# 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:** 6
**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 29, 2013, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-september-2013/667618/101 "2013-09-29T03:07:31Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > Hmmm. I’ve been thinking of picking up a boxed set of this whole series of books that I’ve seen at the bookstore. We’ll be off on an island for a week soon, and I thought it might be a good time to start reading it. Maybe not? Question about the series _A Song of Fire and Ice_. I was in the bookstore yesterday, and there were the boxed sets, and I was going to go ahead and pick one up. But then I noticed two different versions. One set had the third novel, _A Storm of Swords_, in a single volume. The other set had it in two parts, and each of the two parts looked every bit as thick as the single volume in the other set. They were all cellophaned up, and while a clerk would have been happy to open them for me to inspect the books, I thought I had better wait and do some research first. [Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Storm_of_Swords) tells me that in certain markets, that third novel, the longest in the series, was split into two parts – called _Steal and Snow_ and _Blood and Gold_. (In France, they even split it up into four parts.) Is it a case of the print being just extra small in the single volume? Like I said, I was a bit wary about the two parts in the one set looking the same thick size as in the first. I just want to know if anyone can confirm the single volume of the one set contains the same text as the two volumes in the other. ---
**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 29, 2013, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-september-2013/667618/102 "2013-09-29T03:28:21Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > [Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Storm_of_Swords) tells me that in certain markets, that third novel, the longest in the series, was split into two parts – called _Steal and Snow_ and _Blood and Gold_. I should add that in the Wikipedia link, I did not look at the plot summary, so no spoilers please. ---
**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 29, 2013, 12:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-september-2013/667618/103 "2013-09-29T12:25:47Z")
My (single volume) copy weighs in at 973 pages. The font appears the same, and the pages don’t seem to be any thinner. ---
**Author:** ![Politzania](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3ab097/32.png) [@Politzania](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Politzania)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2013, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-september-2013/667618/104 "2013-09-29T18:11:49Z")
Read a very powerful novel over the past week - _**[Who Fears Death](http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/9844075-who-fears-death)**_ by Nnedi Okorafor. It’s post-apocalytic magical realism set in war-torn northwest Africa; the title character (Onyesonwu) is a mixed-race child born of rape and destined for greatness. The novel follows her life as she learns of her magical powers and heritage. The horrors of genocide loom large as she and a small group of friends strike out across the desert to try to defeat a great sorceror who is forming an army to finally conquer her people. It’s a difficult read in some respects: rape, female genital mutilation and other horrors are described in detail, but not gratuitously so. The characters are richly written, the plot entrancing and heartbreaking, and the writing lyrical. It was a fascinating look into a cultural foreign to me, thru the lens of of a genre very familiar (science fiction/post apocalyptic fiction). It seems a bit odd to say I enjoyed a novel with so much violence and despair, but it did move me. ---
**Author:** ![Subterraneanus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a183cd/32.png) [@Subterraneanus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Subterraneanus)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2013, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-september-2013/667618/105 "2013-09-29T18:14:47Z")
The writing on the wall. ---
**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 29, 2013, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-september-2013/667618/106 "2013-09-29T18:47:28Z")
Finished a couple more books today: [By Blood](http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/15792880-by-blood), Ellen Ullman: A disgraced professor on leave rents office space next to a therapist’s office. One of the therapist’s clients doesn’t like the white noise machine, so the professor hears all of the patient’s sessions. The professor has several mental issues of his own, which may or may not be the reason he becomes obsessed with this patient, even to the point of only coming to his office during her appointments. When the patient (neither she nor the professor have names) discovers that she was adopted and that her mother was a European Jew, the professor decides to help her find her birth mother which leads to an interesting discussion about what happened to the Jews after the Holocaust. It gets pretty weird. My biggest complaint is that the time that the story takes place gets shoved down the reader’s throat a little too much. It’s set in San Francisco in 1975-76 and several times major events of the day are shoehorned in awkwardly. The only place it really works is when the professor worries that he might be having blackouts and thus be the real Zodiac Killer. This fear is never really resolved. :dubious: [A Double Life: Newly Discovered Thrillers of Louisa May Alcott](http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/749930.A_Double_Life): These are five short stories rediscovered in the 1980s that Alcott had published anonymously. They’re actually really good. The last story (“Taming a Tartar”) gets into the whole Victorian “My love will cure you of your fatal wounding/illness” trope, but it was written in Victorian times after all. They’re not as dark as _A Long, Fatal Love Chase_ or _A Modern Mephistopheles_, but they aren’t as perky as _Little Women_, although “Ariel” does get close to the latter (even to the heroine’s last name being March). ---
**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 29, 2013, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-september-2013/667618/107 "2013-09-29T19:16:44Z")
I just finished ‘[Norse Mythology according to Uncle Einar](http://www.amazon.com/Norse-Mythology-According-Uncle-Einar-Sibley/dp/0738844187)’ - it was cute. The Norse mythos transfers astonishingly well to modern trailer trash… I’m currently about ten pages into ‘[Who’s my Bottom?](http://www.amazon.com/WhoS-My-Bottom-Christopher-Gillett/dp/1447674936)’, which is Christopher Gillett’s book about performing the role of ‘Flute’ in Benjamin Britten’s opera ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’. Loving it! ---
**Author:** ![Helena330](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/helena330/32/531_2.png) [@Helena330](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Helena330)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2013, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-september-2013/667618/108 "2013-09-29T21:18:06Z")
Hi everyone, I’ve had a lot of trouble with my eyes and have had trouble reading the last few years. However, I got a Nook a few weeks ago and could not be happier! I can adjust the font size and brightness so they’re comfortable, and I can read again! I read **The Grapes of Wrath** by John Steinbeck, **Alphabet Letters** and **The Girl Next Door** , both by Elizabeth Noble. I also tried **50 Shades of Grey** because of all the hype, but only lasted about 30 minutes. What a disappointment. Was it written by a teenage girl? I do like well-written YA, so I’m glad to see at least one other person here likes it as well. Moving on to Fannie Flagg, who has a sequel to a book I read years ago, **Welcome To The World, Baby Girl**. Will re-read that first, then move on the the sequel. I also have something about Philosophy downloaded, but can’t remember what. I look forward to participating in Khadaji’s threads, and hope I can make some helpful contributions. 🙂 ---
**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 29, 2013, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-september-2013/667618/109 "2013-09-29T22:35:43Z")
> [@Helena330](#): > > I also tried **50 Shades of Grey** because of all the hype, but only lasted about 30 minutes. What a disappointment. Was it written by a teenage girl? I much prefer [50 Shades of Tedious Fuckery](http://redlemonade.blogspot.com/p/fifty-shades-of-tedious-fuckery.html). ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2013, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-september-2013/667618/110 "2013-09-29T23:28:55Z")
On the Kindle (free for Prime members), [The Walk](http://www.amazon.com/The-Walk-ebook/dp/B002BSHHTQ) by Lee Goldberg. A network executive in LA is trekking across LA, trying to get home to his wife after an apocalyptic series of earthquakes. A bounty hunter named Buck has decided the exec needs protection, as well as some life lessons. It’s funny – inside jokes and pop culture references – and horrifying and very entertaining. Recently finished a couple of good memoirs: **Son of a Gun** by Justin St. Germain, where the author tries to make sense of his mother’s murder, and **The Distancers** by Lee Sandlin, a Midwest family from the mid-1800’s through most of the 20th century. On the surface, it’s an ordinary family, which of course means that it’s not ordinary at all. No family is ordinary. Also finished and didn’t much care for the 7th Temeraire book, **Blood of Tyrants** , but I’m looking forward to the final installment. ---
**Author:** ![Helena330](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/helena330/32/531_2.png) [@Helena330](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Helena330)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2013, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-september-2013/667618/111 "2013-09-30T00:29:11Z")
> [@SpazCat](#): > > I much prefer [50 Shades of Tedious Fuckery](http://redlemonade.blogspot.com/p/fifty-shades-of-tedious-fuckery.html). ROFL! Now that was entertaining! I also like Gilbert Gottfried reading selections from it: https://www.youtube.com/embed/5K1RcKJVbHA?feature=oembed&wmode=opaque&list=FLV7UrQpZsd78s882xgjqQMw ---
**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 30, 2013, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-september-2013/667618/112 "2013-09-30T03:06:47Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > Question about the series _A Song of Fire and Ice_. I was in the bookstore yesterday, and there were the boxed sets, and I was going to go ahead and pick one up. But then I noticed two different versions. One set had the third novel, _A Storm of Swords_, in a single volume. The other set had it in two parts, and each of the two parts looked every bit as thick as the single volume in the other set. They were all cellophaned up, and while a clerk would have been happy to open them for me to inspect the books, I thought I had better wait and do some research first. > > [Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Storm_of_Swords) tells me that in certain markets, that third novel, the longest in the series, was split into two parts – called _Steal and Snow_ and _Blood and Gold_. (In France, they even split it up into four parts.) Is it a case of the print being just extra small in the single volume? Like I said, I was a bit wary about the two parts in the one set looking the same thick size as in the first. I just want to know if anyone can confirm the single volume of the one set contains the same text as the two volumes in the other. > [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > I should add that in the Wikipedia link, I did not look at the plot summary, so no spoilers please. > [@Le\_Ministre\_de\_l\_au-dela](#): > > My (single volume) copy weighs in at 973 pages. The font appears the same, and the pages don’t seem to be any thinner. Thanks. I think I’ll probably go with the set that has _A Storm of Swords_ in two parts, just on the theory that the font may be bigger. Otherwise from everything I can tell, the text is exactly the same regardless. ---
**Author:** ![LavenderBlue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e95f7d/32.png) [@LavenderBlue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LavenderBlue)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2013, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-september-2013/667618/113 "2013-09-30T03:25:14Z")
I am halfway through \*\*Manhunt: The 12 Day Chase for Lincoln’s Killer \*\*by James L. Swanson. The book is wonderful. He really shines a light on a little known historical footnote. We all know Lincoln was brutally murdered. The details about the plot behind it as well as Booth’s attempt at escape and the immediate American governmental reaction to the shooting make for incredibly compelling storytelling. Highly recommended! ---
**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 30, 2013, 4:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-september-2013/667618/114 "2013-09-30T04:22:00Z")
I’ve heard good things about Swanson’s _Manhunt_ from several friends, incl. one who’s an ardent Lincoln freak. Hope to get to it someday. Just finished Joe Haldeman’s _Starbound_, second in a trilogy about humanity’s first permanent colony on Mars and first mission beyond the Solar System. Not Haldeman’s best, but a good read. I’ve now ordered _Earthbound_, the last book in the trilogy, from the library. Still enjoying Roy Jenkins’s _Churchill_. He has many great turns of phrase and gives a very engaging, basically admiring but warts-and-all portrayal of the great British leader. Just finished Jenkins’s passage on the Abdication Crisis of 1936, in which Churchill’s romanticism and monarchism led him badly astray. ---
**Author:** ![crypto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b3f665/32.png) [@crypto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crypto)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2013, 5:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-september-2013/667618/115 "2013-09-30T05:08:34Z")
I am reading “Retreat From Gettysburg” by Kent Masterson Brown. I’m a big US Civil War buff, and Gettysburg in particular. And even though I knew some sketchy details of the retreat, including when Lee started back, the date when he finally crossed the Potomac to get back to Virginia, and Meade’s lackluster pursuit which cost him his job as the General of the Army or the Potomac. But this book is truly fascinating. It is a slow read, because it is so detailed with names and dates and locations of just about every part of Lees Army. The logistics of getting back are just incredible. His supply train was at times up to _ **20 miles** _ long, and the army was dragging back thousands of wounded and dying soldiers, 4000+ POW’s and countless cattle, pigs, sheep, horses, mules, and other animals the Confederates foraged from the Pennsylvania countryside. As they retreated, they continued to forage, they built breastworks, and set up a defensive line every night. I don’t know when these guys slept. Its a truly fascinating read, and the amazing detail comes from the author’s 20 year quest to write this book properly. ---
**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 30, 2013, 11:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-september-2013/667618/116 "2013-09-30T11:23:42Z")
A link to [October’s thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=16710285#post16710285)… ---
**Author:** ![delphica](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e9a140/32.png) [@delphica](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/delphica)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2013, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-september-2013/667618/117 "2013-09-30T14:39:41Z")
> [@LavenderBlue](#): > > I am halfway through \*\*Manhunt: The 12 Day Chase for Lincoln’s Killer \*\*by James L. Swanson. I loved that book! I was so impressed by how exciting the author makes the story, I mean, everybody KNOWS what happened, but while reading, there’s something about it that still _feels_ suspenseful. ---
**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 30, 2013, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-september-2013/667618/118 "2013-09-30T16:12:26Z")
> [@Stink Fish Pot](#): > > …Meade’s lackluster pursuit which cost him his job as the General of the Army or the Potomac… Lincoln was deeply disappointed by the general’s post-battle performance, but Meade remained commander of the Army of the Potomac through the end of the war. U.S. Grant was appointed over him as lieutenant general and top uniformed officer of the entire U.S. Army; he traveled with the Army of the Potomac in 1864-65 but did not officially supplant Meade. ---
**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 30, 2013, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-september-2013/667618/119 "2013-09-30T18:16:06Z")
> [@AuntiePam](#): > > Also finished and didn’t much care for the 7th Temeraire book, **Blood of Tyrants** , but I’m looking forward to the final installment. I haven’t read this one yet, but I hear that Laurence gets amnesia. :rolleyes: ---
**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 30, 2013, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-september-2013/667618/120 "2013-09-30T18:16:41Z")
> [@delphica](#): > > I loved that book! I was so impressed by how exciting the author makes the story, I mean, everybody KNOWS what happened, but while reading, there’s something about it that still _feels_ suspenseful. I liked how Swanson captured what a huge shock it was that someone would actually assassinate the POTUS. Nowadays it’s something that’s expected, but back then no one would have thought of taking a shot at the President…well, except for the conspirators and we all saw what happened to then. It’s a window into a different time. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-september-2013/667618.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-september-2013/667618.md?page=7)