# Khadaji's Whatcha Readin' - January 2014 **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 31, 2013, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-january-2014/677593 "2013-12-31T21:48:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 8
**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:** [January 29, 2014, 5:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-january-2014/677593/141 "2014-01-29T05:31:47Z")
You’ll like this, then: [Wikihistory | Tor.com](http://www.tor.com/stories/2011/08/wikihistory) ---
**Author:** ![Trick\_Rider](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d6d6ee/32.png) [@Trick\_Rider](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trick_Rider)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2014, 7:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-january-2014/677593/142 "2014-01-29T07:22:52Z")
I just finished William Gibson’s _Idoru_ the other day. I’d never read any Gibson before, but it’s made me want to check more of his work out. Currently reading Phil Currie and Josh Young’s _Dino Gangs_. ---
**Author:** ![FoieGrasIsEvil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foiegrasisevil/32/16638_2.png) [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2014, 8:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-january-2014/677593/143 "2014-01-29T08:25:15Z")
If you haven’t yet read “In The Garden Of Beasts” I highly, highly recommend it. It’s a very captivating read. > **[In the Garden of Beasts: Love, Terror, and an American Family in Hitler's...](https://www.amazon.com/Garden-Beasts-Terror-American-Hitlers/dp/030740885X)** > > In the Garden of Beasts: Love, Terror, and an American Family in Hitler's Berlin \[Larson, Erik\] on Amazon.com. \*FREE\* shipping on qualifying offers. In the Garden of Beasts: Love, Terror, and an American Family in Hitler's Berlin ---
**Author:** ![yellowval](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/919ad9/32.png) [@yellowval](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yellowval)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2014, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-january-2014/677593/144 "2014-01-29T14:16:07Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > I liked it, but it certainly wasn’t perfect. And I admit the shooting-Hitler subplot is a pretty tired one by now. It wasn’t so much that that bothered me. It was more the fact that it didn’t really matter, because she just went right back to where she started. Why even bother if she and her loved ones weren’t even going to reap the benefits? I’m about halfway through Eleanor & Park. I feel like this is not going to end happily. I also started One and Only: The Freedom of Having an Only Child and the Joy of Being One, and I have The Fate of Mercy Alban on the way from the library. ---
**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:** [January 29, 2014, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-january-2014/677593/145 "2014-01-29T14:27:12Z")
I just finished _Libriomancer_ by Jim C. Hines, and recommend it. It’s about a character who can literally reach into books and pull things out of them. An interesting magical system, and as a sci-fi/fantasy fan I find a novel about a sci-fi/fantasy fan who can actually pull out the things we all read about pretty fun. ---
**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:** [January 29, 2014, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-january-2014/677593/146 "2014-01-29T18:16:07Z")
> [@yellowval](#): > > It wasn’t so much that that bothered me. > > It was more the fact that it didn’t really matter, because she just went right back to where she started. Why even bother if she and her loved ones weren’t even going to reap the benefits?… Ah, I see. Well, we don’t really know how much Ursula’s shooting of Hitler in late 1933 changed history. It’s not just about her and her family, though, is it? If she averted the Holocaust, for instance, but there was still some variety of WWII that was fought due to broader historical forces, it’s not a perfect solution, but saving millions of lives is still a good thing, I’d say. ---
**Author:** ![yellowval](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/919ad9/32.png) [@yellowval](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yellowval)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2014, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-january-2014/677593/147 "2014-01-29T18:34:06Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > Ah, I see. Well, we don’t really know > > how much Ursula’s shooting of Hitler in late 1933 changed history. It’s not just about her and her family, though, is it? If she averted the Holocaust, for instance, but there was still some variety of WWII that was fought due to broader historical forces, it’s not a perfect solution, but saving millions of lives is still a good thing, I’d say. True, if life keeps on going without her after she dies. But if it “resets” with her death, it doesn’t do anyone any good if she kills Hitler and then dies. The idea of an alternate future without Ursula (or without Hitler) isn’t really ever addressed. Maybe I missed something, though. I got a little bored during the last half of the book and may have skimmed over something. ---
**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:** [January 29, 2014, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-january-2014/677593/148 "2014-01-29T20:05:10Z")
Atkinson leaves that ambiguous, but I don’t think the universe necessarily “resets.” She just goes back, is reborn and starts another life. ---
**Author:** ![plankter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7ba0ec/32.png) [@plankter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/plankter)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2014, 4:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-january-2014/677593/149 "2014-01-30T04:10:26Z")
> [@Der\_Trihs](#): > > I just finished _Libriomancer_ by Jim C. Hines, and recommend it. It’s about a character who can literally reach into books and pull things out of them. An interesting magical system, and as a sci-fi/fantasy fan I find a novel about a sci-fi/fantasy fan who can actually pull out the things we all read about pretty fun. **Libriomancer** was hella fun. I can recommend the sequel, **Codex Born**. ---
**Author:** ![delphica](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e9a140/32.png) [@delphica](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/delphica)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2014, 3:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-january-2014/677593/150 "2014-01-31T03:50:52Z")
I finished _Rose Under Fire_, a YA novel by same author of last year’s _Code Name Verity_. It’s a companion book. This is about a teenage American girl volunteering for the war effort (WWII) who is captured and sent to Ravensbrück. It’s pretty graphic about what went on in the women’s camps. It’s good, but not the innovative novel _Code Name Verity_ is. _The Real Boy_ is a middle reader, it was okay, but this author just isn’t doing it for me. It’s a smartly written book about a boy who works for a magician (fantasy world magician, not performing magician) … but it’s all grim all the time. _Visitation Street_ was engaging, a crime (sort of, more like a mysterious happening) novel that is set in Red Hook, Brooklyn. It was published by Dennis Lehane’s imprint, and it’s a very similar tone to his books – it’s really more about the various characters impacted in different ways. It was good enough reading, but the kind of book where in six months I won’t be able to remember any of the details. ---
**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:** [January 31, 2014, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-january-2014/677593/151 "2014-01-31T13:57:38Z")
> [@delphica](#): > > I finished _Rose Under Fire_, a YA novel by same author of last year’s _Code Name Verity_. It’s a companion book. This is about a teenage American girl volunteering for the war effort (WWII) who is captured and sent to Ravensbrück. It’s pretty graphic about what went on in the women’s camps. It’s good, but not the innovative novel _Code Name Verity_ is. After the emotional destruction _Code Name Verity_ wrought on me, I wouldn’t dare pick that up! I’m just finishing \*Shivers VII \*(I only have Weeds, the King story left, so that’s a fairly known quantity). Not many standouts in this short horror collection, although Graham Masterton’s Beholder gives Chuck Pahliunuk a run for his money in the gross-out department. Next up, _War for the Oaks_, as recommended by **AuntiePam**. ---
**Author:** ![Le\_Ministre\_de\_l\_au-dela](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/le_ministre_de_l_au-dela/32/12181_2.png) [@Le\_Ministre\_de\_l\_au-dela](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Le_Ministre_de_l_au-dela)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2014, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-january-2014/677593/152 "2014-01-31T16:26:08Z")
The February thread is up and running, and may be found [here](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=17063514#post17063514). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-january-2014/677593.md?page=7)