# Khadaji’s Whatcha Reading Thread - Sept. 2020 edition **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** books-writing-myths\ **Created:** [September 2, 2020, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-sept-2020-edition/919607 "2020-09-02T14:22:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**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:** [September 9, 2020, 12:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-sept-2020-edition/919607/21 "2020-09-09T12:51:24Z")
I have that on my KIndle. I await your ultimate opinion 😉 ---
**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:** [September 9, 2020, 1:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-sept-2020-edition/919607/22 "2020-09-09T13:04:50Z")
Well, I found an error…the word “irradiate” was used when the word “radiate” would have been the correct choice. That kind of thing gets on my nerves and makes me not trust that an author knows what they’re doing. However, I’m finding the story interesting and I hope to journey on without any more of these little contretemps. 🧐 ---
**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:** [September 9, 2020, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-sept-2020-edition/919607/23 "2020-09-09T16:07:23Z")
Finished _Freaky Deaky_ by Elmore Leonard. Written in 1988, the plot has not aged well. It also drags in parts, although some of the dialogue was enjoyable. I might read another Elmore Leonard sometime–what’s the best one you’ve read, EH? I’ve started _Three Laws Lethal_, a near-future SF novel about self-driving vehicles by David Walton, and a nonfiction book of aerial photography called _Life from Above: Epic Stories of the Natural World_ by Michael Bright and Chloe Sarosh. ---
**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:** [September 9, 2020, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-sept-2020-edition/919607/24 "2020-09-09T18:53:50Z")
I read **Squeeze Me** , by Carl Hiaasen, which was pretty funny. Just started **Donald Trump vs The United States** , by Michael Schmidt, Pulitzer Prize winning reporter for the NYT. ---
**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:** [September 9, 2020, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-sept-2020-edition/919607/25 "2020-09-09T20:18:53Z")
> [@Dendarii\_Dame](#): > > Finished _Freaky Deaky_ by Elmore Leonard. Written in 1988, the plot has not aged well. It also drags in parts, although some of the dialogue was enjoyable. I might read another Elmore Leonard sometime–what’s the best one you’ve read, EH? If you want to read one of his modern crime novels, I’d suggest _Raylan_ or _Out of Sight_. If you want to read one of his Westerns, I’d suggest mebbe _Hombre_, although I myself prefer his modern stuff. ---
**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:** [September 9, 2020, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-sept-2020-edition/919607/26 "2020-09-09T21:35:26Z")
Every five years or so I read an Elmore Leonard, and every time I’m like, why is this guy so beloved? That said, _Justified_ is my all-time favorite cop show, so he’s good for something. I’ve been reading a fair amount of kidlit lately, given my new job as an AIG teacher and a need to get up to speed, and also having an 11yo daughter who gives me recommendations. [_A Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes_](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/51901147-the-ballad-of-songbirds-and-snakes?ac=1&from_search=true&qid=RUjD0lsvDu&rank=1) is what the _Hunger Games_ looks like when written during the Trump years. It’s a prequel to the trilogy, stripped of the glamour and the likeable protagonist. It’s well written, but holy shit is its outlook bleak. _Hunger Games_ is a day in the park by comparison. [_Bull Run_](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/116950.Bull_Run?from_search=true&from_srp=true&qid=bfLEXPfNxT&rank=1) is a children’s fictional account of the Battle of Bull Run. It’s short, like 100 pages long, and there are 16 point-of-view characters, and it’s told in chapters that are each less than two pages long. And there are piles of amputated limbs, and a dude sitting down staring at his intestines in his lap, and a guy who begs the narrator to shoot him because he lacks a body below the hips. It’s _brutal_, and I’m getting ready to read it with some fifth graders, and I’m a little nervous. I listened to [_Nyxia_](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/27426044-nyxia) with my kids on a car trip. Uh, maybe don’t listen to it with a seven-year-old around, because it also has some pretty brutal violence. There are many similarities to Ender’s Game: a group of children are set against each other in violent competition in space, in preparation for confronting aliens around a distant star. And the book’s joys derive from similar sources, as the vicious games they’re forced to play are thrillingly and masterfully described. But there’s also a huge difference: this time, the protagonist isn’t some wunderkind, some boy genius obviously superior to everyone else. Rather, he’s a poor kid from Detroit who recognizes early on that he’s being manipulated by the cynical adults surrounding him. If you’d like Ender’s Game without all the Orson Scott Card cringes, I recommend this one pretty highly. ---
**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:** [September 11, 2020, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-sept-2020-edition/919607/27 "2020-09-11T19:15:24Z")
Finished _Life from Above: Epic Stories of the Natural World_ by Michael Bright and Chloe Sarosh. It’s a coffee table book of aerial photography, and it’s stunning. I learned a lot. For example, they have a section showing how beavers alter the landscape–well, that I knew. But they also show how hippos cut many waterways between rivers and how wombats dig vast quantities of tunnels in Australia, altering the Outback. Fascinating, and recommended. Still reading _Three Laws Lethal_, by David Walton. ---
**Author:** ![Busy\_Scissors](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/d78d45/32.png) [@Busy\_Scissors](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Busy_Scissors)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2020, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-sept-2020-edition/919607/28 "2020-09-11T22:51:46Z")
Picked up _Engine Summer_ by John Crowley on a whim, I’ve read _Little Big_ and _Aegypt_ a long while back so I know the level he’s at, but still shocked me how good it was (I’ve not been reading much recently so prob that has a lot to do with it). Made me think it’s sort of a shame he got so far into the Aegpyt tetralogy - I know some people love it and no doubt it’s his own grand vision, perhaps he’s completely happy with it himself. But it’s obv one for the purists and I feel marginalised a fantastic writer. On a different tack, say one thing for Joe Abercrombie, say he’s got a new book coming out next week! _The Trouble with Peace_. ---
**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:** [September 12, 2020, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-sept-2020-edition/919607/29 "2020-09-12T15:54:52Z")
Finished _Three Laws Lethal_ , by David Walton, which I enjoyed. Now I’m reading _Brotopia: Breaking Up the Boys’ Club of Silicon Valley_ by Emily Chang. ---
**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:** [September 13, 2020, 5:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-sept-2020-edition/919607/30 "2020-09-13T05:52:57Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > If you want to read one of his modern crime novels, I’d suggest _Raylan_ or _Out of Sight_ . They made a good movie for _Out of Sight_. Starring George Clooney and Jennifer Lopez. ---
**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:** [September 13, 2020, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-sept-2020-edition/919607/31 "2020-09-13T16:00:58Z")
Yes, and I recommend it, too. Some major differences from the book, though, as you might expect. ---
**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:** [September 13, 2020, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-sept-2020-edition/919607/32 "2020-09-13T22:33:13Z")
Thanks for the advice on Elmore Leonard books, which I’ll get around to next year, at this rate. Finished _Brotopia: Breaking Up the Boys’ Club of Silicon Valley_ by Emily Chang, which was an interesting follow up to articles I’ve read on the subject. Now I’m reading _Backwater_, by Joan Bauer. ---
**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:** [September 14, 2020, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-sept-2020-edition/919607/33 "2020-09-14T18:30:15Z")
Finished _Backwater_ , by Joan Bauer, which I enjoyed. Now I’m reading a reprint of a 1937 book called _Orchids on Your Budget or Live Smartly on What You Have_, by Marjorie Hillis. ---
**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:** [September 15, 2020, 12:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-sept-2020-edition/919607/34 "2020-09-15T12:28:30Z")
I finished Mexican Gothic with mixed feelings. It was a decent read, I always looked forward to picking it up again, but so much of the story was about Noemi’s dreams. Reading about people’s dreams is just as annoying as having to hear about them in real life, and it doesn’t advance the plot. Or does it? 🙄 And Noemi was constantly on the verge of getting raped. One good thing about the story is that there was no ambiguity about the evil, there is something wrong at High Place. However, I was never certain about the rules of the situation…it seemed to me that the author was apt to bend them as it suited her. Yesterday I started on a horror novel which has gotten a lot of buzz, [The Only Good Indians](https://www.amazon.com/Only-Indians-Stephen-Graham-Jones-ebook/dp/B07THF63FL/ref=sr_1_1?crid=3KI7REUC3YXDM&dchild=1&keywords=the+only+good+indians+by+stephen+graham+jones&qid=1600171886&sprefix=the+only+good+indians%2Caps%2C153&sr=8-1), by Stephen Graham Jones. It was okay until page 35, then a heartbreaking animal death and I quit. I’m not up for that. Today I started on a YA sci-fi novel, about a space-travelling girl accidentally sent far into the future, [Goddess in the Machine](https://www.amazon.com/Goddess-Machine-Lora-Beth-Johnson/dp/1984835920/ref=sr_1_1?crid=3PA703TUKU1KZ&dchild=1&keywords=goddess+in+the+machine+by+lora+beth+johnson&qid=1600172455&sprefix=goddess+in+the+machine%2Caps%2C170&sr=8-1) by Lora Beth Johnson. It definitely reads like YA, but the premise is interesting. ---
**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:** [September 15, 2020, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-sept-2020-edition/919607/35 "2020-09-15T13:51:10Z")
Finished _Orchids on Your Budget or Live Smartly on What You Have_ , by Marjorie Hillis, which I enjoyed. Now I’m reading _Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell_, by Susanna Clarke. ---
**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:** [September 15, 2020, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-sept-2020-edition/919607/36 "2020-09-15T13:55:40Z")
Loved the Clarke book - I’ve read it twice. The BBC miniseries wasn’t bad, but could’ve been better, I’d say. ---
**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:** [September 18, 2020, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-sept-2020-edition/919607/37 "2020-09-18T18:18:57Z")
Holy cow. I have nine books ready to be picked up at the library! Usually they come one or two at a time. I guess this explains it: > **['It's a mega year!': book trade braces for autumn onslaught of major new titles](https://www.theguardian.com/books/2020/aug/13/its-a-mega-year-book-trade-braces-for-autumn-onslaught-of-major-new-titles)** > > After the lockdown, hundreds of delayed titles are expected this autumn including many household names vying for Christmas success I probably won’t get to finish Goddess in the Machine, but that’s absolutely fine. It wasn’t working out between us. 💔 ---
**Author:** ![Paintcharge](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/paintcharge/32/7946_2.png) [@Paintcharge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paintcharge)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2020, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-sept-2020-edition/919607/38 "2020-09-18T18:34:42Z")
_Futuristc Violence and Fancy Suits: a Novel_ by David Wong, author of _John Dies at the End._ It’s quite fun. And it’s apparently getting turned into a tv series. ---
**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:** [September 18, 2020, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-sept-2020-edition/919607/39 "2020-09-18T19:38:25Z")
I’m finally reading _Dune_. So far I like it, though not totally hooked. It has a little problem that all fantasy epics do where they bombard you with new concepts and terminology rather than introducing them at a relevant pace. But _Dune_ at least keeps the reader grounded in character as it does this. So, at present, I’m hooked enough to keep going. I’m getting impatient about one thing, though. They need to make with the sandworms. ---
**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:** [September 18, 2020, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-sept-2020-edition/919607/40 "2020-09-18T19:39:41Z")
I loved _John Dies at the End._ Maybe I’ll check it out. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-sept-2020-edition/919607.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-sept-2020-edition/919607.md?page=3)