# Khadaji's Whatcha Readin' thread -- April 2017 Edition **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 31, 2017, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-april-2017-edition/783418 "2017-03-31T15:45:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**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:** [April 7, 2017, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-april-2017-edition/783418/21 "2017-04-07T20:16:00Z")
Started today on [Uprooted](https://www.amazon.com/Uprooted-Naomi-Novik/dp/0804179034/ref=tmm_hrd_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=) as recommended by **jsgoddess**. Really good so far. I’m kicking myself for starting it on a Friday, as chances are good I won’t be able to pick it up again until Monday! ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2017, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-april-2017-edition/783418/22 "2017-04-07T20:27:52Z")
> [@Dung\_Beetle](#): > > Started today on [Uprooted](https://www.amazon.com/Uprooted-Naomi-Novik/dp/0804179034/ref=tmm_hrd_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=) as recommended by **jsgoddess**. Really good so far. I’m kicking myself for starting it on a Friday, as chances are good I won’t be able to pick it up again until Monday! I’m eager to hear what you think of it. Oh, and I know this because there’s a Polish tennis player with the name, but Agnieszka is pronounced close to ag-NYESH-ka. I always like to have a pronunciation in my head for names I’m not familiar with. ---
**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:** [April 7, 2017, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-april-2017-edition/783418/23 "2017-04-07T20:36:55Z")
Me too, fortunately I had a former co-worker with the name. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Malthus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/85f322/32.png) [@Malthus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malthus)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2017, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-april-2017-edition/783418/24 "2017-04-07T20:54:18Z")
There’s a new Bernie Gunther mystery just out, _Prussian Blue_. So far, as awesome as the others - this series has not suffered from series decay. For those that are unfamiliar, this is a blacker-than-noir detective fiction (based on meticulous research) set before, during, and after the advent of Nazi Germany - where a decent police detective, who personally detests the Nazis, survives by compromising his morality … > **[Amazon.com: Prussian Blue (A Bernie Gunther Novel): 9780399177057: Kerr, Philip:...](https://www.amazon.com/Prussian-Blue-Bernie-Gunther-Novel/dp/0399177051)** > > Amazon.com: Prussian Blue (A Bernie Gunther Novel): 9780399177057: Kerr, Philip: Books Anyone who loves historical fiction, and anyone who loves noir, should I think love this series. ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2017, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-april-2017-edition/783418/25 "2017-04-07T22:54:43Z")
I finished reading **The Red Badge of Courage** by Stephen Crane. A young Union soldier runs away from his first firefight and then spends the rest of the battle alternately berating himself, rationalizing his actions, or trying to prove he’s not a coward. I quite liked it; I thought it was an interesting psychological study of a soldier (even though it was not written from personal experience). ---
**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:** [April 8, 2017, 4:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-april-2017-edition/783418/26 "2017-04-08T04:07:17Z")
I wasn’t too impressed by _The Red Badge of Courage_, I have to say. My three favorite Civil War novels are _The Killer Angels_ by Michael Shaara, _Cold Mountain_ by Charles Frazier, and _Coal Black Horse_ by Robert Olmstead. ---
**Author:** ![Dendarii\_Dame](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bbce88/32.png) [@Dendarii\_Dame](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dendarii_Dame)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2017, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-april-2017-edition/783418/27 "2017-04-08T22:30:58Z")
Finished **Hidden Figures**. I thought it was very interesting, even better than the movie. Just started **Cartoons for Victory** , edited by Warren Bernard. It’s about comic strips during World War II. **The Red Badge of Courage** is one of the few books I was assigned to read in school that I reread on my own. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2017, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-april-2017-edition/783418/28 "2017-04-09T01:53:59Z")
I just now finished [My Life As An Indian](https://www.amazon.com/My-Life-Indian-Lodges-Blackfeet-ebook/dp/B00RG2FL2M/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1491702485&sr=8-1&keywords=j.w.+schultz), by James Willard Schultz. I have not been this emotionally affected by a book in more years than I can count. Written in 1907 by a white man who lived among the Blackfeet and married one of their women, this is a very well-written account of the last years of the plains Indians’ traditional lifestyle. Written with passion, pathos and joy, Schultz captures the day-to-day activities, hardships, and triumphs of a people doomed to a tragic end. By the end, I was feeling weepy. I can’t recommend this highly enough. ---
**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:** [April 9, 2017, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-april-2017-edition/783418/29 "2017-04-09T02:47:56Z")
Finishing up a re-read of Erik Larsen’s _In The Garden Of Beasts_, a factual recollection of Ambassador Dodd’s assignment to pre-WWII Berlin during the rise of the Hitler regime and the subsequent ominous changes in German policy towards Jews, racial purity, the buildup of their war machine in defiance of the Versailles Treaty, etc. It’s one of those books that’s essentially a documentary that reads a bit like fiction because of the thinly veiled monstrousness permeating the German government in the early to mid 1930’s. Quite a good read. Been also reading the _Omega Days_ series of books, yes, a cheap quick read, zombie apocalypse, etc but still entertaining. Up next is Tolkien’s grandson Simon’s book _No Man’s Land_. Never read him before. ---
**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:** [April 9, 2017, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-april-2017-edition/783418/31 "2017-04-09T15:31:52Z")
Interesting! Never heard of the book before: [https://www.amazon.com/No-Mans-Land-Simon-Tolkien/dp/038554197X/ref=sr\_1\_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1491751871&sr=1-1&keywords=simon+tolkien+no+man’s+land](https://www.amazon.com/No-Mans-Land-Simon-Tolkien/dp/038554197X/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1491751871&sr=1-1&keywords=simon+tolkien+no+man%27s+land). I’d be interested to know if his writing style is at all like his grandfather’s. ---
**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:** [April 9, 2017, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-april-2017-edition/783418/32 "2017-04-09T17:21:35Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > Interesting! Never heard of the book before: [Amazon.com: No Man's Land: A Novel: 9780385541978: Tolkien, Simon: Books](https://www.amazon.com/No-Mans-Land-Simon-Tolkien/dp/038554197X/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1491751871&sr=1-1&keywords=simon+tolkien+no+man%27s+land). I’d be interested to know if his writing style is at all like his grandfather’s. I’m quite looking forward to it. As a literary trivia question, what are good examples of family members that are fellow writers where the apple does/doesn’t fall far from the tree? ---
**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:** [April 9, 2017, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-april-2017-edition/783418/33 "2017-04-09T18:27:56Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > I wasn’t too impressed by _The Red Badge of Courage_, I have to say. We had to read it in high school, which was a lot closer to Civil War days the today is, heh. I remember liking the book okay, but what was really neat is our teacher also had us watch a videotape of the dramatic version, starring Richard Thomas, aka John-Boy Walton. That was pretty good. On a side note, I’m seeing a lot of mentions of Erik Larsen on the Board and a lot of his books in the store. Is he really any good? ---
**Author:** ![DZedNConfused](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dzednconfused/32/15991_2.png) [@DZedNConfused](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DZedNConfused)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2017, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-april-2017-edition/783418/34 "2017-04-09T18:51:55Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > On a side note, I’m seeing a lot of mentions of Erik Larsen on the Board and a lot of his books in the store. Is he really any good? He is! Definitely reccomend his books. ---
**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:** [April 9, 2017, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-april-2017-edition/783418/35 "2017-04-09T20:24:42Z")
Thanks. I’m immersed in _Hamilton_ right now but will look for him on my next book run. ---
**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:** [April 10, 2017, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-april-2017-edition/783418/36 "2017-04-10T01:41:00Z")
> [@FoieGrasIsEvil](#): > > …As a literary trivia question, what are good examples of family members that are fellow writers where the apple does/doesn’t fall far from the tree? Michael Shaara, who I mentioned earlier, won the Pulitzer for _The Killer Angels_, an excellent novel about the Battle of Gettysburg. His son Jeff also writes historical fiction; he’s perhaps best known for _Gods and Generals_, IMHO a good but not great novel also about the Civil War, and has more recently been writing novels about the American Revolution and World War II, I believe. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2017, 11:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-april-2017-edition/783418/37 "2017-04-10T11:16:04Z")
Finished “reading” Michael Moore’s _Here Comes Trouble_ on audio. Intersting stuff. Besides _Alternate Presidents_, I’m reading _The Unfinished Stories of Mark Twain_, which I got mainly because I wanted to read _Tom Sawyer and the Indians_ again, but which has much other Twain that I haven’t read. My bedside reading is a book I got Pepper Mill for Christmas, but that she’s finished – Nelson Johnson’s **Boardwalk Empire** , the basis for the HBO series. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2017, 12:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-april-2017-edition/783418/38 "2017-04-10T12:54:08Z")
Mentioned in the Hugo nominations thread, I just finished **A Closed and Common Orbit** , the Hugo-nominated sequel to **A Long Way to a Small and Angry Planet**. The first book is a debut novel and is a picaresque space opera, in which the crew of a small, multispecies ship go on a voyage and have adventures. I expected the second to be much the same, but it’s not. Mostly different characters, entirely different structure, much more serious in tone. It owes a small debt to Ann Leckie’s excellent **Ancillary** series in its ideas. I enjoyed the hell out of it, stayed up late reading, finished it in one day (incidentally yay spring break). Strongly recommended! ---
**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:** [April 10, 2017, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-april-2017-edition/783418/39 "2017-04-10T15:55:53Z")
**DZedNConfused** , I got the book you sent me! I’ll read that next. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2017, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-april-2017-edition/783418/40 "2017-04-10T16:10:11Z")
Finished _Venomous_, very-slightly-too-quirky dissertation on venom-bearing critters. Now about three quarters of the way thru _Manalive_, sort of philosophical detective fiction, sort of. It took quite a while to get going, and I am not sure the pay off will be worth it, but it’s G. K. Chesterton. I listened to _Ju-Ju_ by Murray Leinster, who I usually enjoy, but the audio recording cut off the last chapter or two. It was standard issue African suspense voodoo fiction, and I have a pretty good idea of where it was going. I think I will tackle _The Railway Children_, a children’s book I never read but have had recommended. Either that, or _City at the World’s End_ by Ed Hamilton, an early sci-fi writer I also had recommended. Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![DZedNConfused](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dzednconfused/32/15991_2.png) [@DZedNConfused](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DZedNConfused)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2017, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-april-2017-edition/783418/41 "2017-04-10T16:20:00Z")
> [@Dung\_Beetle](#): > > **DZedNConfused** , I got the book you sent me! I’ll read that next. 🙂 YAY!!! I forgot I sent it :smack: [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-april-2017-edition/783418.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-april-2017-edition/783418.md?page=3)