# Khadaji’s Whatcha Reading Thread - May 2025 edition **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** comic-books-manga, books-writing-myths\ **Created:** [April 28, 2025, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-may-2025-edition/1017631 "2025-04-28T22:46:57Z")\ **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:** [May 8, 2025, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-may-2025-edition/1017631/21 "2025-05-08T01:57:43Z")
> [@zimaane](#): > > **Midnight at the Pera Palace** Charles King > > A history of Istanbul… Not Constantinople? ---
**Author:** ![zimaane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a3d4f5/32.png) [@zimaane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zimaane)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2025, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-may-2025-edition/1017631/22 "2025-05-08T14:01:57Z")
It’s Istanbul not Constantinople Why did Constantinople get the works? That’s nobody’s business but the Turks ---
**Author:** ![Hypno-Toad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b2d939/32.png) [@Hypno-Toad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hypno-Toad)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2025, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-may-2025-edition/1017631/23 "2025-05-08T14:08:27Z")
I’m halfway through The Book Makers: [The History of the Book in Eighteen Lives.](https://www.amazon.com/dp/1541605640?k=the%20book%20makers%20adam%20smyth&ref_=nb_sb_ss_w_scx-ent-pd-bk-d_di_k0_1_15&crid=1IUNWUGQT5J7C&sprefix=The%20Book%20Makers) It has some interesting people in it like John Baskerville and Ben Franklin in it. Very enjoyable history reading. ---
**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 8, 2025, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-may-2025-edition/1017631/24 "2025-05-08T21:23:56Z")
Finished (finally) _Howdunit: A Masterclass in Crime Writing by Members of the Detection Club_, edited by Martin Edwards, which is okay for a beginning writer; _Sharks Don’t Sink: Adventures of a Rogue Shark Scientist_, by Jasmin Graham, which was interesting, and _The Citadel of the Autarch_, by Gene Wolfe, which used language brilliantly. Next up: _The Strange Trial of Mr. Hyde_, by John A. Sanford, and _The Velocity of Honey: And More Science of Everyday Life_, by Jay Ingram. ---
**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 8, 2025, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-may-2025-edition/1017631/25 "2025-05-08T22:58:25Z")
I am currently reading _Foreigner_ by C. J. Cherryh, I haven’t read SF in probably 25 years. I’ve read plenty of fantasy and urban fantasy but not much straight science fiction, but dang I need escapism right now! I am also reading _The Tuesday Club Murders_ by Agatha Christie because I am too tired this afternoon to parse all the words in Cherryh’s book. ---
**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:** [May 9, 2025, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-may-2025-edition/1017631/26 "2025-05-09T18:46:26Z")
Recently gave up on: _The Quick and the Dead_ by Joy Williams. By chapter 6 I was questioning if I wanted to continue and looked up Goodreads reviews, always a bad sign. My suspicions were correct: there is no plot and Alice, the most obnoxious character, never changed. Back it goes to the book depository. Delighted by: _Where I Was From_, by Joan Didion. It’s a meditation on California and Californians, specifically what they’re about. A lot of contradictions it seems. _Linden Hills_, by Gloria Naylor. Dante’s Inferno set in an upper-class Black neighborhood in the 1980s. I freakin’ love this book. _The Hurting Kind: Poems_, by Ada Limon: Guys, I think I’ve found my next Mary Oliver. _The Eustace Diamonds_, by Anthony Trollope: The third of the Palliser novels. Lizzie Greystoke reminds me very much of my best friend’s ex-wife and I want to slap her. Pronoun left ambiguous on purpose. Fine with: _The King of Elfland’s Daughter_ by Lord Dunsany. It’s written in the highest form of High Forsooth, but it has its good moments like when the elf princess floated away with the autumn leaves because her human husband wouldn’t let her worship stars and stones. ---
**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, 2025, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-may-2025-edition/1017631/27 "2025-05-11T23:21:24Z")
I really enjoyed _The King of Elfland’s Daughter_. Finished _The Strange Trial of Mr. Hyde_, by John A. Sanford. Not recommended. Also finished _The Velocity of Honey: And More Science of Everyday Life_, by Jay Ingram, which was very interesting. Next up: _Teaching Science Fiction: Education for Tomorrow_, edited by Jack Williamson, and _Learning the World_, a science fiction novel by Ken MacLeod. ---
**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:** [May 12, 2025, 5:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-may-2025-edition/1017631/28 "2025-05-12T05:43:22Z")
Finished _The Exchange_, John Grisham’s sequel to _The Firm_. Revisits Mitch and Abby McDeere, who as I recall had fled into hiding at the end of _The Firm_. It is 2005, they have since resurfaced, and Mitch is working in the New York office of the world’s biggest law firm. An Italian associate in the London office is kidnapped in Libya. What follows is about 300 pages of trying to cobble together a $100-million ransom, with Mitch in the middle of it. And that’s about it. I could have done without it. Have started _The Old Curiosity Shop_, by Charles Dickens. ---
**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:** [May 12, 2025, 1:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-may-2025-edition/1017631/29 "2025-05-12T13:08:01Z")
> [@Dendarii\_Dame](#): > > I really enjoyed _The King of Elfland’s Daughter_. I did not. I ended up skimming the last few chapters because I got tired of the Highest Forsooth it was written in, the distinct lack of interesting characters, and the phrase “the fields that we know” on every single page. ---
**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, 2025, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-may-2025-edition/1017631/30 "2025-05-12T18:41:10Z")
Finished Paladin’s Faith, the 4th in the Saint of Steel series. I hope the next installment furthers the story of Judith! Started today on a book of short stories with a horror/sci fi bent, [No One Will Come Back For Us](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/63058061-no-one-will-come-back-for-us-and-other-stories?ac=1&from_search=true&qid=zxaa5gJ3xW&rank=5) by Premee Mohamed. I’ve only read a couple so far, but they were delightful. ---
**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 14, 2025, 12:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-may-2025-edition/1017631/31 "2025-05-14T12:52:49Z")
Finished _Battle Mountain_ by C.J. Box, the latest in the Joe Pickett series. Box is a good writer, but the later books in this series have plots that are a bit more than far-fetched. I was pleasantly surprised when this book didn’t have anything out of the ordinary, then I was majorly disappointed when a key moment in the novel relied on a very unbelievable mode of communication between man and beast. Next up: _The Drowning Woman_ by Robyn Harding. ---
**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:** [May 17, 2025, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-may-2025-edition/1017631/32 "2025-05-17T19:06:23Z")
I’ve just started _Hellhound On His Trail: The Electrifying Account of the Largest Manhunt In American History_, by Hampton Sides. It’s about the hunt for MLK’s murderer and so far it’s grabbed me. Sides is a good writer, for sure. ---
**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, 2025, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-may-2025-edition/1017631/33 "2025-05-18T19:56:50Z")
Finished _Teaching Science Fiction: Education for Tomorrow_, edited by Jack Williamson, which had a few books and stories I’ve put on my TBR list, and _Learning the World_, a science fiction novel by Ken MacLeod, which I thought had interesting worldbuilding. Next up: _Who Owns the Moon? And Other Conundrums of Exploring and Using Space_, by Cynthia Levinson and Jennifer Swanson, and an original novel based on the TV series Quantum Leap, _Search and Rescue_, by Melissa Crandall. ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2025, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-may-2025-edition/1017631/34 "2025-05-18T20:13:14Z")
Reading _Abaddon’s Gate,_ book 3 in the Expanse series. I think it’s my favorite so far. I’m a big fan of the TV series but the books are just as good, and not so much like the TV series that it feels repetitive. I think Corey Is one of the best science fiction authors in the business. This stuff will go down as classic. (Shameless plug for their new series, The Captive’s War. _The Mercy of Gods_ is absolutely riveting.) Also reading _Hammett_ by Joe Gores. It’s a semi-historical reimagining of hard-boiled PI novelist Dashiell Hammett as… A hard-boiled PI. A buddy of mine said it was a best of its genre, and I have a passing interest in noir, so I’m reading it. It hasn’t yet reached the inciting incident so I don’t have much to report yet. I like the protagonist and the writing style well-enough, though I’m not particularly interested in what he’s doing so far (gambling, mostly.) Apparently it’s based on actual events, minus the Hammett part. I look forward to when he starts investigating stuff. Right now he’s just feeling bad about his writing which hits too close to home. ---
**Author:** ![Hypno-Toad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b2d939/32.png) [@Hypno-Toad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hypno-Toad)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2025, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-may-2025-edition/1017631/35 "2025-05-20T14:25:34Z")
Just started on _The History of Money_ by Jack Weatherford. It’s OK, but I find some of his statements doubtful. ---
**Author:** ![MacDoc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/macdoc/32/18696_2.png) [@MacDoc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MacDoc)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2025, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-may-2025-edition/1017631/36 "2025-05-20T14:45:07Z")
> [@Spice\_Weasel](#): > > I think Corey Is one of the best science fiction authors in the business You do know Corey is two different authors? That said …incredible writing. ---
**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 20, 2025, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-may-2025-edition/1017631/37 "2025-05-20T15:43:43Z")
Just finished [Victorian Psycho](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/213395480-victorian-psycho) by Virginia Feito. I was hoping for something a little more subtle or clever, but this was just full-on gore. Plenty of child and animal abuse, but so cartoonishly over-the-top it didn’t affect me. I still have this author’s Miss March in the TBR pile, and it got some good reviews, but I don’t know. This one wasn’t for me. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2025, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-may-2025-edition/1017631/38 "2025-05-20T15:59:26Z")
_Lindbergh_ by A. Scott Berg. An excellent work. I picked it up along with another Berg biography, _Wilson_, at a library book sale. At this point in my reading, Berg is still covering the earlier “good” parts of Lindbergh’s life. I’m interested to see how he will handle the later portions of the subject when Lindbergh became more problematic. It was the recent publication of H.W. Brands’ new book _America First: Roosevelt vs. Lindbergh in the Shadow of War_ which caused me to decide to read Berg’s biography first as background before reading Brands’. On the subject of people accused of being Nazi collaborators, I just read _Wodehouse at War_ by Iain Sproat. Sproat was definitely putting forth the pro-Wodehouse version of what happened. ---
**Author:** ![zimaane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a3d4f5/32.png) [@zimaane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zimaane)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2025, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-may-2025-edition/1017631/39 "2025-05-20T16:15:43Z")
**Sharing Space** Cady Coleman Memoir by astronaut Cady Coleman, who flew two Shuttle missions and did a six-month stint on the International Space Station. Mixes details of being an astronaut (and the challenges of being a woman astronaut) with “motivational speaker” stuff like doing your best even when people doubt you. Mostly common sense, but nothing wrong with that. Recommended. ---
**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 20, 2025, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-may-2025-edition/1017631/40 "2025-05-20T16:25:07Z")
I finished _The Drowning Woman_ by Robyn Harding. Two Seattle women, at opposite ends of the financial spectrum, are both in dire straits. When their paths unexpectedly cross, it sets off a chain of events with ever-darkening twists and turns, with a surprising conclusion. Recommended. Next up: _Open Season_ by Jonathan Kellerman [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-may-2025-edition/1017631.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-may-2025-edition/1017631.md?page=3)