# Khadaji’s Whatcha Reading Thread - September 2023 edition **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** books-writing-myths\ **Created:** [August 28, 2023, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-september-2023-edition/989241 "2023-08-28T20:36:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**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:** [August 28, 2023, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-september-2023-edition/989241/1 "2023-08-28T20:36:22Z")
Only TWO months til Halloween! I can already hear my animated skeletons calling from their box in the basement… my life, the set up to a cheesy horror film. 😆 Seriously though, I’m ready for it to not be 70F/21C at 6 am when I’m starting work. Anyway: Whatcha all readin? Kindle: _Dead in the Garden_ by Dahlia Donovan, it’s a cozy m/m murder mystery and I’m eating it up like ice cream Audio: _The Dictionary of Lost Words_ by Pip Williams, so far it’s okay, I’m not really feeling an attachment to any of the characters and there are sooooooooo many elephants in the room. Print: Still working on _The Witches of Wenshar_ by Barbara Hambly. My hands really don’t like big books anymore so my progress is slow. _Khadaji was one of the earlier members of SDMB, and he was well-known as a kindly person who always had something encouraging to say, particularly in the self-improvement threads. He was also a voracious, omnivorous reader, who started these threads 'way back in the Stone Age of 2005. Consequently, when he suddenly and quite unexpectedly passed away in January 2013, we decided to rename this thread in his honor and to keep his memory, if not his ghost, alive._ ---
**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:** [August 28, 2023, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-september-2023-edition/989241/2 "2023-08-28T20:38:46Z")
Last Month: [Bye Bye August](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-august-2023-edition/987892/92) ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2023, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-september-2023-edition/989241/3 "2023-08-30T17:24:24Z")
John D. MacDonlad, “The Last One Left”. ---
**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:** [August 30, 2023, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-september-2023-edition/989241/4 "2023-08-30T21:02:15Z")
I read Kevin Kwan’s novel _Crazy Rich Asians_, which could’ve been subtitled _Lifestyles of the Rich and Richer in Singapore and Environs_, but wasn’t. Some truly awful people who are fixated on MONEY and FAMILY PRIDE in a way that is kind of alien to me but in the end all too believable. There are some user-friendly people in the book, too. Fortunately. It’s probably too long, and it probably has too many characters, and I might argue that it moves a little too rapidly from the very-funny-and-almost-over-the-top to the really-quite-serious toward the end. But I enjoyed it nonetheless. Some time ago I ghostwrote a number of volumes in a young adult series, and the behavior of the characters in _Crazy Rich Asians_ was uncomfortably similar to the behavior of the characters I was given to write about–only my characters were middle schoolers, so they had an excuse! Starting Laura Lippman’s newest novel, _Prom Mom._ Good so far. ---
**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:** [August 30, 2023, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-september-2023-edition/989241/5 "2023-08-30T21:38:19Z")
I finished _All Good People Here_ by Ashley Flowers. It’s a decent murder mystery about the homicides of two young girls in neighboring small towns 25 years apart. It’s well-written with a couple of interesting plot twists, although I did figure out the murderer before the protagonist did. But it had a wholly unsatisfying ending that didn’t completely resolve the main storyline. Nonetheless, I would recommend it if you like this genre. ---
**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:** [August 31, 2023, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-september-2023-edition/989241/6 "2023-08-31T19:15:38Z")
If Discourse will allow me to repost: Started today on [101 Horror Books to Read Before You’re Murdered](https://www.amazon.com/Horror-Books-Before-Youre-Murdered/dp/164567780X/ref=sr_1_1?crid=3NXUAURMS6QET&keywords=101+horror+books+to+read+before+you%27re+murdered&qid=1693508791&sprefix=101+horror+boo%2Caps%2C119&sr=8-1), by Sadie “Mother Horror” Hartmann. I’m not sure if this author and I are going to see eye to eye. She admits at one point to having never read Lovecraft. How can such a person call themselves a horror expert? On the other hand, she reveres King enough to dedicate the book to him (and to leave all of his books off the list because they are already known). At any rate, it’s a fun book to read and when I’m done I’ll go to the library website and add several more levels to Mount TBR. ---
**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:** [August 31, 2023, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-september-2023-edition/989241/7 "2023-08-31T19:37:41Z")
Started listening to _Dark Angel_ by John Sandford. It’s the second book featuring Letty Davenport, daughter of Lucas Davenport, hero of many Sandford novels. It’s good thus far, just as every Sandford book I’ve read. ---
**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 1, 2023, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-september-2023-edition/989241/8 "2023-09-01T19:39:07Z")
September already? Yeesh. I recently finished _The Long Gray Line_ by Rick Atkinson, about the West Point Class of 1966’s ordeal as young Army officers in the jungles of Vietnam, and what happened to them after they returned home. It got great reviews but I found it meh. Just started _The Passengers_ by John Marrs, a near-future British thriller about multiple autonomous cars being hacked one day by an as-yet-undetermined bad guy. Each of the people in the hijacked cars - a cop, an aging movie star, an Indian woman escaping an abusive husband, etc. - seems to have a secret. It’s OK so far. Also started _JFK, Oswald and Ruby: Politics, Prejudice and Truth_ by Burt W. Griffin, nonfiction by a retired judge who was a Warren Commission staff lawyer. His primary responsibility was determining whether Jack Ruby was part of any conspiracy. It’s also OK so far. I’ve returned to _Hell to Pay: Operation DOWNFALL and the Invasion of Japan, 1945-1947_ by D.M. Giangreco, which as I wrote before has an argumentative tone that I don’t really appreciate, but it’s a relatively good supplement to Richard B. Frank’s much, much better _Downfall_. ---
**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 1, 2023, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-september-2023-edition/989241/9 "2023-09-01T21:36:57Z")
Finished _The Scholars of Night_, by John M. Ford, which was okay. Now I’m reading _Daring Young Men: The Heroism and Triumph of the Berlin Airlift June 1948-May 1949_, by Richard Reeves. ---
**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 1, 2023, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-september-2023-edition/989241/10 "2023-09-01T22:12:54Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > Just started _The Passengers_ by John Marrs, a near-future British thriller about multiple autonomous cars being hacked one day by an as-yet-undetermined bad guy. Each of the people in the hijacked cars - a cop, an aging movie star, an Indian woman escaping an abusive husband, etc. - seems to have a secret. It’s OK so far. I just finished it. I quite liked it. I figured out the “villian” very early but the twists kept me questioning my decision right up to the end. ---
**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 2, 2023, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-september-2023-edition/989241/11 "2023-09-02T18:14:03Z")
Aha, thanks! ---
**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 3, 2023, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-september-2023-edition/989241/12 "2023-09-03T20:39:04Z")
Finished _Daring Young Men: The Heroism and Triumph of the Berlin Airlift June 1948-May 1949_, by Richard Reeves, which I enjoyed a lot. Strongly recommended, with wonderful anecdotes. For example, to find out if they had to sand the landing strip (which took time and resources) in bad weather, someone would drive a jeep at top speed (55 mph) on the strip and then hit the brakes, hard. By counting the number of landing lights he passed, he would determine if sand needed to be used. (No, the author didn’t say what the magic number was.) Now I’m reading _Year Zero_, a science fiction novel by Rob Reid. ---
**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 5, 2023, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-september-2023-edition/989241/13 "2023-09-05T21:00:46Z")
Finished _Year Zero_, a science fiction novel by Rob Reid. I enjoyed it, but it’s too long. Also, the best parts of it are the non-SF characters. Now I’m reading _The Color of Water: A Black Man’s Tribute to His White Mother_, by James McBride. ---
**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 6, 2023, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-september-2023-edition/989241/14 "2023-09-06T15:46:30Z")
Started this morning on Stephen King’s newest, [Holly](https://www.amazon.com/Holly-Stephen-King/dp/1668016133/ref=sr_1_1?crid=CP71G2JGP9N7&keywords=holly+stephen+king&qid=1694014976&sprefix=%2Caps%2C289&sr=8-1). It stars recurring character Holly Gibney, solving a murder mystery. At about 50 pages in, I’m wishing he wouldn’t mention Trump so much. It’s set in the early days of the pandemic, so he can’t avoid it entirely, but I’d rather read about creepy serial killers than that whole unpleasantness. ---
**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:** [September 6, 2023, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-september-2023-edition/989241/15 "2023-09-06T18:58:26Z")
> [@Dung\_Beetle](#): > > Started this morning on Stephen King’s newest, [Holly](https://www.amazon.com/Holly-Stephen-King/dp/1668016133/ref=sr_1_1?crid=CP71G2JGP9N7&keywords=holly+stephen+king&qid=1694014976&sprefix=%2Caps%2C289&sr=8-1). I put a hold on it via Libby. I am 99th in line and there are 25 copies in my library. Read fast, people! ---
**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 6, 2023, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-september-2023-edition/989241/16 "2023-09-06T19:08:06Z")
I pre-ordered it last spring I think. I’d let you borrow it! ---
**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 7, 2023, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-september-2023-edition/989241/17 "2023-09-07T18:03:12Z")
Just zipped through _9 Magic Wishes_ by Shirley Jackson, a cute little kids’ book from an author you wouldn’t expect had a cute little bone in her body. It’s nicely illustrated by her grandson, Miles Hyman, a talented artist whose work I’ve seen elsewhere. ---
**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 7, 2023, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-september-2023-edition/989241/18 "2023-09-07T19:43:56Z")
Finished _The Color of Water: A Black Man’s Tribute to His White Mother_, by James McBride, which is well-written and powerful. Now I’m reading a YA novel, _Tending to Grace_, by Kimberly Newton Fusco. ---
**Author:** ![BetsQ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/fbc32d/32.png) [@BetsQ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BetsQ)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2023, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-september-2023-edition/989241/19 "2023-09-07T22:09:44Z")
I recently read _Thornhedge_ on a flight. Perfect airplane reading. On the flight home, I read Jenny Colgan’s _500 Miles from You_, a nice fluffy rom-com that made me want to go to Scotland. (Not that Scotland is a hard sell.) I’m still working my way through _The Idiot_ by Elif Batuman. It’s engaging while I read, but I don’t feel very compelled to pick it up again when I put it down. I’m also listening to Dave Grohl’s _The Storyteller_ as an audiobook. His anecdotes are a great accompaniment to a long walk with the dog. I have to keep pausing the book to go listen to a song or band he references. It’s fun. ---
**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 8, 2023, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-september-2023-edition/989241/20 "2023-09-08T14:35:02Z")
_Tending to Grace_, by Kimberly Newton Fusco. Meh. Now I’m reading _The Science of Can and Can’t: A Physicist’s Journey Through the Land of Counterfactuals_, by Chiara Marletto. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-september-2023-edition/989241.md?page=2)