# Khadaji's Whatcha Readin' thread - August 2016 edition
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-august-2016-edition/761529
**Category:** Cafe Society
**Created:** [August 2, 2016, 4:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-august-2016-edition/761529 "2016-08-02T04:45:43Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 2
### Author:  [@Misnomer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Misnomer)
#### Post date: [August 4, 2016, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-august-2016-edition/761529/21 "2016-08-04T18:36:31Z")
> [@The\_wind\_of\_my\_soul](#):
>
> I finally finished \*Stiletto \*this weekend. It was okay, but certainly not as good as the first offering.
That’s what I’m reading. I have no idea how far through it I am, though: it seems like the “progress” function was disabled for the Kindle edition (I’ve been all through the device settings; it works in other books, but seems to be unavailable for this one). I actually find it distracting to have no idea how much of the book is remaining. Odette and Felicity have just arrived at the ball in their live dresses.
Anyway, so far I’m enjoying it as much as the first one. I like the Myfanwy Thomas character, but I’m glad _Stiletto_ focuses on others. I wouldn’t say it’s better than _The Rook_, but I don’t think it’s any worse. 🙂
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### Author:  [@DZedNConfused](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DZedNConfused)
#### Post date: [August 4, 2016, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-august-2016-edition/761529/22 "2016-08-04T18:37:41Z")
> [@Misnomer](#):
>
> That’s what I’m reading. I have no idea how far through it I am, though: it seems like the “progress” function was disabled for the Kindle edition (I’ve been all through the device settings; it works in other books, but seems to be unavailable for this one). I actually find it distracting to have no idea how much of the book is remaining. Odette and Felicity have just arrived at the ball in their live dresses.
>
> Anyway, so far I’m enjoying it as much as the first one. I like the Myfanwy Thomas character, but I’m glad _Stiletto_ focuses on others. I wouldn’t say it’s better than _The Rook_, but I don’t think it’s any worse. 🙂
You’re about 3 quarters of the way.
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### Author:  [@Misnomer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Misnomer)
#### Post date: [August 4, 2016, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-august-2016-edition/761529/23 "2016-08-04T20:19:21Z")
> [@DZedNConfused](#):
>
> You’re about 3 quarters of the way.
Thank you!!
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### Author:  [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)
#### Post date: [August 5, 2016, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-august-2016-edition/761529/24 "2016-08-05T02:46:57Z")
I love the Dope.
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### Author:  [@DZedNConfused](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DZedNConfused)
#### Post date: [August 5, 2016, 3:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-august-2016-edition/761529/25 "2016-08-05T03:51:09Z")
> [@Dung\_Beetle](#):
>
> OMG, [another Johannes Cabal novel](https://www.amazon.com/Fall-House-Cabal-Johannes-Novels/dp/1250069971/ref=tmm_hrd_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1470334259&sr=1-1) coming out next month! Life is good.
I just ordered the first one!
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### Author:  [@The\_wind\_of\_my\_soul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_wind_of_my_soul)
#### Post date: [August 5, 2016, 11:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-august-2016-edition/761529/26 "2016-08-05T11:52:40Z")
> [@Misnomer](#):
>
> That’s what I’m reading. I have no idea how far through it I am, though: it seems like the “progress” function was disabled for the Kindle edition (I’ve been all through the device settings; it works in other books, but seems to be unavailable for this one). I actually find it distracting to have no idea how much of the book is remaining. Odette and Felicity have just arrived at the ball in their live dresses.
>
> Anyway, so far I’m enjoying it as much as the first one. I like the Myfanwy Thomas character, but I’m glad _Stiletto_ focuses on others. I wouldn’t say it’s better than _The Rook_, but I don’t think it’s any worse. 🙂
Glad you liked it! I just found that compared to the first book, I found my mind wandering off more as I was reading, and I didn’t feel as much of a pull to come back to reading when I was away. Of course, I did move to a new house right in the middle of this book, but I read the first book as I was re-certifying as an EMT and participating as a member of a CMMI appraisal team at my company, so I had occasion to be pretty distracted both times.
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### Author:  [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)
#### Post date: [August 5, 2016, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-august-2016-edition/761529/27 "2016-08-05T13:29:35Z")
Started reading my daughter’s copy of _Harry Potter and the Cursed Child_ last night. I am trying really, really hard not to compare it to the books, but not very successfully. I need to hear about Albus’ experience at Slytherin! And the Time Turner is the worst possible device to revive, because it is the hardest to handle plot-wise. _grumblegrumble_
On audiobook, I tore thru four of the old old Tom Swift novels - _Tom Swift and His Electric Runabout, Tom Swift and His Wireless Message, Tom Swift and His Submarine Boat_, and _Tom Swift Among the Diamond Makers_. Innocent, gee-whiz YA fiction from the era where it was amazing to read about an airship that can fly ninety miles an hour! And send and receive Morse code messages from mid-air! Unfortunately the take-away is that Tom is a moron without the slightest notion of safety engineering, in the sense of “it’s our first tryout of the submarine - let’s go down a couple of miles and see if it works!” And no one bothers to say “gee whiz, Tom, WHAT IF IT FUCKING DOESN"T!!!” Not to mention Eradicate Sampson, the elderly colored man with his comical mule Boomerang, who does odd jobs around the Swift home. He calls Tom Swift, who is a teenager, “Massa Tom”. Tom calls him “Rad”. Oh, those colored folk - they are so funny. :rolleyes:
Other reading is _Rough Justice_, about a New York ADA and his years prosecuting various losers. About what I expected. No startling insights - mostly (so far) the struggle of an idealist against a cynical reality. They’re all guilty, they’re all losers, whether you go easy or throw the book at them it doesn’t really affect anything.
Next up is _Grunt: The Science of Warfare_ and I have to get my phone fixed so I can do _Tom Swift and the Visitor From Planet X_, from the 1950 and 60s revival of the series.
Regards,
Shodan
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### Author:  [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)
#### Post date: [August 5, 2016, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-august-2016-edition/761529/28 "2016-08-05T15:31:53Z")
Started today on [The Big Book of Science Fiction](https://www.amazon.com/Big-Book-Science-Fiction/dp/1101910097/ref=sr_1_fkmr0_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1470410883&sr=8-1-fkmr0&keywords=amy+vandermeer), edited by Jeff and Amy Vandermeer. This is a big anthology; I will probably dip in and out of it. I wish it was a hardcover, though! The dern thing’s over three inches thick and I fear for its flimsy paper cover.
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### Author:  [@Quimby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quimby)
#### Post date: [August 5, 2016, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-august-2016-edition/761529/29 "2016-08-05T16:09:52Z")
Finished book one of the Star Trek series I mentioned and rather then move on to book two right away decided to pick up Harry Potter and the Cursed Child. Like it so far. Since it is the script of a play it will be a quick read.
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### Author:  [@dasmoocher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dasmoocher)
#### Post date: [August 5, 2016, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-august-2016-edition/761529/30 "2016-08-05T16:16:32Z")
_[The Nightingale’s Song](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Nightingale%27s_Song)_
> [@](#):
>
> The Nightingale’s Song is a 1995 book by Baltimore Sun journalist Robert Timberg. It relates the military and political careers of five graduates of the United States Naval Academy, most of whom served during the Vietnam War in either the United States Navy or United States Marine Corps: John McCain, Bud McFarlane, Oliver North, John Poindexter, and Jim Webb. Timberg himself was also a Naval Academy graduate and served in Vietnam with the Marine Corps, where he was badly wounded.
>
> The book examines how both the Annapolis and the Vietnam experiences shaped the different characters portrayed, and how it foreshadowed their political careers, and for some, their involvement in the Iran-Contra affair.
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### Author:  [@Grrlbrarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrlbrarian)
#### Post date: [August 5, 2016, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-august-2016-edition/761529/31 "2016-08-05T18:21:20Z")
> [@movingfinger](#):
>
> I am about halfway through Kage Baker’s\*\* In the Garden of Iden\*\* and I am enjoying it. Time travel, immortals, English and Spanish history, sex, religious skullduggery, unicorns (well, one sort of unicorn) and that’s only the first half.
I liked this too! And if memory serves, there’s a gracious plenty of Company novels if you want more. 😃
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### Author:  [@Albert\_Rose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Albert_Rose)
#### Post date: [August 5, 2016, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-august-2016-edition/761529/32 "2016-08-05T18:31:25Z")
I’m enjoying some nutritious reading - Jane Austen’s _Emma_. I’m enjoying it 3-4 chapters a day, so as to extend my delight. I’ll tackle Patrick Rothfuss’s _The Name of the Wind_ next.
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### Author:  [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)
#### Post date: [August 7, 2016, 8:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-august-2016-edition/761529/33 "2016-08-07T08:33:40Z")
Still not far into _Against the Day_, by Thomas Pynchon. I’ve not read a word since arriving in Honolulu. Too busy. Hope to pick it up again soon.
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### Author:  [@DZedNConfused](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DZedNConfused)
#### Post date: [August 7, 2016, 11:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-august-2016-edition/761529/34 "2016-08-07T11:50:36Z")
I read 19 pages of **Devil Said Bang** by Richard Kadrey waiting for the lab at my Dr’s offfice to open this morning.
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### Author:  [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)
#### Post date: [August 9, 2016, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-august-2016-edition/761529/35 "2016-08-09T21:29:53Z")
I just started reading [Paper: Paging Through History](https://www.amazon.ca/Paper-Through-History-Mark-Kurlansky/dp/0393239616/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1470777271&sr=1-1&keywords=Paper) by Mark Kurlansky, the guy who wrote [Salt: A World History](https://www.amazon.ca/Salt-World-History-Mark-Kurlansky/dp/0676975356/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1470778089&sr=1-2).
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### Author:  [@Rick\_Kitchen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick_Kitchen)
#### Post date: [August 9, 2016, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-august-2016-edition/761529/36 "2016-08-09T22:53:24Z")
After all these years, I’m finally getting around to “Ready Player One”, and am really enjoying it. Though I have a hard time seeing Tye Sheridan as Parzival in the movie, unless he’s only going to be playing an avatar.
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### Author:  [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)
#### Post date: [August 10, 2016, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-august-2016-edition/761529/37 "2016-08-10T03:46:26Z")
Just enjoyed a week on the beach and did a lot of reading. I finished:
Michael P. Zatarga’s _The Battle of Roanoke Island_, about fighting along the North Carolina coast during the Civil War. The author had a bland writing style, alas, and left far too many typos.
Robert Lawson’s _Capt. Kidd’s Cat_, a favorite from my childhood, as great as ever.
Bertrand R. Brinley’s _The New Adventures of the Mad Scientists’ Club_, another favorite, the second short-story collection about a group of small-town science nerds and their elaborate pranks. Lots of fun - now I want to re-read the first.
Also re-read Ken Grimwood’s sf novel _Replay_, about re-living your life over and over again, which holds up pretty well the second time 'round.
I’m now more than halfway through Ian W. Toll’s _Six Frigates: The Epic History of the Founding of the U.S. Navy_, which is still quite good. Got through the Barbary Pirates campaign and now the War of 1812 is looming.
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### Author:  [@Misnomer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Misnomer)
#### Post date: [August 10, 2016, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-august-2016-edition/761529/38 "2016-08-10T16:45:01Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#):
>
> Also re-read Ken Grimwood’s sf novel _Replay_, about re-living your life over and over again, which holds up pretty well the second time 'round.
I’ve read it a few times; one of my faves. I might have to read it again soon. 🙂
---
### Author:  [@The\_wind\_of\_my\_soul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_wind_of_my_soul)
#### Post date: [August 15, 2016, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-august-2016-edition/761529/39 "2016-08-15T18:23:17Z")
I’m about two hundred pages into [The Lake House](https://www.amazon.com/Lake-House-Novel-Kate-Morton/dp/1451649355/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1471285020&sr=8-1&keywords=the+lake+house) by Kate Morton, and I’m loving it!! It’s written in the same formula as all her other books: a frame novel, where there’s a mystery in the past, and someone in the present looks for clues to try to solve the mystery. And a good dose of romance thrown into the mix. I’m actually pleasantly surprised, because I’ve read all of Kate Morton’s novels, and she typically takes a long time to really get going. Her books tend to be around the 600 page mark, and you need to get about 200 pages in before you really get sucked into the story. But in her latest offering, Morton actually had me sucked in right from the beginning, and I love knowing that I still have so much of the book to enjoy!
I also just started [Alphabetical: How Every Letter Tells a Story](https://www.amazon.com/Alphabetical-Every-Letter-Tells-Story/dp/161902702X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1471285253&sr=8-1&keywords=alphabetical) by Michael Rosen, which I learned about on the Straight Dope when **delphica** recommended it in the [Top Ten Books You Read in 2015](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=779730) thread. I’m still at the beginning, but so far, I really, really like it because the other is really unafraid to show his love for things intellectual. It’s those authors that don’t apologize for or joke about their nerdiness, but really embrace it and show an honest love for their subject matter, that are the most fun to read.
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### Author:  [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)
#### Post date: [August 15, 2016, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-august-2016-edition/761529/40 "2016-08-15T20:18:38Z")
> [@The\_wind\_of\_my\_soul](#):
>
> …It’s those authors that don’t apologize for or joke about their nerdiness, but really embrace it and show an honest love for their subject matter, that are the most fun to read.
Then I’ll bet you’d really enjoy, as I did, Ken Jennings’s _Brainiac: Adventures in the Curious, Competitive, Compulsive World of Trivia Buffs._ Lots of unapologetically nerdy fun.
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