# Khadaji's Whatcha Readin' Thread - May 2015 Edition **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 28, 2015, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-may-2015-edition/718753 "2015-04-28T22:34:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![The\_wind\_of\_my\_soul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecc23a/32.png) [@The\_wind\_of\_my\_soul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_wind_of_my_soul)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2015, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-may-2015-edition/718753/81 "2015-05-27T17:12:33Z")
> [@delphica](#): > > I really liked this book, too, and I probably would have picked it up just for the cover art! In addition to its other merits, I was also very impressed by how well the author captured the culture of the time, it really brought me back. Well, I was learning to hold my head up at the time this book took place, so I don’t remember the culture too terribly well. But I can say that in elementary school, the books I read never had Googling, texting, etc., and I enjoyed getting back to a book where the main character visits a library and uses a landline. ---
**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:** [May 27, 2015, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-may-2015-edition/718753/82 "2015-05-27T18:03:35Z")
> [@astorian](#): > > Right now, I’m deep into another book I had read in Classics Comics form as a kid: Willkie Collins’ _ **The Moonstone.** _ Are you going to follow up by reading Robinson Crusoe? ---
**Author:** ![RandMcnally](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b782af/32.png) [@RandMcnally](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RandMcnally)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2015, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-may-2015-edition/718753/83 "2015-05-28T01:00:56Z")
I finished my first year of grad school so I’m finally able to read for fun (this last school year I’ve read 30 history books). I finally finished [The End is Now](http://www.amazon.com/End-Now-Apocalypse-Triptych-Book-ebook/dp/B00ISD4A3O/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1432774435&sr=8-1&keywords=the+end+is+now) It’s the second of a trilogy of an anthology of short stories. The first, The End is Nigh is about a world where the end of the world is about to occur. This book is about the world as it starts to come apart. The third, [The End has Come](http://www.amazon.com/End-Come-Apocalypse-Triptych-Book-ebook/dp/B00W4AE8XY/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1432774435&sr=8-2&keywords=the+end+is+now) is the world after it’s ended. I finished the series. It being an anthology means some stories didn’t grab me as much as others. In the end, I enjoyed the experience and would recommend them. I also finished [Life After Life](http://www.amazon.com/Life-After-Novel-Kate-Atkinson/dp/0316176494/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1432774766&sr=8-1&keywords=life+after+life) by Katie Atkinson. I’ve been reading it/audio book off an on for a year now. I enjoyed it. I’m not quite sure if I understand the ended, but it was a fun journey. I might pick up her new book. Up to the plate I don’t know what I’m reading next. I might read Ready Player One or the memoirs of Longstreet. I haven’t decided. ---
**Author:** ![delphica](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e9a140/32.png) [@delphica](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/delphica)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2015, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-may-2015-edition/718753/84 "2015-05-28T14:47:12Z")
> [@The\_wind\_of\_my\_soul](#): > > Well, I was learning to hold my head up at the time this book took place, so I don’t remember the culture too terribly well. But I can say that in elementary school, the books I read never had Googling, texting, etc., and I enjoyed getting back to a book where the main character visits a library and uses a landline. I am the same age as the girl in this book (or rather, if she were a real person instead of a fictional character, we’d be the same age) and the one thing I felt slightly badly about is that while reading a very sad part in the story, 50% of my brain was being sad, and the other 50% was thinking “OMG, I had those _exact same_ barrettes!” ---
**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:** [May 28, 2015, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-may-2015-edition/718753/85 "2015-05-28T15:03:15Z")
> [@RandMcnally](#): > > …I also finished [Life After Life](http://www.amazon.com/Life-After-Novel-Kate-Atkinson/dp/0316176494/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1432774766&sr=8-1&keywords=life+after+life) by Katie Atkinson. I’ve been reading it/audio book off an on for a year now. I enjoyed it… I also liked it, although the killing Hitler subplot is a bit hackneyed by now. Her new book is related to _Life After Life_, as you may know, but sounds different enough that I’m not inclined to read it. Please let us know if it’s worthwhile. I just finished the audiobook of Scott Turow’s _Ordinary Heroes_, about a U.S. Army JAG/infantry officer and his adventures between D-Day and the fall of Berlin. Strong links to Turow’s Kindle County universe from _Presumed Innocent_ etc. I liked it but wasn’t wowed by it, I have to say. I also noticed too late that it’s abridged. I may check out a dead-tree edition to get the full story. ---
**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:** [May 28, 2015, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-may-2015-edition/718753/86 "2015-05-28T16:06:12Z")
> [@Dung\_Beetle](#): > > Next up, [The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing](http://www.amazon.com/Life-Changing-Magic-Tidying-Decluttering-Organizing/dp/1607747308/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1432662009&sr=1-1&keywords=marie+kondo) by Marie Kondo. Well, I sure wish I could remember why I decided to read this. It’s not my usual thing, and I really don’t have a clutter problem. They must be doing a good job of promoting it somehow, because it was on a hella long waitlist. When I picked it up at the library, the librarian giggled and told me it was a “funny” book. I thought that was peculiar, because it’s definitely not meant to be humorous. But after reading it I know what she meant. First off, the author would probably benefit from some psychiatric help. She talks to all her possessions, and thinks they have feelings. She claims that if you commune with your dwelling properly, it will tell you where things belong. Also, if you get your surrounding sufficiently tidy, you will lose weight, have better skin, and probably get a promotion at work. She unpacks her purse every night and repacks it every morning. :dubious: The main message of the book is that you should keep only the possessions which “spark joy” in you. However, she doesn’t address what you should do if that causes you to throw away everything you own. Or throw away none of it. Apparently the author is a single Japanese woman who lives alone, and if you are one too, maybe this book would be helpful to you. As for me, I didn’t need any assistance getting rid of the expired good luck charms that I might have picked up at various temples. I don’t think I got anything out of this book except eyerolls. ---
**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:** [May 28, 2015, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-may-2015-edition/718753/87 "2015-05-28T18:44:22Z")
Last night I finished _**[Finn Fancy Necromancy](http://www.amazon.com/Finn-Fancy-Necromancy-Arcana-Familia-ebook/dp/B00LZBDGBI/)**_, which I enjoyed enough that I looked to see if it was part of a series (alas, it was only published three months ago and is not…yet, anyway). Not as funny as some claim but clever enough in parts, and generally well-written. That left me to decide which of the other two samples I’d continue reading next, and I chose _**[Kitty and the Midnight Hour](http://www.amazon.com/Kitty-Midnight-Hour-Norville-Book-ebook/dp/B0012Y1GMO/)**_. If I like this one as much, I already know it’s part of a series. 🙂 ---
**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:** [May 28, 2015, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-may-2015-edition/718753/88 "2015-05-28T19:09:10Z")
I seem to be stuck on Arctic exploration books, as I’ve just started **Fatal North: Murder and Survival on the First North Pole Expedition** , by Bruce Henderson. This is the story of the USS Polaris and one of the first serious attempts to reach the North Pole in 1871. President Grant funded the expedition, which included Americans, German scientists and Inuit dog handlers. While Hall was preceded in Arctic exploration by the likes of John Franklin and William Parry, both of them were more concerned with finding the Northwest Passage. ---
**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:** [May 31, 2015, 4:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-may-2015-edition/718753/89 "2015-05-31T04:20:52Z")
I finished **Vengeance in Death** by JD Robb, the queen of formulaic writing: Early on Eve thinks “she wouldn’t be able to keep him out of this investigation…” So? Why worry about it when you haven’t kept him out of an investigation YET." So Eve gets tough - check Roarke gets mad - check Eve and Roarke fight then have make up sex - check Eve does something stupid reckless and dangerous - check Roarke comes running to save the day - check Roarke’s hi tech toys get them all the info they need - check Eve gets captured and beaten by the killer - check Roarke charges in and saves her ass - check Yep, pretty much that Eve lands the case and Roarke helps her solve it. I’ve worked out the way to find the killer in a J.D. Robb book: It’s the outsider. The “In Death” books are very much and ensemble cast Roarke, Eve, Peabody, Summerset, Mavis, Feeny, McNabb, but in roughly 96% of the time as soon as an outsider walks onstage you know he or she is the killer. We’ll see how this theoy holds up as I read. ---
**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:** [May 31, 2015, 4:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-may-2015-edition/718753/90 "2015-05-31T04:28:09Z")
June thread; [Summer Reading Time!](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=18402637#post18402637) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-may-2015-edition/718753.md?page=4)