# Khadaji's Whatcha Readin' thread -- August 2018 Edition **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 30, 2018, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-august-2018-edition/818787 "2018-07-30T00:33:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**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:** [August 3, 2018, 1:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-august-2018-edition/818787/21 "2018-08-03T13:11:29Z")
[The Strange Bird](https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/jeff-vandermeer/the-strange-bird/), by Jeff VanderMeer, is as lovely and horrifying and heartbreaking as I’m accustomed to from his writing. It’s 109 pages, so a short read, and is in the same world as **Borne** , and should definitely be read after Borne given its spoilers for the previous novel. I’ll be very surprised if it doesn’t pick up awards. ---
**Author:** ![chaika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chaika/32/405_2.png) [@chaika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chaika)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2018, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-august-2018-edition/818787/22 "2018-08-03T16:13:19Z")
I just read _Love_ by Hanne Orstavik. A Norwegian novel, very atmospheric and ominous, with a relentless narrative that seems to be moving toward some terrible conclusion. I won’t say more than that but I recommend this book highly. I’ve just started reading a thriller called _The Innocent Wife_ by Amy Lloyd. Pure fluff and not very compelling so far. I wouldn’t even mention it but for the following complaint. The writer is British but many of the characters and the early setting are American. One intensely annoying thing is that the American characters use British turns of phrase that no American would ever use. A decent editor should have picked up on this issue since the writer herself was clearly unaware of it. ---
**Author:** ![peedin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peedin/32/14095_2.png) [@peedin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/peedin)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2018, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-august-2018-edition/818787/23 "2018-08-03T18:14:39Z")
_Lethal Bayou Beauty_, by Jana Deleon. Really funny cozy mystery. The first of this series is on Amazon free for Kindle. ---
**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:** [August 4, 2018, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-august-2018-edition/818787/24 "2018-08-04T13:40:50Z")
I finished re-reading “The Adventures of Roderick Random” by Tobias Smollett, which is probably my favourite book written in the 18th century. I think what sets it apart from the average picaresque novel are the autobiographical elements (like the description of serving as a naval surgeon or Mr Melopoyn’s story of trying to get his play performed on stage); Smollett’s genuine indignation (and sarcastic humour) really stands out in those parts. ---
**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:** [August 4, 2018, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-august-2018-edition/818787/25 "2018-08-04T18:17:31Z")
Back after a couple weeks’ hiatus due to friends visiting from Thailand, another American (South Carolina)-Thai couple. All reading was suspended as we ran around the state, so I am _still_ trying to finish _Great Expectations_, by Charles Dickens. ---
**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:** [August 4, 2018, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-august-2018-edition/818787/26 "2018-08-04T21:35:30Z")
> [@BetsQ](#): > > I recently finished Naomi Novak’s Spinning Silver, which is essentially a fairy tale. It is wonderful. I just finished it today. I agree with you. She has been hitting it out of the park lately. ---
**Author:** ![Asimovian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asimovian/32/172_2.png) [@Asimovian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asimovian)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2018, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-august-2018-edition/818787/27 "2018-08-04T21:40:55Z")
_Sundiver_ by David Brin. Currently on a sci-fi bender. ---
**Author:** ![Misnomer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/misnomer/32/14897_2.png) [@Misnomer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Misnomer)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2018, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-august-2018-edition/818787/28 "2018-08-05T18:39:42Z")
While on vacation I finished _[The President is Missing](https://www.amazon.com/President-Missing-Novel-James-Patterson/dp/0316412694/)_, by James Patterson and Bill Clinton. It was a good enough read but not great, and I was reminded why I don’t read much Patterson these days. I moved on to Jim Butcher’s _**[Brief Cases](https://www.amazon.com/Brief-Cases-Dresden-Files-Butcher/dp/0451492102/)**_, a collection of new-to-me short stories set in the Dresden Files world. Butcher hasn’t released new Dresden material since 2014’s _Skin Game_, and I’d forgotten how much I enjoy that world and those characters. I’d missed it/them, and am loving this collection. I’m about 80% done, and will be kind of sad when I finish it. In fact, I might go re-watch the old TV show (only partly for Paul Blackthorne ;)). ---
**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:** [August 5, 2018, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-august-2018-edition/818787/29 "2018-08-05T20:22:45Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > Back after a couple weeks’ hiatus due to friends visiting from Thailand, another American (South Carolina)-Thai couple. All reading was suspended as we ran around the state, so I am _still_ trying to finish _Great Expectations_, by Charles Dickens. Finally finished _Great Expectations_, by Charles Dickens. A young lad in early 19th-century England suddenly finds himself with “great expectations” in life after being tapped by an anonymous wealthy benefactor. Adventures ensue. Very good. Not quite finished with the book though, as there some appendices and essays in this volume I want to read through. ---
**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:** [August 5, 2018, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-august-2018-edition/818787/30 "2018-08-05T21:04:54Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > Finally finished _Great Expectations_, by Charles Dickens. A young lad in early 19th-century England suddenly finds himself with “great expectations” in life after being tapped by an anonymous wealthy benefactor. Adventures ensue. Very good. Not quite finished with the book though, as there some appendices and essays in this volume I want to read through. Did your copy have the alternate ending? I found that fascinating. ---
**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:** [August 5, 2018, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-august-2018-edition/818787/31 "2018-08-05T21:41:55Z")
> [@wonky](#): > > Did your copy have the alternate ending? I found that fascinating. It does, and that’s one of the appendices. ---
**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:** [August 5, 2018, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-august-2018-edition/818787/32 "2018-08-05T23:45:58Z")
**Dung Beetle** have you seen this? [John Bellairs comes to the movies!](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2119543/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1) I tend to avoid movie adaptations because I’m usually dissapointed, but Jack Black and Cate Blanchett tempt me mightily. ---
**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:** [August 6, 2018, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-august-2018-edition/818787/33 "2018-08-06T17:36:12Z")
I have been tempted away into reading _Crazy Rich Asians_. It’s both enthralling (in the sense of I can’t put it down), and in desperate need of an editor. It’s a cacophony of names and places, with hints of a slightly catty tone that almost reminds of Wodehouse. If it achieved Wodehouse, it would be wonderful, but it doesn’t. It’s compared to _The Joy Luck Club_, but it doesn’t achieve that either. There are a handful of characters that we care about, but we spend relatively little time with them in the narrative. My impression overall is that this is meant to be a “tell all” about the Asian rich. The story ends up split between the tell all, and the romance, and 3/4s of it becomes a blur that I am slogging through almost as a educational exercise. ---
**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:** [August 6, 2018, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-august-2018-edition/818787/34 "2018-08-06T19:19:25Z")
> [@DZedNConfused](#): > > **Dung Beetle** have you seen this? > > [John Bellairs comes to the movies!](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2119543/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1) I tend to avoid movie adaptations because I’m usually dissapointed, but Jack Black and Cate Blanchett tempt me mightily. :eek: No, it’s news to me! Good news? I’m not sure. I do know that I’ll be going to see it in the theatre…breaking my very long streak. ---
**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:** [August 6, 2018, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-august-2018-edition/818787/35 "2018-08-06T19:27:55Z")
I hope they don’t lose the scary in the effort to show all the wackiness. Hand of Glory and all the rest! ---
**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:** [August 6, 2018, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-august-2018-edition/818787/36 "2018-08-06T19:41:42Z")
I’m scared already. 😃 I’ve been reading off my Kindle lately and don’t have it handy, but from (faulty) memory I read Joe Lansdale’s Hoodoo Harry, Cold Cotton, Grady Hendrix’s [Tales of the White Street Society](http://www.gradyhendrix.com/tales-of-the-white-street-society/), and am now re-reading Joe Hill’s [Horns](https://www.amazon.com/Horns-Novel-Joe-Hill/dp/0061147966). Wow, I forgot how good this was! ---
**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:** [August 7, 2018, 4:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-august-2018-edition/818787/37 "2018-08-07T04:57:47Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > Finally finished _Great Expectations_, by Charles Dickens. A young lad in early 19th-century England suddenly finds himself with “great expectations” in life after being tapped by an anonymous wealthy benefactor. Adventures ensue. Very good. Not quite finished with the book though, as there some appendices and essays in this volume I want to read through. > [@wonky](#): > > Did your copy have the alternate ending? I found that fascinating. > [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > It does, and that’s one of the appendices. Finished the appendices and essays accompanying Charles Dickens’ _Great Expectations_. Yes, the alternate ending was interesting. Next up is _Disaster at Stalingrad_, by Peter Tsouras. An alternate history about what if the Germans had won that WWII battle? Loaned to me by a huge history buff who is a fan of the author, whose works are unknown to me. ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2018, 1:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-august-2018-edition/818787/38 "2018-08-07T13:17:39Z")
I finished _A Thousand Degrees Below Zero_ by Murray Leinster. I usually like him as an old school pulp sci-fi writer, but this was no better than ordinary. I kind of like how nobody notices that they have invented perpetual motion, but apart from that, evil genius tries to take over the world by freezing up New York Harbor and is defeated by the noble young inventor (in a biplane, no less) is pretty clockwork. Right now, I am working on _The Sicilian_ by Mario Puzo. So far it is more of a spin-off than a sequel to _The Godfather_, but it is too soon to tell. I re-read _The Godfather_ earlier, and this has the same structure of introducing characters, then giving their back story, “trust nobody”. I don’t recognize anything from the book from the movie _Godfather II_, and the whole Vito Corleone back story is from the first book, but so far _The Sicilian_ is holding my interest. I also read Andrew Vachss’ _Blackjack: A Cross Novel_, but didn’t care for it all that much. Vachss doesn’t do the supernatural very well, and it read too much like a screenplay for a big budget action movie, and for some reason I am tired of the gang of semi-superhuman outcasts with unlimited access to magic technology as Vachss writes it. It seems like he invents characters just to be quirky, and it lacks the innocence of narrative to be convincing. Regards, Shodan ---
**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:** [August 7, 2018, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-august-2018-edition/818787/39 "2018-08-07T14:23:20Z")
Recent reads _Wheel of the Infinite_, by Martha Wells. If you like strong women characters and fantasy and have never read Martha Wells, I can’t recommend her highly enough. She’s really outstanding. _Spinning Silver_, by Naomi Novik. Outstanding women characters (I’m on a roll!) and a wonderful storyline evocative of fairy tales. _Ashes of the Elements_, by Alys Clare. DNF. Her characters tell each other things they already know to advance the plot. “As you know, my son is the king of England!” _Scandal Above Stairs_, by Jennifer Ashley. Historical mystery. Very readable but with so much in the way of coincidence and implausibility that it was hard to stay immersed. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2018, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-august-2018-edition/818787/40 "2018-08-07T14:42:34Z")
> [@wonky](#): > > Recent reads > > _The Professor and the Madman: A Tale of Murder, Insanity and the Making of the Oxford English Dictionary_, by Simon Winchester. Really enjoyable non-fiction about, well, what the title says. I found it profoundly melancholy. Agreed on all counts. Fascinating yet sad. I’ve just finished reading [Staking Claims to a Continent](https://houseofanansi.com/products/staking-claims-to-a-continent) which I mentioned last month. I’m afraid it fell between two stools. If you’re familiar with the US Civil War literature, you’ll probably find it just covers well-trod soil, and same if you’re familiar with Canadian Confederation. While it’s easy to see the Union and the CSA as direct competitors, it’s harder to draw the link to Canada. Sure, there were interactions, like the Trent Affair, the St Albans raid, and so on, but there weren’t a lot of direct links. Might be interesting for someone who isn’t familiar with the Civil War stuff, or someone who’s not familiar with the Confederation stuff, but I’m afraid I found it superficial, overall. (Plus I found errors in it - nothing major, but enough to make me dog-ear the pages and think about sending an e-mail to the author! Haven’t done that yet.) Man, I sound grumbly. I think I’ll read an Agatha Christie or a Wodehouse to calm me down. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-august-2018-edition/818787.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-august-2018-edition/818787.md?page=3)