# Khadaji's Whatcha Readin' - February 2014
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-february-2014/680211
**Category:** Cafe Society
**Created:** [January 31, 2014, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-february-2014/680211 "2014-01-31T16:24:05Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 3
### Author:  [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)
#### Post date: [February 10, 2014, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-february-2014/680211/41 "2014-02-10T15:47:36Z")
I finished [War for the Oaks](http://www.amazon.com/War-Oaks-Novel-Emma-Bull/dp/0765300346), which had a stronger romance slant than I usually care for. On the other hand, if I’d known it might bag me a phouka, I’d have worked a lot harder at my music lessons. 🙂
Now on to [The Snow Child](http://www.amazon.com/Snow-Child-Novel-Eowyn-Ivey/dp/0316175668/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1392046774&sr=1-1&keywords=the+snow+child), by Eowyn Ivey. I can’t stand magical realism (oh an old man with enormous wings, ho hum, pass the beans). I was afraid this was going to be like that, however it isn’t turning me off so far. Liking it.
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### Author:  [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)
#### Post date: [February 11, 2014, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-february-2014/680211/42 "2014-02-11T02:34:15Z")
> [@bup](#):
>
> Well, I haven’t finished this novel - _**[Green Dolphin Street](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/527189.Green_Dolphin_Street)**_ by Elizabeth Goudge, and I may never. I was reading it with my wife, whom I just lost, and finishing it just sounds like torture right now.
Geez, just caught that myself. What happened? ☹
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### Author:  [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)
#### Post date: [February 11, 2014, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-february-2014/680211/43 "2014-02-11T02:58:43Z")
**bup** , my condolences. I’d overlooked that part of your post, too.
> [@Meurglys](#):
>
> …the thriller by **Joe Haldeman** , _Work Done for Hire_ wasn’t very good, with a rather rushed ending…
That’s too bad. The reviews on Amazon agree with you. I like Haldeman very much, but sometimes he really does botch his endings.
I finished _Listening In_, ed. by Ted Widmer, a collection of mostly-interesting tapes from the Kennedy White House, and am now listening an audiobook of _Then We Came to the End_ by Joshua Ferris, a dark, semicomic, third-person-plural account of the decline and fall of a fictional Chicago ad agency in the Great Recession. So far it’s OK but not wonderful.
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### Author:  [@dflower](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dflower)
#### Post date: [February 11, 2014, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-february-2014/680211/44 "2014-02-11T03:09:05Z")
Herodotus The Histories
So much better than I would have thought. Interesting and funny at times.
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### Author:  [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)
#### Post date: [February 11, 2014, 6:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-february-2014/680211/45 "2014-02-11T06:09:07Z")
As to _The Abominable_, please spoil it for me:
What is in the photos of or about Hitler?
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### Author:  [@DZedNConfused](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DZedNConfused)
#### Post date: [February 11, 2014, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-february-2014/680211/46 "2014-02-11T19:00:57Z")
> [@bup](#):
>
> Well, I haven’t finished this novel - _**[Green Dolphin Street](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/527189.Green_Dolphin_Street)**_ by Elizabeth Goudge, and I may never. I was reading it with my wife, whom I just lost, and finishing it just sounds like torture right now.
I’m very sorry to hear, that would make it hard to finish.
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### Author:  [@DZedNConfused](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DZedNConfused)
#### Post date: [February 11, 2014, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-february-2014/680211/47 "2014-02-11T19:04:41Z")
I started **The Confessor** by Daniel Silva yesterday.
My question is: are ALL X number books of this series about a mysterious Jew hating Illuminati clone out to protect itself from thieving Jews (who really just want their stuff back)? If so, I think I will quit after this one…
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### Author:  [@yanceylebeef](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yanceylebeef)
#### Post date: [February 11, 2014, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-february-2014/680211/48 "2014-02-11T20:36:04Z")
Finished Annihilation. Great, quick read. The first in a trilogy from Jeff VanderMeer. The story of a research team sent to an area where an unspecified incident has taken place. The Area has been isolated for 3 decades, and weird shit keeps happening there. Can’t really summarize it more without spoilers. Suffice it to say it was a page turner that I finished in a day. If you like your Science Fiction with a dash of The Weird, This may be your new favorite book.
Up next[The Martian](http://www.amazon.com/Martian-Andy-Weir-ebook/dp/B00EMXBDMA/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1392150882&sr=8-1&keywords=the+martian) by Andy Weir.
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### Author:  [@sinjin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sinjin)
#### Post date: [February 11, 2014, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-february-2014/680211/49 "2014-02-11T23:06:25Z")
> [@SpazCat](#):
>
> Second of all, I’ve officially decided I do not like, nay, cannot stand Christopher Moore. My Older Sister gave me a copy of _The Stupidest Angel_ last year and I’ve put off reading it until I finally decided to give it a chance. I got five pages into it before I decided it was not funny in any way. I can see why she thought I’d like it because I love Douglas Adams and dry wacky British humour, but this is not the same. The only way I can describe it is this is what Hollywood thinks dry British humour is like without any of the wit. It’s now sitting in the used bookstore bag so someone who likes that sort of thing can get it.
That was probably the worst Moore book to start with. All of the characters appeared in a previous book, so if you don’t have that background it’s really hard to get into them.
I would suggest you try “Lust Lizard of Melancholy Cove” or “Lamb” or “Practical Demon-Keeping” out before just getting the hate on. 🆒
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### Author:  [@Catamount](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Catamount)
#### Post date: [February 12, 2014, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-february-2014/680211/50 "2014-02-12T01:30:48Z")
> [@sinjin](#):
>
> That was probably the worst Moore book to start with. All of the characters appeared in a previous book, so if you don’t have that background it’s really hard to get into them.
>
> I would suggest you try “Lust Lizard of Melancholy Cove” or “Lamb” or “Practical Demon-Keeping” out before just getting the hate on. 🆒
I’ve read _Practical Demon-Keeping_. That’s why I was so reluctant to pick up _Stupidest Angel_. To say I was unimpressed is being polite.
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### Author:  [@sinjin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sinjin)
#### Post date: [February 12, 2014, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-february-2014/680211/51 "2014-02-12T02:31:29Z")
> [@SpazCat](#):
>
> I’ve read _Practical Demon-Keeping_. That’s why I was so reluctant to pick up _Stupidest Angel_. To say I was unimpressed is being polite.
Nevermind 🙂
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### Author:  [@bup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bup)
#### Post date: [February 12, 2014, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-february-2014/680211/52 "2014-02-12T02:37:27Z")
Thanks for everybody’s condolences and sweet thoughts.
> [@Siam\_Sam](#):
>
> Geez, just caught that myself. What happened? ☹
She had a stroke nearly two years ago, which affected her speech and ability to read. So we’d been reading together every night for the past year and a half.
Last month, she had another stroke, followed by a few seizures that left her in a coma. Another coma on February 5 put hope for recovery out of reach.
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### Author:  [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)
#### Post date: [February 12, 2014, 3:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-february-2014/680211/53 "2014-02-12T03:21:53Z")
Just finished “The Ice Cold Heaven” and I cannot recommend it enough. A very stilty, salty and otherworldly tale of Ernest Shackelton’s ill-fated trip to Antarctica on the _Endurance_, from the eyes of a fictional included character about a real-world happening. Good stuff. Very ethereal and realistic.
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### Author:  [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)
#### Post date: [February 12, 2014, 3:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-february-2014/680211/54 "2014-02-12T03:58:59Z")
Oh gosh **bup** , I’m so sorry to hear it. I hope the books you enjoyed together will be a sweet memory for you eventually, but I’m sure it’s pretty cold comfort just now.
I’m going to come right out and say that I’ve recently been exploring the oeuvre of Enid Blyton, specifically the “Famous Five” and “Adventure” series, which came out as cheap Kindle e-books not long ago. Herodotus they ain’t, but they are weirdly gripping.
More respectably, I’m re-reading Thomas Mann’s _The Magic Mountain_, set in a Swiss sanitarium. About twenty years ago I decided, for reasons I don’t really understand, that that was my favorite book in the world. I don’t know why I even felt I needed to have a “favorite” book, but every time I go back to it, I end up agreeing with that decision.
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### Author:  [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)
#### Post date: [February 12, 2014, 5:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-february-2014/680211/55 "2014-02-12T05:03:59Z")
> [@bup](#):
>
> Thanks for everybody’s condolences and sweet thoughts.
> She had a stroke nearly two years ago, which affected her speech and ability to read. So we’d been reading together every night for the past year and a half.
>
> Last month, she had another stroke, followed by a few seizures that left her in a coma. Another coma on February 5 put hope for recovery out of reach.
Well, damn. I’m sorry to hear that. ☹
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### Author:  [@movingfinger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/movingfinger)
#### Post date: [February 12, 2014, 8:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-february-2014/680211/56 "2014-02-12T08:14:00Z")
I just finished **Bonk** by the irrepressible Mary Roach, and now I am looking for **Packing for Mars**
Good but a real downer was \*\*The Great Deluge \*\*by Douglas Brinkley about Hurricane Katrina. A very even-handed book laying the blame evenly on local, state and federal levels.
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### Author:  [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)
#### Post date: [February 12, 2014, 1:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-february-2014/680211/57 "2014-02-12T13:34:37Z")
> [@Kimstu](#):
>
> I’m going to come right out and say that I’ve recently been exploring the oeuvre of Enid Blyton, specifically the “Famous Five” and “Adventure” series, which came out as cheap Kindle e-books not long ago.
_points at **Kimstu** _ Ha, ha!
No, seriously, I think it’s great to go back and read your favorite children’s books. I guess I missed those Blyton books when I was younger, which is a shame, because they’d have been right up my alley.
I started this morning on [Partials](http://www.amazon.com/Partials-The-Sequence-Dan-Wells/dp/006207105X/ref=sr_1_5/179-8402398-6635701?ie=UTF8&qid=1392211812&sr=8-5&keywords=dan+wells), first of a YA series by Dan Wells.
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### Author:  [@Sattua](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sattua)
#### Post date: [February 12, 2014, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-february-2014/680211/58 "2014-02-12T13:42:20Z")
I started to read Diana Gabaldon’s Outlander in September, and I’m just about to finish up my first complete series re-read. I’m kind of scared about what I’ll do after that… these books are truly the books I’ve been waiting to find and read. I absolutely love them.
So I’ve been reading a lot of nonfiction, too, which is somehow easier to settle on than fiction. Pioneer and homesteading accounts, mostly, including A Home In The Woods by Oliver Johnson and Home Life In Colonial Days by Alice Morse Earle. Also my old series of Every Day Life Of… books, including Vikings, Middle Ages, and Barbarbians.
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### Author:  [@Meurglys](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Meurglys)
#### Post date: [February 12, 2014, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-february-2014/680211/59 "2014-02-12T15:21:41Z")
[quote=“Elendil\_s\_Heir, post:45, topic:680211”]
As to _The Abominable_, please spoil it for me:
book ruining spoiler; please don’t read this if you aim to read the book!
It’s a major reveal and hits you quite hard when you get to the description of the photosIn answer to your question, the photos are of Hitler as a paedophile. They show him in an orgy with several pre-teen (iirc) young Jewish boys, taken secretly by one of the boys.
On another topic entirely, has anyone an opinion on **Arnold Zweig**? In particular [The Case of Sargeant Grisha](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Case_of_Sergeant_Grischa). I’ve no time to read it for a while but it’s caught my attention…
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### Author:  [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)
#### Post date: [February 12, 2014, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-february-2014/680211/60 "2014-02-12T16:50:13Z")
Thanks for the spoiler; I’m very unlikely to read the book. Sounds farfetched; not sure why the pics wouldn’t be used by Churchill et al.
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