# Khadaji's Whatcha Readin' thread -- December 2017 Edition **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 1, 2017, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-december-2017-edition/803214 "2017-12-01T02:27:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![stpauler](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9d8465/32.png) [@stpauler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stpauler)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2017, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-december-2017-edition/803214/41 "2017-12-20T19:34:25Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > Hmm. There’s not an Uncle Ray or Aunt Terry in the book, is there? Well, it’s Uncle Jay. Or father Jay. (No mention of the mother’s name as of yet). But the letter and rhyming name and start of the song/letter is just a little too similar to be a coincidence. ---
**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:** [December 20, 2017, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-december-2017-edition/803214/42 "2017-12-20T20:02:03Z")
> [@Dendarii\_Dame](#): > > Gave up on _Death in the Stacks_ by Jenn McKinlay. I’m always hoping I’ll enjoy a new cozy mystery series but rarely do. I have that happen too often. I recognized that author’s name, so I looked her up on goodreads. My review of the only book of hers I read was: > [@](#): > > WTF? > > Page 30: “Lindsey noticed that his fingers were long and thin, almost too feminine for a man living on an island by himself.” > > – > > Good-ish plot. Mediocre (at best) characterization. Painful dialogue. ---
**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:** [December 21, 2017, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-december-2017-edition/803214/43 "2017-12-21T00:58:43Z")
I finished **The Seventh Bride** by T. Kingfisher aka Ursula Vernon today. It was a light weight horror retelling of the Blackbeard legend. A bit too graphic for kids but not gory, though Ingeth’s description made my stomach flop over.So I’ll call it upper teen and sensitive stomach adult fiction. (Not a fan of gore or gross out I prefer suspense and tension.) ---
**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:** [December 21, 2017, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-december-2017-edition/803214/44 "2017-12-21T01:09:42Z")
> [@DZedNConfused](#): > > I finished **The Seventh Bride** by T. Kingfisher aka Ursula Vernon today. It was a light weight horror retelling of the Blackbeard legend. A bit too graphic for kids but not gory, though Ingeth’s description made my stomach flop over.So I’ll call it upper teen and sensitive stomach adult fiction. (Not a fan of gore or gross out I prefer suspense and tension.) Make that the Bluebeard leagend… not being able to grow a beard, I mixed beards up. 😃 ---
**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:** [December 27, 2017, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-december-2017-edition/803214/45 "2017-12-27T16:59:31Z")
Finished _The Big Book of Christmas Mysteries_, edited by Otto Penzler. Didn’t read them all, but enjoyed several. My favorite was “The Christmas Bogey” by Pat Frank. Also liked “The Price of Light” by Ellis Peters, which was a Brother Cadfael story. Following tradition, I read J. Patrick Lewis’ _Long Was the Winter Road They Traveled_, a picture book retelling of the Nativity, on Christmas Day. Started _The Spinster Sisters_ by Stacey Ballis. ---
**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:** [December 27, 2017, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-december-2017-edition/803214/46 "2017-12-27T17:54:28Z")
Last night I started _The Girl Who Takes An Eye for An Eye_, which continues Stieg Larsson’s millennium series. Very good. So good that I brought it to work so I can read during lunch. I actually like the books written by Lagercrantz better than the Larsson books. ---
**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:** [December 27, 2017, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-december-2017-edition/803214/47 "2017-12-27T18:33:34Z")
I’m reading [I’m Just No Good at Rhyming: and other nonsense for mischievous kids and immature grownups](https://www.amazon.com/Just-Good-Rhyming-Mischievous-Grown-Ups/dp/0316266574/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1514399056&sr=8-1&keywords=im+just+no+good+at+rhyming). It’s about all I’ve got time or mental faculties to deal with this week. It’s not blowing me away, but it’s decent. I can see it being a really good time if I had the right kid to read it to. ---
**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:** [December 28, 2017, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-december-2017-edition/803214/48 "2017-12-28T04:15:32Z")
Just zipped through _Mail-Order Mysteries_ by Kirk Demarais, about all the cheapo stuff you used to be able to order for a buck or two from the back of comic books. Through the modern magic of eBay and Amazon, the author assembles a collection of stuff he meant to buy as a kid but couldn’t afford (or his parents wouldn’t let him, objecting that “It’s a rip-off!”), and then writes about it. Demarais proves his parents right but has fun as he does so: X-ray goggles, play sets, toys, costumes, masks, magic tricks, etc. I even recognized some toy soldiers that I bought when I was ten or so! A nice trip down Memory Lane. ---
**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:** [December 28, 2017, 4:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-december-2017-edition/803214/49 "2017-12-28T04:25:30Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > Just zipped through _Mail-Order Mysteries_ by Kirk Demarais, about all the cheapo stuff you used to be able to order for a buck or two from the back of comic books. Through the modern magic of eBay and Amazon, the author assembles a collection of stuff he meant to buy as a kid but couldn’t afford (or his parents wouldn’t let him, objecting that “It’s a rip-off!”), and then writes about it. Demarais proves his parents right but has fun as he does so: X-ray goggles, play sets, toys, costumes, masks, magic tricks, etc. I even recognized some toy soldiers that I bought when I was ten or so! A nice trip down Memory Lane. Ialways wanted the X ray glasses! ---
**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:** [December 28, 2017, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-december-2017-edition/803214/50 "2017-12-28T15:07:00Z")
> [@DZedNConfused](#): > > Ialways wanted the X ray glasses! Having read the book, I’ll let you in on a little secret: they don’t work. ---
**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:** [December 28, 2017, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-december-2017-edition/803214/51 "2017-12-28T17:34:44Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > Having read the book, I’ll let you in on a little secret: they don’t work. Yeah, I guessed as much, particularly after I learned the bright light behind your hand trick. ---
**Author:** ![Max\_Torque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Max\_Torque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_Torque)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2017, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-december-2017-edition/803214/52 "2017-12-28T17:57:37Z")
Almost halfway through **[Leviathan Wakes](http://a.co/8WGG1pJ)** by James Corey, the first of the seven-book **The Expanse** series. Basically hard scifi conspiracy-and-intrigue type deal. I watched the first season of the TV show, which interested me into picking up the book. ---
**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:** [December 29, 2017, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-december-2017-edition/803214/53 "2017-12-29T18:55:19Z")
Finished _The Spinster Sisters_, by Stacey Ballis. Started Katie Slivensky’s _The Countdown Conspiracy_, which reads a lot like a Heinlein juvenile. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2017, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-december-2017-edition/803214/54 "2017-12-30T14:46:22Z")
Most of my friends got the new book by Walter Isaacson, _Leonardo da Vinci_, from me for Christmas. I gifted it to myself, too, and am really enjoying it. ---
**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:** [December 30, 2017, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-december-2017-edition/803214/55 "2017-12-30T21:59:38Z")
I just finished _Education in Violence_ by Francis F. McKinney, a 1961 biography of one of my Civil War heroes, Maj. Gen. George H. Thomas. Thomas, a Virginian, remained loyal to the Union and was ostracized by most of his family for the rest of his life because of it. He wasn’t flashy or a glory hound, but a careful, methodical officer who always prepared well, mastered logistics, valued the lives of his men and never lost a battle. Stolid and always calm, he wouldn’t be much of a dinner guest, but McKinney shows why he remains such an important - if too often unappreciated - figure in American military history. I’m about three-quarters done with Mario Puzo’s original _The Godfather_. Sometimes I wince at Puzo’s bad or overdone writing, but he tells a helluva good Mafia story. Next up: David McCullough’s new collection of history-related speeches, _The American Spirit_. ---
**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:** [December 30, 2017, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-december-2017-edition/803214/56 "2017-12-30T22:04:39Z")
New thread: [Wait! I’m not ready to be another year older! Where did 2017 go??!!](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=20693789&posted=1#post20693789) ---
**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:** [December 31, 2017, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-december-2017-edition/803214/57 "2017-12-31T21:52:01Z")
Finished Katie Slivensky’s _The Countdown Conspiracy_. Reads a lot like a Heinlein juvenile, and I mean that in a good way. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-december-2017-edition/803214.md?page=2)