# Khadaji’s Whatcha Reading Thread - September 2021 edition **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** books-writing-myths\ **Created:** [August 29, 2021, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-september-2021-edition/949740 "2021-08-29T19:50:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**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, 2021, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-september-2021-edition/949740/61 "2021-09-14T20:44:09Z")
Yes, I’ve read _Innumeracy_, which I consider the better book of the two. ---
**Author:** ![zimaane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a3d4f5/32.png) [@zimaane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zimaane)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2021, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-september-2021-edition/949740/62 "2021-09-15T13:49:11Z")
**Bowl of Heaven** Gregory Benford and Larry Niven A spaceship carrying humans to a distant star for colonization stumbles on a gigantic “bowl-world”\*, a sort of Dyson hemisphere. Some of them fly down to the bowl and then wander around for hundreds of pages, eating space lizards and dodging alien ostriches. I was disappointed that two distinguished authors could start with an intriguing idea and then write such a mediocre book. The plot goes nowhere, the characters are shallow and uninteresting and there are continuity errors. One poor guys gets a piece of metal in his arm and then has it removed twice, for example. Not recommended. \*Not to be confused with a ringworld, the titular subject of a much better book by Larry Niven ---
**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, 2021, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-september-2021-edition/949740/63 "2021-09-15T20:19:48Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > > [@Dendarii\_Dame](#): > > > > Finished _Once Upon a Number: The Hidden Mathematical Logic of Stories_ , by John Allen Paulos, which I would have liked better if I hadn’t already read much of its examples in other books, magazines, online, etc. > > Have you read Paulos’ earlier book, **Innumeracy**? An excellent book. I didn’t realize he’d written a follow-up. > [@Dendarii\_Dame](#): > > Yes, I’ve read _Innumeracy_, which I consider the better book of the two. Do those authors suggest that there are three kinds of people in the world, those who understand math and those who don’t? Just started _The Unpleasant Profession of Jonathan Hoag_ by Robert A. Heinlein, a creepy 1942 novella I first read in high school that really stuck with me. Glad to come back to it now, after all this time. ---
**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 15, 2021, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-september-2021-edition/949740/64 "2021-09-15T22:31:22Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > Do those authors suggest that there are three kinds of people in the world, those who understand math and those who don’t? Iz firmly in the third that don’t understand numbers 😉 ---
**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 17, 2021, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-september-2021-edition/949740/65 "2021-09-17T17:33:20Z")
Finished _Camino Winds_, by John Grisham. The sequel to his _Camino Island_. As in the first novel, lovable rogue Bruce Cable owns the bookstore Bay Books on the fictional Florida island and is the de-facto leader of a small cadre of writers who live there. A Category 4 hurricane strikes, and one of the writers is killed in the storm, found outside his condo and apparently battered by debris … or is that how he died? The writer is a former lawyer with a large San Francisco law firm who blew the whistle on an arms-dealing client and subsequently became the author of popular action novels a la Tom Clancy. The new novel he was working on at the time of his death may reveal secrets that someone would rather leave secret even if it is a fictionalized account. A nice change from Grisham’s usual legal thrillers. I would like to see more of the character and hope Grisham continues the series. Interestingly the action in the book takes place from August 2019 to June 2020, and the book being written before the pandemic, there is no pandemic or mask-wearing in 2020. No way Grisham could have predicted all that of course, but it’s interesting to note what inadvertently turned into a parallel universe. Next up will be _The Devil in the White City_, by Erik Larson. This will be my first Larson, who got on my radar after I read favorable comments about him on this Board. It will have to wait until maybe next week though, as I’m going to be pretty busy these next few days. ---
**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 17, 2021, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-september-2021-edition/949740/66 "2021-09-17T19:23:08Z")
Finished _Till We Have Faces_ , by C. S. Lewis. It was very good. People who enjoyed _Circe_ by Madeline Miller would be interested in this, too. Now I’m reading _Crafted: A Compendium of Crafts: New, Old, and Forgotten_, by Sally Coulthard. ---
**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 17, 2021, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-september-2021-edition/949740/67 "2021-09-17T20:10:30Z")
More than halfway through _The Unpleasant Profession of Jonathan Hoag_ by Robert A. Heinlein. Good stuff; an interesting mix of kinda-Cthulhu and Nick and Nora. I’ve now started _Monty Python Speaks!_ by David Morgan, a collection of interviews with the original cast and colleagues, friends and supporters such as Carol Cleveland, Douglas Adams, Ian MacNaughton and others, covering both the troupe’s TV and film years. Not much that is new to me, but I like it so far. ---
**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 18, 2021, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-september-2021-edition/949740/68 "2021-09-18T20:09:27Z")
Finished _Crafted: A Compendium of Crafts: New, Old, and Forgotten_ , by Sally Coulthard. It was very interesting. One section was about trug making, which I thought was a typo for rug making. Actually, a trug is a flat, shallow basket, often used in gardening and farming. (Trug makers were exempt from the British draft during WWII because trugs were considered essential, according to the book.) I’ve never heard the word trug before, but my spellcheck doesn’t mark it as incorrect. No I’m reading _Moo_, by Sharon Creech. ---
**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 19, 2021, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-september-2021-edition/949740/69 "2021-09-19T13:49:25Z")
Finished _Moo_, by Sharon Creech. Meh. Now I’m reading _The Brain That Changes Itself: Stories of Personal Triumph from the Frontiers of Brain Science_, by Norman Doidge, M.D. ---
**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 19, 2021, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-september-2021-edition/949740/70 "2021-09-19T19:18:50Z")
This weekend I finished both _The Unpleasant Profession of Jonathan Hoag_ by Robert A. Heinlein (a creepy supernatural detective story, almost as if H.P. Lovecraft had written a Nick and Nora novel), and _The Ghost Brigades_ by John Scalzi (cool distant-future military sf with a bittersweet but very satisfying conclusion). Thanks to a recommendation from **Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness** upthread, I’ve begun _Sal and Gabi Break the Universe_ by Carlos Hernandez. It’s a YA novel about an aspiring magician and an overachieving brainiac at a magnet school. Not my usual cup of tea, but not bad so far. ---
**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 20, 2021, 1:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-september-2021-edition/949740/71 "2021-09-20T13:13:12Z")
Finished Doors of Sleep. This book was made of coincidence and deus ex machina, but I didn’t mind much, as it kept the action flying along. This was decently entertaining and left room for a sequel, so I’ll probably pick that up when it comes. I started this morning on [A Tale For the Time Being](https://www.amazon.com/Tale-Time-Being-Novel/dp/0143124870/ref=sr_1_1?crid=2WCRPU014DWAG&dchild=1&keywords=a+tale+for+the+time+being&qid=1632143391&s=books&sprefix=a+tale+for+the+%2Caps%2C192&sr=1-1), by Ruth Ozeki. At 43 pages, it hasn’t hooked me yet. Still undecided about whether to continue. ---
**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 21, 2021, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-september-2021-edition/949740/72 "2021-09-21T18:50:53Z")
Finished _The Brain That Changes Itself: Stories of Personal Triumph from the Frontiers of Brain Science_ , by Norman Doidge, M.D. It had some fascinating information about things such as treatment for stroke victims, who are required to do chores such as washing dishes, in which they use circular motions of their hands to improve their functioning of their brains as well as their hands. (And yes, I was thinking, “Wax on, wax off,” from _The Karate Kid_.) Now I’m reading _Clean Sweep_ by Ilona Andrews. ---
**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 22, 2021, 12:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-september-2021-edition/949740/73 "2021-09-22T12:57:32Z")
Thought this might interest you, @Left_Hand_of_Dorkness : > **[Disney Is Developing an Adaptation of Carlos Hernandez’s Sal & Gabi Break...](https://www.tor.com/2021/09/21/disney-developing-adaptation-sal-gabi-break-the-universe/)** > > Disney has tapped John Wick and Grand Hotel producer Eva Longoria and Grand Hotel producer Ben Spector to develop an adaptation of Carlos Hernandez YA novel Sal & Gabi Break the Universe, about… ---
**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:** [September 22, 2021, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-september-2021-edition/949740/74 "2021-09-22T19:12:49Z")
I picked up _The Right Stuff_ at my last library trip and I’m absolutely riveted. I vaguely remember my dad watching the movie on TV, but I was too young to pay attention. The only scene I remember is the “[Popped Cork](https://youtu.be/F36bU7iy2VI),” which in the movie is hilarious but is much more narratively dramatic in the book. I’ve also been reading Gary Corby’s Athenian Mysteries series. They’re set in Ancient Greece in the time of Pericles and they’re fun, lighthearted murder mysteries. So far I’ve read the first three ([The Pericles Comission](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13642758-the-pericles-commission), [The Ionia Sanction](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/11168375-the-ionia-sanction), and [Sacred Games](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/15849504-sacred-games)) and the next four are on the alluvial plains of Mt. ToBeRead. _The Pericles Commission_ also has the best first sentence of all times: “A dead man fell from the sky, landing at my feet with a thud.” ---
**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 22, 2021, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-september-2021-edition/949740/75 "2021-09-22T21:17:41Z")
Finished _Clean Sweep_ by Ilona Andrews, which was okay. Now I’m reading _A Square Meal: A Culinary History of the Great Depression_, by Jane Ziegelman and Andrew Coe. ---
**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 23, 2021, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-september-2021-edition/949740/76 "2021-09-23T03:23:38Z")
Given how much I love John Maddox Roberts’ Ancient Rome series, I should check these out! ---
**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:** [September 23, 2021, 1:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-september-2021-edition/949740/77 "2021-09-23T13:15:19Z")
Wait, there’s an Ancient Rome mystery series? _Mt. ToBeRead rises several more feet_ ---
**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 23, 2021, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-september-2021-edition/949740/78 "2021-09-23T15:56:26Z")
Oh heavens yes! Several in fact… > **[The King's Gambit (SPQR, #1)](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/326846.The_King_s_Gambit?ac=1&from_search=true&qid=GR4Ccy12Al&rank=5)** > > In this Edgar Award nominated mystery, John Maddox Robe… Lindsey Davis has a couple series: [Marcus Didius Falco Series by Lindsey Davis](https://www.goodreads.com/series/42173-marcus-didius-falco) ---
**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:** [September 23, 2021, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-september-2021-edition/949740/79 "2021-09-23T16:14:42Z")
You’re an enabler, you know that? Bless you. ---
**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 23, 2021, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-september-2021-edition/949740/80 "2021-09-23T18:12:54Z")
I do try. Thank you! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-september-2021-edition/949740.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-september-2021-edition/949740.md?page=5)