# Khadaji's Whatcha Readin' thread - November 2014 Edition
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-november-2014-edition/703208
**Category:** Cafe Society
**Created:** [November 1, 2014, 9:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-november-2014-edition/703208 "2014-11-01T09:33:10Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@DZedNConfused](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DZedNConfused)
#### Post date: [November 1, 2014, 9:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-november-2014-edition/703208/1 "2014-11-01T09:33:10Z")
It’s November! How many of us are participating in National Novel Month?
I’m two thirds of the way through **Dragon Rider** by Cornelia Funke, it’s not mind boggling but I am enjoying it.
Khadaji was one of the earlier members of the SDMB, and he was well known as a kindly person who always had something encouraging to say, particularly in the self-improvement threads. He was also a voracious, omnivorous reader; and he started these monthly book threads. Sadly, he passed away in January 2013, and it was decided that we should rename these monthly threads in his honour.
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### Author:  [@DZedNConfused](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DZedNConfused)
#### Post date: [November 1, 2014, 9:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-november-2014-edition/703208/2 "2014-11-01T09:36:04Z")
[Last Month’s Thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=735880)
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### Author:  [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)
#### Post date: [November 1, 2014, 12:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-november-2014-edition/703208/3 "2014-11-01T12:06:27Z")
Harry Potter And The Order Of The Phoenix. I am working my way through my stepdaughter’s collection. I had originally dismissed the Harry Potter books as kid’s stuff, but these books are pretty good, and I plan to read all of them.
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### Author:  [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)
#### Post date: [November 1, 2014, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-november-2014-edition/703208/4 "2014-11-01T16:02:01Z")
I finished reading **Sons and Lovers** by D. H. Lawrence. I thought the story of growing up in a coal-mining family, but I lost interest when the protagonist was dithering between his two girlfriends and his mother.
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### Author:  [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)
#### Post date: [November 1, 2014, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-november-2014-edition/703208/5 "2014-11-01T16:28:58Z")
Finishing up _League of Denial,_ a review of the events leading to the NFL’s shifts in policy about concussion.
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### Author:  [@Catamount](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Catamount)
#### Post date: [November 1, 2014, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-november-2014-edition/703208/6 "2014-11-01T21:19:54Z")
I’m reading Alastair Cooke’s _[America](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/933793.Alistair_Cooke_s_America)_. I have mixed feelings about it. The introduction talks about his ideas about what the US is like when he was growing up in England, which was interesting and a little comforting–it’s nice to know that massive misconceptions cross national borders. But then in the discovery of America chapter he implies that Columbus sailed west to prove the world was round :smack:, which diminished my appreciation quite a bit.
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### Author:  [@Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulf_the_Unwashed)
#### Post date: [November 2, 2014, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-november-2014-edition/703208/7 "2014-11-02T00:06:32Z")
Just finished _The Map Thief_ by Michael Blanding, about a rare-map dealer named E. Forbes Smiley who systematically stole dozens of, well, rare maps from the NY Public Library, Yale University, and others. Lots of background about maps, and very well researched.
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### Author:  [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)
#### Post date: [November 2, 2014, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-november-2014-edition/703208/8 "2014-11-02T02:56:00Z")
Almost a fifth of the way through _A House for Mr. Biswas_, by VS Naipaul.
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### Author:  [@plankter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/plankter)
#### Post date: [November 2, 2014, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-november-2014-edition/703208/9 "2014-11-02T16:36:41Z")
Currently I am about halfway through **Fool’s Assassin** by Robin Hobb. The new characters are interesting and I’m liking the “papa wolf” dynamic.
Next in line is **Maplecroft** , a supernatural retelling of the Lizzie Borden story. Normally I would shun another “historic figure kills monsters” book because I’ve been disappointed by this genre (with the notable exception of **Pride and Predudice and Zombies** ). But I trust Cherie Priest on the strength of her previous novel **Boneshaker** because she mixed Civil War steampunk with yes, zombies, and came up with awesomeness.
From the same library I checked out **Foraging California** by Christopher Nyerges, subtitled "Finding, Identifying, and Preparing Edible Wild Foods in California”. It’s not super comprehensive but the species it does cover have reasonably detailed entries for a field guide, generously illustrated with color photos. I haven’t read every entry yet but already I wish I owned a copy.
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### Author:  [@Quimby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quimby)
#### Post date: [November 2, 2014, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-november-2014-edition/703208/10 "2014-11-02T16:56:11Z")
Just finished Jim Gaffigan’s Food: A Love Story.
Extremely funny and while some of it was his stand up written down, most of it was new to me. Also a great deal of restaurant recommendations among the jokes.
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### Author:  [@WomanofScorn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WomanofScorn)
#### Post date: [November 2, 2014, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-november-2014-edition/703208/11 "2014-11-02T19:56:37Z")
I’m currently reading a few books:
**Horns** by Joe Hill during my down time.
**Gunslinger** by Stephen King when I’m at the gym because the boyfriend demands I try the series again.
**The Witch With No Name** by Kim Harrison somewhere in between.
Yeah my book choices aren’t that deep.
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### Author:  [@Dendarii\_Dame](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dendarii_Dame)
#### Post date: [November 2, 2014, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-november-2014-edition/703208/12 "2014-11-02T20:12:24Z")
Just finished The Girl Who Soared Over Fairyland and Cut the Moon in Two by Catherynne Valente–brilliant.
Just started The Martian by Andy Weir.
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### Author:  [@koeeoaddi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/koeeoaddi)
#### Post date: [November 2, 2014, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-november-2014-edition/703208/13 "2014-11-02T20:46:06Z")
I started _Confessions of a Jane Austen Addict_ – 21st Century woman from L.A. wakes up in Regency England – knowing it was a junk read. I must admit that I’m fairly entertained, though. Much more so than I anticipated.
Apparently our heroine dislikes the state of early 19th Century medicine and finds general hygiene wanting. I have a feeling she will begin to grate before the end of the story, but for now it’s silly escapist fun.
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### Author:  [@Buttercup\_Smith](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Buttercup_Smith)
#### Post date: [November 3, 2014, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-november-2014-edition/703208/14 "2014-11-03T03:31:42Z")
Just finisher two books by Preston. One was Hot Zone and the other was The Demon in the freezer. I also just finished Virus Hunters: CDC Something or other by Dr. Joseph McCormick. Good read.
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### Author:  [@Meurglys](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Meurglys)
#### Post date: [November 3, 2014, 11:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-november-2014-edition/703208/15 "2014-11-03T11:58:20Z")
I just finished **Brian Ruckley** ’s _The Free_, and enjoyed it a lot. There are several viewpoint characters but the main one is a village youth, Drann, who dreams of glory and the great exploits of the Free, the last great mercenary band. He becomes ‘contract bearer’ on their final mission and is part insider, part outsider as he both grows closer, and tries to learn more about them.
The war is essentially over, so there are no great battles, only vicious little fights and ambuscades, with great magics being fought over, or transported about the war-shattered countryside. All coming to a bloody, magical conclusion.
And now I’m reading the 5th and final Bright Empires book by **Steven Lawhead** , **The Fatal Tree**. It’s time travelling fantasy with the fate of the Universe at stake (that only becomes clear in vol 4; it all seems much smaller scale until then) and I hope he manages to pull all the separate timelines and characters together by the end!
Also got diverted by a brief exchange of messages on another message board and ended up re-reading an old **Jack Vance** book, _The Slaves of the Klau_. Lightweight pulp stuff, and quite short. The hero is kidnapped by aliens and taken to work on one of their hell-hole industrial planets. He escapes.
It was interesting to see ideas appearing that crop up later in his work, especially the Tschai quartet.
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### Author:  [@LawMonkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LawMonkey)
#### Post date: [November 3, 2014, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-november-2014-edition/703208/16 "2014-11-03T15:08:36Z")
> [@WomanofScorn](#):
>
> **Gunslinger** by Stephen King when I’m at the gym because the boyfriend demands I try the series again.
Arguably not the best place to start the series. There are entire threads about this, so I’ll leave it at that.
Polished off _ **The Last Ringbearer** _ last night, mostly by reading it all day long (other than a bit in the morning when I was watching the Manchester Darby). Seems to be a rather divisive novel among the LoTR fanbase; I quite enjoyed it. From trying to make the geology/geography work to working out economics and actual war aims for the various factions, to ultimately make a “realistic” story out of the War of the Ring. Issues include an awkward-at-times amateur translation, as well as perhaps some dubious authorial language choices (I don’t know who decided to throw modern colloquialisms like “guys” and “babe” in there, but who ever did, shouldn’t have). Some might not appreciate Yeskov’s habit of unceremoniously pausing the narrative to wander off on lengthy historical, economic, or military digressions; for me, they were as much of the appeal as anything, presenting a bit of an alternate history of Middle Earth.
This leaves me w/ _ **McIlvanney on Football** _ and the first volume of Winston Churchill’s history of the Great War. I’m not sure if either of these are going to be something I’m going to simply plow through: The McIlvanney is a collection of short pieces from his career as a sports journalist, and Churchill I’ve been slogging through for months now. It’s possible I may decide to take on the next volume of the Expanse series, if for no other reason than that I have a podcast about it that I’m sitting on to avoid spoilers.
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### Author:  [@Macca26](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Macca26)
#### Post date: [November 3, 2014, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-november-2014-edition/703208/17 "2014-11-03T15:14:34Z")
I’m reading **Pride & Prejudice** for the first time now, and I’m baffled at how Austen managed to make a bunch of gossipy tripe as interesting as this book is.
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### Author:  [@MissTake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MissTake)
#### Post date: [November 3, 2014, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-november-2014-edition/703208/18 "2014-11-03T15:46:40Z")
I’m reading the **Hangman’s Daughter** series, by Oliver Potzch. I finished the second book ( **The Dark Monk** ) Saturday, started on the third book ( **The Beggar King** ) yesterday. I really like his writing - the books are fairly fast paced.
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### Author:  [@The\_wind\_of\_my\_soul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_wind_of_my_soul)
#### Post date: [November 3, 2014, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-november-2014-edition/703208/19 "2014-11-03T20:22:19Z")
About 100 pages into [Shadow of Night](http://www.amazon.com/Shadow-Night-All-Souls-Trilogy-ebook/dp/B006WEZ9TK/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1415045892&sr=8-1&keywords=shadow+of+night), the second book in a trilogy (the first was [A Discovery of Witches)](http://www.amazon.com/Discovery-Witches-Deborah-Harkness-ebook/dp/B004DI7HZ6/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1415045921&sr=8-1&keywords=a+discovery+of+witches). It takes place in Elizabethan England, but the two main characters are from modern times. In simplest terms, it’s about a witch and a vampire traveling back in time.
The other book I’m reading is [Plantation](http://www.amazon.com/Plantation-Lowcountry-Tales-Book-2-ebook/dp/B001PD3SY6/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1415045993&sr=8-1&keywords=plantation). The setting is is a plantation in South Carolina, and in this case, the setting is a character. You see the clash of high-class southern culture with New York culture, redneck culture, and “voodoo” culture.
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### Author:  [@Misnomer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Misnomer)
#### Post date: [November 3, 2014, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-november-2014-edition/703208/20 "2014-11-03T21:36:48Z")
I’m still reading Lev Grossman’s _**[The Magicians](http://www.amazon.com/The-Magicians-Novel-Trilogy/dp/0452296293/)**_. I just started Book II, where Quentin and his cohort have graduated and now must find their places in the world. I’m finding it to be an enjoyable read, and as long as things don’t go downhill I’ll read the next book in the trilogy.
I also recently discovered that [an additional chapter of _ **Wonder** _](http://www.amazon.com/The-Julian-Chapter-Wonder-Kindle-ebook/dp/B00IBZ5YKW/) is available. I’ll probably read that before starting the next Magicians book.
> [@The\_wind\_of\_my\_soul](#):
>
> About 100 pages into [Shadow of Night](http://www.amazon.com/Shadow-Night-All-Souls-Trilogy-ebook/dp/B006WEZ9TK/), the second book in a trilogy (the first was [A Discovery of Witches)](http://www.amazon.com/Discovery-Witches-Deborah-Harkness-ebook/dp/B004DI7HZ6/). It takes place in Elizabethan England, but the two main characters are from modern times. In simplest terms, it’s about a witch and a vampire traveling back in time.
I’ve had _Shadow of Night_ on my Kindle for ages…since it was released, I think. I enjoyed _A Discovery of Witches_, but I find that I don’t have much taste/tolerance for the historical stuff: I started it once, but didn’t even get a whole chapter in before switching to something else and never going back. I still have it on my “to read” list, though. I’ll be interested to see what you think of it!
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