# Khadaji's Whatcha Readin' thread - June 2016 edition **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 30, 2016, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-june-2016-edition/756045 "2016-05-30T01:12:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Grrlbrarian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrlbrarian/32/4048_2.png) [@Grrlbrarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrlbrarian)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2016, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-june-2016-edition/756045/61 "2016-06-23T18:37:50Z")
> [@Dung\_Beetle](#): > > Yay, all my booksisters reading the same thing this month! 🙂 Truth! Looking forward to your review also, **Dung Beetle**. 🙂 Can’t believe we have to wait until September 13th for The Creeping Shadow. ☹ Loving those tidbits, **DZed**. Stiletto cannot get in my hands fast enough! ---
**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:** [June 25, 2016, 11:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-june-2016-edition/756045/62 "2016-06-25T11:54:24Z")
> [@Quimby](#): > > Secret shame: I have read Watchmen maybe a half dozen times and I skip the Pirate comic within the comic every single time. The last time I read it, I skipped the pirate segments and then read them all in sequence at the end. I thought that worked out well. I did a similar thing with the Daenerys segments from “A Dance with Dragons” as well. I finished reading “Bliss & Other Stories”, a collection of short stories by Katherine Mansfield. Some of them were quite good and all of them were nicely atmospheric. ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2016, 12:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-june-2016-edition/756045/63 "2016-06-25T12:21:47Z")
Reading Watchmen’s the thing. How you do it is your call. So wonderful. I am reading a book called \*\*\*The Jazz of Physics \*\*\*by Stephon Alexander, a guy who’s both a theoretical physicist and tenor saxophonist. It sounded so badass but is only meh. Too Mathy, not enough vivid descriptions of music and improvisation, the heart of jazz - he basically makes some assertions about how sound wave-like characteristics influenced the distribution of particles in the immediate post-Big Bang. Those minuscule perturbations put in motion the anti-symmetries that led to stars, planets etc. Should be a lot more fascinating than it is. ---
**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 25, 2016, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-june-2016-edition/756045/64 "2016-06-25T21:41:14Z")
Psst! **Dung Beetle** : I believe I know “who” the blond attacker is, soon as he said “Little Myfanwy” I went “OH SHIT!” So _Stiletto_ is NOT letting up for a moment! The action is nonstop and the humour is excellent. The editing is a little iffy in places, I found one instance of Odette being in a room she wasn’t actually in… but overall I’m enthralled. ---
**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:** [June 26, 2016, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-june-2016-edition/756045/65 "2016-06-26T03:14:05Z")
I gave up on _Mind of the Raven: Investigations and Adventures with Wolf-Birds_ by Bernd Heinrich after my customary 50 pages. Tedious and only mildly interesting. However, I’m really enjoying my re-read of George R.R. Martin’s vampire novel _Fevre Dream_. Memorable characters, well-written dialogue, and great descriptions of steamboat life before the Civil War. Next up: Cynthia D’Aprix Sweeney’s _The Nest_, a well-reviewed novel about four NYC siblings fighting over an inheritance. ---
**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:** [June 26, 2016, 1:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-june-2016-edition/756045/66 "2016-06-26T13:00:58Z")
> [@WordMan](#): > > I am reading a book called \*\*\*The Jazz of Physics \*\*\*by Stephon Alexander, a guy who’s both a theoretical physicist and tenor saxophonist. It sounded so badass but is only meh. Sounds like maybe _The Physics of Jazz_ would have been a better book? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2016, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-june-2016-edition/756045/67 "2016-06-26T14:04:01Z")
> [@Misnomer](#): > > Sounds like maybe _The Physics of Jazz_ would have been a better book? 😉 It’s an intermediate Physics book, with some allusions to music. Fine, but not an _integrated viewpoint_ across the two. Stuff like the Tao of Physics or The Black Swan are fun; this is didactic. This is Your Brain on Music, or Music, the Brain and Ecstasy are great books looking at music scientifically. I really didn’t like Sacks’ Musicology; read like a collection of shaggy-dog recollections whose ultimate point was “Humans is weird when it comes to sound.” Cool, got 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:** [June 26, 2016, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-june-2016-edition/756045/68 "2016-06-26T16:49:39Z")
I’ve also begun, after a long hiatus, re-reading Tolkien’s _The Lord of the Rings_ with my teenage son. We’ve gotten to the point where the Fellowship has just left Rivendell. ---
**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, 2016, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-june-2016-edition/756045/69 "2016-06-27T00:35:19Z")
Finished all 583 pages of **Stiletto** by Daniel O’Malley! Two and a half days, that book doesn’t let up! The book is non stop one of those Do I HAVE to put it down to sleep? read. The action is smooth and blends well with the narrative, the characters are believable and the main ones sympathetic. The motivations and actions of everyone, good and bad, are plausible and at no time does anyone have a forced moment. If I had to make a couple criticisms, I would say that O’Malley fails in making Odette “the most hated person in the Grafters”, there really isn’t enough set up and interaction for her to be set apart for extra hatred. And there was entirely **NOT enough Bishop Alrich** in the book. This needs to be fixed, sir. I may have to take matters into my own hands if this continues 😃 ---
**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:** [June 27, 2016, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-june-2016-edition/756045/70 "2016-06-27T20:02:36Z")
I finished _Before Watchmen: Comedian/Rorschach_. Not as good as the original, by a long shot, but I’m glad I read it. In the Sixties, Comedian mixes it up with the Kennedys, Marilyn Monroe and Angela Davis, among others, while Rorschach fights a hulking pimp and his mob during the 1977 NYC blackout. Several in-jokes and amusing cameos by movie characters from _Apocalypse Now, Platoon, Taxi Driver_ and _Saturday Night Fever_. I had some time yesterday afternoon and zipped through the first third of Cynthia D’Aprix Sweeney’s novel of self-centered New Yorkers, _The Nest_, surprising myself. Good characterization and dialogue; I found I was always interested in seeing what happens next. ---
**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:** [June 27, 2016, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-june-2016-edition/756045/71 "2016-06-27T20:23:57Z")
> [@WordMan](#): > > I really didn’t like Sacks’ Musicology; read like a collection of shaggy-dog recollections whose ultimate point was “Humans is weird when it comes to sound.” Cool, got it. Funny, I loved _Musicophilia_ because it helped allay one of my deepest fears: sustaining a head injury that robs me of music. I know that such a loss is still possible, but that book left me with the impression that it isn’t likely. I found it comforting. But I guess I wasn’t really reading it for the science. > [@DZedNConfused](#): > > Finished all 583 pages of **Stiletto** by Daniel O’Malley! Two and a half days, that book doesn’t let up! I am sooooo close to being done with _[End of Watch](https://www.amazon.com/End-Watch-Novel-Hodges-Trilogy/dp/1501129740/)_ (less than 10% to go) and _Stiletto_ is next! I’m hoping to start it tomorrow or Wednesday night! ---
**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, 2016, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-june-2016-edition/756045/72 "2016-06-27T21:03:54Z")
> [@Misnomer](#): > > I am sooooo close to being done with _[End of Watch](https://www.amazon.com/End-Watch-Novel-Hodges-Trilogy/dp/1501129740/)_ (less than 10% to go) and _Stiletto_ is next! I’m hoping to start it tomorrow or Wednesday night! Don’t plan on sleeping 😉 ---
**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:** [June 27, 2016, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-june-2016-edition/756045/73 "2016-06-27T21:12:41Z")
😃 ---
**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 28, 2016, 10:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-june-2016-edition/756045/74 "2016-06-28T10:41:25Z")
Finished _The Gallows Curse_, by Karen Maitland. A “cunning woman,” the term for a healer/witch, is framed for the murder of a noblewoman in England in 1160 and hanged. Her last words are a curse on the man responsible and all his descendants. Fifty years later, the curse gets caught up in the intrigue between England, France and the Papal Court. Very good. A couple of nice twists at the end. This was my first Maitland, and I understand she writes a lot of novels set in medieval England. I like that sort of story and will have to look for more of her. Meanwhile, next up is _The Mysterious Flame of Queen Loana_, by Umberto Eco. ---
**Author:** ![delphica](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e9a140/32.png) [@delphica](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/delphica)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2016, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-june-2016-edition/756045/75 "2016-06-29T02:09:30Z")
I finished _Agorafabulous_ by Sara Benincasa, which is a memoir about the author’s history with anxiety disorders. She is a professional comedian, and she tells a really good story, even when the story is disturbing and sad. I also whipped through a middle reader, _Tuesdays at the Castle_, which was super cute and fun (magic castle), and the first in a series that I think has about five out now. That’s that balance to strike, you know – find a new-ish series, but not SO new you get stuck waiting a long time for each book to come out. 🆒 I am ALMOST done _A Voyage Long and Strange: Rediscovering the New World_ by Tony Horowitz, which I am liking a lot. ---
**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:** [June 29, 2016, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-june-2016-edition/756045/76 "2016-06-29T02:33:36Z")
Finished _End if Watch_, which was okay in an X-Files monster-of -the-week kind of way. I doubt I’ll remember much of it in a month, though. Except the earworm. [Thanks, Unca Steve.](https://youtu.be/Kq3kxtDJxR0) ---
**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 29, 2016, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-june-2016-edition/756045/77 "2016-06-29T03:10:41Z")
July thread… done before I forgot again 😃 [It’s hot, sticky and I’m ready for a vacation in Tierra del Fuego!](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=797115) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-june-2016-edition/756045.md?page=3)