# Khadaji's Whatcha Readin' thread -- August 2017 Edition
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-august-2017-edition/792449
**Category:** Cafe Society
**Created:** [July 30, 2017, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-august-2017-edition/792449 "2017-07-30T17:06:15Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@DZedNConfused](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DZedNConfused)
#### Post date: [July 30, 2017, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-august-2017-edition/792449/1 "2017-07-30T17:06:15Z")
Sooooo… summer in the Northern Hemisphere is on the wane. Thank Heavens! Those of us out West are thoroughly baked through! I am currently chilling in Northern Michigan, this desert child tried walking outside…very odd to have ground that sinks under your feet. It’s for the zombies right?
I have some 14 books on my currently reading list on [Goodreads list.](https://www.goodreads.com/review/list/3448061-kris?shelf=currently-reading&utm_campaign=mybooksnav&utm_content=mybooks_cta&utm_medium=web&utm_source=homepage) I did read some more in\*\* Nemesis \*\*by Jo Nesbo this morning.
```auto
Khadaji was one of the earlier members of the SDMB, and he was well-known as a kindly person who always had something encouraging to say, particularly in the self-improvement threads. He was also a voracious, omnivorous reader, and he started these monthly book threads. Sadly, he passed away in January 2013, and we decided to rename these monthly threads in his honor.
```
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### Author:  [@DZedNConfused](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DZedNConfused)
#### Post date: [July 30, 2017, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-august-2017-edition/792449/2 "2017-07-30T17:09:04Z")
Last month’s sun baked extravaganza, dare I say plethora, of reading material: [Hey mate? Got reading?](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=20380034&posted=1#post20380034)
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### Author:  [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)
#### Post date: [July 31, 2017, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-august-2017-edition/792449/3 "2017-07-31T00:30:02Z")
Finished
_Assaulted Pretzel_, by Laura Bradford. Cozy mystery that is mawkish, with an overly sentimental take on the Amish. But it’s actually got characters and isn’t written so stupidly it makes my eyes want to go on vacation. Whee!
Started
_Glamour in Glass_, by Mary Robinette Kowal. Sequel to an earlier novel that was basically Jane Austen with magic.
_Witch_, by Barbara Michaels. Supernatural thriller. I’m reading this in my browser, which means I might never finish. Amazon can’t seem to figure out how to download it to my Kindle.
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### Author:  [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)
#### Post date: [July 31, 2017, 6:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-august-2017-edition/792449/4 "2017-07-31T06:07:37Z")
Started the excellent _Washington: A Life_, by Ron Chernow, a couple of days ago and am thoroughly enjoying it.
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### Author:  [@The\_wind\_of\_my\_soul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_wind_of_my_soul)
#### Post date: [July 31, 2017, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-august-2017-edition/792449/5 "2017-07-31T14:10:57Z")
Oh boy, I finished quite a few good books since I last posted in one of these threads.
I read [Me Before You](https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0089EHWQE/ref=sxts_sxwds-tsp_2?pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_p=3139988802&pd_rd_wg=38phB&pf_rd_r=S92NH3K3AWG6VF955QDG&pf_rd_s=desktop-sx-top-slot&pf_rd_t=301&pd_rd_i=B0089EHWQE&pd_rd_w=dJcxD&pf_rd_i=me+before+you&pd_rd_r=KXNHTQMN358T98NTA330&ie=UTF8&qid=1501509155&sr=2). Unfortunately, since it’s such a popular book, I knew the ending going into the book, which lessened its emotional impact. I still enjoyed the book, though.
I read [Dealing with Dragons](https://www.amazon.com/Dealing-Dragons-Enchanted-Forest-Chronicles-ebook/dp/B00QPHX2U2/ref=sr_1_sc_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1501509263&sr=1-1-spell&keywords=deadling+with+Dragons). My choice to read this book comes with a backstory that I’ll spoiler.
My best friend and I were talking about our different tastes in books. She commented that she had trouble recommending books to me, because she wasn’t sure what I enjoyed. I told her that my favorite author was Kimberley Freeman, so she added Freeman’s most popular book, _Wildflower Hill_, to her to read list. Then she said that if she could recommend one book to me to read, as representative of her tastes, she’d choose _Dealing with Dragons_. Well, I felt a little like I had been duped into taking a recommendation when I hadn’t asked for one, but when I looked up a sample of the book on Amazon it actually looked pretty light-hearted and enjoyable – exactly what I was in the mood for at the moment. So I downloaded it that weekend. And since it’s a middle reader book, it’s pretty short with simple sentences, so I finished it in just a few days. I thoroughly enjoyed it and would recommend it.
I read [The Wiregrass](https://www.amazon.com/Wiregrass-Novel-Pam-Webber-ebook/dp/B0101RTXH2/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1501509566&sr=1-1&keywords=the+wiregrass), which is the sort of book that you really ought to read in the summertime. The premise is that a group of cousins in their early teens stay at their aunt’s house down south for the summer, and it follows them around on their hijinks. While it starts out fairly light-hearted, it eventually gets into some dark subject matter. It was a good book, but there were a few minor flaws. For instance, I think there were too many cousins, and the storyline would have been easier to follow if there were fewer main characters. I also didn’t like the author’s habit of putting the narrator’s thoughts in italics in the middle of an action scene. It was usually unnecessary, because you could figure out what the narrator was likely to be thinking, between the events and what you know of her personality. But this was the author’s first novel, and the flaws were fairly minor, so I’m looking forward to seeing her improve.
I read Nick Vujicic’s [Limitless: Devotions for a Ridiculously Good Life](https://www.amazon.com/Limitless-Devotions-Ridiculously-Good-Life-ebook/dp/B009MYATS8/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1501509787&sr=1-1&keywords=devotions+nick+vujicic). Nick Vujicic is a Christian motivational speaker, and his manner of speaking really works for me. He comes across as incredibly humble and gracious, while also lively with a good sense of humor. At least based on his public persona, he is very much the person I strive to be, so his advice on how to live well carries a lot of weight coming from him. His first book, [Life Without Limits](https://www.amazon.com/Life-Without-Limits-Inspiration-Ridiculously-ebook/dp/B003F3PK6I/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1501509910&sr=1-1&keywords=life+without+limits), changed my outlook on life. His more recent offering was worth reading, but considerably weaker than his first book. Vujicic has become pretty famous and successful, and some of his more recent books seem like they were put together rather fast to capitalize on his current success. So while I enjoyed Limitless, I certainly wouldn’t consider it life-changing, the way his first book was.
Lastly, I finished [Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine](https://www.amazon.com/Eleanor-Oliphant-Completely-Fine-Novel-ebook/dp/B01KGZVTOE/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1501510030&sr=1-1&keywords=eleanor+oliphant+is+completely+fine), and this is definitely in my list of top books that I’ve read all year. It’s about a socially awkward girl who lives a life full of routine but absent of meaningful social interaction. She starts to engage more with the world, but doing so opens up some psychological wounds from her past. The beginning of the book is part humorous and part creepy; her social awkwardness is amusing, but her way of life is depressing. 2/3 of the way into the book the tone of the book changes and becomes much less upbeat, but by that point I was incredibly intrigued to hear her life story so the change in tone was almost a relief, because I could tell I was close to finally learning her secrets. This was one of those books where when I got to the last quarter of the book I pretty much abandoned everything else I needed to do and hungrily turned the pages until I was finished.
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### Author:  [@peedin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/peedin)
#### Post date: [July 31, 2017, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-august-2017-edition/792449/6 "2017-07-31T16:09:55Z")
Checked out “Roller Skates” (listed in last month’s thread) and John Cleese’s autobiography. Enjoying both immensely. What I love about “Roller Skates” is that it’s set in the same typeface as the Betsy-Tacy books. Makes me feel warm and cozy.
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### Author:  [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)
#### Post date: [August 1, 2017, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-august-2017-edition/792449/7 "2017-08-01T14:24:58Z")
Started today on [Lost Boy: the true story of Captain Hook](https://www.amazon.com/Lost-Boy-True-Story-Captain/dp/0399584021/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1501595926&sr=8-1&keywords=lost+boy+book) by Christina Henry. The original Peter Pan is an odd little book, but I’ve really liked some stories inspired by it. This is pretty good so far.
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### Author:  [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)
#### Post date: [August 1, 2017, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-august-2017-edition/792449/8 "2017-08-01T18:54:26Z")
August already? Wow.
Just finished John Scalzi’s _Your Hate Mail Will Be Graded_, a scattershot best-of collection of postings from his Whatever blog. Not bad. His best stuff is on marriage equality, cereal-box mascots, advice for young writers and musings on fatherhood.
I’m on the home stretch of an audiobook of Ernest Hemingway’s fine 1926 novel _The Sun Also Rises_, a fictionalized account of his years as a struggling writer in Paris and Pamplona between the wars (it’s the book which popularized the annual Running of the Bulls). William Hurt is the reader and does the different characters’ voices well; his pronunciation of French and Spanish words is also, to my untrained ear, smoothly fluent.
I’m about two-thirds of the way through Sally Bedell Smith’s _Grace and Power_, about life in the Kennedy White House. It’s more gossip than serious history, but still interesting.
Next up: _Splinter of the Mind’s Eye_, a 1996 graphic novel by Terry Austin and Chris Sprouse, based on the Alan Dean Foster-penned _Star Wars_ sequel that never was.
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### Author:  [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)
#### Post date: [August 1, 2017, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-august-2017-edition/792449/9 "2017-08-01T19:16:45Z")
Oh! Forgot to mention I’m listening to the audiobook of [Lincoln In the Bardo](https://www.amazon.com/Lincoln-Bardo-Novel-George-Saunders/dp/0553397575/ref=tmm_abk_title_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1501614892&sr=1), as recommended by **Misnomer**. I’m not entirely sure what’s going on but it’s holding me. 🙂
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### Author:  [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)
#### Post date: [August 2, 2017, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-august-2017-edition/792449/10 "2017-08-02T00:37:21Z")
I finished reading **White Acre vs. Black Acre: A Case at Law**. It’s a novella-length allegory in defense of slavery written in 1856 as a reaction to **Uncle Tom’s Cabin**.
The story starts out with various nations are satirically represented as farmers and businessmen (e.g. Mr. Bull who represents England, Pat Rag who represents Ireland, Don Armado who represents Spain, etc.). Then the second half of the story talks about the sneaky, greedy hypocrites of White Acre farm trying to sue the honest, kind owners of Black Acre farm for the emancipation of their slaves (plus back wages).
Not surprisingly, the second half is jam-packed with various time-worn racist arguments, which wore thin pretty quickly (although the book isn’t very long). But there were a few extremely dubious arguments and assertions that I had never heard before:
[ul][li]The residents of the southern U.S. never wanted slaves in the first place; they were forced and/or tricked into buying the first slaves by the English government.[/li][li]For most of the history of slavery, the productivity of the average slave was actually less than the amount it took to feed, clothe and house that slave. So slaves should be compensating slave owners for the impact of slavery, not the other way around.[/li][li]White people have their calf muscles attached to the back of their lower legs but black people have their calf muscles attached to the front of their lower legs(!).[/li][li]Northerners wanted to abolish slavery out of jealousy and spite for the southerners laid-back, prosperous lifestyle.[/li][li]Black people cannot tolerate living in a northern climate because of their natural predisposition to “pulmonary scrofula”.[/ul][/li]
On an unrelated note, the epub version I read was clearly from an optical character recognition program, so on just about every page there was a puzzle to figure out what the original word was.
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### Author:  [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)
#### Post date: [August 2, 2017, 4:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-august-2017-edition/792449/11 "2017-08-02T04:06:27Z")
[quote=“hogarth, post:10, topic:792449”]
…[li]White people have their calf muscles attached to the back of their lower legs but black people have their calf muscles attached to the front of their lower legs(!)…[/li][/QUOTE]
I have, in my lifetime, heard similar arguments by racist yahoos as to why blacks excel at sports.
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### Author:  [@Dendarii\_Dame](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dendarii_Dame)
#### Post date: [August 2, 2017, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-august-2017-edition/792449/12 "2017-08-02T13:29:57Z")
Finished Mark Steyn’s **Broadway Babies Say Goodnight: Musicals Then and Now**. I thought it was excellent, probably the second best book I’ve read this year. It’s full of fascinating historical anecdotes and snarky humor. Interestingly, it’s the third book about Broadway musicals I’ve read in the past two years. There was little overlap in material and I enjoyed all three very much.
Now I’m reading **What If? Serious Scientific Answers to Absurd Hypothetical Questions** , by Randall Munroe. I like this a lot so far. Munroe’s style reminds me of **The Straight Dope**.
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### Author:  [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)
#### Post date: [August 2, 2017, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-august-2017-edition/792449/13 "2017-08-02T13:39:58Z")
> [@jsgoddess](#):
>
> _Glamour in Glass_, by Mary Robinette Kowal. Sequel to an earlier novel that was basically Jane Austen with magic.
Lookit me, actually finishing books! Gosh!
This was moderately enjoyable, but neither of the main characters were winning. I just didn’t care too much. But not a taxing read.
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### Author:  [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)
#### Post date: [August 2, 2017, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-august-2017-edition/792449/14 "2017-08-02T14:09:21Z")
From last month:
> [@Khadaji's Whatcha Readin' thread -- July 2017 Edition](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-july-2017-edition/790241/69):
>
> _Skeptic: Viewing the World with a Rational Eye_, by Michael Shermer. Non-fiction I will finish.
It’s interesting, but the essays are so short (about 1-2 minutes a piece) that they can’t get into anything in enough depth to be really engaging.
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### Author:  [@delphica](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/delphica)
#### Post date: [August 4, 2017, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-august-2017-edition/792449/15 "2017-08-04T16:07:30Z")
I finished A Portable _Cosmos: Revealing the Antikythera Mechanism, Scientific Wonder of the Ancient World_, by Alex Jones, which was excellent and I enjoyed it a lot. Would recommend to people interested in the history of science, or in Greek archaeology.
Now I’m on to _The Code of Kings: The Language of Seven Sacred Maya Temples and Tombs_ by Linda Schele and Peter Mathews. It’s a very detailed, step-by-step description of a number of Mayan sites. I’m liking it, but this is ending up as one very dense read following up another, so I think I’m on track for reading only two books this summer!
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### Author:  [@Malthus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malthus)
#### Post date: [August 4, 2017, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-august-2017-edition/792449/16 "2017-08-04T17:14:55Z")
> [@delphica](#):
>
> I finished A Portable _Cosmos: Revealing the Antikythera Mechanism, Scientific Wonder of the Ancient World_, by Alex Jones, which was excellent and I enjoyed it a lot. Would recommend to people interested in the history of science, or in Greek archaeology.
>
> Now I’m on to _The Code of Kings: The Language of Seven Sacred Maya Temples and Tombs_ by Linda Schele and Peter Mathews. It’s a very detailed, step-by-step description of a number of Mayan sites. I’m liking it, but this is ending up as one very dense read following up another, so I think I’m on track for reading only two books this summer!
I’ve read _The Code of Kings_, prior to visiting Palenque and Yaxchilan, and it was awesome.
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### Author:  [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)
#### Post date: [August 4, 2017, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-august-2017-edition/792449/17 "2017-08-04T19:03:38Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#):
>
> …I’m on the home stretch of an audiobook of Ernest Hemingway’s fine 1926 novel _The Sun Also Rises_, a fictionalized account of his years as a struggling writer in Paris and Pamplona between the wars (it’s the book which popularized the annual Running of the Bulls). William Hurt is the reader and does the different characters’ voices well; his pronunciation of French and Spanish words is also, to my untrained ear, smoothly fluent.
>
> …Next up: _Splinter of the Mind’s Eye_, a 1996 graphic novel by Terry Austin and Chris Sprouse, based on the Alan Dean Foster-penned _Star Wars_ sequel that never was.
Finished both.
I like Hemingway’s clean, streamlined, full-speed-ahead writing style, but was taken a bit aback by the very heavy drinking and casual anti-Semitism in the book. Kind of jarring for this 2017 reader.
_Splinter_ was a quick read - very true to Foster’s novel, as I remember it, including an unfortunately-hurried ending.
I’ve started rereading Richard Brookhiser’s _Founding Father: Rediscovering George Washington_, a good short bio which explains just why the first President deserved his many honors. I last read it more than a decade ago, I think.
I’ve also just begun Kim Stanley Robinson’s _New York 2140_, in which Manhattan has become a new Venice thanks to rising sea levels. The book has multiple characters, including two renegade computer coders, an NYPD detective, the super in an apartment building, and others. So far, so good.
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### Author:  [@DZedNConfused](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DZedNConfused)
#### Post date: [August 5, 2017, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-august-2017-edition/792449/18 "2017-08-05T19:19:58Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#):
>
> Finished both.
>
> I like Hemingway’s clean, streamlined, full-speed-ahead writing style, but was taken a bit aback by the very heavy drinking and casual anti-Semitism in the book. Kind of jarring for this 2017 reader.
I don’t remember the anti-Semitism but the heavy drinking amused me since I read in in high school, as an assigned book, in UTAH!
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### Author:  [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)
#### Post date: [August 6, 2017, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-august-2017-edition/792449/19 "2017-08-06T01:41:22Z")
> [@DZedNConfused](#):
>
> I don’t remember the anti-Semitism but the heavy drinking amused me since I read in in high school, as an assigned book, in UTAH!
Kudos to your teachers for being that open-minded!
As to the anti-Semitism, Cohn (the former Princeton boxer and struggling writer who has a brief, pre-Pamplona affair with Brett) is portrayed unflatteringly and is on the receiving end of various slurs spoken by several characters. Nobody sticks up for him or indicates that such language is objectionable. Typical of the times, I’m afraid.
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### Author:  [@DZedNConfused](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DZedNConfused)
#### Post date: [August 6, 2017, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-august-2017-edition/792449/20 "2017-08-06T01:53:31Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#):
>
> Kudos to your teachers for being that open-minded!
>
> As to the anti-Semitism, Cohn (the former Princeton boxer and struggling writer who has a brief, pre-Pamplona affair with Brett) is portrayed unflatteringly and is on the receiving end of various slurs spoken by several characters. Nobody sticks up for him or indicates that such language is objectionable. Typical of the times, I’m afraid.
Ahhh, I’m not doubting, I just didn’t remember it. Probably a combination of youth and inexperience in recognizing casual racism for what it is…
But I DO remember the drinking and the aggravation of having to back up several pages when you lose your place in the conversation and don’t know who the hell is speaking.
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