# Khadaji's Whatcha Readin' - February 2013 Edition **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 31, 2013, 7:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-february-2013-edition/648895 "2013-01-31T07:54:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**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:** [February 7, 2013, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-february-2013-edition/648895/81 "2013-02-07T18:18:03Z")
I finished Joseph Conrad, _The Secret Agent._ The hell is it that everyone dies in his work? šŸ™‚ ---
**Author:** ![delphica](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e9a140/32.png) [@delphica](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/delphica)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2013, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-february-2013-edition/648895/82 "2013-02-07T19:46:46Z")
Iā€™m in the middle of two books that were both recommended in this thread: _The Big Burn: Teddy Roosevelt and the Fire that Saved America_ non-fiction about Roosevelt and the National Forest Service and forest fires. Iā€™m a huge fan of Theodore Roosevelt ANYWAY, so this is great. and _Redemption Falls_, novel set in the years just following the US Civil War. Itā€™s dense reading, but very compelling. I should have figured this out from the general topic, but some parts are quite gory and grim. I always get a kick out of when Iā€™m reading two books and there seems to be some common elements. In this case, even though the events of the Big Burn take place 50 years after Redemption Falls is set, they both speak to the idea of the American frontier, and frontier towns and the lawlessness that goes with them. ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2013, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-february-2013-edition/648895/83 "2013-02-07T21:50:10Z")
> [@delphica](#): > > _Redemption Falls_, novel set in the years just following the US Civil War. Itā€™s dense reading, but very compelling. I should have figured this out from the general topic, but some parts are quite gory and grim. Thereā€™s a prequel of sorts ā€“ _Star of the Sea_ ā€“ same construction, also quite grim. Thereā€™s supposed to be a third book, to finish with the theme. I didnā€™t realize _Redemption Falls_ was going to be that grim. I had been on the lookout for books by Joseph Oā€™Conner since _Ghost Light_, a novelization of the life of an actress in love with an Irish playwright. That one was also a bit dark. Iā€™m starting to think Irish = grim. Iā€™m reading _Babbitt_ by Sinclair Lewis, and since Iā€™m also watching a lot of _The Office_, there are times when I picture Babbitt as Michael Scott. ---
**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:** [February 8, 2013, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-february-2013-edition/648895/84 "2013-02-08T01:46:58Z")
> [@delphica](#): > > ā€¦Iā€™m a huge fan of Theodore Roosevelt ANYWAYā€¦ Bully! I think **What Exit?** and I are the two other biggest T.R. fans on the Dope. I hope youā€™ve read Edmund Morrisā€™s wonderful bio trilogy, _The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt, Theodore Rex_ and _Colonel Roosevelt_? ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2013, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-february-2013-edition/648895/85 "2013-02-08T15:58:38Z")
Read a Why Does the World Exist? An Existential Detective Story by Jim Holt. Found it thought-provoking enough to post a review of it in this thread: [Book: Why Does the World Exist? An Existential Detective Story - Cafe Society - Straight Dope Message Board](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=681690) On a rock autobio kick after reading Pete Townshendā€™s. Read Ace Frehleyā€™s - basically a Junior Keith Richards kinda tale - silly. Read Don Felderā€™s from The Eagles - seems like a nice enough guy, but you know that even with Don Henleyā€™s and Glenn Freyā€™s known arrogance that there is more to the storyā€¦ ---
**Author:** ![yellowval](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/919ad9/32.png) [@yellowval](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yellowval)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2013, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-february-2013-edition/648895/86 "2013-02-08T20:38:53Z")
> [@AuntiePam](#): > > Iā€™m reading _Babbitt_ by Sinclair Lewis, and since Iā€™m also watching a lot of _The Office_, there are times when I picture Babbitt as Michael Scott. I love Babbitt, so much! Sinclair Lewis is my favorite author. Iā€™ll be excited to hear what you think. I finished Columbine. It was really fascinating and educational. Iā€™m happy I read it, even though it was difficult to read at times. Iā€™ll concentrate more now on the Wool omnibus. I also need to start The Secret Life of Bees for my book club. It will be a re-read for me. ---
**Author:** ![Politzania](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3ab097/32.png) [@Politzania](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Politzania)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2013, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-february-2013-edition/648895/87 "2013-02-09T01:04:14Z")
Got the Kindle version of _**[The Day of the Triffids](http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/530965.The_Day_of_the_Triffids)**_ by John Wyndham when it was a Daily Deal a few months ago. Itā€™s a SF classic that Iā€™ve somehow overlooked (both in print & on film) until recently. The opening scene(s) are chilling - the protagonist, Bill Masen, awakens in a hospital with bandaged eyes, having had surgery. The hospital is eerily quiet - and he has no easy way of finding out what is going on. Wyndamā€™s writing gives such a great sense of suspense and mystery - great stuff! Iā€™m a post-apocalyptic fan - and really enjoyed the combination of disasters: the vast majority of the population being blinded and the triffids - mobile, bloodthirsty plants. I found myself comparing the blinded hordes with various portrayals of zombies - just as desperate and ultimately, nearly as as harmful to the survivors. The triffids on their own were creepy, but not necessarily a threat - until combined with the reduction in able-bodied survivors. The characters are well drawn, if a bit of their time and place, and the plot moved along nicely, even if the ending felt a bit rapidly wrapped-up. Recommended at minimum as a library read to anyone looking for a different take on a post-apocalyptic tale - worth buying a copy (especially on sale!) for me. Downloaded _**[The Villainā€™s Guide to Better Living](http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/467306.The_Villain_s_Guide_to_Better_Living)**_ by Neil Zawacki & Bill Brown (Illustrations) as a library e-read - I couldnā€™t resist the title! The heavily illustrated book came across OK on my Kindle Touch, tho the captions usually got pushed to the next page. Itā€™s a sequel of sorts to _How to Be a Villain_, tho I donā€™t feel I missed much by not having read the first book. As you might guess, itā€™s a humourous how-to regarding how to ā€œembrace the finer points of the evil lifeā€. The illustrations are key to enjoying this slim volume, but the writing is quite witty as well. It was a fun, fluffy read - worth browsing thru at the bookstore or library, but donā€™t know if Iā€™d actually buy it - maybe as a used copy. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2013, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-february-2013-edition/648895/88 "2013-02-09T01:34:18Z")
Iā€™ve finished **Ayesha: The Return of She** , but before diving into **She and Allen** or any of the other books I set aside, Iā€™m reading one I found yesterday ā€“ **Who Hates Whom: Well-Armed Fanatics, Intractable Conflicts, and Various Things Blowing Up; A Woefully Incomplete Guide**. Itā€™s a description of Whoā€™s fighting who and why, written by comedy writer , scriptwriter, and offball author Bob Harris, who frankly admits that he isnā€™t at all qualified to write this book. Which is what makes it wonderful. Huis book assumes zero prior knowledge, and so he mentions and covers things ignored in the nightly news, and fills the book with odd factoids (_Mein Kampf_ is a bestseller in Turkey) and wonderfully snide writing )ā€œā€¦what Uzbekistan lacks in wealth it makes up for in extra dictatorship.ā€) The down side is that the book is six years old. On the upside, heā€™s been updating it on his website ( [http://whohateswhom.net/](http://whohateswhom.net/) ) ---
**Author:** ![Politzania](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3ab097/32.png) [@Politzania](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Politzania)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2013, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-february-2013-edition/648895/89 "2013-02-10T00:19:03Z")
Next up was the libraryā€™s copy of _**[Because I Said So! : The Truth Behind the Myths, Tales, and Warnings Every Generation Passes Down to Its Kids](http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13547494-because-i-said-so)**_ by Ken Jennings (yes, THAT Ken Jennings). I heard about this book thanks to the 11 Dec 2012 Shelf Awareness newsletter and it sounded right up my alley! Jennings does a reasonably good job of presenting typical examples of parental advice/wisdom and proceeding to debunk or confirm them, citing existing research whenever possible. Admittedly, many of the bits of wisdom have been debunked previously - whether thru Mythbusters or other sources, but it kept my interest overall. His sense of humor is relatively dry, if a bit forced at times , but I enjoyed the book as a library read. It may get added to my ā€œdebunkingā€ shelf at some point, especially if I can find a used copy. I got the audiobook of _**[The Pluto Files: The Rise and Fall of Americaā€™s Favorite Planet](http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1333520.The_Pluto_Files)**_ by Neil deGrasse Tyson, read by the author. Tyson does an excellent job of reviewing Plutoā€™s history, its cultural impact and the uproar that was triggered by the overhaul of the Hayden Planetarium exhibit on the solar system. Tyson refers to contemporary sources throughout - including examples of the multitude of letters and emails he received as the visible spearhead of the ā€œdemotionā€ of Pluto. Tysonā€™s wit and humor shines throughout, even more so being presented in his own voice, I think. If youā€™re wanting an in-depth, scientifically rigorous look at this topic, this isnā€™t going to satisfy you, but for we astronomical dilettantes, it fits the bill nicely, IMHO. And anyone who quotes Jonathan Coulton lyrics is all right by me. I think Iā€™ll be picking this up soon - as I missed out on the visual elements of the book. ---
**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:** [February 10, 2013, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-february-2013-edition/648895/90 "2013-02-10T01:20:41Z")
> [@Politzania](#): > > Next up was the libraryā€™s copy of _**[Because I Said So! : The Truth Behind the Myths, Tales, and Warnings Every Generation Passes Down to Its Kids](http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13547494-because-i-said-so)**_ by Ken Jennings (yes, THAT Ken Jennings)ā€¦ I really enjoyed Jenningsā€™s _Brainiac_, about the enduring American love of trivia. Good fun. ---
**Author:** ![delphica](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e9a140/32.png) [@delphica](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/delphica)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2013, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-february-2013-edition/648895/91 "2013-02-10T03:14:04Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > Bully! I think **What Exit?** and I are the two other biggest T.R. fans on the Dope. I hope youā€™ve read Edmund Morrisā€™s wonderful bio trilogy, _The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt, Theodore Rex_ and _Colonel Roosevelt_? Loved the first two, the third is on my list but I have been sidetracked by a collection of his speeches made during his time as governor of NY. If you have any small readers in your life, last year a great picture book was published about his camping trip with John Muir - _The Camping Trip that Changed America_. I had some quibbles with it as an adult reader, but itā€™s still nice intro for young children. I am seriously obsessed with T. R. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2013, 5:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-february-2013-edition/648895/92 "2013-02-10T05:52:53Z")
I just re-read _Kings of the North_ and _Echoes of Betrayal_, two of Elizabeth Moonā€™s new Paksenarrion series books. I also read _Fated_ by Benedict Jacka, which is pretty good urban fantasy. The lead character is interesting; heā€™s a ā€œdivinerā€, a mage who among other things foresees multiple possible futures and can act on them. It gives him an interesting combo of power and weakness; heā€™s offensively and defensively weaker than other mages, but he had the power of knowledge going for him. And I just finished _The Far West_, the latest in Patricia Wredeā€™s Frontier Magic series set in an alternate frontier America where magic is common, there never were any Indians but thereā€™s legions of magical and non-magical dangerous wildlife. Everything from steam dragons to mastodons. ---
**Author:** ![Renifer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/71c47a/32.png) [@Renifer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Renifer)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2013, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-february-2013-edition/648895/93 "2013-02-10T18:53:26Z")
At my library weā€™re doing a program where readers draw a category and read a book in that category. I drew Historical. Iā€™m reading _A Pale Blue Eye_ by Louis Bayard. I am a major fan of Edgar Allan Poe and this book features Poe during his years at West Point Academy. I just read _Oaxaca Journal_ by Oliver Sacks. Itā€™s one of Sackā€™s lighter reads. ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2013, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-february-2013-edition/648895/94 "2013-02-10T20:33:59Z")
> [@Renifer](#): > > Iā€™m reading _A Pale Blue Eye_ by Louis Bayard. I am a major fan of Edgar Allan Poe and this book features Poe during his years at West Point Academy. _The Black Tower_ is pretty good too. I havenā€™t read _Mr. Timothy_ ā€“ a grownup Tiny Tim Cratchit finds the bodies of two murdered girls. :eek: Finished _Babbitt_. **yellowval** , I liked it a lot. I would have liked it better if Babbitt had stuck to his guns about his new ā€œliberalā€ positions, but at least his son will have a more fulfilling life, and Babbitt can take some credit for that. Heā€™s a product of his time, I suppose. ---
**Author:** ![Zjestika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/8edcca/32.png) [@Zjestika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zjestika)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2013, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-february-2013-edition/648895/95 "2013-02-10T21:07:00Z")
Iā€™m reading [The Last Man on Earth Club](http://www.amazon.com/The-Last-Man-Earth-Club/dp/1466361824/ref=ntt_at_ep_dpt_1) and I love it. So much so that at just about 15% into it I emailed the author telling him how much I like it. What a dorky thing to do. But it is just really, really good. I recently read [Redshirts](http://www.amazon.com/Redshirts-Novel-Three-John-Scalzi/dp/0765334798/ref=sr_1_16?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1360530214&sr=1-16) based on a very enthusiastic thread about here, and it was simply amazing. Iā€™ve told everyone I know to read it. Everyone Iā€™ve convinced to read it has liked it, including my husband who doesnā€™t read much fiction. So, thanks for that recommendation, person who Iā€™m to lazy to do a thread search to thank personally! ---
**Author:** ![gracer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8e7dd6/32.png) [@gracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gracer)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2013, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-february-2013-edition/648895/96 "2013-02-10T21:51:18Z")
Iā€™m having a lovely booky time with a huge pile next to me on the sofa. Iā€™ve just started teaching English again, and one of my students is a woman brushing up on her English before moving to the US in a few months. I want to start some reading with her, so I pulled down all my straightforward American literature. Now Iā€™m sitting in a huge pile of Ken Kesey and Salinger and Hemingway and Harper Lee and Arthur Miller and Steinbeck and Toni Morrison and many more. I canā€™t choose, and now I am half-reading all of them to help me make a decision. šŸ˜› I think we might start with a short story by Raymond Carver, before we start on a whole book. So now Iā€™ll just have to read a bunch of those to determine which oneā€¦ Mmmmm I like my job! ---
**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:** [February 11, 2013, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-february-2013-edition/648895/97 "2013-02-11T01:58:49Z")
> [@Zjestika](#): > > ā€¦I recently read [Redshirts](http://www.amazon.com/Redshirts-Novel-Three-John-Scalzi/dp/0765334798/ref=sr_1_16?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1360530214&sr=1-16) based on a very enthusiastic thread about here, and it was simply amazing. Iā€™ve told everyone I know to read it. Everyone Iā€™ve convinced to read it has liked it, including my husband who doesnā€™t read much fiction. So, thanks for that recommendation, person who Iā€™m to lazy to do a thread search to thank personally! Wasnā€™t me, but I like everything Iā€™ve ever read of John Scalziā€™s. ---
**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:** [February 11, 2013, 4:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-february-2013-edition/648895/98 "2013-02-11T04:32:47Z")
On the home stretch with _Napoleonā€™s Buttons_ by Penny Le Couteur and Jay Burreson, and itā€™s OK but still not blowing me away. This evening I zipped through _Underwater Dogs_ by Seth Casteel, a picture book aboutā€¦ well, dogs photographed underwater. The photographer/author jumps in a pool with his waterproofed camera and a dog or two at a time and takes their pictures, often as theyā€™re trying to grab a ball. Some of the pictures are surreal, many are funny, and a few are actually a little scary - dogs look a _lot_ different underwater. Quite interesting, though. Any dog lover should check out this book. ---
**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:** [February 11, 2013, 1:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-february-2013-edition/648895/99 "2013-02-11T13:34:35Z")
> [@DZedNConfused](#): > > I finished [A.D. 1000: Living on the brink of apocalypse](http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/632491.A_D_1000) today. It wasnā€™t bad, though it was much less of a social history than I expected. If youā€™re interested in reading more about the period, I strongly recommend [The Last Apocolypse: Europe at the Year 1,000 AD](http://www.amazon.com/Last-Apocalypse-Europe-Year-D/dp/0385483368/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1360589042&sr=1-3&keywords=james+reston) by James Reston. The primary focus is the replacement of paganism by Christianity and Islam, but thereā€™s a lot of social history as well, if I remember correctly. In any event, itā€™s a well-written and enjoyable book, as is most of Restonā€™s work. Iā€™m currently reading _L.A. Confidential_ by James Ellroy. Iā€™ve already seen the movie and that may be coloring my perception, but while itā€™s a fun and quick read, it tends toward being loose and sprawling; could have used a little tightening up in places. I do like the way Ellroy writes, though, especially dialogue. He does a great job distinguishing between the voices of the three main characters and keeps the pace moving quickly. Itā€™s the first book of his Iā€™ve read, but Iā€™ll be sure to read others. ---
**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:** [February 11, 2013, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-february-2013-edition/648895/100 "2013-02-11T14:24:31Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > The down side is that the book is six years old. On the upside, heā€™s been updating it on his website ( [http://whohateswhom.net/](http://whohateswhom.net/) ) Oh, cool. Loved that book! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-february-2013-edition/648895.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-february-2013-edition/648895.md?page=6)