# Khadaji's Whatcha Readin' - April, 2014 **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 31, 2014, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-april-2014/685027 "2014-03-31T22:16:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![yellowval](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/919ad9/32.png) [@yellowval](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yellowval)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2014, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-april-2014/685027/101 "2014-04-21T13:36:11Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > Yes, it’s excellent. Check out his novel _In the Lake of the Woods_ sometime - a modern mystery with a Vietnam War backstory. Very good stuff. I will! Thanks! I gave up on “The Quick.” I just could not get into it. I moved on to “Dust,” by Hugh Howey, the final book in his “Wool” series (Wool, Shift, and Dust). ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2014, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-april-2014/685027/102 "2014-04-21T14:46:52Z")
> [@koeeoaddi](#): > > I just finished _The Son_, which was absolutely splendid! Now I’ve got that deer in the headlights, what ever will I read next, thousand yard stare. That was my favorite book last year. If you feel like something in the same vein, try [The Blood of Heaven](http://www.amazon.com/The-Blood-Heaven-Kent-Wascom/dp/0802121187) by Kent Wascom. ---
**Author:** ![koeeoaddi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/koeeoaddi/32/408_2.png) [@koeeoaddi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/koeeoaddi)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2014, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-april-2014/685027/103 "2014-04-21T16:11:34Z")
> [@AuntiePam](#): > > That was my favorite book last year. If you feel like something in the same vein, try [The Blood of Heaven](http://www.amazon.com/The-Blood-Heaven-Kent-Wascom/dp/0802121187) by Kent Wascom. Thanks! I’m there. If you haven’t read it yet, you might like [Shavetail](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2660699-shavetail?from_search=true), by Thomas Cobb. It’s another well researched gritty stunner about army life in the Arizona Territory in the mid-1800s. ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2014, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-april-2014/685027/104 "2014-04-21T17:01:25Z")
> [@koeeoaddi](#): > > Thanks! I’m there. > > If you haven’t read it yet, you might like [Shavetail](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2660699-shavetail?from_search=true), by Thomas Cobb. It’s another well researched gritty stunner about army life in the Arizona Territory in the mid-1800s. Thanks! I’ve read one other Thomas Cobb – Crazy Heart – and liked it. ---
**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 22, 2014, 12:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-april-2014/685027/105 "2014-04-22T12:57:57Z")
I finished _The Winter People_ by Jennifer McMahon. It was similar in theme to _Pet Sematary_. Nicely creepy and held my interest, though I didn’t really like the ending. At times, it was implausible (yes, it’s about the supernatural, but I’m talking about _other_ things). Still, I think I will try another by this author. I’m starting on [Everything You Need](http://www.amazon.com/Everything-Need-Michael-Marshall-Smith/dp/0983807140/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1398170407&sr=1-1&keywords=michael+marshall+smith), a collection of short stories by Michael Marshall Smith. Decent so far, I haven’t yet struck a stand-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:** [April 24, 2014, 12:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-april-2014/685027/106 "2014-04-24T12:41:39Z")
Finished _Everything You Need_. I wouldn’t say any story here just blew my mind, but it was a good solid collection, and even the few that didn’t work for me didn’t feel like a waste of time. I had the thought that a couple of these might have fit into a Stephen King collection and held their own (and in the afterword, Mr. Smith says how he admires the early King tales). My favorites were The Seventeenth Kind and The Things He Said. Starting today on [Wyrd Sisters](http://www.amazon.com/Wyrd-Sisters-Discworld-Terry-Pratchett/dp/0062225731/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1398343164&sr=1-1&keywords=wyrd+sisters+terry+pratchett) by Terry Pratchett. ---
**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:** [April 24, 2014, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-april-2014/685027/107 "2014-04-24T15:17:05Z")
I love Wyrd Sisters, the Macbeth satire is fantastic. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2014, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-april-2014/685027/108 "2014-04-24T16:22:39Z")
About halfway through _The Sojourner_ by Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings. My god what a beautifully written story. It’s gonna be in my all-time top ten, along with _The Dollmaker_. ---
**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 24, 2014, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-april-2014/685027/109 "2014-04-24T17:19:17Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > Next up: _Bangkok Noir_, a collection of crime-fiction short stories by 12 local writers, mostly expats but a couple of Thais, edited by the Canadian writer Christopher G. Moore, who also contributed one of the stories. The authors and publisher are donating half the earnings from the book to selected charities providing education to needy Thai children. Finished _Bangkok Noir_, edited by Christopher G. Moore. Almost all the stories were good. The sole exception I would say was Pico Iyer, but I’ve never been that fond of him, and he’s mainly a travel writer anyway. Writers included John Burdett, Stephen Leather and the editor Moore, and there are fans of them in this thread and elsewhere on the Board. Leather’s was especially interesting, “Inspector Zhang and the Dead Thai Gangster,” in which a Singaporean cop must solve a murder that occurs on his flight from Singapore to Bangkok, and he’s been tasked with doing so before the Thai cops can board in Bangkok and interfere. Next up: _Phnom Penh Noir_, again edited by the Canadian writer Christopher G. Moore, who again contributes one of the stories. Same setup as _Bangkok Noir_ except this time only 20% of the profits from the book will go to Cambodian charities instead of 50% like for the Bangkok book. Dunno why that is. But one of the short stories is by Roland Joffe, the director of the film _The Killing Fields_ (1984). ---
**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:** [April 24, 2014, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-april-2014/685027/110 "2014-04-24T18:22:54Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > Leather’s was especially interesting, “Inspector Zhang and the Dead Thai Gangster,” in which a Singaporean cop must solve a murder that occurs on his flight from Singapore to Bangkok, and he’s been tasked with doing so before the Thai cops can board in Bangkok and interfere. That can’t be a terribly long flight… I need to see if I can find this… ---
**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 24, 2014, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-april-2014/685027/111 "2014-04-24T19:54:39Z")
> [@RandMcnally](#): > > I read that a while ago. In fact, I think I started a thread based on that premise. I agree, it’s a bit uneven but the fact that it’s so novel made up for a lot of the weaknesses. > > If you are interested in short story collections might I suggest “The End is Nigh”? Could you PM me a link to that thread? The book is certainly making me think of mortality, destiny and whether or not I’d want to know my eventual fate if I could. Hadn’t heard of _The End is Nigh_. Might have to tackle that someday: [The End is Nigh (The Apocalypse Triptych): Howey, Hugh, Ford, Jamie, Maberry, Jonathan, McGuire, Seanan, Langan, Sarah, Kress, Nancy, Bacigalupi, Paolo, Adams, John Joseph: 9781495471179: Amazon.com: Books](http://www.amazon.com/The-Nigh-Apocalypse-Triptych-Volume/dp/1495471179/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1398368998&sr=8-1&keywords=the+end+is+nigh) ---
**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 25, 2014, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-april-2014/685027/112 "2014-04-25T02:38:41Z")
> [@DZedNConfused](#): > > That can’t be a terribly long flight… I need to see if I can find this… It’s a 2-1/2-hour flight. But the murder occurs toward the end, and most of the time in the story the plane is parked at Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi Airport. The Thai police have agreed to stand off for the moment, but the passengers, especially back in economy, are getting restless at not being allowed to disembark. It’s published by [Heaven Lake Press](http://www.heavenlakepress.com/index.php/contact-us/) here in Bangkok where you can order it. ---
**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:** [April 25, 2014, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-april-2014/685027/113 "2014-04-25T02:47:48Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > It’s a 2-1/2-hour flight. But the murder occurs toward the end, and most of the time in the story the plane is parked at Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi Airport. The Thai police have agreed to stand off for the moment, but the passengers, especially back in economy, are getting restless at not being allowed to disembark. > > It’s published by [Heaven Lake Press](http://www.heavenlakepress.com/index.php/contact-us/) here in Bangkok where you can order it. That’s about the time I was guesing… Thank you! I will check it out! ---
**Author:** ![Meurglys](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/258eb7/32.png) [@Meurglys](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Meurglys)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2014, 11:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-april-2014/685027/114 "2014-04-25T11:46:18Z")
I read the rather lacklustre _V-S Day_ by **Allen Steele** , about the US developing a space-capable defense to a German super-weapon. It’s obvious from the start roughly what happens and the book is just an exercise in setting up the basis of the alternate history he’s written books in previously. I’m currently reading [A Different Kingdom](http://www.amazon.co.uk/A-Different-Kingdom-Paul-Kearney/dp/1781081875/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1398425794&sr=8-1&keywords=different+kingdom), first published in 1993, by **Paul Kearney**. It’s much better! It’s set partly in 1950s and 60s Ireland, and also in a fey kingdom beyond the fields, or in this case, the woods, we know. This parallel wilderness is inhabited by various sorts of magical beings, etc. who seem to speak a polyglot patois containing bits of Latin, Norse, Anglo-Saxon, etc. At times it also reminded me of Teutonic crusades in northern Europe, with knights and civilisation pushing ever deeper into the pagan wilderness. Fine novel, with a complex timeline, but I think I actually preferred the ‘mundane’ sections to the fantastical ones! Although 1950s rural Ireland is a bit like a fantasy too, now. ---
**Author:** ![Grrlbrarian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrlbrarian/32/4048_2.png) [@Grrlbrarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrlbrarian)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2014, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-april-2014/685027/115 "2014-04-25T15:11:01Z")
**Dung Beetle** , so glad you picked up Pratchett! 😃 I love his stuff, especially the books with Death, the Night Watch, the Witches, and Tiffany Aching. Enjoy! Reading four things currently. Night non-fiction 1: The Complete Jack the Ripper by Donald Rumbelow. Seems well and thoroughly researched but also interesting. I was lucky enough to go on a London Walks Jack the Ripper tour led by Rumbelow himself recently, and I’ll tell you, in the dark and light rain it felt like Saucy Jack was watching from the shadows. Rumbelow certainly seems to know his stuff. Night fiction: The Name of the Star by Maureen Johnson. YA set in current London, pretty much in Jack the Ripper’s old borough, with an American teen going to boarding school there while a series of murders consciously modeled on Jack’s work are occurring. I’m not far - not more than 100 pages - and thus far it’s mildly entertaining, fish-out-of-water YA. Supposed to turn sinister and spooky shortly, so we’ll see how that goes. Night non-fiction 2: The Time-Traveler’s Guide to Medieval England by Ian Mortimer. I’ve had this for some time and just didn’t manage to get it started. It’s wonderful, just detail-oriented enough to paint a real word picture without overwhelming the reader with dusty minutiae. Thank God it didn’t come with Smell-o-vision or I’d probably pass out; the 14th century was a stinky place, clearly. Treadmill book: The Detective Is Dead by Bill James. Does Harpur ever plumb moral ambiguity in this one. I’m glad I started reading the series, and if you’re looking for bleak character-driven police procedurals, you could hardly do better, IMHO. ---
**Author:** ![Malthus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/85f322/32.png) [@Malthus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malthus)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2014, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-april-2014/685027/116 "2014-04-25T21:01:54Z")
Currently reading _Embers of War_, by Fredrik Logevall, about the French-Vietnam War, sometimes called the First Indochina War (the US fought the second). It is very good (it won the 2013 Pulitzer). My question is: is there a good book on what happened in SE Asia after the US lost in Vietnam? I know that, contrary to “domino theory” predictions, rather than exporting unitary Communism throughout the region, the communist states all turned on each other (communist Vietnam invaded communist Cambodia, and was invaded in turn by communist China). Is there any single book dealing with this, that can be recommended? ---
**Author:** ![Finagle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b19c9b/32.png) [@Finagle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Finagle)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2014, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-april-2014/685027/117 "2014-04-25T21:29:57Z")
I recently finished China Mieville’s “Kraken”. Not quite sure how to review this one because I generally enjoyed it and thought it was very well written – at the same time, I kept wondering “just how long _is_ this book?”. In fact, it’s very similar in this respect to American Gods – lots of cool stuff happens but at the same time, it’s a hell of a slog. I think it was partly because the constant impending _doom_ gets a bit tiresome, and partly because I figured out part of what was going on somewhat earlier than I was supposed to have. And there’s the same question that should crop up in a lot of these “hidden eldritch stuff keeps happening but the squares aren’t aware of it” books, namely, how the _hell_ are people not aware that “knacks” (magic) are real if it’s so bloody powerful and all pervasive? Did I mention that it was well written? I liked the bit about London elementals whose footfalls were the sounds of taxi cabs and horns (paraphrased because I don’t have the book handy). And I’m reading Dewey Lambdin’s (Dewey Lambdin? China Mieville? What is it with author’s names lately?) Alan Lewrie naval series. Basic idea: young rake hell gets shanghaied into the British Navy in the early 1780’s and reluctantly does well for himself. Well, he’s not Patrick O’Brian or C. S. Forester, and the prose is a bit wooden, but it’s serviceable enough and, as these books usually are, it’s well-researched history served in a nice sugary teaspoon-full. ``` The problem I'm having is that a spoiled young rake hell who is shanghaied into the Navy isn't likely to apply himself as hard as this kid does, nor is likely to be as lucky. So he's a bit of a cross between Horatio Hornblower and Flashman, but he's not hilariously depraved enough to be a Flashman, and he's not dedicated enough to be a Hornblower. But at the same time, you don't get to write umpty dozen books about some guy who's putting in just enough effort to not get tossed out of the Navy and who eventually retires as a master's mate after 40 years of clock punching. So the result is that you have a hero who claims that he's a dissolute lout who hates what he's doing, but manages to be really, really good at it. I dunno -- maybe that accurately describes a lot of people who have done well in the military. ``` ---
**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:** [April 25, 2014, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-april-2014/685027/118 "2014-04-25T22:16:09Z")
> [@Finagle](#): > > And I’m reading Dewey Lambdin’s (Dewey Lambdin? China Mieville? What is it with author’s names lately?) Alan Lewrie naval series. Basic idea: young rake hell gets shanghaied into the British Navy in the early 1780’s and reluctantly does well for himself. Well, he’s not Patrick O’Brian or C. S. Forester, and the prose is a bit wooden, but it’s serviceable enough and, as these books usually are, it’s well-researched history served in a nice sugary teaspoon-full. > > ``` > The problem I'm having is that a spoiled young rake hell who is shanghaied into the Navy isn't likely to apply himself as hard as this kid does, nor is likely to be as lucky. So he's a bit of a cross between Horatio Hornblower and Flashman, but he's not hilariously depraved enough to be a Flashman, and he's not dedicated enough to be a Hornblower. But at the same time, you don't get to write umpty dozen books about some guy who's putting in just enough effort to not get tossed out of the Navy and who eventually retires as a master's mate after 40 years of clock punching. So the result is that you have a hero who claims that he's a dissolute lout who hates what he's doing, but manages to be really, really good at it. I dunno -- maybe that accurately describes a lot of people who have done well in the military. > > ``` I lost interest in them. His step sister and brother planned to get him caught inflagro delictia with the step sister so that he would be kicked out of inheritance, and he fled or was sent to the Navy. In revenge, he had the drunken step bro tattooed with an anchor and taken by the press. I thought we were to have a naval Flashman, but alas, he turned to the heroic style in the manner of Hornblower and Aubrey. Edwin Thomas had three novels more to the Flashman style, but the series was killed by the publisher. The protagonist is reluctantly recruited by His Majesty’s Post Office, the British secret service of the 19th century. He is quite happy commanding a prison hulk and screwing his girlfriend, but one of the prisoners is a spy and escapes. ---
**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:** [April 25, 2014, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-april-2014/685027/119 "2014-04-25T22:18:42Z")
I finished **When The Bough Breaks** by Jonathan Kellerman today. Enjoyable and well before he went a twisty, I have couple others to reread as my initial impressions of them were perhaps faulty. I read Volumes 1 & 2 or Ouran High School Host Club, crazy hijinks ensue type of manga, but it never fails to make me smile and make a difficult afternoon a pinch easier. Started **Blood Work** by Michael Connelly. So far so good, should be interesting watch him write unfavorably about the LAPD ---
**Author:** ![chiroptera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/df705f/32.png) [@chiroptera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chiroptera)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2014, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-april-2014/685027/120 "2014-04-26T00:17:32Z")
> [@DZedNConfused](#): > > **I finished** When The Bough Breaks\*\* by Jonathan Kellerman today. Enjoyable and well before he went a twisty, I have couple others to reread as my initial impressions of them were perhaps faulty.\*\* > > I read Volumes 1 & 2 or Ouran High School Host Club, crazy hijinks ensue type of manga, but it never fails to make me smile and make a difficult afternoon a pinch easier. > > Started **Blood Work** by Michael Connelly. So far so good, should be interesting watch him write unfavorably about the LAPD His very early books were wonderful, but he has become a formulaic writer with success. I still enjoy Jonathan Kellerman, though. I’m half-way through [Black Boy by Richard Wright](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Boy) and have already ordered some of his other books from Amazon. I didn’t grow up in the American school system and wonder if his books were or are required reading in high school? Great stuff, even if it is “fictionalized non-fiction.” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-april-2014/685027.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-april-2014/685027.md?page=7)