# Khadaji's Whatcha Readin' Thread - January 2016 Edition **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 30, 2015, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-january-2016-edition/741740 "2015-12-30T17:41:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Eleanor\_of\_Aquitaine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a88e4f/32.png) [@Eleanor\_of\_Aquitaine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eleanor_of_Aquitaine)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2016, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-january-2016-edition/741740/81 "2016-01-26T19:38:19Z")
I’m up to book 7, _Hell is Empty_, in Craig Johnson’s Longmire series. It’s one long action scene as an injured Longmire chases escaped armed convicts through the woods up a mountain on foot during a blizzard without waiting for backup, 'cause that’s just the way Longmire rolls. It was fun, but it’s not one of my favorites - for one thing, there’s almost nothing of Henry Standing Bear or any of the other secondary characters. I read and enjoyed the second of Laurie King’s Mary Russell/Sherlock Holmes books, _A Monstrous Regiment of Women_. I’m lukewarm on the plot but I like King’s writing and the setting: 1921 London. I love the title. The story concerns a women’s rights activist, and the book has great anti-feminist quotes at the beginning of each chapter, everything from St. Paul’s “Women should keep silent in church” to Shakespeare’s “Thy husband is thy lord”. This second story belongs to Russell, with Holmes in a supporting role, albeit an important one. I’m surprised by how well the Russell/Holmes pairing works, although I’m uncomfortable with the 40-year age gap. I just finished _Pandora’s Star_, by Peter F. Hamilton, which is a giant space opera epic, and it’s only the first half of the story. I really like the plot, and I will go ahead and read the next book soon, although I have many complaints about Hamilton’s writing. ---
**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:** [January 27, 2016, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-january-2016-edition/741740/82 "2016-01-27T01:55:24Z")
Finished Harold Holzer’s _Lincoln and the Power of the Press_, which was a bit heavy going at times, but overall worthwhile. I learned a lot, esp. as to the very blurred line between journalism and politics in the American Civil War era. Many big-newspaper publishers also ran for and held elective office, and their papers were quite open about supporting a particular party and pushing the party line. Henry Raymond, for instance, the publisher of _The New York Times_, was a big Republican backer of Lincoln, chaired the Republican National Committee in Lincoln’s reelection year of 1864, and was himself elected to the House of Representatives that year. ---
**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:** [January 27, 2016, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-january-2016-edition/741740/83 "2016-01-27T02:53:58Z")
I finished reading **Lord Jim** by Joseph Conrad. It was a fascinating story about the western European idea of honour and how one should act in a crisis, although it was chock full of racist attitudes: brown people who are crafty, cowardly, bloodthirsty, stoic, treacherous, whiny, etc. or almost as good as a white person (which is the highest compliment you can possibly give, naturally). ---
**Author:** ![BetsQ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/fbc32d/32.png) [@BetsQ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BetsQ)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2016, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-january-2016-edition/741740/84 "2016-01-27T21:48:14Z")
I am about a third of the way through Neal Stephenson’s Seveneves and it is stressing me out. I am going to need to read something profoundly cheerful next. ---
**Author:** ![Malthus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/85f322/32.png) [@Malthus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malthus)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2016, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-january-2016-edition/741740/85 "2016-01-27T22:31:24Z")
> [@BetsQ](#): > > I am about a third of the way through Neal Stephenson’s Seveneves and it is stressing me out. I am going to need to read something profoundly cheerful next. Some Cormac McCarthy should do the trick - perhaps something light and cheery like _The Road_. Just kidding … 😃 ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2016, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-january-2016-edition/741740/86 "2016-01-28T14:28:52Z")
About halfway through my first re-read of Richard K. Morgan’s cyperbunk sci-fi noir, “Altered Carbon”. Enjoying it more the second time around – I was inspired to pick it back up, after at least 5 years or so, when I heard that it would be adapted into a Netflix series. ---
**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:** [January 28, 2016, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-january-2016-edition/741740/87 "2016-01-28T17:26:53Z")
About halfway through **Lock In** by John Scalzi. I think it’s very good so far. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2016, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-january-2016-edition/741740/88 "2016-01-28T18:50:59Z")
Finally finished the slog through **Radical**. It was informative, certainly, but the tiny print nearly did me in. I’ve started a novel, **The Life We Bury** , by Allen Eskens, and have **Kon-Tiki** in the queue, which I somehow missed reading long ago. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2016, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-january-2016-edition/741740/89 "2016-01-28T18:52:43Z")
> [@SCAdian](#): > > Last Finished: _Red November: Inside the Secret US-Soviet Submarine War_, by W Craig Reed > > Now reading: _On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft_, by Steven King > > Next up: _Death Without Company_, the second Longmire mystery, by Craig Johnson Love the Craig Johnson series. Every book is like hooking up with old friends again. ---
**Author:** ![koeeoaddi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/koeeoaddi/32/408_2.png) [@koeeoaddi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/koeeoaddi)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2016, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-january-2016-edition/741740/90 "2016-01-28T19:22:02Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > Love the Craig Johnson series. Every book is like hooking up with old friends again. I’m reading and enjoying **The Dark Horse**. I particularly adore Vic in the books and wish they had done a better job capturing her in the series. I’m also about done Carly Simon’s memoir, **Boys in the Trees**. It’s a well written but uncomfortable read. She is explicit and detailed about some parts of her early life and marriage to James Taylor, but almost coy/secretive about others. I wish there was more about the songs. Where they came from. What was going on in her life when she wrote them. She does talk about a few of them and, for me, they are the most interesting parts of the book. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2016, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-january-2016-edition/741740/91 "2016-01-28T20:10:50Z")
> [@koeeoaddi](#): > > I’m reading and enjoying **The Dark Horse**. I particularly adore Vic in the books and wish they had done a better job capturing her in the series. Yeah, I thought the role was badly miscast. The actor (or maybe it’s the writers) just doesn’t capture the essential character of Vic, which tells me that she hasn’t bothered to read any of the books. I will say that since the series moved to Netflix, they’ve let the character be a bit more gritty, but still not the “fuck you” Vic who is delightfully abrupt and earthy. ---
**Author:** ![Memnon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f1d935/32.png) [@Memnon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Memnon)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2016, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-january-2016-edition/741740/92 "2016-01-29T17:55:04Z")
I’ve just finished ‘Gormenghast’, the second book in Mervyn Peake’s Gormenghast trilogy. I. Loved. It! I honestly cannot praise it highly enough. I’ve never encountered a writer quite like Peake. His descriptive skills and sense of the grotesque is unparalleled. This may just be my limited experience talking, but no-one else comes within light years of him, IMO. The characters are all unforgettable. The story is, by turns, suspenseful, thrilling, tragic, poignant, and bleakly hilarious. My sole regret is that I can only read it for the first time once. It’s an absolute gem, and as close to a perfect book as I’ve ever read. An unequivocal 10 out of 10. Gormenghast has taken up nearly all my reading time in the last few days so I’ve not read any more of Killing Floor, and I’ve only read another 50 pages of The Magician since my last post, which is disappointing. However, I’ve got a completely free weekend and I plan to finish at least one of them. After them, I’m going to tackle Richard Wright’s ‘Native Son’ and, because I’m a messy bastard, ‘The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up’ by Marie Kondo. ---
**Author:** ![Malthus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/85f322/32.png) [@Malthus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malthus)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2016, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-january-2016-edition/741740/93 "2016-01-29T18:18:40Z")
> [@Tithonus](#): > > I’ve just finished ‘Gormenghast’, the second book in Mervyn Peake’s Gormenghast trilogy. I. Loved. It! I honestly cannot praise it highly enough. I’ve never encountered a writer quite like Peake. His descriptive skills and sense of the grotesque is unparalleled. This may just be my limited experience talking, but no-one else comes within light years of him, IMO. The characters are all unforgettable. The story is, by turns, suspenseful, thrilling, tragic, poignant, and bleakly hilarious. My sole regret is that I can only read it for the first time once. It’s an absolute gem, and as close to a perfect book as I’ve ever read. An unequivocal 10 out of 10. > > Gormenghast has taken up nearly all my reading time in the last few days so I’ve not read any more of Killing Floor, and I’ve only read another 50 pages of The Magician since my last post, which is disappointing. However, I’ve got a completely free weekend and I plan to finish at least one of them. After them, I’m going to tackle Richard Wright’s ‘Native Son’ and, because I’m a messy bastard, ‘The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up’ by Marie Kondo. The Gormenghast trilogy (well, the first two) is one of my personal favorites as well: an utterly unique work of fantasy. Definitely not for everyone though! One of my favorite bits is when Lady Fuchsia Groan was reading “The Frivolous Cake”, one of her old nursery rhymes: both absurd and deeply, uncomfortably perverse. 😃 A Freudian would have a field day with it. ---
**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:** [January 30, 2016, 3:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-january-2016-edition/741740/94 "2016-01-30T03:35:35Z")
I FINALLY finished **The Name of the Wind** by Patrick Rothfuss. Die hard fans need not go check out my review on Goodreads 😃 He is good at stringing words together and many parts of the book were beautiful but Sweet Buddha on a cracker Kvothe is the biggest Mary Sue! If you swapped genders there’s not a publishing house in the US that would put a book out about such a talented and perfect girl. ---
**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:** [January 30, 2016, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-january-2016-edition/741740/95 "2016-01-30T03:46:48Z")
New thread: [Bring on the chocolate!](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=782574) ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2016, 4:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-january-2016-edition/741740/96 "2016-01-30T04:07:29Z")
Finished _The Life We Bury_: Totally forgettable and rather puerile. On to Thor Heyerdahl! ---
**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:** [January 30, 2016, 4:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-january-2016-edition/741740/97 "2016-01-30T04:09:08Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > Finished _The Life We Bury_: Totally forgettable and rather puerile. On to Thor Heyerdahl! I liked Kon Tiki when I read it 20+ years ago. ade me want to sail down a river 🙂 ---
**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:** [January 30, 2016, 4:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-january-2016-edition/741740/98 "2016-01-30T04:11:17Z")
> [@Dendarii\_Dame](#): > > About halfway through **Lock In** by John Scalzi. I think it’s very good so far. See post 18 upthread. Then, if you love the book, check out Scalzi’s short ebook _Unlocked_ (available on Amazon), which has some great background detail on the world of _Lock In_. ---
**Author:** ![carnut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnut/32/3531_2.png) [@carnut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnut)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2016, 4:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-january-2016-edition/741740/99 "2016-01-30T04:31:51Z")
_The Road to Little Dribbling_, by Bill Bryson. He does know how to make a reader laugh out loud. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2016, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-january-2016-edition/741740/100 "2016-01-30T15:50:01Z")
> [@DZedNConfused](#): > > I liked Kon Tiki when I read it 20+ years ago. ade me want to sail down a river 🙂 For a book that was written 65 years ago, it was able to educate me from the outset. That’s impressive. I had never bothered to learn about Polynesia and the origins of its people. Heyerdahl proposed heretical ideas and then set out to prove them. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-january-2016-edition/741740.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-january-2016-edition/741740.md?page=6)