# Khadaji’s Whatcha Reading Thread - November 2020 edition **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** books-writing-myths\ **Created:** [October 29, 2020, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-november-2020-edition/924227 "2020-10-29T18:23:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 4
**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:** [November 26, 2020, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-november-2020-edition/924227/61 "2020-11-26T00:09:36Z")
@Elendil_s_Heir @CalMeacham I will add those to my list. Thanks. Philby’s autobiography was mentioned a few times at the end of the book I read but under the implication that people in British intelligence believe there is a second unreleased book in the Russian authorities archives because it ends so abruptly. I will read it myself though to know what Philby really thought of some of the main characters he worked with in MI6 that feature heavily in the book I read. ---
**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:** [November 26, 2020, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-november-2020-edition/924227/62 "2020-11-26T00:15:58Z")
On another note I finished over the course of the last two nights a murder mystery book by Shari Lapena titled **An Unwanted Guest**. It draws inspiration from Agatha Christie’s **And Then There Were None** which to me is the greatest murder mystery book ever written. The fact I got through the book so quickly (just shy of 300 pages) is the best approval I can give. I am now going to look into her other work. ---
**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:** [November 26, 2020, 4:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-november-2020-edition/924227/63 "2020-11-26T04:27:11Z")
Glad to help, **Boycott**! I’d be interested to hear what you think of _Trotsky’s Run_. It’s kinda sorta like John le Carre crossed with David Sedaris; fun-loving spies tackle bleak Cold War situations that even they can’t quite believe. Had to return my library audiobook of Patrick O’Brian’s _The Thirteen Gun Salute_, which I’m really enjoying (Dr. Maturin was just consulting with his British naval intelligence handler, while Capt. Aubrey, of late a privateer skipper, looks like he’ll shortly be getting his long-yearned-for reinstatement in the Royal Navy). I should get it back soon. Just started Robert A. Heinlein’s _Glory Road_, an old favorite of mine, which I haven’t read in years. A bit self-consciously world-weary at times, but still a good read. ---
**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:** [November 27, 2020, 4:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-november-2020-edition/924227/64 "2020-11-27T04:38:29Z")
Finished Michael Connelly’s new novel, _The Law of Innocence_. After hosting a party at a downtown Los Angeles pub to celebrate a big not-guilty verdict, Mickey Haller, aka the Lincoln Lawyer, is pulled over by a cop due to a missing rear license plate. A dead body is found in the trunk of his car, the victim being a former, deadbeat client of his. Haller must mount his defense from jail while figuring out which of the many enemies he’s made over the years could have pulled off such a frame. Written this year, the pandemic lurks in the background. Another winner from Connelly. Next up, it’s back to Elvis Cole/Joe Pike LA noir with _The Forgotten Man_, by Robert Crais. ---
**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:** [November 27, 2020, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-november-2020-edition/924227/65 "2020-11-27T17:07:17Z")
Finished _Walden_, by Henry David Thoreau. Something of a slog at times, but worth it. My favorite parts were his observations of nature. Also this line about springtime: “Thaw with his gentle persuasion is more powerful than Thor with his hammer.” Now I’m reading _Less_, a novel by Andrew Sean Greer. ---
**Author:** ![Jack\_Batty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jack_batty/32/3201_2.png) [@Jack\_Batty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jack_Batty)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2020, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-november-2020-edition/924227/66 "2020-11-29T19:39:40Z")
Audiobook reviews ahead (I still feel I should include that proviso). _The Man in the High Castle_ by Philip K Dick, written in 1962. It is an alternate history/alternate reality novel in which the Axis powers won World War II. Most of the narrative consist of treatises of what everyday life would be like in the occupied states with much philosophical and political meandering. What is supposed to be the main story, but is almost there as an afterthought is this book called “The Grasshopper Lies Heavy” which lays out an alternate history/alternate reality - within the alternate history/alternate reality - in which the Allied powers won World War II. The climax involves the author of the book describing how he wrote it and what it means to the world and the universe. It’s a pretty deep book - the kind you mostly just let it wash over you like poetry. There aren’t a lot of plot details to keep track of. The miniseries on Prime borrows some character names and a general theme from the book, but that’s about it. Now I’m listening to Mary Shelley’s _Frankenstein_ and I’m loving it. Talk about poetry. That old time, Queen’s English with every effort to include as many syllables as possible. Dad can’t look sad - a miserable and cloudy countenance befalls father’s weary visage. I’m about a quarter of the way through. ---
**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:** [November 29, 2020, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-november-2020-edition/924227/67 "2020-11-29T20:41:57Z")
Finished _The Forgotten Man_, by Robert Crais. In a Los Angeles alley, an old man, clutching faded newspaper clippings and gasping his last words to a cop, lies dying of a gunshot wound to the chest. The victim claims to be PI Elvis Cole’s long-lost father, whom Cole has never met. The clippings detail a previous case in which Cole rounded up a group of killers, but indications are the victim here may very well have been a killer himself. Tenth in Crais’ Elvis Cole/Joe Pike series, this one is the best I’ve read thus far. Next up is Crais’ 11th in the series, _The Watchman_. Joe Pike takes the spotlight on this one. ---
**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:** [November 29, 2020, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-november-2020-edition/924227/68 "2020-11-29T22:32:51Z")
> [@Jack\_Batty](#): > > …Now I’m listening to Mary Shelley’s _Frankenstein_ and I’m loving it. Talk about poetry. That old time, Queen’s English with every effort to include as many syllables as possible. Dad can’t look sad - a miserable and cloudy countenance befalls father’s weary visage. I’m about a quarter of the way through. You might also enjoy Susanna Clarke’s _Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell_, which I have long described as “if Jane Austen wrote a Harry Potter book.” Regency England deals with the return, after centuries, of actual magic. _Very_ good stuff. ---
**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:** [November 30, 2020, 1:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-november-2020-edition/924227/69 "2020-11-30T13:07:43Z")
Over the weekend I finished **Meet Me on Lake Erie, Dearie! Cleveland’s Great Lakes Exposition 1936-1937** by John Vacha and read Cheryl Ganz’ **The1933 Chicago World’s Fair: a Century of Progress**. (I’m doing research on something the two Depression-era Expos have in common). Vacha’s book is a detailed history of Cleveland’s lesser-known expo. Ganz’ book was actually more of a sociological treatise on how the expo treated and portrayed women, minorities, ethnic groups, aviators, and Sally Rand. There’s really only about two chapters on the Expo itself, and I was annoyed when I learned this. I couldn’t find what I was looking for, and found much of the book irrelevant and boring. The opening chapter, on Sally Rand, was interesting – her notorious “bubble dance” certainly is one of the few things people today recall of the Fair, and it certainly gave a boost to the morale of Chicagoans and fairgoers in the depths of the Depression. (And the chapter isn’t boring. A chapter about a woman who dances almost completely nude with ostrich feather fans or an inflated four foot balloon . isn’t boring.) But an entire chapter devoted to her? In a book that’s supposed to be about the Exposition? As a sidelight, I’m sort of amazed at the amount of female nudity allowed at shows at both fairs. Not only Ms. Rand, but dancers at other pavilions, including the Mexican and the Parisian Cafes. And both fairs had peepshow “nudist colonies”, one literally in miniature. I guess that if it’s exotic or foreign or done as a gimmick (one of the “little nudist colonies” literally _was_ little – an optical arrangement similar to the “Tanagra Theater” illusion made the nudists appear to be about eight inches tall.) Maybe this is one of the other things that bolstered morale during the Depression. Right now I’m finishing up Longfellow’s **Tales from a Wayside Inn** and re-reading **The Best of Philip K. Dick**. It’s the only volume of the Ballantine/Del Rey “The Best of …” series that was missing from my collection. On audio I re-read **The Daily Show with Jon Stewart Presents Earth** , which is still a hoot, and am re-reading for the umpteenth time some Nero Wolfe. ---
**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:** [November 30, 2020, 1:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-november-2020-edition/924227/70 "2020-11-30T13:34:48Z")
> [@Dung\_Beetle](#): > > Started today on [The Assimilated Cuban’s Guide to Quantum Santeria](https://www.amazon.com/Assimilated-Cubans-Guide-Quantum-Santeria/dp/1495607399/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1606322645&sr=8-1) by Carlos Hernandez, as recommended by @Left_Hand_of_Dorkness. Still reading this one, and also started on [Castle Hangnail](https://www.amazon.com/Castle-Hangnail-Ursula-Vernon/dp/0147512735/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1606742927&sr=8-2) by Ursula Vernon, also recommended by LHOD and several others! I’m really enjoying this story of a little girl who becomes the Master of a magical castle, but I’m not quite brave enough to read it at work where grown-ups can see me. 😊 ---
**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:** [November 30, 2020, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-november-2020-edition/924227/71 "2020-11-30T13:45:35Z")
> [@Dung\_Beetle](#): > > Still reading this one, and also started on [Castle Hangnail](https://www.amazon.com/Castle-Hangnail-Ursula-Vernon/dp/0147512735/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1606742927&sr=8-2) by Ursula Vernon, also recommended by LHOD and several others! I’m really enjoying this story of a little girl who becomes the Master of a magical castle, but I’m not quite brave enough to read it at work where grown-ups can see me I read **Castle Hangnail** a couple of years ago when Vernon was Guest of Honor at Arisia. my wife picked up and read some of her adult works at that time, but I haven’t read them yet. ---
**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:** [November 30, 2020, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-november-2020-edition/924227/72 "2020-11-30T14:06:45Z")
I also have T. Kingfisher’s The Hollow Places in the TBR pile…might be an appropriate choice to read next! ---
**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:** [November 30, 2020, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-november-2020-edition/924227/73 "2020-11-30T15:08:57Z")
I loved _Hangnail_! I’ve not read _Hollow Places_ yet though… If you enjoy this one, I rec _Minor Mage_, it’s another children’s book about a boy with vry minor magic who has to save his village from drought. ---
**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:** [November 30, 2020, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-november-2020-edition/924227/74 "2020-11-30T15:12:31Z")
Library hold placed. 🙂 ---
**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:** [November 30, 2020, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-november-2020-edition/924227/75 "2020-11-30T15:17:26Z")
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