# Khadaji’s Whatcha Reading Thread - November 2021 edition **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** books-writing-myths\ **Created:** [November 1, 2021, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-november-2021-edition/953632 "2021-11-01T16:40:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**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 15, 2021, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-november-2021-edition/953632/41 "2021-11-15T13:42:02Z")
Over the weekend, I finished [The Last House on Needless Street](https://www.amazon.com/Last-House-Needless-Street/dp/1250812623/ref=sr_1_1?crid=EYGI8CPCCPE5&keywords=the+last+house+on+needless+street&qid=1636981804&s=books&sprefix=the+last+house%2Caps%2C177&sr=1-1), and it was quite the mindfuck! As soon as I finished it, I turned back and started again. So it’s one of those that, once you have understanding, you see all the events in a different light. I’ll have to give it five stars just because of how much I’ve thought about it since I put it down. Onward now to [This Thing Between Us](https://www.amazon.com/This-Thing-Between-Us-Novel/dp/0374539235/ref=sr_1_1?crid=2NDD6AXGJU3GQ&keywords=this+thing+between+us+by+gus+moreno&qid=1636982371&s=books&sprefix=this+thing+%2Cstripbooks%2C173&sr=1-1) by Gus Moreno. It’s either about technology run amok, or a haunting, I’m not sure which yet. ---
**Author:** ![zimaane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a3d4f5/32.png) [@zimaane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zimaane)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2021, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-november-2021-edition/953632/42 "2021-11-15T15:06:45Z")
**Madhouse at the End of the Earth** Julian Sancton In the late 1800s exploring the Poles was all the rage. At some point, the tiny nation of Belgium decided to get in on the act. Maybe they wanted to known for something other than waffles. So a ship was outfitted and set sail for the South. Their plan was to map the unknown coastline and find the South Magnetic Pole. Their main fear was getting stuck in the ice that starts to accumulate in the southern hemisphere autumn and being forced to overwinter in polar darkness. Which is of course exactly what happened. For the rest of this incredible history, I encourage you to read this well-written and engrossing book. ---
**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 15, 2021, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-november-2021-edition/953632/43 "2021-11-15T15:21:51Z")
> [@Hatchie](#): > > “The Gang That Couldn’t Shoot Straight”. Jimmy Breslin’s 1971 comic Mafia novel. Not quite sure how I stumbled into this one - I saw the movie and it was pretty underwhelming, but I’m really liking this. I read this book when it first came out. It was a pretty good book, but the quotes on the book cover misrepresent it. The movie was, I agree, no great shakes, but it was interesting for two debuts. It had Robert de Nirio in his first Mafia movie (although not his first gangster movie – he’d been Lloyd Barker in **Bloody Mama** the previous year) and Herve Villechaize in his first big role .It also gave us Jerry Orbach starring as Kid Sally Palumbo in what I think was his first crime role, long before **Law and Order** or **Prince of the City** of **F/X** (where he also played a gangster) ---
**Author:** ![Hatchie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hatchie/32/3983_2.png) [@Hatchie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hatchie)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2021, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-november-2021-edition/953632/44 "2021-11-15T15:36:44Z")
Now I remember how I came to choose this book. One of the threads here was about Bob Dylan’s song “Joey”, and somebody noted that Jerry Orbach and Breslin, among others in the New York arts and literary crowd, had become pals with Joey Gallo, upon who Kid Sally in Gang That Couldn’t Shoot Straight was somewhat modeled. Whether Kid Sally gets blasted in the book, I don’t know so don’t tell me. Joey eventually did. ---
**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 15, 2021, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-november-2021-edition/953632/45 "2021-11-15T15:45:06Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > …I just started _Fuzz: When Nature Breaks the Law_ by Mary Roach, the current pick of my book club. She’s sometimes a bit too glib for my taste but is generally readable and interesting, and this book is no exception. > > …I’ve just started _Playmates_ by Robert B. Parker, in which smartass Boston private eye Spenser is looking into allegations of point shaving by a hotshot college basketball player. Finished both over the weekend. Both were pretty good. _Playmates_ is very short, as Spenser novels go, but Parker packed a lot in. I’ve started an audiobook of _Mercury Rising_ by Jeff Shesol, about John Glenn, JFK and the early NASA manned space program. Best tidbit so far: Glenn’s Korean War wingman Ted Williams (himself of some small repute as a baseball player) said that Glenn was “an idol to me” and “the bravest man I ever met.” ---
**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 16, 2021, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-november-2021-edition/953632/46 "2021-11-16T21:32:09Z")
Finished _Humble Pi: A Comedy of Maths Errors_ , by Matt Parker, which was very good. It’s about assorted minor and major disasters caused by maths (he’s Australian and lives in the UK) mistakes. It includes my favorite sentence from a book this year: “This is where the phrase ‘Measure sea level twice, built a 225-metre bridge once’ comes from.” For more info: [Great miscalculations: The French railway error and 10 others - BBC News](https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-27509559) Now I’m reading _The Care of Strangers_, by Ellen Michaelson. ---
**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 17, 2021, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-november-2021-edition/953632/47 "2021-11-17T21:45:48Z")
Finished _The Care of Strangers_ , by Ellen Michaelson, which was okay. Started _Blue Marlin_, a novella by Lee Smith. ---
**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 18, 2021, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-november-2021-edition/953632/48 "2021-11-18T15:41:34Z")
Finished _Blue Marlin_ by Lee Smith, which was okay. Now I’m reading _Fuzzy Mud_, a science fiction novel by Louis Sachar. ---
**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 18, 2021, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-november-2021-edition/953632/49 "2021-11-18T18:17:44Z")
Finished **Keep Your Eyes on Me** by Sam Blake. Quite a fun fast moving thriller. Definitely going to check out more of this author’s work. ---
**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 18, 2021, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-november-2021-edition/953632/50 "2021-11-18T18:23:38Z")
I like Ruth Ware a lot. She along with Shari Lapena are my favorite current thriller writers. The Lying Game is a great book. I would recommend these four in order of her best: One By One The Turn of the Key The Woman in Cabin 10 The Death of Mrs Westaway ---
**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:** [November 18, 2021, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-november-2021-edition/953632/51 "2021-11-18T21:10:46Z")
Just read [A Psalm for the Wild-Built](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/40864002-a-psalm-for-the-wild-built), Becky Chambers’s latest novella. I’m an enormous Chambers fan, think she’s one of the best authors of the last decade–but this one didn’t do much for me. Not sure why: it’s very similar to a lot of her other work, but something about this one came across as a little pat or twee in a way that her others didn’t for me. ---
**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:** [November 19, 2021, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-november-2021-edition/953632/52 "2021-11-19T02:44:29Z")
…and I liked it very much (“it” being Laura Lippman’s _Dream Girl._ Extremely well written, interesting characters (the author who is the central character is especially well done), creepy situation. One of my favorite writers. Now off to read Jordan Ellenberg’s _Shape_, another book I’m looking forward to. It’s about geometry, but skimming through I suspect it will be about a lot more than that. Should be fun. ---
**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:** [November 19, 2021, 4:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-november-2021-edition/953632/53 "2021-11-19T04:47:29Z")
> [@Boycott](#): > > I like Ruth Ware a lot. She along with Shari Lapena are my favorite current thriller writers. The Lying Game is a great book. I would recommend these four in order of her best: Thank you! ---
**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 19, 2021, 1:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-november-2021-edition/953632/54 "2021-11-19T13:04:27Z")
I finished Gus Moreno’s This Thing Between Us. I was impressed at first with the quality of the writing, but later things grew disjointed and boring, and fell apart. There was also a really bad animal death, so I don’t recommend this at all. ---
**Author:** ![Frodo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/frodo/32/302_2.png) [@Frodo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frodo)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2021, 1:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-november-2021-edition/953632/55 "2021-11-19T13:07:02Z")
damn! I’m on the “impressed at first with the quality of the writing” stage, (about 30% of the book read accoding to my cell phone), I hope the let down is not too bad ☹ ---
**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 19, 2021, 1:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-november-2021-edition/953632/56 "2021-11-19T13:10:52Z")
Sorry! Maybe you’ll like it and then you can explain it to me. 🙂 ---
**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 19, 2021, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-november-2021-edition/953632/57 "2021-11-19T14:32:08Z")
Finished _Fuzzy Mud_ , a science fiction novel by Louis Sachar. Intended for middle-grade and possibly YA readers, it’s quite well done. Now I’m reading _Show Me a Sign_ by Ann Clare LeZotte. It’s a historical novel about the Deaf community in 1805 in Martha’s Vineyard. ---
**Author:** ![Fir\_na\_tine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a587f6/32.png) [@Fir\_na\_tine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fir_na_tine)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2021, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-november-2021-edition/953632/58 "2021-11-19T14:45:01Z")
Just finished _ **Razorblade Tears** _by S.A. Cosby. Excellent read. 5 stars. Last week it was _ **The Lincoln Highway** _ by Amor Towles. Slightly surprised and disappointed by the ending but overall quite good. Very descriptive of USA in that time frame. Now on to _ **A Shot to Save the World** _ which is so far proving to be a huge disappointment. ---
**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 19, 2021, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-november-2021-edition/953632/59 "2021-11-19T18:35:33Z")
> [@Fir\_na\_tine](#): > > … Last week it was _ **The Lincoln Highway** _ by Amor Towles. Slightly surprised and disappointed by the ending but overall quite good. Very descriptive of USA in that time frame… I have the audiobook on hold. As I really enjoyed his _A Gentleman in Moscow_, and the Lincoln Highway actually passes through my hometown, I’ll be interested to read it. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2021, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-november-2021-edition/953632/60 "2021-11-19T19:38:31Z")
**The Ocean at the End of the Lane** by Neil Gaiman Middling at best, kind of boring to be honest. I was disappointed. Except for Sandman and Good Omens, I’ve found Neil Gaiman to be really disappointing. I read The Graveyard Book and while it was ok in parts, I found it less than great as well. Anyone else find Gaiman to be only a so-so author most of the time? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-november-2021-edition/953632.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-november-2021-edition/953632.md?page=4)