# 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:** 18\ **Page:** 5
**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 24, 2017, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-april-2017-edition/783418/82 "2017-04-24T18:54:09Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > I did, too! I recently met the hard-core Confederate reenactor who is prominently featured in it (he’s quite a bit mellower now). My favorite line of the book: an elderly black woman in New Orleans tells Horwitz, “I don’t mind [white Southerners] remembering the Civil War - as long as they remember they _lost_ it.” There were so many good lines. Are you talking about Rob Hodge (I think that was his name)? ---
**Author:** ![The\_wind\_of\_my\_soul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecc23a/32.png) [@The\_wind\_of\_my\_soul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_wind_of_my_soul)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2017, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-april-2017-edition/783418/83 "2017-04-24T19:12:00Z")
I finished two books this weekend, and I enjoyed both of them, but only mildly. One was [Truth and Beauty](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/3686.Truth_and_Beauty), about author Ann Patchett’s friendship with the late author Lucy Grealy. It was actually pretty disturbing to read, as Patchett seemed to hold onto quite a bit of resentment towards her friend, and portrayed her in an extremely unkind light. But while it was disturbing, I must admit that it was beautiful writing, and the pages seemed to flip themselves. The other book was [Station Eleven](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/20170404-station-eleven?from_search=true), which perhaps I would have liked more if the dozen awards its won hadn’t given me such high expectations. The premise of the novel was intriguing, both to read about and to imagine myself in such a situation. The plot was cool, and I thought it was neat the way everything came together at the end. The main problem with this book is that the character development was weak, and there’s only so much you can care about a story when you don’t care about the characters. ---
**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 24, 2017, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-april-2017-edition/783418/84 "2017-04-24T19:35:51Z")
> [@jsgoddess](#): > > …Are you talking about Rob Hodge (I think that was his name)? Yes, that’s the guy. ---
**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 24, 2017, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-april-2017-edition/783418/85 "2017-04-24T20:12:43Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > Yes, that’s the guy. The WAR GASM chapter was my favorite. It’s perfect. ---
**Author:** ![delphica](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e9a140/32.png) [@delphica](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/delphica)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2017, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-april-2017-edition/783418/86 "2017-04-25T02:00:14Z")
I read a quick YA novel, _We Are Okay_ by Nina LaCour, which was winsome and sweet, if not particularly realistic. A girl arrives at college after a mysterious and unnamed series of traumatic events, and then the backstory is slowly provided when she reunites with a close friend from home. It took me a while, but I finally finished _Breaking the Maya Code_ by Michael Coe, which was maybe a little too rambly, and it was also that thing where I was hoping for a book that was more focused on the language and writing itself, and this book had a lot of information about the individual scholars who were working on deciphering it. Overall it was fine, but not what I was looking for. I feel like I learned a lot, though. And I just read _Kildee House_, which is a Newbery honor book from 1949. It’s about a quirky older man who goes to live like a hermit in the redwood forest, but then of course he befriends local children and woodland creatures. There is a lot of quality writing here, especially in the descriptions of life in the woods, but overall the plot did not age well. ---
**Author:** ![movingfinger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@movingfinger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/movingfinger)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2017, 5:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-april-2017-edition/783418/87 "2017-04-25T05:35:53Z")
I just started **The Last Gunfight** , by Jeff Guinn, and yes, it’s about that unpleasant business at the OK Corral. I was ready to be delivered a boring sociological treatise on How The West Wasn’t Like the Movies and it may yet so develop. However, so far it is excellent. I am at the point where the Earps begin to clash with the Clantons and McLaurys, and Wyatt’s strengths and weaknesses are beginning to be tested. LOTS of picture and maps. ---
**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 25, 2017, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-april-2017-edition/783418/88 "2017-04-25T13:43:39Z")
Just finished a cozy mystery _Books Can Be Deceiving_, by Jenn McKinlay. It includes this sentence: > [@](#): > > Lindsey noticed that his fingers were long and thin, almost too feminine for a man living on an island by himself. Puzzle on that. ---
**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 25, 2017, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-april-2017-edition/783418/89 "2017-04-25T13:51:11Z")
I’ve started an audiobook of _Little Failure_, the memoir of Russian-American writer Gary Shteyngart. It’s not nearly as funny as a friend told me. I’m also rereading Joe Haldeman’s 1990 sf novel _The Hemingway Hoax_, about a con artist and a literary scholar teaming up to create a fake, “long lost” Hemingway novel to earn big bucks. Weird stuff ensues. Also underway: Noah Brooks’s _Lincoln Observed_, a collection of reminiscences by a reporter whom the President befriended and often socialized with. ---
**Author:** ![Malthus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/85f322/32.png) [@Malthus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malthus)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2017, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-april-2017-edition/783418/90 "2017-04-25T14:06:16Z")
Currently reading \*Blood and Daring: How Canada Fought the American Civil War and Forged a Nation \*. > **[Blood and Daring: How Canada Fought the American Civil War and Forged a Nation:...](https://www.amazon.ca/Blood-Daring-Canada-Fought-American/dp/0307361462)** > > Blood and Daring: How Canada Fought the American Civil War and Forged a Nation: Boyko, John: 9780307361462: Books - Amazon.ca I’m finding it really fascinating - a perspective you don’t usually see. Explains a lot about why Confederation in Canada took place when it did, and why it took the form that it did - I never appreciated what a threat the US posed during this time period. Makes sense when you think about it - the US was busy tearing itself apart in a terrible war, from which it emerged with enormous and ferocious armies - Canadians looking south are going to find a lot to be concerned about, particularly as there was a whole series of war scares. When creating a political system, our leaders deliberately reacted _against_ what they saw as the dangers of the US system - constitutional monarchy in a parliamentary system as a brake on the unbridled populism of the mob looked like a positive island of sanity by comparison. That lesson, learned in the blood and thunder of the US Civil War, looks just as pertinent these days … ---
**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 26, 2017, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-april-2017-edition/783418/91 "2017-04-26T15:47:17Z")
Finished _Unmentionable_. If it’s half true, I don’t know how the human race survived the Victorian period. Very entertaining, though. This morning I read about 50 pages of [Abigale Hall](https://www.amazon.com/Abigale-Hall-Novel-Lauren-Forry/dp/1510717269/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1493221387&sr=1-1&keywords=abigale+hall) by Lauren Forry, then put it aside forever with a sigh of relief. A tale of orphans, an evil housekeeper, a gothic mansion…shoulda been good but wasn’t. ---
**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 26, 2017, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-april-2017-edition/783418/92 "2017-04-26T16:03:00Z")
I finished **The Emperor’s Edge** by Lindsay Buroker today. I agree with BetsQ, you have to suspend your disbelief to read it, but it was fun to read with enjoyable characters. A potato chip and M&M book. And because I have the attention span of a grasshopper, I started **So Anyway** by John Cleese yesterday. So far enjoyable but I don’t envy him his home life growing up. ---
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2017, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-april-2017-edition/783418/93 "2017-04-26T18:06:30Z")
I finished rereading **Watership Down** (RIP Richard Adams) and picked up a library e-book called [The Muralist](https://www.amazon.com/Muralist-Novel-B-Shapiro-ebook/dp/B00U6YR07Q/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1493229964&sr=8-1&keywords=the+muralist). ---
**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 28, 2017, 12:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-april-2017-edition/783418/94 "2017-04-28T12:24:54Z")
Last book of April: [Blood and Lemonade](https://www.amazon.com/Hap-Leonard-Lemonade-Joe-Lansdale/dp/1616962534/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1493381938&sr=1-1&keywords=blood+and+lemonade), a Hap & Leonard “mosaic novel” by Joe R. Lansdale. I haven’t run across the term “mosaic novel” before; if you haven’t either, it’s the equivalent of TV’s “clip show”. Short stories (not all new) stuck together with a clumsy frame. For completists only. ---
**Author:** ![delphica](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e9a140/32.png) [@delphica](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/delphica)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2017, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-april-2017-edition/783418/95 "2017-04-28T14:45:22Z")
We have a book club at work, where the selected books always relate, in a very broad way, to our field. I just finished the latest one, Janet Mock’s memoir, _Redefining Realness: My Path to Womanhood, Identity, Love & So Much More_. Very interesting story, although I went back and forth a little between thinking some of the issues were presented in too basic of a way, but then realizing that a lot of readers need the basics. ---
**Author:** ![BetsQ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/fbc32d/32.png) [@BetsQ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BetsQ)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2017, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-april-2017-edition/783418/96 "2017-04-28T19:06:09Z")
I read [The Invisible Library](https://www.amazon.com/Invisible-Library-Novel-ebook/dp/B016JPTLJK/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1493406136&sr=8-1&keywords=invisible+library) by Genevieve Cogman. It was OK. The protagonist is a Librarian whose Library spans the multiverse. Her job is to pop into various worlds and pick up key pieces of literature. I think maybe I’ve had enough light and fluffy fantasy for now, but I’m not sure what’s next! ---
**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 28, 2017, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-april-2017-edition/783418/97 "2017-04-28T19:40:01Z")
> [@BetsQ](#): > > I read [The Invisible Library](https://www.amazon.com/Invisible-Library-Novel-ebook/dp/B016JPTLJK/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1493406136&sr=8-1&keywords=invisible+library) by Genevieve Cogman. It was OK. The protagonist is a Librarian whose Library spans the multiverse. Her job is to pop into various worlds and pick up key pieces of literature. I think maybe I’ve had enough light and fluffy fantasy for now, but I’m not sure what’s next! This thread might interest you: [Help me stock the ultimate (fictional) library - Cafe Society - Straight Dope Message Board](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=705108) ---
**Author:** ![BetsQ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/fbc32d/32.png) [@BetsQ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BetsQ)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2017, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-april-2017-edition/783418/98 "2017-04-28T22:40:14Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > This thread might interest you: [Help me stock the ultimate (fictional) library - Cafe Society - Straight Dope Message Board](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=705108) Yes - it sounded like a very familiar premise! I think Skald has had a couple threads like that, too, hasn’t he? ---
**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 29, 2017, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-april-2017-edition/783418/99 "2017-04-29T23:31:33Z")
New thread! [April Showers bring Mayflowers??](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=825082) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-april-2017-edition/783418.md?page=4)