# Khadaji's Whatcha Readin' - September 2013 **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 31, 2013, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-september-2013/667618 "2013-08-31T00:05:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Panthan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Panthan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Panthan)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2013, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-september-2013/667618/41 "2013-09-13T01:17:43Z")
My wife recently presented me with a stack of books that are along my lines of interest, but which I probably wouldn’t think to buy for myself. Last month I had a hard time putting down a biography, **Ulysses Grant in War and Peace** by H.W. Brands. Pretty glowing picture of Grant, but a fascinating and fairly intimate look at his life. The Civil War accounts were what originally drew me. But I was interested in his two terms as president during Reconstruction, and the battles he fought and seemingly won for civil rights. Which made the next in the stack I picked up a perfect and hard to read continuation: **The Warmth of other Suns** by Isabelle Wilkerson. I’m only a quarter of the way into this story of the Great Migration of blacks out of the South over the course of the twentieth century, but it looks to be quite a masterful piece of journalism and storytelling. ---
**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:** [September 13, 2013, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-september-2013/667618/42 "2013-09-13T03:20:06Z")
> [@jayrey](#): > > I have discovered Guy Gavriel Kay! Read \*\*Under Heaven \*\*first – the images of Tai working among the bleached bones burying the dead at Kuala Nor will stay with me forever. Took a break to read a little Steven Brust (the Vlad Taltos series), then went back to Kay and read \*\*The Last Light of the Sun \*\*and am currently halfway through **Ysabel**. The world Kay creates in each book is wrenchingly difficult to leave when the book is over. I’ve loved Guy Gavriel Kay for many years now. I just picked up [River of Stars](http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/k/guy-gavriel-kay/river-of-stars.htm) the other day. As I said earlier, I don’t quite get why he hasn’t had something picked up and turned into a Major Motion Picture, or HBO mini-series, if only so I can have the pleasure of saying repeatedly ‘The book was much better.’ I just finished [The Ocean at the End of the Lane](http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/g/neil-gaiman/ocean-at-end-of-lane.htm). On the one hand, the plot was almost exactly the same as ‘Coraline’. On the other hand, there were certain passages where the words he chose were achingly beautiful. He does well for someone who can’t even read… 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2013, 3:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-september-2013/667618/43 "2013-09-13T03:42:57Z")
Got an order in from my book club this morning. So I’m reading _Shanghai 1937: Stalingrad on the Yangtze_ by Peter Harmsen. ---
**Author:** ![Malthus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/85f322/32.png) [@Malthus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malthus)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2013, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-september-2013/667618/44 "2013-09-13T13:43:51Z")
> [@Ian\_D.Bergkamp](#): > > Thanks for the advice; I’ll look for an annotated edition. Before I started, I did a little background research on Stalin and that period of Soviet history. It’s definitely helping so far. This is the version I’ve read: > **[The Master and Margarita: Mikhail Bulgakov, Diana Burgin, Katherine Tiernan...](https://www.amazon.com/Master-Margarita-Mikhail-Bulgakov/dp/0679760806)** > > The Master and Margarita \[Mikhail Bulgakov, Diana Burgin, Katherine Tiernan O'Connor\] on Amazon.com. \*FREE\* shipping on qualifying offers. The Master and Margarita I really enjoyed it - can’t comment on the translation, as I speak no Russian, but the notes helped. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![araminty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b5e925/32.png) [@araminty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/araminty)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2013, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-september-2013/667618/45 "2013-09-13T18:06:47Z")
I went camping by myself for 6 days, and got a lot of reading done; can I say again how much I love my Kindle? Just load it up before you go, and no fear of having nothing to read. Even if I finish the new books, all my old favourites are right there to be re-read, any time I want. I bought a $2 nightlight, and tucked myself into bed at dusk each night. Wonderful! I read the first two of the Fforde **Chronicles of Kazam** series, which I liked quite a bit, the seemed less effortful than the Thursday Next series. I liked the undercurrent of environmentalism, especially in the first book. I also enjoyed **Three Parts Dead** by Max Gladstone, although I can’t for the life of me work out why its entitled thusly. I like books to have titles that make sense. Great heroine, and I liked the world building. I’d gladly read another. I read Aric Davis’ **Nickel Plated,** which was OK; it felt a bit too much like Mary-Sue fanfic. The protagonist wasn’t very believable. What’s next? That’s the question. I have read the first two of Atwood’s MaddAdam trilogy, but I don’t remember them as being particularly compelling; perhaps if I reread them, I’ll be more inclined to pick up the third. I could also get the new Kate Atkinson, although I feel a bit sheeple-y, jumping on that bandwagon… We’ll see, something will come up. It always does! ---
**Author:** ![Politzania](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3ab097/32.png) [@Politzania](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Politzania)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2013, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-september-2013/667618/46 "2013-09-13T18:26:28Z")
> [@araminty](#): > > I read the first two of the Fforde **Chronicles of Kazam** series, which I liked quite a bit, the seemed less effortful than the Thursday Next series. I liked the undercurrent of environmentalism, especially in the first book. Ooh - I really enjoyed _The Last Dragonslayer_ in audiobook form - I’m disappointed the library doesn’t have the sequel (_Song of the Quarkbeast_) - so I may just have to buy it for myself! I’m way behind in my reviews - just popping in to say I quite enjoyed the audiobook of _**[Who Could that Be at This Hour?](http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13477819-who-could-that-be-at-this-hour)**_ by Lemony Snicket - it’s the start of a new series, apparently - YA similar to _A Series of Unfortunate Events_ but told in first person, as it’s supposedly Snicket’s adventures as a young man. Set very much “in media res”, there’s a lot of unanswered questions (possibly wrong ones), but the style is as amusing as ever, if you’re into this sort of thing, and both the story and characters are entertaining, IMHO. Liam Aiken’s narration is just how I expected Lemony Snicket (as a world-weary tween) would sound. I enjoyed my re-read of _**[Starship Troopers](http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17214.Starship_Troopers)**_ - spurred by the recent RiffTrax skewering of the film; which I also enjoy as a guilty pleasure. The military minutia can get a bit overdone, but it’s a good piece of pulp sci-fi wrapped in a philosophical/political package. Not my favorite RAH novel by any means, but worth revisiting once a decade or so. ---
**Author:** ![Eleanor\_of\_Aquitaine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a88e4f/32.png) [@Eleanor\_of\_Aquitaine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eleanor_of_Aquitaine)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2013, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-september-2013/667618/47 "2013-09-13T19:29:57Z")
> [@MacSpon](#): > > I’ve been re-reading all the James Herriot books, falling in love with them all over again … and discovering, to my dismay, that the American and English editions are not the same. There are episodes missing from the American editions, and I’ve noticed passages that have been rewritten to be more … trite. ☹ I bet my books are the American version. > [@LawMonkey](#): > > Ha! Nice to hear someone else reads Brust. I’ve been enjoying the Taltos series for… roughly ever, give or take a few years. I think he’s got another one on the way currently. Seems to be a cool guy besides; responds to emails. (One in particular, I quoted him a little snippet from a muck where I’d quoted a line from one of the Khaavren romances and someone thought it was Mark Twain. He was flattered.) I’d love to go out to Vegas some day, haunt the casinos until I found him, and play a hand or two of poker with him. 🙂 I’ve read the Taltos books, and I really liked _Freedom & Necessity_, which he wrote with Emma Bull. His vampire novel \*Agyar \*is pretty good, too. I didn’t like the last Taltos book, _Tiassa_, very much. I think it was a crossover with his other series, the Khaavren Romances, which I have not yet read, and that probably explains my discontent. ---
**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:** [September 13, 2013, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-september-2013/667618/48 "2013-09-13T21:23:59Z")
> [@Politzania](#): > > I enjoyed my re-read of _**[Starship Troopers](http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17214.Starship_Troopers)**_ - spurred by the recent RiffTrax skewering of the film; which I also enjoy as a guilty pleasure. The military minutia can get a bit overdone, but it’s a good piece of pulp sci-fi wrapped in a philosophical/political package. Not my favorite RAH novel by any means, but worth revisiting once a decade or so. I added Starship Troopers to Mt. ToBeRead because of the Rifftrax. I wonder if I can have the book delivered to me via GorillaGram? 😉 ---
**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:** [September 13, 2013, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-september-2013/667618/49 "2013-09-13T23:45:28Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > Next up: _Atonement_, by Ian McEwan. What’s odd is we saw the [2007 film adaptation](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0783233/?ref_=fn_tt_tt_1), and I rarely read a book after seeing the film version. However, some weeks ago I made a note to look up this book. But I didn’t note down why, and I’ve since forgotten why. (Yes, I _am_ getting old and dotty, thank you for asking.) But I did make the note, presumably for a good reason, and there the book was sitting on the shelf in our library, so I checked it out. Finished _Atonement_, by Ian McEwan. And I cannot for the life of me figure out why I wrote myself a note to read it. The film version we saw exactly mirrors the book except for a slight difference in the ending, but so slight as to be inconsequential. It was a good read though. Next up: _Pale Fire_, by Vladimir Nabokov. ---
**Author:** ![LawMonkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d6d6ee/32.png) [@LawMonkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LawMonkey)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2013, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-september-2013/667618/50 "2013-09-14T01:17:53Z")
> [@Eleanor\_of\_Aquitaine](#): > > I’ve read the Taltos books, and I really liked _Freedom & Necessity_, which he wrote with Emma Bull. His vampire novel \*Agyar \*is pretty good, too. > > I didn’t like the last Taltos book, _Tiassa_, very much. I think it was a crossover with his other series, the Khaavren Romances, which I have not yet read, and that probably explains my discontent. IIRC, I tried but never finished _ **Freedom and Necessity** _ and _ **Agyar** _. On the other hand, _ **To Reign in Hell** _ is, IMO, a must read. I also read most of _ **Brokedown Palace** _ at some point, then managed to lose the book, and enjoyed it as well–it’s set in the “East”, in the same universe as the the Taltos books. As to the Khaavren Romances–they’re in the same universe as well, and involve, ultimately, some of the same characters. They’re worth a read–the first two, IMO, are very good, and the trilogy that rounds it out isn’t bad either. But yes, IIRC, Tiassa had more of a connection to the Khaavren books than most, as the titular Tiassa was in fact Khaavren. ---
**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:** [September 14, 2013, 10:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-september-2013/667618/51 "2013-09-14T10:41:10Z")
> [@LawMonkey](#): > > IIRC, I tried but never finished _ **Freedom and Necessity** _ and _ **Agyar** _. On the other hand, _ **To Reign in Hell** _ is, IMO, a must read. I also read most of _ **Brokedown Palace** _ at some point, then managed to lose the book, and enjoyed it as well–it’s set in the “East”, in the same universe as the the Taltos books. _To Rein in Hell_ inspired one of the quotes in my .sig line. ---
**Author:** ![EvilMinion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/35a633/32.png) [@EvilMinion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EvilMinion)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2013, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-september-2013/667618/52 "2013-09-15T02:07:11Z")
**The Long War** , by Terry Pratchett and Stephen Baxter, sequel to The Long Earth. I loved it and highly recommend these two books (apparently they’re contracted to write another three in the series). The worldbuilding is thorough, and while there are a couple of exposition dumps they’re not too overwhelming. I’m also doing a re-read of L.K. Hamilton’s Anita Blake books, but I might stop at about book 6 or so; I think book 8 was where they all started to unravel, along with Hamilton herself, by most accounts. Even in the earlier books there’s some cringeworthy stuff, and I have to give a big fat WTF to the ‘fashion’ Hamilton puts her characters in. I’m still enjoying them though. ---
**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:** [September 15, 2013, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-september-2013/667618/53 "2013-09-15T02:43:07Z")
> [@Politzania](#): > > I enjoyed my re-read of _**[Starship Troopers](http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17214.Starship_Troopers)**_ - spurred by the recent RiffTrax skewering of the film; which I also enjoy as a guilty pleasure. The military minutia can get a bit overdone, but it’s a good piece of pulp sci-fi wrapped in a philosophical/political package. Not my favorite RAH novel by any means, but worth revisiting once a decade or so. For two more very different but equally enjoyable takes on the powered armor/military sf genre, may I recommend _The Forever War_ by Joe Haldeman and _Old Man’s War_ by John Scalzi? Love 'em! ---
**Author:** ![LavenderBlue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e95f7d/32.png) [@LavenderBlue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LavenderBlue)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2013, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-september-2013/667618/54 "2013-09-15T17:50:01Z")
I am mostly done reading \*White Coat: Becoming a Doctor at Harvard Medical School \*by Ellen L. Rothman. This is easily one of the worst books I’ve ever read about medical training. The writing is flat and cliqued. The author basically veers between attempting to describe something potentially interesting and then interjecting her vague contempt and lack of insight into it. Also she constantly makes an unappealing contrast between how incredibly small she is – so tiny she doesn’t even fit into a pair of scrubs or her medical coat – and how disgustingly obese many of her patients are. It’s jarring and unpleasant. One of the most disappointing books I’ve ever had the misfortune to read. I’m glad I only paid a buck for it. I hope the author has done some much needed growing up since then, especially as she has chosen to specialize in pediatrics. ---
**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:** [September 15, 2013, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-september-2013/667618/55 "2013-09-15T18:18:09Z")
> [@LavenderBlue](#): > > …The writing is flat and cliqued… Did you perhaps mean cliched, or clipped? ---
**Author:** ![LavenderBlue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e95f7d/32.png) [@LavenderBlue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LavenderBlue)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2013, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-september-2013/667618/56 "2013-09-15T18:31:34Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > Did you perhaps mean cliched, or clipped? I meant clichéd damn it. Oops. ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2013, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-september-2013/667618/57 "2013-09-15T18:59:25Z")
I just saw this thread. The OP inspired me to call the city library and reserve a copy of A History of the World in Six Glasses. ---
**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:** [September 16, 2013, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-september-2013/667618/58 "2013-09-16T02:37:36Z")
> [@Baker](#): > > I just saw this thread. The OP inspired me to call the city library and reserve a copy of A History of the World in Six Glasses. My work here is done… ---
**Author:** ![Alba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ea666f/32.png) [@Alba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alba)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2013, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-september-2013/667618/59 "2013-09-16T17:14:01Z")
Finished “Moonwalking with Einstein”. It was an interesting and fast read. The memory places actually work, I tried. But learning all the techniques is in my opinion a bit too much. Especially since I don’t have any trouble memorising things. It would have been a great help in secondary school. Now 200 pages into 11/22/63 by Stephen King (my first King book). So far I like it. It reads very easy, even though I am no fan of 50’s - 60’s lingo (so far used sparingly). ---
**Author:** ![Politzania](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3ab097/32.png) [@Politzania](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Politzania)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2013, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-september-2013/667618/60 "2013-09-16T17:29:07Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > For two more very different but equally enjoyable takes on the powered armor/military sf genre, may I recommend _The Forever War_ by Joe Haldeman and _Old Man’s War_ by John Scalzi? Love 'em! I’ve read _Old Man’s War_ (am a fan of Scalzi) and think I tried _Forever War_ many moons ago, but it didn’t click for me - may have to try it again. Think I’ll be returning _**[Finding Florida: The True History of the Sunshine State](http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/15815809-finding-florida)**_ by T.D. Allman to the library after only getting a few chapters in - it’s very well written and researched; but too damn depressing. Apparently, Florida has been a f’d up place since the Europeans first showed up; lots of treachery & revenge, broken dreams and lost hopes with (of course) the natives and slaves getting the shortest shrift. I may return to it someday, as I’d like to know more about this part of the country, but am not in the mood for this kind of book at the moment. ETA: **Alba** - you’re starting with King in an interesting place… I’m looking forward to your thoughts on _11/22/63_. I thought it was probably the best of his most recent (post-accident) books, tho I really liked _Joyland_ too. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-september-2013/667618.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-september-2013/667618.md?page=4)