# Khadaji’s Whatcha Reading Thread - June 2025 edition
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-june-2025-edition/1018982
**Category:** Cafe Society
**Tags:** comic-books-manga, books-writing-myths
**Created:** [May 29, 2025, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-june-2025-edition/1018982 "2025-05-29T22:49:16Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 2
### Author:  [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)
#### Post date: [June 8, 2025, 4:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-june-2025-edition/1018982/21 "2025-06-08T04:26:06Z")
My book club read Lethem’s _Gun, With Occasional Music_ awhile back, and I remember it as being very divisive. Some of us hated it; I thought it had an interesting premise but was just OK, not great, as a book.
I’m now almost halfway through _The Passage_ by Justin Cronin, about a near-future secret research project on Death Row inmates that leads to… well, very bad things, I’ll just say. It starts out as a biomedical/government paranoia thriller but there’s been a substantial time-jump forward, and now it’s a completely different book. Not sure yet if it’s a _better_ book, but it’s certainly different.
Just started reading with my son _When the Moon Hits Your Eye_ by John Scalzi, a sf comedy novel about the Moon actually turning into cheese, and what happens next.
I keep meaning to get back to _Life on the Mississippi_ by Mark Twain; someday I will. It’s OK, sometimes pretty good, but it’s hardly a page-turner.
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### Author:  [@DZedNConfused](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DZedNConfused)
#### Post date: [June 8, 2025, 11:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-june-2025-edition/1018982/22 "2025-06-08T11:48:04Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#):
>
> Just started reading with my son _When the Moon Hits Your Eye_ by John Scalzi, a sf comedy novel about the Moon actually turning into cheese, and what happens next.
I don’t know how old your son is but there’s an , um, adult chapter in the middle. No sex but some kinky shenanigans. One of the best laughs of the book in my opinion,
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### Author:  [@Catamount](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Catamount)
#### Post date: [June 8, 2025, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-june-2025-edition/1018982/23 "2025-06-08T16:39:29Z")
Just gave up on Annalee Newitz’s _The Future of Another Timeline_ about halfway through. I was just barely putting up with the rock-bashing-me-over-the-head-with-the-message already, but when the Deus Ex Machina crashed the Secret Time-Travelling Women meeting with Important Information that they needed to keep the plot moving I decided that this book is too silly to exist.
Also, someone needs to tell the author that everyone has read _The Devil in the White City_ already so there’s no need for her to show off. that she’s read it as well.
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### Author:  [@DZedNConfused](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DZedNConfused)
#### Post date: [June 8, 2025, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-june-2025-edition/1018982/24 "2025-06-08T16:55:24Z")
I think you got further than I did. My book club loved but I just couldn’t get past the Deus Ex Machina overload the character that they all loved died, so no remembered who she was but then someone went back in time and saved her so now they could all love her again. I shouted “OH COME ON!!” at my phone and just pure drek of it all.
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### Author:  [@Catamount](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Catamount)
#### Post date: [June 8, 2025, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-june-2025-edition/1018982/25 "2025-06-08T19:23:08Z")
It probably doesn’t help that I was reading it right after I finished the vastly superior _A Woman Is No Man_ by Etaf Rum. It’s also about women’s rights but seen through the lens of three generations of Palestinian-American women living in Brooklyn. It was hard to get through sometimes because there is a lot of spousal abuse but it managed to be hopeful and–this is important–not preachy.
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### Author:  [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)
#### Post date: [June 8, 2025, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-june-2025-edition/1018982/26 "2025-06-08T21:05:30Z")
I stepped away for a few minutes today to re-read Life of Chuck, a short story from Stephen King’s If It Bleeds collection. It’s about to be released as a movie, and I wanted to refresh my memory.
Now that I’ve done so, I’m honestly puzzled as to how they could stretch this sixty-something page story into a film, especially as very little happens.
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### Author:  [@Dendarii\_Dame](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dendarii_Dame)
#### Post date: [June 8, 2025, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-june-2025-edition/1018982/27 "2025-06-08T22:41:11Z")
Still reading _Adventures for Readers (Book One)_, edited by Fannie Safie.
Finished _The Heirloomist: 100 Treasures and the Stories They Tell_, by Shana Novak, which had some interesting stories, of which my favorite was a photo of a helmet worn by a firefighter, Jack Burton, when he caught a toddler who fell from a burning building. As he bent over to put the baby down, a baby fell onto his back. That child survived, too. A newspaper called him “The Human Safety Net”.
Next up: _My Jewish Year: 18 Holidays, One Wondering Jew_, by Abigail Pogrebin, and _The Invention of Hugo Cabret_, by Brian Selznick.
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### Author:  [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)
#### Post date: [June 9, 2025, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-june-2025-edition/1018982/28 "2025-06-09T01:25:45Z")
> [@DZedNConfused](#):
>
> > [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#):
> >
> > Just started reading with my son _When the Moon Hits Your Eye_ by John Scalzi, a sf comedy novel about the Moon actually turning into cheese, and what happens next.
>
> I don’t know how old your son is but there’s an , um, adult chapter in the middle. No sex but some kinky shenanigans. One of the best laughs of the book in my opinion,
OK, thanks. He’s 25, so I think it’ll be OK. We like reading aloud with each other.
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### Author:  [@DZedNConfused](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DZedNConfused)
#### Post date: [June 9, 2025, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-june-2025-edition/1018982/29 "2025-06-09T01:37:40Z")
Oh well in that case: Carry on!! 😆
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### Author:  [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)
#### Post date: [June 9, 2025, 2:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-june-2025-edition/1018982/30 "2025-06-09T02:05:31Z")
> [@Dendarii\_Dame](#):
>
> …Next up: _My Jewish Year: 18 Holidays, One Wondering Jew_, by Abigail Pogrebin…
You may also enjoy [_The Year of Living Biblically: One Man’s Humble Quest to Follow the Bible as Literally as Possible_ by A.J. Jacobs, which I thought was great.](https://www.amazon.com/Year-Living-Biblically-Literally-Possible/dp/0743291484)
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### Author:  [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)
#### Post date: [June 9, 2025, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-june-2025-edition/1018982/31 "2025-06-09T14:04:01Z")
Started today on [The Witchstone](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/201799733) by Henry Neff. It’s an amusing story about a demon dealing with the bureaucracy of Hell and the difficulties of managing humans; I always enjoy this type of thing.
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### Author:  [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)
#### Post date: [June 9, 2025, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-june-2025-edition/1018982/32 "2025-06-09T18:26:19Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#):
>
> Next up: The Hail Mary Project, by Andy Weir. I’m reading it for book club, and already I’m intrigued by the story and annoyed by everything else. The writing style, meant to be breezy and humorously informal, just comes across sloppy, like someone that shows up in a ratty old T-shirt and calls it “casual.” The protagonist has the sort of nerd arrogance that doesn’t necessarily work for me. But the story is interesting enough so far, and I’ll plug on through.
Okay–I wrote this before a major plot advancement that fundamentally changed my take on the book.
The protagonist meets an alien and strikes up a deeply touching friendship.
Up to that point, the book had felt very much like [We Are Legion/We Are Bob](https://www.amazon.com/Are-Legion-Bob-Bobiverse-Book-ebook/dp/B01LWAESYQ), which I cordially disliked. But from here on, there was much more emotional depth to the book. Not Dostoyevsky by any stretch, but the protagonist felt much more human.
If someone doesn’t like science fiction, this ain’t the book to change their mind. It’s not great literature. But it’s a solid, fun read, and the final scene actually got me a little emotional.
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### Author:  [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)
#### Post date: [June 9, 2025, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-june-2025-edition/1018982/33 "2025-06-09T21:49:22Z")
I finished **Anima Rising**. If you’ve read any Christopher Moore, you know what to expect – it’s quirky, obscene, and funny. As the subtitle says, it’s Gustave Klimt and Carl Jung and Sigmund Freud meeting the Bride of Frankenstein (who the good Doctor put back together, after tearing her apart). She’s virtually immortal and amoral, and casually talks about murdering people, which Freud and Jung take with savoir faire. There’s also a surprising amount of Inuit mythology thrown in.
It’s not quite as engaging as his earlier books, most of which contained at least one line of description or dialogue that you wanted to read out of context to someone just to het their reaction. But worth a read.
(Self-plug: I wrote my own Bride of Frankenstein story, **A Light so Brilliant and Wondrous** , several years ago – in this case the survival of the Bride was ca consequence of one small change I made to the story of Frankenstein. You can read it here for free:
> **[A Light So Brilliant and Wondrous | Silver Blade Magazine](https://www.silverblade.net/2019/12/a-light-so-brilliant-and-wondrous/)**
>
> I had worked hard for nearly two years for the sole purpose of infusing life into an inanimate body.
I also read **Luke Skywalker Can’t Read** by Ryan Britt and **God, No!** by Penn Jillette. Interesting essays on Science Fiction/Fantasy and on Theology/Religion.
I’m on travel, so I picked up a copy of Doyle’s **The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes** – Excellent as always.
I’m halfway through Roger Dixon’s **Noah II** , a book that came out in 1970, and which had a tag on the cover – “Soon to be a Major Motion Picture!”. Well, it’s now 55 years later, and the motion picture hasn’t happened yet. In the edition printed five years later the “motion picture” claim is gone, but it’s said to be the first book in a series “The Quest”, which hasn’t happened either. I’m a little curious what happened. Dixon wrote two other books, although the Science Fiction Encyclopedia says three. Dixon died in 1983 at the age of 53, so it looks like we won’t get any answers from him. The book starts out competently enough, but it suddenly jumps thirty years into the future, and hops around a lot. I’m not entirely happy with it, but we’ll see if it gets any better. The damned thing was published five times (six if you count the e-book), but it doesn’t really seem worth it yet.
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### Author:  [@zimaane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zimaane)
#### Post date: [June 10, 2025, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-june-2025-edition/1018982/34 "2025-06-10T15:16:35Z")
**The Urban Naturalist: How to Make the City Your Scientific Playground** Menno Shilthuizen
A look at the various types of citizen science and environmental activism being done in cities around the world, including posting to platforms such as Inaturalist.
Very well written book on an engaging topic
Highly recommended
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### Author:  [@Dendarii\_Dame](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dendarii_Dame)
#### Post date: [June 11, 2025, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-june-2025-edition/1018982/35 "2025-06-11T23:10:31Z")
A.J. Jacobs wrote the preface to _My Jewish Year_… Pogrebin discussed her planned book with him before she wrote it, and they decided the two books wouldn’t be too similar. _The Year of Living Biblically._.. is now on my TBR list.
Finished _My Jewish Year: 18 Holidays, One Wondering Jew_, by Abigail Pogrebin, which I thought was fascinating, and _The Invention of Hugo Cabret_, by Brian Selznick, which was okay.
Still reading _Adventures for Readers (Book One)_, edited by Fannie Safie.
Next up: _Sandbows and Black LIghts: Reflections on Optics_, by Stephen R. Wilk, and _Bridge of Birds_, by Barry Hughart.
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### Author:  [@DZedNConfused](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DZedNConfused)
#### Post date: [June 11, 2025, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-june-2025-edition/1018982/36 "2025-06-11T23:22:47Z")
Bridge of Birds is one of my favorite books. I reread it fairly regularly.
I’m sad that Barry Hughart got so much sh\*t from his publishing company that he quit writing after the third book.
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### Author:  [@DZedNConfused](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DZedNConfused)
#### Post date: [June 13, 2025, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-june-2025-edition/1018982/37 "2025-06-13T00:12:05Z")
I finished _A Man with One of Those Faces_ by Caimh McDonnell. That was… crazy and wild in all the right ways. And I’m going to grab the next book in the series.
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### Author:  [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)
#### Post date: [June 13, 2025, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-june-2025-edition/1018982/38 "2025-06-13T02:25:40Z")
> [@Dendarii\_Dame](#):
>
> A.J. Jacobs wrote the preface to _My Jewish Year_… Pogrebin discussed her planned book with him before she wrote it, and they decided the two books wouldn’t be too similar. _The Year of Living Biblically._.. is now on my TBR list…
Ah, good! Please let me know what you think.
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### Author:  [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)
#### Post date: [June 13, 2025, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-june-2025-edition/1018982/39 "2025-06-13T13:30:55Z")
I finished The Witchstone, and gave it the rare five stars at Goodreads. As always, I’m posting a disclaimer because I don’t really care for the star rating system! This is not among the best books ever written, I’m merely saying that I had a good time with it, it was a nice story and did exactly what it said on the tin. I would try this author again.
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### Author:  [@rocking\_chair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rocking_chair)
#### Post date: [June 13, 2025, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-june-2025-edition/1018982/40 "2025-06-13T15:44:45Z")
i’m nearly through this series. just a fun read. seeing the world through the eyes and noses of the various animals. the series is written from the point of view of athos a malamute, and pearl a neva masquerade. other animals are brought in as athos and pearl investigate the murders.
[A Case for the Master Sleuths Series by Alex Wagner](https://www.goodreads.com/series/364014-a-case-for-the-master-sleuths)
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