# Khadaji's Whatcha Readin' thread - May 2016 edition **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 28, 2016, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-may-2016-edition/753337 "2016-04-28T14:38:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2016, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-may-2016-edition/753337/21 "2016-05-11T20:35:58Z")
I interrupted my umpteenth reread of **Gone With the Wind** to see what all the hoopla is about regarding **A Handmaid’s Tale.** Once I finish up GWTW, I may jump on a Game of Thrones reread. ---
**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 11, 2016, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-may-2016-edition/753337/22 "2016-05-11T22:11:47Z")
> [@Grrlbrarian](#): > > I would too. Still mourning Pterry myself. > > You could hardly have picked a better time to read **Foxglove Summer**. I can hardly wait for The Hanging Tree in August! 😃 make that the power was out for thirteen hours, not three :smack: Oh right? Not that I want the summer to fly past but jeez That book needs to be here NOW! Incidentally I finished **Foxglove Summer** last Friday and finished **A Point of Law** by John Robert Maddox today. I think Maddox was tiring of Decius and ancient Rome at this point, the book is slow and about 90% dialog. Not much action, intrigue or mystery really. ☹ Due to a conversation on Goodreads, I decided to reread **The Master and Margarita** by Mikhail Bulgarov. I was pretty young, maybe 22, when I read it and I think a lot of the satire went right over my head. ---
**Author:** ![movingfinger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@movingfinger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/movingfinger)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2016, 5:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-may-2016-edition/753337/23 "2016-05-12T05:19:14Z")
Am I the last person to read **Water for Elephants**? Well, despite that, I thoroughly enjoyed it. So there. ---
**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 12, 2016, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-may-2016-edition/753337/24 "2016-05-12T15:35:57Z")
> [@movingfinger](#): > > Am I the last person to read **Water for Elephants**? Well, despite that, I thoroughly enjoyed it. So there. _eyes shifting_ Umm no, not at all… ---
**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:** [May 12, 2016, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-may-2016-edition/753337/25 "2016-05-12T16:09:34Z")
Just finished Gun Machine by Warren Ellis. A whole lot of fun – very funny, also very violent. ---
**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 12, 2016, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-may-2016-edition/753337/26 "2016-05-12T17:29:23Z")
I haven’t read _Water for Elephants_ either, because I’ve heard there’s some animal abuse in it. That’s actually not a dealbreaker, depending on how it’s handled, but…that’s my excuse. ---
**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:** [May 12, 2016, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-may-2016-edition/753337/27 "2016-05-12T17:39:18Z")
> [@movingfinger](#): > > Am I the last person to read **Water for Elephants**? Well, despite that, I thoroughly enjoyed it. So there. I haven’t read it either. It’s just not ticking my TBR boxes or something. **DZedNConfused** , I’ve got **[The Master and Margarita](http://www.amazon.com/Master-Margarita-Mikhail-Bulgakov/dp/0679760806/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1463074788&sr=8-1&keywords=master+and+margarita)** on my TBR pile though. 😃 Finished **[Ordinary Jack](http://www.amazon.com/Ordinary-Jack-Being-First-Bagthorpe/dp/0027255409/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1463074673&sr=8-1&keywords=ordinary+jack)** last night by Helen Cresswell. Dadgum but that’s a good children’s book that appeals to adults as well. No fantasy, just the real-life travails of an ordinary kid in a family full of geniuses. Witty and well done. ---
**Author:** ![delphica](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e9a140/32.png) [@delphica](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/delphica)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2016, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-may-2016-edition/753337/28 "2016-05-12T18:35:34Z")
> [@Grrlbrarian](#): > > Finished **[Ordinary Jack](http://www.amazon.com/Ordinary-Jack-Being-First-Bagthorpe/dp/0027255409/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1463074673&sr=8-1&keywords=ordinary+jack)** last night by Helen Cresswell. Dadgum but that’s a good children’s book that appeals to adults as well. No fantasy, just the real-life travails of an ordinary kid in a family full of geniuses. Witty and well done. Helen Cresswell wrote A LOT, including \*The Night Watchmen \*which is still one of the weirdest children’s books I’ve ever read. I should definitely look up _Ordinary Jack_, thanks! I finished _Library: An Unquiet History_ by Matthew Battles, which was overall interesting and I liked all the facts about library history. I felt like in some places the author was stretching to tie things together in a thematic way, and that probably wasn’t necessary, for me at least. ---
**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 12, 2016, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-may-2016-edition/753337/29 "2016-05-12T19:03:40Z")
> [@Grrlbrarian](#): > > I haven’t read it either. It’s just not ticking my TBR boxes or something. > > **DZedNConfused** , I’ve got **[The Master and Margarita](http://www.amazon.com/Master-Margarita-Mikhail-Bulgakov/dp/0679760806/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1463074788&sr=8-1&keywords=master+and+margarita)** on my TBR pile though. 😃 I saw that this morning when I added it to my Goodreads currently reading list. 😃 ---
**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:** [May 13, 2016, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-may-2016-edition/753337/30 "2016-05-13T00:48:43Z")
**Raising the Barre: Big Dreams, False Starts, and My Midlife Quest to Dance the Nutcracker** , by Lauren Kessler. ---
**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:** [May 13, 2016, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-may-2016-edition/753337/31 "2016-05-13T01:45:22Z")
I have never read _Water for Elephants_. I have, however, finished _The Dark Tower_, by Stephen King, Volume 7 of his Dark Tower series. Very enjoyable as well as an interesting conclusion to the saga. As in Volume 6, the author includes himself as a character. And that ends the series for me, although he did come out with an adjunct installment four years ago called _The Wind through the Keyhole_, which I believe takes place between Volumes 4 and 5. I have obtained a copy of that but am saving it for later. For now, next up is _Hearts in Atlantis_, by Stephen King, a collection of two novellas and three short stories all set in or centered on the 1960s. There is a connection to the Dark Tower series, as it contains at least one of the Dark Tower series’ minor characters, and at least some of the stories in this work are referenced in the series. ---
**Author:** ![movingfinger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@movingfinger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/movingfinger)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2016, 5:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-may-2016-edition/753337/32 "2016-05-13T05:56:41Z")
I am currently enjoying \*\*A Voyage Strange and Long \*\*by Tony Horwitz. Did anything happen in the US between Columbus in 1492 and the Pilgrims at Plymouth Rock in 1620? Horwitz visits known explorations of America by the Vikings and the Spanish,and wonders why Jamestown (1607) didn’t get the credit from historians that Plymouth Rock did. A very interesting and entertaining view of little-known events in history and how and why some get the credit and others are ignored. ---
**Author:** ![Enterprise](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/76d3ee/32.png) [@Enterprise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enterprise)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2016, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-may-2016-edition/753337/33 "2016-05-13T13:55:55Z")
I finished, somewhat unexpectedly, Cixin Liu’s _The Three-Body Problem_. A difficult to summarize book without giving away the ending, it largely consists of the story of the material scientist Wang’s discovering (both in virtual reality and real life) the reasons for a series of events in the scientific community, from unexpected results in physical experiments to scientists’ suicides. It’s a very good book, hard science fiction, marred by two things, one awkwardly cultural: Liu’s Chinese, and the book is largely set in China–and for the life of me I can’t keep track of all the one-syllable names. I got Wang and the chief antagonist after a good while, but there were many, many characters whose particular relationships I couldn’t keep track off simply because their names didn’t click. I might be a racist! The second thing is that as we get to the end, and discover more, the science becomes much more convoluted, and I’m not sure it was needed. We get protons unfolded in various dimensions, and lengthy explanations about the process, all of which may be literally true physics, but were very difficult to follow. I’ll get the second book sometime…the reviews are a bit mixed about that translation. ---
**Author:** ![BetsQ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/fbc32d/32.png) [@BetsQ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BetsQ)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2016, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-may-2016-edition/753337/34 "2016-05-13T21:33:47Z")
I think I’ve read two books since I last posted. The Last Anniversary, by Liane Moriarty, is a sort of character-driven drama about an extended family and the mysterious circumstances surrounding a found baby 70+ earlier. It was enjoyable, if a bit insubstantial. I also read the first of the books in the Dresden Files, largely because I’ve seen so many references to them here. I have mixed feeling about it. Does the writing get better as the series goes? It seemed like a lot of things were just beaten to death unnecessarily. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk ---
**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 13, 2016, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-may-2016-edition/753337/35 "2016-05-13T22:25:29Z")
> [@BetsQ](#): > > I also read the first of the books in the Dresden Files, largely because I’ve seen so many references to them here. I have mixed feeling about it. Does the writing get better as the series goes? It seemed like a lot of things were just beaten to death unnecessarily. In my never-gonna-be-humble opinion: Nope, But I admit to being in a minority when it comes to Dresden. ---
**Author:** ![delphica](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e9a140/32.png) [@delphica](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/delphica)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2016, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-may-2016-edition/753337/36 "2016-05-14T01:50:10Z")
> [@BetsQ](#): > > I also read the first of the books in the Dresden Files, largely because I’ve seen so many references to them here. I have mixed feeling about it. Does the writing get better as the series goes? It seemed like a lot of things were just beaten to death unnecessarily. Agreed with **DZedNConfused** – that’s the style. I find it a little hokey. One thing that does change is that the first few books are fairly stand alone, and then a larger narrative story arc is introduced, and I know a lot of people like the series more after that. I see how it adds some gravitas to the situation. But still, that sort of cheesy tone remains. ---
**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 14, 2016, 3:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-may-2016-edition/753337/37 "2016-05-14T03:35:45Z")
> [@delphica](#): > > Agreed with **DZedNConfused** – that’s the style. I find it a little hokey. One thing that does change is that the first few books are fairly stand alone, and then a larger narrative story arc is introduced, and I know a lot of people like the series more after that. I see how it adds some gravitas to the situation. But still, that sort of cheesy tone remains. I dislike his women with a violent passion. And his use of forcing the plot when he can’t think of how to get X to Y… and by all that’s Holy Harry is such a _limp_ hero. I just, no. ---
**Author:** ![delphica](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e9a140/32.png) [@delphica](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/delphica)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2016, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-may-2016-edition/753337/38 "2016-05-14T14:49:50Z")
> [@DZedNConfused](#): > > I dislike his women with a violent passion. And his use of forcing the plot when he can’t think of how to get X to Y… and by all that’s Holy Harry is such a _limp_ hero. I just, no. Well, you know what Harry would say. “Women, who can understand what they dislike? I’ll stick to hunting werewolves. It’s funny how they look so cute when they’re angry, though. The women, that is. The werewolves just look mean.” Har har. My weirdest pet peeve with the series is that Harry is always complaining about how he’s so tired because he never gets to sleep or eat – but he’s not even doing anything that would prevent him from grabbing something to eat or getting some rest, he’s just running around in circles, until Y happens out of the clear blue. ---
**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 14, 2016, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-may-2016-edition/753337/39 "2016-05-14T15:04:24Z")
> [@delphica](#): > > My weirdest pet peeve with the series is that Harry is always complaining about how he’s so tired because he never gets to sleep or eat – but he’s not even doing anything that would prevent him from grabbing something to eat or getting some rest, he’s just running around in circles, until Y happens out of the clear blue. Yes, this! And the fact that he can’t do _anything_ until he gets mad. In Book two, I think, someone gets killed who might not have gotten killed if Harry had just leveled with them, this pushes him into REALLY PISSED OFF mode and then stuff gets done and things get solved. ---
**Author:** ![BetsQ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/fbc32d/32.png) [@BetsQ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BetsQ)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2016, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-may-2016-edition/753337/40 "2016-05-15T20:52:02Z")
OK, that settles it! No more Dresden Files for me. I was surprised the style just didn’t grab me because I recently read Jim Butcher’s [Aeronaut’s Windlass](http://www.amazon.com/Cinder-Spires-Aeronauts-Windlass/dp/0451466802/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1463345266&sr=8-3&keywords=jim+butcher) and found it charming. On to something else! For a complete change of direction, I’m going with a nonfiction book, [$2 a Day: Living on Almost Nothing in America](http://www.amazon.com/2-00-Day-Living-Nothing-America/dp/0544303180/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1463345448&sr=8-1&keywords=%242+a+day). It was selected for my book club, but I’m looking forward to it. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-may-2016-edition/753337.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-may-2016-edition/753337.md?page=3)