# Khadaji's Whatcha Readin' thread -- April 2018 Edition **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 1, 2018, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-april-2018-edition/811567 "2018-04-01T02:45:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Dragwyr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dragwyr/32/2855_2.png) [@Dragwyr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dragwyr)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2018, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-april-2018-edition/811567/41 "2018-04-09T13:57:33Z")
I just today started reading **American Gods** by Neil Gaiman. ---
**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 9, 2018, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-april-2018-edition/811567/42 "2018-04-09T15:48:15Z")
Started today on [Hombre](https://www.amazon.com/Hombre-Novel-Elmore-Leonard/dp/0062206117/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1523288681&sr=8-1&keywords=hombre+by+elmore+leonard+book) by Elmore Leonard. I don’t usually read Westerns but someone here mentioned it and it sounded interesting. Also, Stephen King speaks highly of Mr. Leonard, so I’ve always meant to give him a shot. ---
**Author:** ![Rough\_Draft](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/76d3ee/32.png) [@Rough\_Draft](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rough_Draft)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2018, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-april-2018-edition/811567/43 "2018-04-09T16:20:37Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > I also read Douglas Preston and Lincoln Childs’ **Still Life with Crows** , an earlier Agent Pendergast novel than the others I’ve read recently, and now I’m pissed – they basically took a big chunk of the plot of this book and stuck it onto the back of the more recent novel _Crimson Shore_, apparently needing more wordage to fulfill their contract, or something. They even re-used the bit with Pendergast telling the cook in the small American Town restaurant how to prepare the meal he wants. The Pendergast novels are a longtime favorite of mine, but they do have some tiresome aspects. I’m totally bored with the continuing soap opera of Pendergast’s family history, and I hate Constance and Diogenes with a passion. Also, the sadistic element where Pendergast has to nearly die in every installment is just ugly. And I like Pendergast as a modern Sherlock Holmes a lot better than Pendergast as a James Bond-style one-man army. ---
**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 11, 2018, 12:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-april-2018-edition/811567/44 "2018-04-11T12:29:46Z")
Finished _Hombre_, a very quick read. It was just okay for me. Next up: [The Liberal Redneck Manifesto: Draggin’ Dixie Out of the Dark](https://www.amazon.com/Liberal-Redneck-Manifesto-Draggin-Dixie/dp/1501160389/ref=tmm_hrd_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1523449542&sr=1-1). Read this if you’ve ever felt embarrassed to be from the South. ---
**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 11, 2018, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-april-2018-edition/811567/45 "2018-04-11T14:36:00Z")
> [@Dung\_Beetle](#): > > Finished _Hombre_, a very quick read. It was just okay for me. I’ve read three or four Elmore Leonard novels, always convinced this’ll be the one I like. They’re never terrible, but I just don’t get the love for him. I suppose he invented the **Justified** universe, and that’s one of my favorite shows of all time, so I’ll give him credit for that. I just wish his books grabbed me more. ---
**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 11, 2018, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-april-2018-edition/811567/46 "2018-04-11T15:48:20Z")
Oh good, I was afraid it was going to be just me. I did like the movie Jackie Brown… ---
**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 11, 2018, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-april-2018-edition/811567/47 "2018-04-11T15:56:53Z")
> [@Dung\_Beetle](#): > > Next up: [The Liberal Redneck Manifesto: Draggin’ Dixie Out of the Dark](https://www.amazon.com/Liberal-Redneck-Manifesto-Draggin-Dixie/dp/1501160389/ref=tmm_hrd_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1523449542&sr=1-1). Read this if you’ve ever felt embarrassed to be from the South. I loved it. Utah is just an Western Southern state is soooooooooo many ways. ---
**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 11, 2018, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-april-2018-edition/811567/48 "2018-04-11T18:08:00Z")
> [@FoieGrasIsEvil](#): > > …I’m also reading _A Gentleman In Moscow_ by Amor Towles. It’s really, really great. What a great exposition of the clashing societies between Czarist Russia and the Bolsheviks. I love it so far. I read that recently, and liked but didn’t love it. Some memorable characters and scenes, though. I found the ending kinda disappointing, but will be interested to hear what you think. > [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > Finished _David Copperfield_, by Charles Dickens. The full title is _The Personal History, Adventures, Experience and Observation of David Copperfield the Younger of Blunderstone Rookery (Which He Never Meant to Publish on Any Account)_, which I prefer. _The Personal History, Adventures, Experience and Observation of David Copperfield the Younger of Blunderstone Rookery (Which He Never Meant to Publish on Any Account)_ was Dickens’ personal favorite of all his novels… > > Now I’m catching up on my Robert Harris after having purchased his latest two. I have begun _Dictator_, the final installment in his Cicero trilogy of ancient Rome… What did you say the title of the Dickens book was again? Harris’s _Fatherland_ is a great WWII alternative-history crime thriller, and his more recent _Conclave_ is an interesting but farfetched novel about the near-future election of a new Pope. He also wrote the very good nonfiction _Selling Hitler_, about the Hitler diaries hoax, which will have you shaking your head about how stoopid people can be when they think they just might get rich. > [@Dendarii\_Dame](#): > > Finished _Winston S. Churchill: Youth 1874-1900_, by Randolph S. Churchill. More interesting than I thought it would be. Told mostly in letters to and from the young Churchill. He asked for money (and later, money and favors) frequently. It’s odd to read him asking his mother to get him transferred from India (where he played polo more than anything else) to Egypt, where he could go into action and hopefully win a medal… Lloyd George said that Churchill would skin his own mother (a mistress of King Edward VII, as it happens) to make a drum on which to beat his own praises. Check out Roy Jenkins’s _Churchill_ for a terrific one-volume bio. > [@Dung\_Beetle](#): > > Finished _Hombre_, a very quick read. It was just okay for me… > [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > I’ve read three or four Elmore Leonard novels, always convinced this’ll be the one I like. They’re never terrible, but I just don’t get the love for him. > > I suppose he invented the **Justified** universe, and that’s one of my favorite shows of all time, so I’ll give him credit for that. I just wish his books grabbed me more. I read _Hombre_ recently myself, and agree it was just okay (as was his earlier _Escape from Five Shadows_). His Westerns just don’t do it for me, I’ve reluctantly decided. ---
**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 11, 2018, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-april-2018-edition/811567/49 "2018-04-11T18:19:31Z")
Should’ve added, I just finished the 1956 Robert Heinlein novel _Time for the Stars_, about telepaths keeping starships linked with Earth as they look for other habitable worlds. Still one of my favorite Heinleins, although I noticed his less-than-progressive views about women more this time 'round. I’ve now begun David McCullough’s 1972 history _The Great Bridge_, about the design and construction of the Brooklyn Bridge. ---
**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 11, 2018, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-april-2018-edition/811567/50 "2018-04-11T19:00:36Z")
re The Liberal Redneck Manifesto > [@DZedNConfused](#): > > I loved it. Utah is just an Western Southern state is soooooooooo many ways. > [@Elendil's Heir](#): > > I read _Hombre_ recently myself, and agree it was just okay (as was his earlier _Escape from Five Shadows_). His Westerns just don’t do it for me, I’ve reluctantly decided. Oh yeah, now I remember how I found out about these books! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Rough\_Draft](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/76d3ee/32.png) [@Rough\_Draft](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rough_Draft)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2018, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-april-2018-edition/811567/51 "2018-04-11T19:31:35Z")
> [@Dung\_Beetle](#): > > Finished _Hombre_, a very quick read. It was just okay for me. > > Next up: [The Liberal Redneck Manifesto: Draggin’ Dixie Out of the Dark](https://www.amazon.com/Liberal-Redneck-Manifesto-Draggin-Dixie/dp/1501160389/ref=tmm_hrd_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1523449542&sr=1-1). Read this if you’ve ever felt embarrassed to be from the South. I should read this, but it does sound pretty embarrassing, so maybe not. And since I moved away long ago, I hope I can be excused. ---
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2018, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-april-2018-edition/811567/52 "2018-04-11T20:14:45Z")
> [@nachtmusick](#): > > Those books were so warm and so well crafted. I remember going to the local library to get “All Things Bright and Beautiful” and finding out that all copies were checked out indefinitely. There’s a chapter where he’s trying to get a semen sample from a bull and I couldn’t breathe, I was laughing so hard. ---
**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 11, 2018, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-april-2018-edition/811567/53 "2018-04-11T22:25:14Z")
> [@Dung\_Beetle](#): > > re The Liberal Redneck Manifesto > Oh yeah, now I remember how I found out about these books! 🙂 Guilty! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Sunny\_Daze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunny_daze/32/438_2.png) [@Sunny\_Daze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunny_Daze)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2018, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-april-2018-edition/811567/54 "2018-04-12T00:37:39Z")
I’m just starting _The Terror_, since I started watching the mini-series that is based on it. I’m also starting SM Stirling’s _Black Chamber_, which is an alternate history of WWI. I was lucky enough to get an ARC of it. So far, I’m really liking it. I’m also reading the novel version of _The Shape of Water_. It was started as a separate project from the movie. It’s been an interesting read thus far. There is definitely more background included. If you liked the movie, I would recommend it. Last one for now. I finished _The Woman Left Behind_ by Linda Howard. Sometimes I love her stuff and sometimes it’s flat out ridiculous. It enjoyed this one. It’s about a technical expert who is embedded with a military squad. Minimal romance. It’s mostly about what you can achieve if you want to, and more importantly in this case, if you have to. ---
**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 13, 2018, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-april-2018-edition/811567/55 "2018-04-13T21:51:56Z")
Just finished _A Civil Contract_, by Georgette Heyer. Not bad, but I didn’t enjoy it as much as I’d hoped. There was less conflict in it that I’d anticipated. Next up: _Pyramids_, by Terry Pratchett. ---
**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 13, 2018, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-april-2018-edition/811567/56 "2018-04-13T22:39:13Z")
I finished **The Burglar Who Liked to Quote Kipling** by Lawrence Block. Aaaaaand at the third retelling of the same base plot -burglar breaks in to a place where there’s a murder, burglar is framed for murder, burglar has to clear himself- the series is feeling a bit stale. I’ll give it a few more before deciding whether I want to continue or not. I DO like Bernie, but I don’t like Block’s habit of not telling the audience what the main character knows until he reveals it to the assembled suspects. ---
**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 14, 2018, 5:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-april-2018-edition/811567/57 "2018-04-14T05:51:00Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > What did you say the title of the Dickens book was again? _The Personal History, Adventures, Experience and Observation of David Copperfield the Younger of Blunderstone Rookery (Which He Never Meant to Publish on Any Account)_ > [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > Harris’s _Fatherland_ is a great WWII alternative-history crime thriller, and his more recent _Conclave_ is an interesting but farfetched novel about the near-future election of a new Pope. He also wrote the very good nonfiction _Selling Hitler_, about the Hitler diaries hoax, which will have you shaking your head about how stoopid people can be when they think they just might get rich. I’ve read _Fatherland_. Liked it. _Conclave_ is next up after _Dictator_. ---
**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 14, 2018, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-april-2018-edition/811567/58 "2018-04-14T21:14:21Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > _The Personal History, Adventures, Experience and Observation of David Copperfield the Younger of Blunderstone Rookery (Which He Never Meant to Publish on Any Account)_… Sorry? ---
**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 15, 2018, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-april-2018-edition/811567/59 "2018-04-15T19:38:08Z")
I said, _The Personal History, Adventures, Experience and Observation of David Copperfield the Younger of Blunderstone Rookery (Which He Never Meant to Publish on Any Account)_. Let’s pay attention here! ---
**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 15, 2018, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-april-2018-edition/811567/60 "2018-04-15T23:04:07Z")
All right, gentlemen, don’t make me put you in separate corners! 😉 I guess when you’re being paid by the word, it behooves you to come up with the longest title you can get on a dust cover. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-april-2018-edition/811567.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-april-2018-edition/811567.md?page=4)