# Khadaji’s Whatcha Reading Thread - May 2024 edition **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** books-writing-myths\ **Created:** [May 1, 2024, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-may-2024-edition/1000992 "2024-05-01T02:34:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**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:** [May 9, 2024, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-may-2024-edition/1000992/21 "2024-05-09T16:35:49Z")
I finished _Supreme Justice_ by Phillip Margolin. Next up is _Capitol Murder_ by the same author. ---
**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:** [May 9, 2024, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-may-2024-edition/1000992/22 "2024-05-09T17:06:45Z")
I started _How I Stole the Princess’s White Knight and Turned Him to Villiany: Miracle 1_ by A. J Sherwood. It’s a m/m satire on sword and sorcery tropes, so far I’m laughing. Nothing deep, but a fun potato chip book. Not sure if the schtick will hold up over several volumes, but I’m game to find out. ---
**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:** [May 9, 2024, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-may-2024-edition/1000992/23 "2024-05-09T23:37:15Z")
Cherry and her friends definitely eat ravioli at the restaurant in my edition (I checked) although her friend Ann does say, “Wait till you eat Mama’s _pasta_.” Finished _The God Equation: The Quest for a Theory of Everything_, by Michio Kaku, which actually made physics interesting for me. Now I’m reading _Ten Little Fen: A Spade/Paladin Conundrum_, by Kristine Kathryn Rusch. ---
**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:** [May 11, 2024, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-may-2024-edition/1000992/24 "2024-05-11T23:33:56Z")
Finished _Ten Little Fen: A Spade/Paladin Conundrum_, by Kristine Kathryn Rusch. Meh. Up next: H. Beam Piper’s _Little Fuzzy_ and _The Ocean at the End of the Lane_, by Neil Gaiman. ---
**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:** [May 12, 2024, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-may-2024-edition/1000992/25 "2024-05-12T02:20:04Z")
> [@Dendarii\_Dame](#): > > Up next: H. Beam Piper’s _Little Fuzzy_ and _The Ocean at the End of the Lane_, by Neil Gaiman. Both are excellent choices! I should reread them. ---
**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:** [May 12, 2024, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-may-2024-edition/1000992/26 "2024-05-12T21:51:51Z")
I just finished Lost Man’s Lane, and I’m crying a little bit. It was so freaking good. If I hadn’t known who the author was, I’d have guessed Joe Hill. The characters rang so true, and there was a confidence in the telling of the impossible story that made me go along with it. Like a good King novel, without his recognizable quirks. Loved it. ---
**Author:** ![zimaane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a3d4f5/32.png) [@zimaane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zimaane)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2024, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-may-2024-edition/1000992/27 "2024-05-13T20:54:53Z")
**A Meditation on Murder** Robert Thorogood An original story with the characters and settings from the television series _Death in Paradise_ . There is a murder in the prologue and the small police force of the fictional Caribbean island of Ste Marie investigate. Reading the book is a lot like watching the show. Fun, but don’t think about it too hard. ---
**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:** [May 14, 2024, 12:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-may-2024-edition/1000992/28 "2024-05-14T12:27:06Z")
Started this morning on a non-fiction book, [The Witching Year](https://www.amazon.com/Witching-Year-Earnest-Fumbling-Witchcraft/dp/1668002981), by Diana Helmuth. It’s about a woman who decides to follow the precepts of witchcraft for a year as an experiment. The problem is that she’s finding witchcraft to be completely vague and made up by, well, everyone who plays at it. It’s making the book a little boring so far, but I hope it picks up. Favorite quote so far: > [@](#): > > I am once again reminded that Witchcraft is truly the religion of crafters. I don’t know why I’m worried about finding a coven; I could probably walk into a Michael’s and shout, “As I will it?” and just follow whoever shouts back, “So mote it be!” like a game of Marco Polo. ---
**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:** [May 14, 2024, 12:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-may-2024-edition/1000992/29 "2024-05-14T12:48:24Z")
> [@Dung\_Beetle](#): > > Favorite quote so far: > > > [@](#): > > > > I am once again reminded that Witchcraft is truly the religion of crafters. I don’t know why I’m worried about finding a coven; I could probably walk into a Michael’s and shout, “As I will it?” and just follow whoever shouts back, “So mote it be!” like a game of Marco Polo. I heard about one group that was a pretty loose collection of Wicca Boomers who did a lot of improvising. One time they sacrificed a Chocolate Moose. And when someone used the phrase “Let us ever remember and Never Forget…” the reply from everyone was “An elephant’s faithful, one hundred per cent.” ---
**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:** [May 14, 2024, 12:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-may-2024-edition/1000992/30 "2024-05-14T12:55:02Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > I heard about one group that was a pretty loose collection of Wicca Boomers who did a lot of improvising. One time they sacrificed a Chocolate Moose. Yeah–I dipped in and out of a coven called The Lunatic Fringe, back in the nineties. The God and Goddess were, at various times - Apollo and Aphrodite - Erzulie and Baron Samedi - Peter Pan and Wendy - Elvis and Priscilla It was…eclectic. Oh! As for what I’ve been reading: - [The Final Girl Support Group](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/55829194-the-final-girl-support-group), about the women who were the sole survivors of slasher-movie-style mass murders. It moved along at a good clip, but ultimately didn’t do a lot for me. - [The Southern Book Club’s Guide to Slaying Vampires](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/44074800-the-southern-book-club-s-guide-to-slaying-vampires), by the same author, was a lot better IMO. If you’ve seen _Teenage Bounty Hunters_, and can imagine the moms in that series and what they’d do if they encountered vampires, you’ve got this book. Lots of fun. - [Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/24213.Alice_s_Adventures_in_Wonderland_Through_the_Looking_Glass?from_search=true&from_srp=true&qid=EYVCRQBZQ2&rank=1): read these to my 11yo. SO WEIRD! I’ve read them many times, but this is the first time in about a decade, and I’d forgotten a bit of just how bizarrely silly they are. Definitely worth the reread. - [Convergence Problems](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/154540995-convergence-problems): a short story collection that I can best describe as a bunch of Afro-futurist Twilight Zone episodes. If that’s your jam–and it’s mine!–it’s very good. ---
**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:** [May 14, 2024, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-may-2024-edition/1000992/31 "2024-05-14T21:49:38Z")
Finished H. Beam Piper’s Little Fuzzy and The Ocean at the End of the Lane, by Neil Gaiman. I enjoyed them both, especially the latter. Now I’m reading _Great Adaptations: Star-Nosed Moles, Electric Eels & Other Tales of Evolution’s Mysteries Solved_, by Kenneth Catania. ---
**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:** [May 15, 2024, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-may-2024-edition/1000992/32 "2024-05-15T03:06:31Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > [The Southern Book Club’s Guide to Slaying Vampires](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/44074800-the-southern-book-club-s-guide-to-slaying-vampires), by the same author, was a lot better IMO. If you’ve seen _Teenage Bounty Hunters_, and can imagine the moms in that series and what they’d do if they encountered vampires, you’ve got this book. Lots of fun. Your mileage and mine wildly varied. I skipped to the end, read the last 20 pages and called it a day. ---
**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:** [May 16, 2024, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-may-2024-edition/1000992/33 "2024-05-16T18:54:48Z")
Finished _Great Adaptations: Star-Nosed Moles, Electric Eels & Other Tales of Evolution’s Mysteries Solved_, by Kenneth Catania, which was very interesting. I enjoyed it a lot. Now I’m reading _Ten Low_, by Stark Holborn, which is SF. ---
**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:** [May 16, 2024, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-may-2024-edition/1000992/34 "2024-05-16T19:09:12Z")
> [@DZedNConfused](#): > > Your mileage and mine wildly varied. I skipped to the end, read the last 20 pages and called it a day. Fair enough! The juxtaposition of suburban Southern housewife culture with super-creepy vampire horror kept me interested, but I totally get how it won’t work for everyone. I just finished _[The Scourge Between Stars](https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/60784410)_, which is basically “Alien on a Generation Ship.” Meh. Characters acted in illogical ways, aliens acted in illogical ways, the descriptions of the aliens were lacking, there was an extra alien species that didn’t need to be there, and the ending was very _Deus Ex Machina_. On the other hand, it was something like 130 pages long, so I finished it fast. Don’t plan to look for other books by that author. ---
**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:** [May 16, 2024, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-may-2024-edition/1000992/35 "2024-05-16T20:43:24Z")
I LOVE the _Alice_ books and always have. Not all books that worked for me when I was young still work for me all these decades later, but these absolutely do. I imagine you’re familiar with, or have read, Martin Gardner’s _The Annotated Alice_; but if you haven’t, I recommend it highly. Very informative and by far the best of the _The Annotated \_\_\_\_\__ books I’ve read. I read two middling novels: _Killer Diller_ by Clyde Edgerton and _Vanishing Edge_ by Claire Kells. The first is a bit reminiscent of Dave Barry in some places and Garrison Keillor in others; it’s about people associated with a Christian college in North Carolina, but it’s really about hypocrisy. The takeaway is “A lot of conservative Christians are jerks,” and you’ll get no particular argument from me about that, but the novel was just okay. The second deals with murder in Sequoia National Park, solved by a team of one (1) female law enforcement agent and one (1) male park ranger. The descriptions of the park are good, and the mystery isn’t bad, but I thought the characters left something to be desired. Especially the man, Hux, who seems to be practically perfect in every way. I am reminded of the crack that some reviewer of Marcia Muller’s Sharon McCone series made when Muller introduced a new love interest for McCone: something like “Muller got him for 30% off at a sale of used Harlequin romance heroes.” Yeah, that. Now reading _The Lovely Bones_ by Alice Sebold. Not sure exactly where it’s going, but it’s early days yet. ---
**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:** [May 17, 2024, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-may-2024-edition/1000992/36 "2024-05-17T20:12:26Z")
> [@Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](#): > > I imagine you’re familiar with, or have read, Martin Gardner’s _The Annotated Alice_; but if you haven’t, I recommend it highly. Very informative and by far the best of the _The Annotated \_\_\_\_\__ books I’ve read. Gardner released three different iterations of this book. After the original, he updated it with **More Annotated Alice** , which features illustrations by Peter Newell instead of the familiar ones by Tenniel. He then released a further updated one, **The Annotated Alice: The Definitive Edition** in 1999, with the Tenniel illustrations back. In 2015 the same folks released **The Annotated Alice: the 150th Anniversary Edition** with additional annotations by Mark Burstein (Gardner had died) and a lot more illustrations. I’ve got copies of all but the last of these. ---
**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:** [May 18, 2024, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-may-2024-edition/1000992/37 "2024-05-18T20:32:34Z")
Finished _Ten Low_, by Stark Holborn, which was okay. I would’ve liked it better if the focus had been on one of the supporting characters whom I found more interesting. That’s happened in quite a few books I’ve read this year. Now I’m reading _The Age of Wood: Our Most Useful Material and the Construction of Civilization_, by Roland Ennos. ---
**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:** [May 19, 2024, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-may-2024-edition/1000992/38 "2024-05-19T01:40:49Z")
> [@Dendarii\_Dame](#): > > Finished H. Beam Piper’s Little Fuzzy and The Ocean at the End of the Lane, by Neil Gaiman. I enjoyed them both, especially the latter… I haven’t read Piper’s book, but I highly recommend _Fuzzy Nation_, which is John Scalzi’s affectionate update/adaptation, done with the blessing of Piper’s estate. I finished standup comedian Gary Gulman’s memoir _Misfit_, and overall I enjoyed it. It ended with his high school graduation, so I hope there’s a second book which takes his life’s story from there. Also finished _Have Space Suit - Will Travel_ by Robert A. Heinlein, an old sf favorite of mine. A tech-minded teen in the near future wins a surplus space suit in a contest, overhauls it, gets kidnapped while wearing it and then has a galaxies-spanning adventure. Not Heinlein’s best, but good fun. I’m now about a third of the way through _American Dialogue_ by Joseph Ellis, nonfiction about what the Framers have to teach us, or not, as we grapple with today’s problems. Thomas Jefferson (on slavery and racism) and John Adams (on economic inequality) are the focus so far. It’s okay but not great. ---
**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:** [May 21, 2024, 12:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-may-2024-edition/1000992/39 "2024-05-21T12:42:13Z")
Finished The Witching Year, by Diana Helmuth…finally. I’ve always been interested in witchcraft and reading about witches. I thought this would be right up my alley, but no. This lady was trying to take witchcraft seriously, and I found that while I still enjoy fictional witches, there is not a drop of belief in my whole body. This book contains a sickening amount of woo. Also, I was really starting to dislike the author. She seemed to have so much disposable income, an endlessly accommodating boyfriend, and an environment populated entirely by liberals and lesbians. I mean, bully for her, but that is not the planet I live on. She wrote another book with subject matter very different from this one, and it’s next in my TBR pile, but I’m going to skip it for now. ---
**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:** [May 21, 2024, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-may-2024-edition/1000992/40 "2024-05-21T22:17:35Z")
_The Lovely Bones_, Alice Sebold. This novel came out in 2002 and was quite well received. I’m not entirely sure why. Maybe it’s just me, or maybe the novel struck chords in 2002 that it isn’t striking today, but I wasn’t impressed. The central idea is that 14-year-old Susie Salmon is raped and murdered on her way home from school (this is back in the 1973), and the story is told from her point of view from a vantage point in heaven. Susie functions as an omniscient narrator, able to be everywhere at once, privy to people’s thoughts and feelings as well as aware of their actions. It’s a decent concept, though some of the reviews I saw thought it was groundbreaking, and it’s carried out well enough. Susie’s voice is generally interesting and authentic (I think; Susie would have been born the year before me). But I think the rest of the characters are just not interesting enough to make the novel work, especially as time passes and we get about halfway through the narrative. Also, there is a scene toward the end that the jacket flap calls “a miraculous event,” and I just found it kind of icky. Could just be me… Anyway, I didn’t like it as much as I had hoped. On to something else. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-may-2024-edition/1000992.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-may-2024-edition/1000992.md?page=3)