# 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:** 7
**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 23, 2018, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-august-2018-edition/818787/121 "2018-08-23T23:01:16Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > This is interesting. I read Miss Peregrine after seeing the really cool movie trailer for it, and I thought it was a giant derivative yawn, but figured maybe I was just being snooty. I didn’t realize what a common opinion it was :). Of course you were being snooty AND it’s a giant derivative yawn! ---
**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:** [August 24, 2018, 4:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-august-2018-edition/818787/122 "2018-08-24T04:14:15Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > Listening to an audiobook of Jewish-themed short stories, _For the Relief of Unbearable Urges_, by Nathan Englander. It’s OK but not great. Doubt I’ll remember it a week after finishing it. Just finished it, and have to say it grew on me. The best stories are the title story (in which a man rejected by his beautiful wife gets permission from his rabbi to visit a prostitute), “The Twenty-Seventh Man” (several Russian writers arrested on Stalin’s orders bond while in prison), and “In This Way We Are Wise” and “A Call Home,” a pair of contemporary linked stories about a man who survives a terrorist bombing in Jerusalem and afterwards tries to come to grips with the experience. ---
**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 24, 2018, 12:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-august-2018-edition/818787/123 "2018-08-24T12:20:49Z")
Well, I liked _Miss Peregrine_! I’m still reading the series, looking forward to the new one coming out in October. I could actually do without the photographs, but I guess they’re the source of the author’s inspiration, so whatever. ---
**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 24, 2018, 12:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-august-2018-edition/818787/124 "2018-08-24T12:42:23Z")
> [@Dung\_Beetle](#): > > Well, I liked _Miss Peregrine_! I’m still reading the series, looking forward to the new one coming out in October. I could actually do without the photographs, but I guess they’re the source of the author’s inspiration, so whatever. Y’all have seen what I read, so you know I have no judgy legs to stand on. 😃 Cases in point: Recently read _Jovah’s Angel_, by Sharon Shinn. Fantasy/SF. Shinn is very readable, but a couple of things about this book hacked me right off, especially logic like “We know what’s really going on, but for people’s own good we’ll hide that because that’s what our ancestors wanted!” BAH! _Walk Two Moons_, by Sharon Creech. Newbery winner. It’s not bad at all, but falls into a frustrating Newbery formula and the side story is where I think the real action could have been. _The Girl Who Drank the Moon_, by Kelly Barnhill. Newbery winner. This one is lovely. _Death of a Dishonorable Gentleman_, by Tessa Arlen. Historical mystery, pre-WWI. Decent characters. A bit distant. _The Original Watergate Stories_, from the Washington Post. The writing in most of these is actually pretty darned bad. It’s not a very complete collection, so it’s really only for people who know what the heck is going on. _Meet Your Baker_, by Ellie Alexander. Cozy mystery. Better than most. _Ruff Justice_, by Laurien Berenson. Cozy mystery. Still love this series. I’m all caught up. _Curse of the PTA_, by Laura Alden. Cozy mystery. Odd pacing. The protagonist has taken neuroticism a step too far. _Send in the Clowns_, by Julie Mulhern. Historical mystery set in the 70s. Still loving this fluff series. It’s funny and I actually care about the characters. ---
**Author:** ![Barkis\_is\_Willin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a183cd/32.png) [@Barkis\_is\_Willin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Barkis_is_Willin)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2018, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-august-2018-edition/818787/125 "2018-08-24T13:45:11Z")
Finished \*\*Sleeping Giants \*\*by Sylvain Neuvel last night. Started out pretty strong sci-fi, but didn’t love the last third. This is the first of a trilogy series, and this book definitely sets up for a sequel. I’m not overly motivated to run out and grab the 2nd book. Maybe check this out if you want to read something that’s styled a little differently from your typical fiction novel. This is told dossier style, through journal entries and interviews. Mostly interviews. So when action happens, we don’t get much description because we’re only hearing about it after the fact in an interview. ---
**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 24, 2018, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-august-2018-edition/818787/126 "2018-08-24T15:38:14Z")
> [@wonky](#): > > Of course you were being snooty AND it’s a giant derivative yawn! It’s nice when everything comes together. ---
**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:** [August 24, 2018, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-august-2018-edition/818787/127 "2018-08-24T19:42:53Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > It’s nice when everything comes together. I love it when a pan comes together. ---
**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 24, 2018, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-august-2018-edition/818787/128 "2018-08-24T20:17:29Z")
I am reading Ilona Andrews _Iron and Magic_ in advance of their **Magic Triumphs** , which comes out on Tuesday. The Tuesday book is the end of their Kate Daniels series. I love almost everything these authors write, but I’ve been putting this book off. _Magic Triumphs_ happens after events in this book, so I need to finish up. ---
**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 24, 2018, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-august-2018-edition/818787/129 "2018-08-24T20:20:19Z")
> [@Dendarii\_Dame](#): > > I love it when a pan comes together. Brava! ---
**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 24, 2018, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-august-2018-edition/818787/130 "2018-08-24T21:51:02Z")
> [@Dung\_Beetle](#): > > Well, I liked _Miss Peregrine_! I’m still reading the series, looking forward to the new one coming out in October. I could actually do without the photographs, but I guess they’re the source of the author’s inspiration, so whatever. We agree to disagree and given the amount of gay romance/erotic fiction I read, I have no grounds criticizing others’ for their reading choices. 😃 I finished **Soul Breaker** by Clara Coulson this morning. It was quite good. The set up is similar to Aaronovitch’s Rivers of London series but with the violence and gore ramped up. The characters were interesting and enjoyable, the plot quite good and the action well written. ---
**Author:** ![BetsQ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/fbc32d/32.png) [@BetsQ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BetsQ)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2018, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-august-2018-edition/818787/131 "2018-08-25T15:10:10Z")
Yikes. I have read (and enjoyed) a lot of those DNF books. However, the one I didn’t finish is Red Queen. You guys, it is so, so, so awful. I’ve been too busy at work to read much recently, but I have found time for Martha Wells’s second and third Murderbot novellas. They are fun, bite-sized reads. ---
**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 25, 2018, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-august-2018-edition/818787/132 "2018-08-25T15:17:49Z")
> [@BetsQ](#): > > Yikes. I have read (and enjoyed) a lot of those DNF books. However, the one I didn’t finish is Red Queen. You guys, it is so, so, so awful. I have it in my to-read pile. I shall report back some day. ---
**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 25, 2018, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-august-2018-edition/818787/133 "2018-08-25T15:45:41Z")
I’m taking a break from German and Scandinavian writers to read Michael Ondaatje’s _Warlight_. So far it is stunning! ---
**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 25, 2018, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-august-2018-edition/818787/134 "2018-08-25T16:29:14Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > She gave up on _Miss Peregrine’s Home_ and really, really disliked it. Woman after my own heart 😃 Soooooooooo on a minor tangent, I learned, at 11pm MST, last night that Amazon Appstore on my tablet, was NOT a store for purchasing apps through Amazon, but actually where Amazon STORED the ebooks I purchased. This was discovered after I followed the clean up program’s recommendation to delete that GB stealing app… The upside of that was I cleaned up my ebook list on Amazon at midnight as I returned my books to my tablet. :smack: ---
**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 25, 2018, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-august-2018-edition/818787/135 "2018-08-25T18:15:37Z")
Ugh. I hate it when things like that happen. On a related note, after 1000’s of kindle books, I am experimenting with nook. Amazon has some business practices that I am uncomfortable with, and Barnes and Noble has physical stores I can go to if I like. We’ll see how it goes. I finished the Ilona Andrews book. I generally liked it. Now I need to figure out what to read next… ---
**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 25, 2018, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-august-2018-edition/818787/136 "2018-08-25T19:15:23Z")
> [@Sunny\_Daze](#): > > Ugh. I hate it when things like that happen. On a related note, after 1000’s of kindle books, I am experimenting with nook. Amazon has some business practices that I am uncomfortable with, and Barnes and Noble has physical stores I can go to if I like. We’ll see how it goes. > > I finished the Ilona Andrews book. I generally liked it. Now I need to figure out what to read next… Have you tried _Dark Days Club_? It might suit you, given some of your suggestions upthread. Oh, and I used to use Nook and liked it, but they didn’t have the wireless delivery of books at that time (I don’t know if they have it now). I didn’t like having to hook my Nook up to my computer to download. I am lazy. ---
**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 25, 2018, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-august-2018-edition/818787/137 "2018-08-25T19:35:22Z")
> [@Dendarii\_Dame](#): > > I love it when a pan comes together. 😃 ---
**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 25, 2018, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-august-2018-edition/818787/138 "2018-08-25T21:05:33Z")
There are only 2 books on that list that I started. I DNF Miss Peregrine and slogged through The Magicians. Note: I loathe sci/fi fantasy somwould never even attempt Outlander. ---
**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:** [August 25, 2018, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-august-2018-edition/818787/139 "2018-08-25T21:32:36Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > Now reading _Great Stories of Space Travel_, a 1963 collection of short stories edited by Groff Conklin, and _Groo: Friends and Foes, Vol. 1_, a Conanesque sword-and-sorcery parody by longtime _Mad_ magazine cartoonist Sergio Aragones. Finished both. The first was great; my favorites were “I’ll Build Your Dream Castle” by Jack Vance, about an architect who figures out how to build customized miniature orbital habitats for billionaires, and “Allamagoosa” by Eric Frank Russell, about the inspection of a military starship gone comically awry (it could be adapted into a pretty funny _Star Trek_ episode). The Aragones graphic novel didn’t make me laugh all that much. Now reading Patrick O’Brian’s _The Mauritius Command_, in which Aubrey and Maturin are off to the African coast for another Napoleonic naval adventure, and Alan Dean Foster’s _Splinter of the Mind’s Eye_, a very early _Star Wars_ novel in which Luke, Leia, Artoo and Threepio, on a secret mission, have to crash-land on a jungle world. Both are pretty good so far. ---
**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 25, 2018, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-august-2018-edition/818787/140 "2018-08-25T22:02:15Z")
> [@peedin](#): > > There are only 2 books on that list that I started. I DNF Miss Peregrine and slogged through The Magicians. Note: I loathe sci/fi fantasy somwould never even attempt Outlander. Just out of curiosity, why did you try Miss Peregrine and The Magicians? Outlander is sf/fantasy because of the time travel, but I think of it more as a romance novel. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-august-2018-edition/818787.md?page=6) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-august-2018-edition/818787.md?page=8)