# Khadaji's Whatcha Readin' - April 2013 Edition **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 30, 2013, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-april-2013-edition/654364 "2013-03-30T17:10:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![Ian\_D.Bergkamp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/5f8ce5/32.png) [@Ian\_D.Bergkamp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ian_D.Bergkamp)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2013, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-april-2013-edition/654364/101 "2013-04-18T01:21:25Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > _Endurance_ is a great book. I love a good survival story; if you’re interested in that genre, I can recommend some for you. Thanks, I’d appreciate it. I started _Endurance_ because I’m generally fascinated with that period of exploration, but the survival aspect is gripping, so I’d definitely like to read more along those lines. ---
**Author:** ![delphica](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e9a140/32.png) [@delphica](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/delphica)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2013, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-april-2013-edition/654364/102 "2013-04-18T02:44:38Z")
> [@Eleanor\_of\_Aquitaine](#): > > I was on my phone last night; I’ll expand. The Asher & Ysidro books have the same rich atmosphere that I like in the January books, and the same vivid sense of the historical time and place. They also have the same touch of melodrama and the same wildly improbable action scenes at the end (chases, hostage-taking, shoot-outs, fire, explosions, etc.) but if that kind of thing doesn’t bother you in the January series, it probably won’t in these. > > The series is set just before WWI. Asher is a linguist, a mild-mannered Oxford don with a secret past as an international spy. The vampire Ysidro was a 16th-century Spanish nobleman who came to England with the court of Philip of Spain when he married Mary Tudor. Hambly does a wonderful job with Ysidro: he’s ancient and powerful and bookish and lonely; he’s not maliciously evil but there’s no getting around the fact that he murders people to stay alive. Asher spends a good bit of the series looking for an opportunity to kill Ysidro, but then the vampire saves his life a few times and things get muddled. > I’m now reading Jo Walton’s novel _Farthing_, which is a British country house murder mystery, but it’s set in an alternate timeline where England made peace with Hitler in WWII. Thanks for the info, I think I will give that vampire series a try. I read _Among Others_ last year, and enjoyed it, so _Farthing_ seems intriguing. I get the best book recommendations from you! ---
**Author:** ![Politzania](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3ab097/32.png) [@Politzania](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Politzania)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2013, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-april-2013-edition/654364/103 "2013-04-18T17:09:50Z")
> [@Eleanor\_of\_Aquitaine](#): > > I’m almost finished reading _The Last Policeman_, by Ben H. Winters. It’s a murder mystery where a brand new police detective is trying to prove that an apparent suicide victim has actually been murdered - but nobody cares, because it’s all taking place six months before an asteroid is going to strike the planet and bring about the end of civilization. Not sure how it’s going to end, but so far this is better than I was expecting it to be. I really enjoyed _The Last Policeman_, but was disappointed in the ending; it felt as if Winters hastily re-wrote about the last third when he decided to make it a series. The follow-up - _Countdown City_ comes out in July - I plan on checking it out… Have gotten way behind on my reading updates - here’s a few quickies: _**[A Hologram for the King](http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13722902-a-hologram-for-the-king)**_ by Dave Eggers. Depressing and a bit odd; struggling entrepreneur as Vladimir in “Waiting for Godot: The Arabian Version”. I prefer likable protagonists who actually DO things… and while I found the situation intriguing and the writing was clever at times, the actual plot and characters left me flat. I don’t think I’ll be revisiting Eggers anytime soon - apparently he’s not my kind of author. _**[Life Below Stairs: True Lives of Edwardian Servants](http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/12338204-life-below-stairs)**_ - think I picked this up after reading several novels set in Edwardian/Victorian times & wanted to get a look at the servant experience. It’s a bit lightweight (less than 200 pages) and the reading level seemed pitched at maybe high school level. It was well-researched, but was much more general than its subtitle suggested, more an overview of servant life with occasional remembrances and tidbits thrown in than an in-depth memoir or detailed accounts. It probably didn’t help that I read it in two separate sittings, as my checkout of the Kindle book from the e-library expired & I had to wait about 2 weeks before I could check it out again. ---
**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:** [April 18, 2013, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-april-2013-edition/654364/104 "2013-04-18T21:03:26Z")
> [@Ian\_D.Bergkamp](#): > > Thanks, I’d appreciate it. I started _Endurance_ because I’m generally fascinated with that period of exploration, but the survival aspect is gripping, so I’d definitely like to read more along those lines. _Death in The Sahara_, Michael Asher _Into Thin Air_, Jon Krakauer (mountaineering and survival) _In the Land of White Death_, Valerian Albanov _In the Heart of the Sea_, Nathaniel Philbrick _Skeletons on the Zahara: A True Story of Survival_, Dean King _The Lost City of Z: A Tale of Deadly Obsession in the Amazon_, David Grann (exploration and survival) _The White Cascade_, Gary Krist _The Darkest Jungle_, Todd Balf _Jungle_, Yossi Ghinsberg _The White Nile_, Alan Moorehead (THE definitive book about the exploration of the Nile River) ---
**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:** [April 18, 2013, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-april-2013-edition/654364/105 "2013-04-18T21:24:46Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > _Into Thin Air_, Jon Krakauer (mountaineering and survival) > _In the Heart of the Sea_, Nathaniel Philbrick I sat up late into the night reading both of these (different nights). I highly recommend them as well. Fun trivia: The tragedy of the whaleship _Essex_, as the subtitle to Philbrick’s book calls it, is what _Moby Dick_ was based on. ---
**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:** [April 18, 2013, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-april-2013-edition/654364/106 "2013-04-18T22:21:51Z")
> [@SpazCat](#): > > I sat up late into the night reading both of these (different nights). I highly recommend them as well. > > Fun trivia: The tragedy of the whaleship _Essex_, as the subtitle to Philbrick’s book calls it, is what _Moby Dick_ was based on. The story of Scott’s expedition is also a doozy. Oh, and there’s _Ada Blackjack: A True Story of Survival in the Arctic_, Jennifer Niven _We Die Alone: A WWII Epic of Escape and Endurance_, David Howarth; this is the story of a man who was forced to flee Norway in advance of the Nazi occupation. ---
**Author:** ![Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/prof.pepperwinkle/32/13627_2.png) [@Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Prof.Pepperwinkle)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2013, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-april-2013-edition/654364/107 "2013-04-18T22:38:06Z")
And now I’m reading \*The Marx Bros. Scrapbook \*by Richard Anobile & Groucho Marx, and \*Fletch’s Fortune \*by Gregory MacDonald. ---
**Author:** ![Eleanor\_of\_Aquitaine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a88e4f/32.png) [@Eleanor\_of\_Aquitaine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eleanor_of_Aquitaine)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2013, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-april-2013-edition/654364/108 "2013-04-19T14:19:47Z")
> [@delphica](#): > > I read _Among Others_ last year, and enjoyed it, so _Farthing_ seems intriguing. I get the best book recommendations from you! 🙂 I haven’t read _Among Others_ yet, but I really liked her novel _Tooth & Claw_, which is a Victorian-era romantic novel that features dragons instead of people. Dragons wearing hats and riding in carriages, etc. It’s wonderfully weird. I finished \*Farthing \*last night. I liked it, but it has problems and I’m not going to enthusiastically recommend it. It focuses on a handful of characters in England in the late 1940’s, and there’s only a shallow exploration of the altered timeline that has left Hitler’s Reich ruling the Continent. It’s depressing to watch the UK being consumed by hatred and sliding into fascism. The narrative was absorbing and I like Walton’s writing, despite awkward transitions between first person and third person points of view. The murder mystery was weak and the political conspiracy even weaker, but I liked the story and the characters well enough. > [@Politzania](#): > > I really enjoyed _The Last Policeman_, but was disappointed in the ending; it felt as if Winters hastily re-wrote about the last third when he decided to make it a series. The follow-up - _Countdown City_ comes out in July - I plan on checking it out… I agree about the ending, but I’ll read the next book, too. ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2013, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-april-2013-edition/654364/109 "2013-04-19T17:20:59Z")
I know several people in this thread would love the book I’m reading now – [The Golem and the Jinni](http://www.amazon.com/The-Golem-Jinni-A-Novel/dp/0062110837) by Helene Wecker. ---
**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:** [April 19, 2013, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-april-2013-edition/654364/110 "2013-04-19T17:41:15Z")
Looks good to me! ---
**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:** [April 19, 2013, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-april-2013-edition/654364/111 "2013-04-19T20:28:21Z")
> [@Eleanor\_of\_Aquitaine](#): > > …I finished \*Farthing \*last night. I liked it, but it has problems and I’m not going to enthusiastically recommend it… Thanks. I recommend Len Deighton’s _SS-GB_ and Robert Harris’s _Fatherland_ for two excellent mysteries set against the backdrop of a Nazi victory in WWII. The first largely takes place in London in the Forties; the second, in Berlin in the Sixties. ---
**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:** [April 20, 2013, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-april-2013-edition/654364/112 "2013-04-20T03:09:28Z")
As expected, we were so much on the go in Japan that I did not have much time for reading. However, I did finish _The Prague Cemetery_, by Umberto Eco. Very good. In the 19th century, a professional forger with a split personality is hired by various governments to produce documents demonizing alternately Garibaldi, Freemasons and the Jews. I’ve read that this is considered Eco’s best novel since _The Name of the Rose_. That’s hard to say, as I’ve read all of his novel’s except _The Mysterious Flame of Queen Loana_, and I don’t think _The Prague Cemetery_, while good, comes close to _The Name of the Rose_. But then, _The Name of the Rose_ is a hard act to follow. Now it’s back to Michael Connelly with _The Drop_. ---
**Author:** ![bup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6bbea6/32.png) [@bup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bup)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2013, 11:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-april-2013-edition/654364/113 "2013-04-20T11:52:15Z")
Finally finished Nate Silver’s _ **The Signal and the Noise** _. Man, he’s good. This book, if people would read it, will make the world a better place. I don’t think that’s overstating it. Now I’m taking it easy reading a book I heard a lot in summer camp as a kid, but never the whole thing - _ **Rascal** _ by Sterling North. It’s a sweet trip down memory lane for me. ---
**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:** [April 20, 2013, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-april-2013-edition/654364/115 "2013-04-20T15:12:54Z")
I finished _Trout Fishing in America_ and loved it. It’s a fun little Beat Generation novel. The copy from the library also has _The Pill vs. the Springhill Mine Disaster_ and _In Watermelon Sugar._ I wasn’t sure if I wanted to read those or not, but I definitely will now. _checks due date_ Okay I’ll have time. ---
**Author:** ![Ian\_D.Bergkamp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/5f8ce5/32.png) [@Ian\_D.Bergkamp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ian_D.Bergkamp)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2013, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-april-2013-edition/654364/116 "2013-04-21T15:11:22Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > _Death in The Sahara_, Michael Asher > _Into Thin Air_, Jon Krakauer (mountaineering and survival) > _In the Land of White Death_, Valerian Albanov > _In the Heart of the Sea_, Nathaniel Philbrick > _Skeletons on the Zahara: A True Story of Survival_, Dean King > _The Lost City of Z: A Tale of Deadly Obsession in the Amazon_, David Grann (exploration and survival) > _The White Cascade_, Gary Krist > _The Darkest Jungle_, Todd Balf > _Jungle_, Yossi Ghinsberg > _The White Nile_, Alan Moorehead (THE definitive book about the exploration of the Nile River) Thanks. I’ve read _Into Thin Air_, _In the Heart of the Sea_, and _The Lost City of Z_ and liked them all. I’ll add the others to my list. _The White Nile_ will probably jump close to the top. ---
**Author:** ![Shakester](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shakester/32/437_2.png) [@Shakester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shakester)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2013, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-april-2013-edition/654364/117 "2013-04-21T15:46:12Z")
> [@SpazCat](#): > > I finished _Trout Fishing in America_ and loved it. It’s a fun little Beat Generation novel. The copy from the library also has _The Pill vs. the Springhill Mine Disaster_ and _In Watermelon Sugar._ I wasn’t sure if I wanted to read those or not, but I definitely will now. I’ve read most of Brautigan’s books. His collected short stories, **Revenge of the Lawn** , is a particular favourite, and **Sombrero Fallout** is one of his better novels (IMO). I’m quite the fan of his poetry, too. You can probably find a lot of it with Google… ---
**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:** [April 21, 2013, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-april-2013-edition/654364/118 "2013-04-21T16:58:42Z")
> [@Ian\_D.Bergkamp](#): > > Thanks. I’ve read _Into Thin Air_, _In the Heart of the Sea_, and _The Lost City of Z_ and liked them all. I’ll add the others to my list. _The White Nile_ will probably jump close to the top. It’s an outstanding read. The sequel to it is _Blue Nile_, which isn’t as riveting, but still an excellent read. Moorehead was a much-respected history writer. ---
**Author:** ![wonderlust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonderlust/32/7237_2.png) [@wonderlust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonderlust)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2013, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-april-2013-edition/654364/119 "2013-04-21T18:53:01Z")
On the subject of true arctic survival books, I came across [Frozen in Time: An Epic Story of Survival and a Modern Quest for Lost Heroes of World War II](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0062133438/ref=s9_al_bw_g14_ir03?pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=merchandised-search-3&pf_rd_r=095BFFF748D3468BA033&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=1523726882&pf_rd_i=390919011) listed as a Best Book of April. ---
**Author:** ![bup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6bbea6/32.png) [@bup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bup)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2013, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-april-2013-edition/654364/120 "2013-04-21T19:48:45Z")
Just finished _ **My Stroke of Insight** _ by Jill Bolte Taylor, a neuroanatomist who suffered a stroke at age 37. While it’s great to have a survivor’s own words about recovering from a stroke, and inspirational that she basically recovered everything, though it took 8 years, sometimes the book is just a bit too…too. She’s nothing but grateful for everything. Every person, every experience. She never at any point said - _you know what? Having a stroke fucking sucks! Not being able to read? Talk? Having to re-learn how to get dressed and brush your teeth? It’s unbelievably frustrating!_ Nope. It all just taught her to live in the moment. Jeez, even Mary Tyler Moore got mad sometimes. ---
**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:** [April 22, 2013, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-april-2013-edition/654364/121 "2013-04-22T01:33:40Z")
Still enjoying Ron Chernow’s _Washington: A Life_ (I’m about halfway done and thus have reached the arrival of much-needed French ships and troops during the Revolution), and have also started Beverly Cleary’s _Ramona Quimby, Age 8_, for one of my book clubs, and Robert Heinlein’s _Space Cadet_, an old favorite that I’m reading aloud with one of my sons. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-april-2013-edition/654364.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-april-2013-edition/654364.md?page=7)