19, 2023, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-july-2023-edition/986381/63 "2023-07-19T22:42:54Z")
There’s a collection of shorter Icelandic sagas I’ve dipped into now and again–Edited by Jane Smiley. > **[Jane Smiley: The Sagas of Icelanders : (Penguin Classics Deluxe Edition)...](https://www.amazon.com/Jane-Smiley-Icelanders-Classics-Paperback/dp/B01FOD96SY)** > > Jane Smiley: The Sagas of Icelanders : (Penguin Classics Deluxe Edition) (Paperback); 2001 Edition on Amazon.com. \*FREE\* shipping on qualifying offers. Jane Smiley: The Sagas of Icelanders : (Penguin Classics Deluxe Edition) (Paperback); 2001 Edition ---
**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, 2023, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-july-2023-edition/986381/64 "2023-07-19T23:16:46Z")
Finished _This Is Chance!: The Shaking of an All-American City, A Voice That Held It Together_, by Jon Mooallem, which was interesting. My favorite part of the book takes places years before the earthquake, in which a man in Texas goes on a business trip for a few weeks. Upon his return, he discovers that his wife has done the following, all without discussing any of this with him prior to his trip: 1. She has bought a plot of land next to their house. 2. She has had their house moved to this land. 3. She has had construction started on a new house on the first piece of property. Now I’m reading _Three Men on the Bummel_, by Jerome K. Jerome. ---
**Author:** ![SCAdian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scadian/32/3292_2.png) [@SCAdian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SCAdian)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2023, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-july-2023-edition/986381/65 "2023-07-20T00:31:03Z")
Finished: _Whirlwind: The Air War Against Japan 1942-1945_, by Barrett Tillman, and _Shift_, by Hugh Howey. Started: _Death in Daylesford_, by Kerry Greenwood _Stranded in the Sky: The Untold Story of Pan Am Luxury Airliners Trapped on the Day of Infamy_, by Philip Jett Next up: _Downfall: The End of the Imperial Japanese Empire_, by Richard B Frank ---
**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:** [July 20, 2023, 2:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-july-2023-edition/986381/66 "2023-07-20T02:12:41Z")
Dare we ask why? Or will the answer be, “You need to read the book”? @Catamount and @susan – I am much in favor of Icelandic sagas. Working my way (slowly) through Irving’s _A Prayer for Owen Meany._ I’m liking it so far, but there’s a pretty fair way to go. ---
**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 20, 2023, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-july-2023-edition/986381/67 "2023-07-20T02:26:21Z")
> [@SCAdian](#): > > … > Next up: > _Downfall: The End of the Imperial Japanese Empire_, by Richard B Frank I’m almost done with that myself! Despite the goofy subtitle (why mention both “Imperial” and “Empire” in the same short sentence?), I think it’s excellent - very well-documented and readable. It’s one of the best books I’ve ever read on the last year of WWII in the Pacific, planning for what would surely have been a bloody invasion, and Truman’s momentous decision to drop the A-bombs. ---
**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 20, 2023, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-july-2023-edition/986381/68 "2023-07-20T18:18:11Z")
I finished listening to _Every City is Every Other City_ by John McFetridge. I thought it was a good read, with a couple of interesting sub-plots enmeshed with the main storyline. I’ll look for more of his books. ---
**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 21, 2023, 12:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-july-2023-edition/986381/69 "2023-07-21T12:16:45Z")
Finished The Silent Companions today. It seemed to me that the author tried very hard to put a twist in this book, but it didn’t quite land. There were other issues as well; I didn’t really like the main character, and there was a red herring subplot that remained unexplained. However, it was _almost_ the sort of book I’d like to read, so I will give this author another chance. ---
**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 21, 2023, 1:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-july-2023-edition/986381/70 "2023-07-21T13:34:55Z")
The book doesn’t say why she did it, other than the fact that she liked getting her own way. Finished _Three Men on the Bummel_, by Jerome K. Jerome, which I enjoyed. Note: This book was published in 1900, and parts of it have not aged well. Now I’m reading _Being Seen: One Deafblind Woman’s Fight to End Ableism_, by Elsa Sjunneson. ---
**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 22, 2023, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-july-2023-edition/986381/71 "2023-07-22T14:30:43Z")
Again based on a suggestion from Libby, I started listening to _Cradle of the Deep_ by Dietrich Kalteis. Pretty good thus 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 22, 2023, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-july-2023-edition/986381/72 "2023-07-22T16:27:22Z")
I finished Philip Glass, _Words Without Music: A Memoir._ It was okay, with interesting information; however, it was pretty emotionally flat and at times somewhat elliptical. He jumps around a lot as well. Still, I’m glad I read it. Currently reading _Gold Fame Citrus,_ a post-water-crisis apocalypse (California version), but the style doesn’t grab me and so far I’m not finding the characters engaging. ---
**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, 2023, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-july-2023-edition/986381/73 "2023-07-22T17:31:06Z")
Finished _Being Seen: One Deafblind Woman’s Fight to End Ableism_, by Elsa Sjunneson, which was powerful. Now I’m reading _Barsk: The Elephants’ Graveyard_, a science fiction novel by Lawrence M. Schoen. ---
**Author:** ![RickG](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rickg/32/5174_2.png) [@RickG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickG)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2023, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-july-2023-edition/986381/74 "2023-07-23T01:56:11Z")
Finished Charles Stross’ latest in the Laundry Files series, _Season of Skulls_. Great fun summer read. I like how the series centers different characters every time. The audiobook narrator is also first rate. Also finished _The Country of the Blind: A Memoir of the End of Sight_, by Andrew Leland. Leland has retinitis pigments (RP), as I do. He’s younger than me, and a couple of decades behind me in the progression of the disease. He describes, much better than I could, what it’s like. He profiles blind activists, organizations, and engineers, touches on different approaches to disability, and wrestles with a lot of things I have, but far more coherently. I kept finding myself wanting to pause the audiobook so I could commiserate, expand on a point, or argue with him. I think the book is excellent, though I may not be really objective about it, since it is so close to home for me. ---
**Author:** ![BetsQ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/fbc32d/32.png) [@BetsQ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BetsQ)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2023, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-july-2023-edition/986381/75 "2023-07-24T01:16:24Z")
I read Rebecca Yarros’s Fourth Wing, largely because someone mentioned it in a previous thread. It treads a lot of very familiar ground: young people in a closed society go through intensive training to learn to ride magical dragons into war. It was a really enjoyable read, though, and I can’t wait for the sequel to come out later this year. I’m now reading the Banned Bookshop of Maggie Banks. It’s fine. I’m a sucker for the “woman finds love/community/purpose in life while running a bookshop” genre. ---
**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 24, 2023, 12:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-july-2023-edition/986381/76 "2023-07-24T12:35:13Z")
Started this morning on [The Militia House](https://www.amazon.com/Militia-House-Novel-John-Milas/dp/1250857066/ref=tmm_hrd_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1690201612&sr=8-1), by John Milas, a horror novel set during the war in Afghanistan. Feeling wary about the possibility of animals being hurt in this one, but okay so far. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2023, 12:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-july-2023-edition/986381/77 "2023-07-24T12:45:26Z")
**The Passage** - Justin Cronin. A post-apocalyptic novel, and apparently part of a trilogy. Very long, but quite well written. ---
**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 24, 2023, 1:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-july-2023-edition/986381/78 "2023-07-24T13:17:23Z")
Finished _Barsk: The Elephants’ Graveyard_, a science fiction novel by Lawrence M. Schoen. Not bad, but reads like a mix of _Planet of the Apes_, _Dune_, and David Brin’s _Uplift_ series, all of which were done better. Now I’m reading _I Brake for Yard Sales and Flea Markets, Thrift Shops, Auctions, and the Occasional Dumpster_, by Lara Spencer. ---
**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 24, 2023, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-july-2023-edition/986381/79 "2023-07-24T16:18:13Z")
I finished _Spellbreaker_ by Charlie N. Holmberg last night. It was okay, the main failing was that nothing really happened in the first half of the book. The last third was wild though and pretty much made up for the lack of action before then. I will read the second book 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 24, 2023, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-july-2023-edition/986381/80 "2023-07-24T17:10:24Z")
Over the weekend I finished _Downfall_ by Richard B. Frank, a WWII history about the last days of Imperial Japan. As I said upthread, it’s excellent. I also finished _Satchel_ by Larry Tye, a bio of the Negro League and later Major League pitching legend Satchel Paige. As I wrote before, he was remarkable on the mound, always quotable about baseball and how to live a good life, but enigmatic as to his family, childhood and even his date of birth. An amazing pitcher but not always a nice person (he married three times, at least once bigamously, and apparently cheated on all his wives). Still, I enjoyed learning a lot more about him. Still reading _Kykuit_, the Rockefeller Family Home by Ann Rockefeller Roberts, with photographs by Mary Louise Pierson, her daughter. It’s a beautifully-illustrated book about the Rockefeller estate, north of New York City, established by John D. himself. I hope to visit there someday. I’ve also just begun _Hell to Pay: Operation DOWNFALL and the Invasion of Japan, 1945-1947_ by D.M. Giangreco, which has an argumentative tone I don’t really appreciate, but I think it will be a good supplement to Frank’s _Downfall_. Next up as an audiobook: _The Glass Hotel_ by Emily St. John Mandel, a crime novel. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-july-2023-edition/986381.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-july-2023-edition/986381.md?page=5)