# Khadaji's Whatcha Readin - May 2013 edition **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 30, 2013, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-may-2013-edition/657149 "2013-04-30T21:36:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**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:** [May 4, 2013, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-may-2013-edition/657149/21 "2013-05-04T22:48:40Z")
I’m reading [_A Tale for the Time Being_](http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/15811545-a-tale-for-the-time-being), by Ruth Ozeki. A well-wrapped Hello Kitty lunchbox washes up on a Pacific Nortwest beach and is discovered by a novelist named Ruth. It contains a journal, a watch, and some letters, which tell the stories of a 16-year-old Japanese girl and her 104-year-old grandmother, a Buddhist nun. World War II and the recent earthquake and tsunami also figure in the story. The reviews are through the roof, and I loved Ozeki’s _All Over Creation_ so this is very promising. ---
**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:** [May 5, 2013, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-may-2013-edition/657149/22 "2013-05-05T14:27:24Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > Almost halfway through _Black Mischief_, a comic novel by Evelyn Waugh. It’s set in a fictional African country not a million miles removed from the real-life Ethiopia. It came out in 1932, just a couple of years after Waugh went to Ethiopia to report on the coronation of Haile Selassie. Finished _Black Mischief_, by Evelyn Waugh. Rather good but certainly not PC by today’s standards, what with his descriptions of Black Africans. But then he sends up everyone, and his fellow Europeans seem to get the worst of it. Moving on to the next in my volume of four Evelyn Waugh novels is _Scoop_ (1938), in which he lampoons the field of journalism. It also happens to be #75 on the Modern Library’s list of the 100 best novels of the 20th century. ---
**Author:** ![LawMonkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d6d6ee/32.png) [@LawMonkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LawMonkey)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2013, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-may-2013-edition/657149/23 "2013-05-07T23:25:44Z")
_ **The New Watch** _ showed up on my doorstep yesterday, yay! I’m looking forward to more of the adventures of Anton and friends (other than Tiger Cub :(). Also, since this is a physical book and thus somewhat less portable than the ebooks I favor these days, I picked up the complete Sherlock Holmes for kindle the other day and have been dipping in here and there. Just finished The Adventure of the Six Napoleons; just starting on The Adventure of the Speckled Band. ---
**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:** [May 8, 2013, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-may-2013-edition/657149/24 "2013-05-08T04:05:54Z")
> [@LawMonkey](#): > > _ **The New Watch** _ showed up on my doorstep yesterday, yay! I’m looking forward to more of the adventures of Anton and friends (other than Tiger Cub :(). Also, since this is a physical book and thus somewhat less portable than the ebooks I favor these days, I picked up the complete Sherlock Holmes for kindle the other day and have been dipping in here and there. Just finished The Adventure of the Six Napoleons; just starting on The Adventure of the Speckled Band. Are you in the US? Where did you buy it from if you don’t mind my asking? ---
**Author:** ![LawMonkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d6d6ee/32.png) [@LawMonkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LawMonkey)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2013, 1:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-may-2013-edition/657149/25 "2013-05-08T13:08:12Z")
> [@wonderlust](#): > > Are you in the US? Where did you buy it from if you don’t mind my asking? I am in the US, yes. I actually ordered it from [amazon.co.uk](http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-New-Watch-Sergei-Lukyanenko/dp/0434022314/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1368018416&sr=8-1&keywords=the+new+watch). (I notice there’s now a kindle edition–it wasn’t there when I pre-ordered, as I recall. I wonder if you can get the kindle edition outside of the UK…) ---
**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:** [May 8, 2013, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-may-2013-edition/657149/26 "2013-05-08T20:07:51Z")
I finished ‘Foul Matter’ - a lovely satirical look at the world of writers, poets and publishing. Though there have been other books and films that have touched on what happens when The Mob meets with writing (Get Shorty, Bullets over Broadway come to mind), I enjoyed this much more than any of the others. I’m now about a hundred pages into ‘Fluke’ by Christopher Moore, which is a delicious little romp. It reminds me of some of the things I’ve enjoyed about Tom Robbins’ writing. I’ll probably finish it in a couple of days or less, but I’m glad to find an author I’d never encountered before. ---
**Author:** ![etv78](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d78d45/32.png) [@etv78](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/etv78)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2013, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-may-2013-edition/657149/27 "2013-05-08T20:37:05Z")
Bought, and started _How the States Got Their Shapes_ (book show’s 1st season was based on). Very interesting. BTW, Maryland got hosed! ---
**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:** [May 10, 2013, 4:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-may-2013-edition/657149/28 "2013-05-10T04:07:10Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > Moving on to the next in my volume of four Evelyn Waugh novels is _Scoop_ (1938), in which he lampoons the field of journalism. It also happens to be #75 on the Modern Library’s list of the 100 best novels of the 20th century. Finished _Scoop_, by Evelyn Waugh. Very good. Next up in the Waugh anthology is _The Loved One: An Anglo-American Tragedy_ (1948), which is actually a comedy and his send-up of the southern-California funeral industry. I remember already reading this maybe 30 years ago, but it’s exceptionally short and I believe worth a revisit. ---
**Author:** ![Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/f04885/32.png) [@Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qin_Shi_Huangdi)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2013, 5:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-may-2013-edition/657149/29 "2013-05-10T05:34:24Z")
I’ve started _Guns, Germs, and Steel_ by Jared Diamond. I generally agree with the thesis presented and the book itself is written in a non-technical but intelligent way. However there were a few bits in the introduction that were quite blatantly doublethink. ---
**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:** [May 11, 2013, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-may-2013-edition/657149/30 "2013-05-11T14:41:50Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > Next up in the Waugh anthology is _The Loved One: An Anglo-American Tragedy_ (1948), which is actually a comedy and his send-up of the southern-California funeral industry. I remember already reading this maybe 30 years ago, but it’s exceptionally short and I believe worth a revisit. Finished _The Loved One_, by Evelyn Waugh. Short but sweet. Waugh based Whispering Glades in the book on the real-life Forest Lawn. Reportedly, his publishers so feared a libel suit that one of a couple of preemptive ploys was to have Waugh persuade his friend Lord Stanley of Alderley to have his lawyers add a codicil to his will instructing that his body, upon death, be shipped to Forest Lawn for buiral, as he understood that cemetery bore some resemblance to the one in _The Loved One_. The publishers were going to use that as a basis for a defense. “See? We actually drummed up business for you!” After 10 years, it was finally thought safe enough for Lord Stanley to cancel the codicil. This next week I’ll read the final short novel in the Waugh anthology: _The Ordeal of Gilbert Pinfold: A Conversation Piece_ (1957). From what I’ve heard, it’s a thinly veiled fictional account of Waughs own breakdown in late middle age. ---
**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:** [May 13, 2013, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-may-2013-edition/657149/31 "2013-05-13T15:39:48Z")
Finished [The White Nile](http://www.amazon.com/White-Nile-Alan-Moorehead/dp/0060956399/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1368459558&sr=1-1&keywords=the+white+nile), which was recommended in a previous thread. While I started it mainly because of my interest in the early exploration for the source of the Nile, I thought the parts of the book covering that period were a little dry and light. But it got more interesting with the Sudanese uprising in the 1880s. Overall, I enjoyed 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:** [May 14, 2013, 12:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-may-2013-edition/657149/32 "2013-05-14T12:38:40Z")
I just finished Joe Hill’s [NOS4A2](http://www.amazon.com/NOS4A2-A-Novel-Joe-Hill/dp/0062200585). I was so, so pleased with it! It was so much like his dad’s work (even with references to other King books. I caught five, including one to the not-yet-published _Dr. Sleep_). I was really caught up in this book, thinking about it when I wasn’t able to actually read it. It was a big thick one too. I may have to start buying Joe’s stuff after this. 🙂 ---
**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:** [May 14, 2013, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-may-2013-edition/657149/33 "2013-05-14T15:39:42Z")
I finished _Dombey and Son_ and I really liked it. I actually enjoyed a Dickens novel from beginning to end! I know, I’m as shocked as you are. I used to haaaaate Dickens, especially his female characters. All the female characters in D&S, though, had really good reasons to act the way they do. I think it may have earned a spot on the bookshelf. ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2013, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-may-2013-edition/657149/34 "2013-05-14T16:14:24Z")
> [@Dung\_Beetle](#): > > I just finished Joe Hill’s [NOS4A2](http://www.amazon.com/NOS4A2-A-Novel-Joe-Hill/dp/0062200585). I was so, so pleased with it! It was so much like his dad’s work (even with references to other King books. I caught five, including one to the not-yet-published _Dr. Sleep_). I was really caught up in this book, thinking about it when I wasn’t able to actually read it. It was a big thick one too. I may have to start buying Joe’s stuff after this. 🙂 I just finished it too, and it had the same effect. Part of it was timing – the kidnapped women in Cleveland being found, and then Mother’s Day. What Wayne went through – not the same as those three, of course – but how easy it is to give in to power, to give up, and how difficult it is to fight – Joe got that right. Yeah, you should read Joe’s stuff. I liked this book better than his other two, but I still like his short stories best. _Pop Art_ is amazing. ---
**Author:** ![Enterprise](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/76d3ee/32.png) [@Enterprise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enterprise)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2013, 6:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-may-2013-edition/657149/35 "2013-05-15T06:58:35Z")
I recently finished Joyce Carol Oates’s latest, _The Accursed_: strange afflictions strike Princeton, NJ, in 1905-6, soon revealed as supernatural. The novel follows several points of view, including those of Woodrow Wilson (then President of Princeton University), Upton Sinclair, and several members of the main afflicted family. Thick book, quite a good read, and opens very many interesting questions about literature, history, and socialism. Recommended (for people with time on their hands!). I also finished a slew of Louise Penny’s Chief Inspector Gamache mysteries, and am now reading the fifth, _The Brutal Telling_. I really like those, although the solutions to her puzzles are sometimes a bit far-fetched, I think. Still, recommended. Finally, a couple of World War II books. I had Max Hasting’s _All Hell Let Loose_ on the Kindle and finished that during the week. A truly excellent, no-holds-barred one-volume history of World War II. Hastings doesn’t spare anybody (least of all the reader): we get devastating criticism of American and British strategic and tactical ineptitude, for example, which sits well with the more usual “Russians could only use frontal attacks” stuff. Well done! Also, John Prados’s _Islands of Destiny_ is an excellent analysis (slightly short, for my taste) of the Solomons Islands campaign from 1942-43. Prados very neatly sets the individual battles and campaigns into a greater narrative, and highlights some very interesting aspects especially on the Japanese side. Also recommended. ---
**Author:** ![yellowval](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/919ad9/32.png) [@yellowval](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yellowval)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2013, 12:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-may-2013-edition/657149/36 "2013-05-15T12:43:13Z")
[QUOTE=SpazCat;16247563[Peace Like a River] ([Peace Like a River by Leif Enger | Goodreads](http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/227571.Peace_Like_a_River)), Lief Enger. Also like this book very much. I had a bit of a moment yesterday when I realized I was reading the book while listening to the song “Peace Like a River” by Paul Simon. [/QUOTE] I’ll be starting this soon for my book club. Right now I’m working on This is Not a Test by Courtney Summers. It’s a YA book about zombies. So far (about halfway) so good. Up next is Hemingway’s A Moveable Feast. I like to read Hemingway around Memorial Day. It’s become a tradition for 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:** [May 15, 2013, 1:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-may-2013-edition/657149/37 "2013-05-15T13:00:58Z")
> [@yellowval](#): > > …Up next is Hemingway’s A Moveable Feast. I like to read Hemingway around Memorial Day. It’s become a tradition for me. You might like _The Hemingway Hoax_ by Joe Haldeman - a fun, mind-bending homage to Papa. ---
**Author:** ![delphica](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e9a140/32.png) [@delphica](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/delphica)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2013, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-may-2013-edition/657149/38 "2013-05-15T17:41:36Z")
I am possibly repeating myself, but bear with me. A few fun recent reads – _Mr. Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore_ by Robin Sloan, which was generally fun, about what happens when a renaissance secret society meets google. This was a very quick, light-hearted read and I thought it was nicely enjoyable. _Beautiful Ruins_ by Jess Walter, a novel that tells two interrelated stories in tandem, one about an aspiring Hollywood starlet in Italy in the 60s, and then another set in the present day where a Hollywood producer tries to track her down. This was good, but one of those books where I feel I will forget the details very quickly. _The Wreck of The River of Stars_ by Michael Flynn, which is one of those books that isn’t really my thing, but given that, it was okay. Space drama about a damaged spaceship and how the crew responds to the situation. It was one of those books where the story itself wasn’t that compelling to me, but I liked the authorial voice. Makes me think Michael Flynn would be a fun guy to talk with. _You_ by Austin Grossman, which I liked A LOT. It’s a novel about the early days of computer gaming. I feel like this book is destined to be a love or hate it thing, I thought it was great but have a hard time articulating why it stands out so much. The writing was really sharp. Right now I am starting Neal Stephenson’s Baroque Cycle again – I got about 1/2 though once, but never got around to finishing even though I liked it. It seems like the kind of situation where enough time has passed that I have to start at the beginning again. ---
**Author:** ![RandMcnally](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b782af/32.png) [@RandMcnally](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RandMcnally)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2013, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-may-2013-edition/657149/39 "2013-05-15T17:42:24Z")
I’ve just started “Empire of Liberty.” I figured there’s really nothing better for an unemployed history major to do than to go through the Oxford History of the United States. ---
**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:** [May 15, 2013, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-may-2013-edition/657149/40 "2013-05-15T21:47:58Z")
I’m giving up on _Rosemary’s Baby_. It’s a little too disturbing. _Joseph Andrews_ is more my style right now. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-may-2013-edition/657149.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-may-2013-edition/657149.md?page=3)