# Khadaji’s Whatcha Reading Thread - November 2022 edition **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** books-writing-myths\ **Created:** [October 30, 2022, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-november-2022-edition/974044 "2022-10-30T21:45:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**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 7, 2022, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-november-2022-edition/974044/22 "2022-11-07T22:28:06Z")
> [@Dravot](#): > > Does anybody know of a more recent comprehensive history of SF? Alexei and Cory Panshin’s **The World Beyond the Hill** came out in 1989. That’s at least three years later. (A lot of people don’t like Panshin because of the way he treats Heinlein, but I think his stuff is well worth reading). The book won the Hugo for nonfiction. I’m sure there have been more recent histories, but I don’t have them at my fingertips right now. > **[The World Beyond the Hill](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_World_Beyond_the_Hill)** > > The World Beyond the Hill: Science Fiction and the Quest for Transcendence (1989) is a book about the history of science fiction, written by Alexei Panshin and Cory Panshin. > It was first published in hardcover by Jeremy P. Tarcher in August 1989 in a limited signed and numbered edition of 500 copies; a broader hardcover edition for general release and a trade paperback edition followed from the same publisher in the same year. An ebook edition was issued by ElectricStory.com in December 2002, a... ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2022, 4:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-november-2022-edition/974044/23 "2022-11-08T04:47:04Z")
The British seem to control the field and churn them out constantly. In no particular order: [Roger Luckhurst, Science Fiction: A Literary History (2018)](https://www.amazon.com/Science-Fiction-Literary-Roger-Luckhurst/dp/0712356924/ref=asc_df_0712356924/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=312034012774&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=10356796115943675870&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9005663&hvtargid=pla-491039606282&psc=1) [Adam Roberts, The History of Science Fiction (2016)](https://www.amazon.com/History-Science-Palgrave-Histories-Literature/dp/113756959X/ref=sr_1_2?crid=3FYTQ5CAY4W9L&keywords=history+of+science+fiction+roberts&qid=1667881469&s=books&sprefix=history+of+science+fiction+roberts%2Cstripbooks%2C103&sr=1-2) [Edward James, Science Fiction in the Twentieth Century (1994)](https://www.amazon.com/Science-Fiction-Twentieth-Century-Edward/dp/0192892444/ref=sr_1_1?crid=IQL159AOW2AU&keywords=Science+Fiction+in+the+Twentieth+Century+by+Edward+James&qid=1667881601&s=books&sprefix=science+fiction+in+the+twentieth+century+by+edward+james%2Cstripbooks%2C119&sr=1-1) [Edward James, The Cambridge Companion to Science Fiction (2003)](https://www.amazon.com/Cambridge-Companion-Science-Companions-Literature/dp/0521016576/ref=asc_df_0521016576/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=312065522531&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=10356796115943675870&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9005663&hvtargid=pla-466732866703&psc=1) [Michael Newton, The Origins of Science Fiction (2022)](https://www.amazon.com/Origins-Science-Classics-Hardback-Collection/dp/0198853610/ref=asc_df_0198853610/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=533520118460&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=10356796115943675870&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9005663&hvtargid=pla-1387535002924&psc=1) [multiple authors, The Astounding Illustrated History of Science Fiction (2017)](https://www.amazon.com/Astounding-Illustrated-History-Inspirations-Techniques/dp/1786645270/ref=sr_1_14?crid=1IMZMHVZ2CSLN&keywords=history+of+science+fiction+and+fantasy&qid=1667881876&s=books&sprefix=history+of+science+fiction+and+fantasy%2Cstripbooks%2C106&sr=1-14) And the French/Canadian collaboration: [Xavier Dollo and Djibril Morissette-Phan, The History of Science Fiction: A Graphic Novel Adventure (2021)](https://www.amazon.com/History-Science-Fiction-Graphic-Adventure/dp/1643379143/ref=asc_df_1643379143/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=509217856928&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=10356796115943675870&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9005663&hvtargid=pla-1236734420639&psc=1) I honestly don’t know why there hasn’t been an American history of the field in decades. I guess a clue is that the many of these volumes come from academic lines of comprehensive histories (Oxford, Cambridge) and include a far broader definition of the field than American genre fiction. All the major histories of the field that predate Amazing Stories come from Brits as well. ---
**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:** [November 8, 2022, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-november-2022-edition/974044/24 "2022-11-08T21:38:59Z")
I gave up on _Women in Love_. It started off strong but then it got too D.H. Lawrence-y and I got bored. Fortunately my hold just came in at the library so I can continue along the Vorkosigan saga again. ---
**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 8, 2022, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-november-2022-edition/974044/25 "2022-11-08T21:44:41Z")
Finished _Lotharingia: A Personal History of Europe’s Lost Country_, by Simon Winder. It’s filled with historical anecdotes which I enjoyed a lot. Now I’m reading _A Beautiful Friendship_, by David Weber. It’s YA SF. ---
**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 9, 2022, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-november-2022-edition/974044/26 "2022-11-09T13:47:09Z")
Started today on [Lute](https://www.amazon.com/Lute-Jennifer-Marie-Thorne/dp/125082608X/ref=sr_1_1?crid=16CNP65F3P9SB&keywords=lute+jennifer+thorne&qid=1667999020&s=books&sprefix=lute%2Cstripbooks%2C84&sr=1-1) by Jennifer Thorne. The writing is a little clumsy, but the premise is interesting: a happy little island off the coast of Britain, where the status quo is maintained by the deaths of seven people once every seven years, on THE DAY. Goody! ---
**Author:** ![SuntanLotion](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/suntanlotion/32/16165_2.png) [@SuntanLotion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SuntanLotion)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2022, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-november-2022-edition/974044/27 "2022-11-09T15:50:53Z")
I avoid fiction, but am about to start Liarmouth by John Waters. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2022, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-november-2022-edition/974044/28 "2022-11-09T16:02:41Z")
I finished **Suspect** , a Robert Crais novel outside of the Elvis Cole/Joe Pike series. I was surprised how mich I enjoyed it. Cole and Pike aren’t mentioned, but characters from that series (John Chen, for example) are present. I am starting **Racing The Light** , which was released November 1st. ---
**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 9, 2022, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-november-2022-edition/974044/29 "2022-11-09T16:58:02Z")
I retarted **Kaiju Preservation Society**. This time I borrowed it from the library and am reading it on Kindle. It is far less… “exhausting” to read in print than listening to Will Wheaton’s over enthusiastic audio. ---
**Author:** ![The\_wind\_of\_my\_soul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecc23a/32.png) [@The\_wind\_of\_my\_soul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_wind_of_my_soul)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2022, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-november-2022-edition/974044/30 "2022-11-09T20:02:43Z")
I’m most of the way through Lucy Sullivan is Getting Married by Marian Keyes. I’m a fan of the author and enjoyed the majority of this book, but it’s 640 pages and I’m ready for this book to be done. Also recently started on Algorithms to Live By: The Computer Science of Human Decisions by Brian Christian and Tom Griffith. This one’s eh. Not bad enough for me to quit, but I was hoping the book would have a bit more to do with real life. Instead, a lot of it is talking in hypotheticals that involve a whole bunch of assumptions and absolutes that don’t particularly mirror real life. ---
**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 10, 2022, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-november-2022-edition/974044/31 "2022-11-10T21:47:30Z")
I’m about halfway through _The Trials of Harry S. Truman: The Extraordinary Presidency of an Ordinary Man, 1945-1953_ by Jeffrey Frank, which I’m mostly enjoying. It’s a more balanced portrayal than David McCullough’s more-famous bio, but Frank isn’t nearly as good a writer as McCullough. I’m also reading _The Battle of Midway_ by Craig Symonds, a straightforward history of the 1942 carrier battle, and _Return to Midway_ by Robert Ballard and Rick Archbold, about the 1998 expedition to find the wrecks of the sunken USS _Yorktown_ and some Japanese warships on the ocean floor. Still digging Adrian Tchaikovsky’s _Children of Time_, about a terraforming project on a distant world gone badly awry. Genetic engineering, crazed AI, a civilization of giant spiders and the ruins of an interstellar empire… pretty cool stuff. ---
**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 10, 2022, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-november-2022-edition/974044/32 "2022-11-10T21:48:35Z")
> [@Catamount](#): > > - _Cold Mountain_, Charles Frazier - Find from the sale shelf at the library. Now I have my very own copy so I can quit swiping my housemate’s. I really struggled with that book, and then I saw the movie, and it made a huge difference. I liked the book _much_ better once I had the movie to give the characters their faces and the plot some structure. > [@CalMeacham](#): > > …Now I;m reading Rachel Maddow’s **Bag Man** , about the Spiro Agnew bribery scandal. I missed her podcast when it came out… I didn’t read the book, but I really enjoyed the podcast. Hearing the voices of those involved (including the young DOJ lawyers who realized, with dawning horror, just what kind of a case they’d stumbled onto) was particularly worthwhile. And see: [A long-secret 1973 memo on how to become President in a hurry](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-long-secret-1973-memo-on-how-to-become-president-in-a-hurry/948238) > [@DZedNConfused](#): > > I retarted **Kaiju Preservation Society**. This time I borrowed it from the library and am reading it on Kindle. It is far less… “exhausting” to read in print than listening to Will Wheaton’s over enthusiastic audio. My son and I read the book aloud over the summer and liked it a lot (and didn’t mind at all Scalzi’s veiled swipes at a certain former President). ---
**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:** [November 10, 2022, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-november-2022-edition/974044/33 "2022-11-10T21:55:58Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > > [@Catamount](#): > > > > - _Cold Mountain_, Charles Frazier - Find from the sale shelf at the library. Now I have my very own copy so I can quit swiping my housemate’s. > > I really struggled with that book, and then I saw the movie, and it made a huge difference. I liked the book _much_ better once I had the movie to give the characters their faces and the plot some structure. I’m from North Carolina and I know at least 75% of the places that Inman travels through. This is the first (and only) book I’ve ever read that mentions Salisbury, which is near where I grew up. ---
**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 11, 2022, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-november-2022-edition/974044/34 "2022-11-11T00:09:22Z")
Finished _A Beautiful Friendship_, by David Weber. Meh. Now I’m reading another SF novel, _In the Quick_ by Kate Hope Day. ---
**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 11, 2022, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-november-2022-edition/974044/35 "2022-11-11T16:11:10Z")
Finished _The Great Gatsby_ by Fitzgerald. Decent read. Just started listening to _Fairy Tale_ by Stephen King. ---
**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 12, 2022, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-november-2022-edition/974044/36 "2022-11-12T20:29:09Z")
Finished _In the Quick_ by Kate Hope Day, which is very good. It’s YA SF that’s not about a dystopia, and I recommend it for anyone who wants to read a fairly hard SF about a teen astronaut. Now I’m reading _Letters to the Pumpkin King_ by Season McGuire, which is a collection of essays. ---
**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 12, 2022, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-november-2022-edition/974044/37 "2022-11-12T20:55:03Z")
Having returned from Vegas but unable, due to catching Covid in Vegas, to get together with our friends from Thailand, who just landed here less than an hour ago, I will start reading _The Short Stories of F. Scott Fitzgerald_, edited by Matthew J. Bruccoli. The plan is to read the stories intermittently, as I will be picking up Michael Connelly’s and Robert Crais’ new novels soon and finally getting together with our friends next weekend. The wife is still testing negative, and she’ll meet up with them while I recover. They have been to Hawaii before and know their way around. Will be back on Oahu the next two weekends while traveling around the islands during the week. ---
**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 12, 2022, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-november-2022-edition/974044/38 "2022-11-12T22:06:56Z")
PSST autocorrect strikes again _Seanan McGuire_ ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2022, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-november-2022-edition/974044/39 "2022-11-12T22:09:41Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > Robert Crais’ new novels soon Halfway through, it is great!! Won’t say more due to concerns for spoilers. You’ll love it. ---
**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 12, 2022, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-november-2022-edition/974044/40 "2022-11-12T23:47:22Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > You’ll love it. I would expect no less. One of the few authors I’ll shell out for the hardcover. ---
**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 13, 2022, 4:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-november-2022-edition/974044/41 "2022-11-13T04:57:42Z")
> [@Railer13](#): > > Finished _The Great Gatsby_ by Fitzgerald. Decent read…. I read it in college and thought it meh, then reread it a few years ago and loved it. Other than my perhaps being a more mature reader the second time ‘round, I can’t really explain why I had a different reaction. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-november-2022-edition/974044.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-november-2022-edition/974044.md?page=3)