# Khadaji’s Whatcha Reading Thread - October 2023 edition **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** books-writing-myths\ **Created:** [September 28, 2023, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-october-2023-edition/990838 "2023-09-28T23:50:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**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:** [October 20, 2023, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-october-2023-edition/990838/81 "2023-10-20T20:25:38Z")
Yeah, I was gonna try it out, but… guess not. ---
**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:** [October 21, 2023, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-october-2023-edition/990838/82 "2023-10-21T02:04:00Z")
It is available on Audible for a reasonable price. ---
**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:** [October 21, 2023, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-october-2023-edition/990838/83 "2023-10-21T13:40:04Z")
[Boulevard by Stephan Jay Schwartz onAbebooks used $6-$17 free shipping](https://www.abebooks.com/servlet/SearchResults?sts=t&cm_sp=SearchF-_-home-_-Results&ref_=search_f_hp&tn=Boulevard&an=Stephen%20Jay%20Schwartz) ---
**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:** [October 21, 2023, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-october-2023-edition/990838/84 "2023-10-21T16:08:16Z")
Currently reading _Nabokov’s Favorite Word is Mauve_ by an author named Ben Blatt. It’s a statistical look at literature, and it’s fascinating. Some of it is not surprising (amateur fanfic writers use a lot more exclamation marks than professional novelists), some of it is of historical value (it’s possible to identify the author of 12 disputed Federalist papers by comparing the words used in these essays to essays known to be written by Hamilton and Madison), and some of it is just plain fun (when authors write in different genres their core vocabulary and phrasing does not tend to change). About halfway through, and I’m enjoying it thoroughly. [Oops! An adverb ending in -ly! There’s a lot to be said about adverbs in here too…] I’m also reading _The Best Mystery Stories of the Year 2023,_ edited by Amor Towles. So far I’m not impressed. Maybe it’ll get better. We live in hope. ---
**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:** [October 22, 2023, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-october-2023-edition/990838/85 "2023-10-22T18:42:37Z")
Finished _Classic Monsters Unleashed_, edited by James Aquilone. The best story was " ‘Can’ Doesn’t Mean ‘Should’" by Seanan McGuire. Now I’m reading _Smart Mouths: The Best Quotations Ever Collected_, edited by The Knowledge Commons. ---
**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:** [October 23, 2023, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-october-2023-edition/990838/86 "2023-10-23T00:54:42Z")
I finished both these books. I very much enjoyed Ben Blatt’s _Nabokov’s Favorite Word Is Mauve_. Recommended. The quality of Towles’s _Best Mystery Stories of the Year 2023_ unfortunately did not rise especially; the best story, hands down, was Edith Wharton’s “A Case of Perrier,” and if you’re thinking, wait, Edith _Wharton_? In _2023_?, you’re right. It’s a “bonus story,” and it’s quite good. ---
**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:** [October 23, 2023, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-october-2023-edition/990838/87 "2023-10-23T17:18:45Z")
> [@Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](#): > > I finished both these books. I very much enjoyed Ben Blatt’s _Nabokov’s Favorite Word Is Mauve_. Recommended. As a writer, I’m all in! This thread is a great way to find new books to read. Especially because of the breadth of genres/topics covered here. ---
**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:** [October 23, 2023, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-october-2023-edition/990838/88 "2023-10-23T23:04:40Z")
Finished _Smart Mouths: The Best Quotations Ever Collected_, edited by The Knowledge Commons. Many great ones. Example: “Swiss Cheese is a rip-off. It’s the only cheese I can bite into and miss.” (Mitch Hedberg) Now I’m reading The Girls Who Fought Crime: The Untold True Story of the Country’s First Female Investigator and Crime-Fighting Squads, by Major General Mari K. Eder. (U. S. Army, Retired.) ---
**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:** [October 24, 2023, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-october-2023-edition/990838/89 "2023-10-24T00:22:40Z")
Great, I think you’ll like it! Some Dopers know that I used to do ghostwriting for a couple of YA and middle grade series. The style of the books was supposed to be the same regardless of who wrote the words, but I always wondered whether it would be possible for a reader to identify which books were mine given a sample of 1 (that is, give the reader one of my books and challenge them to pick out the other ones I wrote). On the whole, I leaned toward “yes,” and this book makes it pretty clear that yes is in fact the answer. ---
**Author:** ![BetsQ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/fbc32d/32.png) [@BetsQ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BetsQ)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2023, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-october-2023-edition/990838/90 "2023-10-24T02:23:45Z")
I am reading a rather odd book called _[The Cabinet](https://www.amazon.com/Cabinet-Kim-ebook/dp/B08T5V9YBK/ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1698113959&sr=8-1)_. The protagonist is an office worker who kind of stumbles into a job doing administrative work for a researcher who studies odd people–a man with a tree growing out of his thumb, a woman who keeps missing random chunks of time, people who sleep for months on end. After 130 pages, I have no idea where it’s going, but I want to find out! ---
**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:** [October 24, 2023, 1:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-october-2023-edition/990838/91 "2023-10-24T13:06:46Z")
Started today on [Keep It In the Family](https://www.amazon.com/Keep-Family-John-Marrs/dp/1542017270/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1698152329&sr=8-1) by John Marrs. Okay so far, I’m a little worried it will run up against some of my …triggers, I suppose is the word. ---
**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:** [October 24, 2023, 1:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-october-2023-edition/990838/92 "2023-10-24T13:15:15Z")
I finished _Judgment Prey_ by John Sandford, his latest featuring Lucas Davenport and Virgil Flowers. Another excellent read by one of my favorite authors. ---
**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:** [October 24, 2023, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-october-2023-edition/990838/93 "2023-10-24T17:01:02Z")
Oh dear… Yeah, I get nervous when I start one of his books… ---
**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:** [October 24, 2023, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-october-2023-edition/990838/94 "2023-10-24T23:22:32Z")
Finished _The Girls Who Fought Crime: The Untold True Story of the Country’s First Female Investigator and Crime-Fighting Squads_, by Major General Mari K. Eder. (U. S. Army, Retired.) Meh. Has one funny mistake–it describes “President-Elect” (he was President at the time) Harry Truman as holding a newspaper with the famous headline–“Dewey Wins”. (Of course, it was “Dewey Defeats Truman”.) Now I’m reading _Game of Dog Bones_ by Laurien Berenson. ---
**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:** [October 25, 2023, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-october-2023-edition/990838/95 "2023-10-25T18:52:04Z")
**Galactus** , I see _The Splendid and the Vile_ by Erik Larson at the bottom of your stack. I read that not long ago and enjoyed it - a good look at Churchill and his family during the London Blitz. I finished _The Tutor: Being the Reminiscences of Thomasina Wragg_ by P.N. Dedeaux, a faux-Victorian erotic novel from my misspent youth. It’s all right, although I would’ve preferred more sex and a lot less sadism. Also finished _JFK, Oswald and Ruby: Politics, Prejudice and Truth_ by Burt W. Griffin, who was a Warren Commission staff lawyer. It’s uneven but worthwhile, if sloppily edited, which always irritates me. Next up: _Now and Forever_ by Kevin Eckstrom, about Washington National Cathedral’s controversial replacement of stained glass windows honoring Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson with Civil Rights Movement-oriented windows by the artist Kerry James Marshall. ---
**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:** [October 26, 2023, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-october-2023-edition/990838/96 "2023-10-26T20:57:16Z")
Finished _Game of Dog Bones_ by Laurien Berenson, which was okay. Now I’m reading _Banana Ball: The Unbelievably True Story of the Savannah Bananas_, by Jesse Cole with Don Yaeger. ---
**Author:** ![Galactus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/galactus/32/3581_2.png) [@Galactus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Galactus)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2023, 2:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-october-2023-edition/990838/97 "2023-10-27T02:12:18Z")
Finished RIGHTEOUS PREY, really good 60 pages into TERMINATION SHOCK by Neal Stephenson, enjoying it so far. ---
**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:** [October 27, 2023, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-october-2023-edition/990838/98 "2023-10-27T13:30:11Z")
About halfway done with _Thursday Murder Club._ It’s funny, and even a bit poignant. It’s less about the intrigue and more about the characters. Still reading _Time Runner,_ Book 2 of the Molecule Thief series, which is really difficult to describe, but I’ll try. A brilliant young man with ADHD gets a molecule stolen and some earthquakes at a secret laboratory open up a dimensional rift and all hell breaks loose in Vancouver. In book two they are fleeing the bombed out site of the anomaly and the protagonist can alter the future by seeing into time-stream possibilities and choosing one. I’m almost to the part I haven’t read before, so I’m looking forward to new content. It’s a little disconcerting to see your full, rather unique name in print. My friends have a habit of naming characters after each other. In this book, I’m the head of the International Peacekeeping Unit, which tracks. ---
**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:** [October 28, 2023, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-october-2023-edition/990838/99 "2023-10-28T16:10:02Z")
> [@Dendarii\_Dame](#): > > Finished _Alfred Hitchcock’s Haunted Houseful_, edited by Alfred Hitchcock. I thought this wasn’t one of the best of his juvenile collections. Agree. I read the first two stories, and it’s not at all what I wanted. ---
**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:** [October 28, 2023, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-october-2023-edition/990838/100 "2023-10-28T16:30:49Z")
Finished Keep It In the Family. It wasn’t too gory, and the plot was very twisty, but I saw most of it coming. Really a downer overall. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-october-2023-edition/990838.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-october-2023-edition/990838.md?page=6)