# Khadaji's Whatcha Readin' Thread - June 2015 Edition **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 31, 2015, 4:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-june-2015-edition/721239 "2015-05-31T04:26:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 7
**Author:** ![Politzania](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3ab097/32.png) [@Politzania](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Politzania)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2015, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-june-2015-edition/721239/121 "2015-06-26T18:21:03Z")
I think I spotted _**[Smoke Gets in Your Eyes: And Other Lessons from the Crematory](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/20663702-smoke-gets-in-your-eyes)**_ by Caitlin Doughty on the New Books shelf at the library; regardless of how I found out about it - I’m glad I did. Doughty - “a twenty-something with a degree in medieval history and a flair for the macabre” got hired at a crematory, and this book is a combination memoir/coming of age story as well as a meditation and reflection on how Americans approach and cope with death. Doughty reminds me quite a bit of Mary Roach – in fact, I re-read \*Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers \* after finishing this book – they both take a quirky, light-hearted look at death, while still respecting the humanity of both the dead and the living. Doughty gets a little more “in the trenches” (so to speak) than Roach, as she actually worked at a crematory, with her usual assignment being that of placing bodies into the actual furnace, then collecting the cremains afterwards. However, she would also go on runs to retrieve bodies, and interact with the families. Among the anecdotes (and considerable gallows humor) Doughty comes to the realization that modern-day Americans (and perhaps Westerners in general) don’t really cope that well with death and dying, and we need to explore better options. She plans out various alternate funeral practices - and attends mortuary school with the intent of opening her own business. The book ends before she starts that next phase of her life, but she is well on her way. Jessica Mitford would be proud, I think. Recommended to anyone interested in personal approaches to death and dying, allowing for some gallows-style humor along the way. I can see revisiting this book in the future, and will have to look around her website [http://www.orderofthegooddeath.com/](http://www.orderofthegooddeath.com/) Courtesy of GoodReads’ “Readers Also Enjoyed” recommendation, I also picked up _**[Working Stiff: Two Years, 262 Bodies, and the Making of a Medical Examiner](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18775327-working-stiff)**_ by Judy Melinek and T.J. Mitchell. The memoir of a forensic pathologist, Dr. Melinek shares her experiences over her two-years training period, as well as her first year as a New York City medical examiner. While there are moments of humor - Melinek’s story is more somber overall; nevertheless, there are moments of satisfaction when her work proves cause of death for an individual and therefore helps bring about justice. Be warned - the later part of the book delves into her experiences at Ground Zero. Yes, she was one of the many, many medical examiners at the World Trade Center after the September 11, 2001 attack. She describes how they literally used a “rule of thumb” when dealing with the human remains - anything larger than your thumb was to be given an individual tracking number - in hopes that they could be matched and identified. Smaller items with potential identifiable traits - fingerprints or teeth - were also to be given tracking numbers. She also references the refrigerated trailers (donated by UPS and FedEx) used to store the remains while they were being processed. We recognize the firefighters, police officers and other public safety officials for their heroism that day - but Dr. Melinek and her cohorts deserve our respect and thanks as well. Now I may have to find _[Who They Were: Inside the World Trade Center DNA Story: The Unprecedented Effort to Identify the Missing](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7550983-who-they-were?ac=1)_ by Robert Shaler, Dr. Melinek’s mentor. ---
**Author:** ![jabiru](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/bbce88/32.png) [@jabiru](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jabiru)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2015, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-june-2015-edition/721239/122 "2015-06-27T00:01:42Z")
Camilla Lackberg - _The Stranger_. I think I might have read too many of her books recently because I’m having a hard time picking this one up. ---
**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:** [June 27, 2015, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-june-2015-edition/721239/123 "2015-06-27T00:13:55Z")
I read **The Spell of the Sorceror’s Skull** by John Bellairs. By this time he has really hit his stride and the book cruises as fast as I can turn pages. The ending was pretty tense and I actually like that it’s an ambiguous ending as well. ---
**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:** [June 27, 2015, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-june-2015-edition/721239/124 "2015-06-27T00:25:15Z")
> [@Joey\_P](#): > > I’m almost done with Everything I Never Told You, up next I have to chose from: > What Alice Forgot > The Paying Guests > Don Quixote > > I’ve also got a bunch of others in my unread stack, but one of those will be next. I’m leaning towards Don Quixote or The Paying Guests. I vote for _Don Quixote_. Have fond memories of reading it at night in my toasty warm apartment throughout the cold winter I spent in Albuquerque. I enjoyed it, but even if you’re not into it, it was on my old history prof’s list of Books You Need to Read to Be a Human Being. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2015, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-june-2015-edition/721239/125 "2015-06-27T00:40:52Z")
As of right now, that’s my plan. I’m hoping it’s an easy read and that I can knock out the thousand pages in a month. I hate that keep buying books instead of reading what I have. On my shelf I have 5 that I WANT to read and 2 that I’ll get to, probably mixed in with the other 5. Problem is, by the time I get to the last book, of those 7, I’ll have bought 10 more. I was really looking forward to The Paying Guests when I ran across Don Quixote and it sparked my interest. And, when I bought Don Quixote, I also bought What Alice Forgot. It had been in my Amazon Shopping cart for at least a month and it seemed like I saw it every time I walked in to a store so I finally grabbed it. Oh, and Go Set A Watchman comes out next month, I preordered that months ago, I should have it on the 17th I think. ---
**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:** [June 27, 2015, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-june-2015-edition/721239/126 "2015-06-27T01:06:01Z")
Gosh… I wish I only had five books here I need to read 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2015, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-june-2015-edition/721239/127 "2015-06-27T01:18:10Z")
> [@DZedNConfused](#): > > Gosh… I wish I only had five books here I need to read 😃 Wander around Amazon while you’re bored and things just end up in your shopping cart, it’s like going to Target for one thing. Taking a look at my Amazon account, I have 7 more books in my ‘saved for later’ section that I always forget about when I’m trying to find another book to buy. Requiem For A Dream is in there. That’s another one I’d like to get to sooner rather than later. My problem is that I’m a ‘slow’ reader. While a lot of people can knock out a book in a few days, I’m usually 2-4 weeks for a book so I try to choose carefully since it’s not like I can start a book on Monday and finish it on Thursday or Friday and say ‘meh, didn’t really care for it’. If I didn’t like a book (it takes a lot for me to put a book down), that can be a month of my life I wasted on it. I fucking hated Pale Fire, FTR. ---
**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:** [June 27, 2015, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-june-2015-edition/721239/128 "2015-06-27T01:46:15Z")
> [@Joey\_P](#): > > Wander around Amazon while you’re bored and things just end up in your shopping cart, it’s like going to Target for one thing. . Which explains why I have preorders into next year 😉 ---
**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:** [July 2, 2015, 4:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-june-2015-edition/721239/129 "2015-07-02T04:35:30Z")
What, no July thread yet? Finished _The Shining_, by Stephen King. Good but not as good as I remember the movie being. The book seemed a bit plodding. Haven’t watched the movie since it came out, so maybe a rewatch is in order. Have started _Blood Meridian_, by Cormac McCarthy. ---
**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:** [July 2, 2015, 5:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-june-2015-edition/721239/130 "2015-07-02T05:25:50Z")
Maybe I shall kill June. **Ella, the Slayer** AW Exley. Immortal prose it ain’t. Fun beach read maybe? Cinderella crossed with zombie apocalypse, set after WWI. I liked it. Cheap Amazon read. I re-read a few Nalini Singh books, and I’m about to start Black Hawk down. Feeling like some military reading. Goodbye June. ---
**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:** [July 2, 2015, 8:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-june-2015-edition/721239/131 "2015-07-02T08:47:54Z")
YIKES! Sorry I spaced it off… [July Fireworks Thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=761109) ---
**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:** [July 2, 2015, 8:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-june-2015-edition/721239/132 "2015-07-02T08:50:51Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > What, no July thread yet? > > Finished _The Shining_, by Stephen King. Good but not as good as I remember the movie being. The book seemed a bit plodding. Haven’t watched the movie since it came out, so maybe a rewatch is in order. I found it excruciatingly boring. But I did spend most of the time wanting to reach through and shake Wendy until her teeth rattled. Domestic abuse is just one of those things I don’t deal with rationally. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2015, 12:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-june-2015-edition/721239/133 "2015-07-02T12:11:49Z")
Finished all three versions of _the Mysterious Stranger_ by Twain. I’m now reading **The Lady and her Monsters: A Tale of Dissections, real-Life Dr. Frankensteins, and the Creation of Mary Shelley’s Masterpiece** by Roseanne Montillo, about the scientists and charlatans working on reviving the dead. Although I knew about a lot of these folk, I didn’t know their stories and lives, and I wasn’t aware of the direct connections they had to Mary Shelley and her family. On audio, I’m reading Stephen King’s **Full Dark, No Stars**. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-june-2015-edition/721239.md?page=6)