# Khadaji's Whatcha Readin' thread - November 2014 Edition **URL:** \ **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:** 4
**Author:** ![Quimby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/22d042/32.png) [@Quimby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quimby)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2014, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-november-2014-edition/703208/61 "2014-11-15T17:15:20Z")
Now reading Stephen King’s Revival. Just started and not sure where it’s going but is amazing how fast he creates three dimensional characters with just a few pages. ---
**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:** [November 16, 2014, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-november-2014-edition/703208/62 "2014-11-16T00:43:12Z")
I actually finished **Killing Rain** by Barry Eisler about a week ago but I’ve been swampd with NaNoWriMo this month… this comes of having almost no plot to speak of… I am also about half way through **The Narrows** by Michael Connelly. Very readable, still not pleased with Graciela but a humble Rachel is worth the cover price. ---
**Author:** ![LawMonkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d6d6ee/32.png) [@LawMonkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LawMonkey)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2014, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-november-2014-edition/703208/63 "2014-11-16T01:49:22Z")
> [@delphica](#): > > Yikes, I hope it wasn’t too spoiler-y. > > So yeah, the author is not pushing any sort of gospel agenda. The main character IS a Christian minister, so Christian images and themes do come up a lot, but a lot of the book is about personalities and relationships as well. I’m trying to think of something similar. Um, let’s see. Like how Eco’s _The Name of The Rose_ has religious characters in a religious setting, but the book wouldn’t be considered a tract in any way. No worries. I may yet check it out. I’m having a bit of a binge on James S.A. Corey’s “The Expanse” series–I polished off _ **Caliban’s War** _ and made it almost twenty-four hours before I plunged into the third book, _ **Abaddon’s Gate** _. They’re good stuff, though inevitably there seems to be something that annoys me: _ **Caliban** _ had Praxidele Meng, the rather whiny, occasionally idiotic scientist obsessed with finding his daughter, not to mention a bit too much of the daughter herself; _ **Abaddon** _ is just getting started for me, but I’m a bit leery about having a viewpoint character who is a Methodist (?) pastor. I imagine I’ll grit my teeth and read it in maybe a week instead of two days. ---
**Author:** ![Biotop](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biotop/32/321_2.png) [@Biotop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biotop)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2014, 6:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-november-2014-edition/703208/64 "2014-11-16T06:44:16Z")
> [@Quimby](#): > > Now reading Stephen King’s Revival. Just started and not sure where it’s going but is amazing how fast he creates three dimensional characters with just a few pages. One of King’s very best. Nightmares sure to follow. ---
**Author:** ![Meurglys](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/258eb7/32.png) [@Meurglys](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Meurglys)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2014, 12:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-november-2014-edition/703208/65 "2014-11-17T12:55:42Z")
> [@LawMonkey](#): > > \ _ **Abaddon** _ is just getting started for me, but I’m a bit leery about having a viewpoint character who is a Methodist (?) pastor. I imagine I’ll grit my teeth and read it in maybe a week instead of two days. I think you’ll get into it and read it more quickly… I found #4 to be slower to grip me. Currently reading the 8th in **Jeffrey Barlough** ’s [Western Lights](http://www.westernlightsbooks.com/thesunderedworld.html) series, The _Cobbler of Ridingham_. Alternate history/ghost story set in snow-bound woods and marshes with a Dickensian feel. I don’t think I’ve bothered sticking with a series for eight volumes for decades! ---
**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:** [November 17, 2014, 1:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-november-2014-edition/703208/66 "2014-11-17T13:12:21Z")
Started **Happy Days** , a memoir by H.L. Mencken of his Baltimore childhood. ---
**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:** [November 18, 2014, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-november-2014-edition/703208/67 "2014-11-18T03:02:02Z")
Finished _A House for Mr. Biswas_, by Nobel laureate VS Naipaul. The life of an Indo-Trinidadian in the first part of the 20th century. Very good. I understand he used his father as a model for the protagonist. Have started _The King of Torts_, by John Grisham. Very good so far but already a couple of quibbles. First, this was just a passing reference, but he seemed to lump Singapore in with Mexico City and Belgrade as derelict Third or Second World cities when nothing could be further from the truth. Singapore is sleek and modern – Singaporeans don’t even need a visa to visit the US – and he would have done better to use Bangkok or Kuala Lumpur. Second, this edition was published in London, and I’ve noticed one instance of a Britishism substituted for an Americanism, “speciality” instead of “specialty.” Still, I’m a third of the way through it, and it’s a good read. ---
**Author:** ![chiroptera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/df705f/32.png) [@chiroptera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chiroptera)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2014, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-november-2014-edition/703208/68 "2014-11-18T03:44:59Z")
I just finished Ann Patchett’s _Patron Saint of Liars_. Well-written, complex and enjoyable, but I’m not really clear on what the point of it all was. It was one of those deep and meaningful books that surely was supposed to have a point, but I didn’t get it. Except some people are inscrutable and fucked up, and other people deal with it OK. Onwards to Stephen King’s _Revival_! Which I am enjoying very much. Because, you know, Stephen King. ---
**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:** [November 18, 2014, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-november-2014-edition/703208/69 "2014-11-18T17:24:47Z")
Ye gods and little fishes, I finally finished **[Midnight’s Children](http://www.amazon.com/Midnights-Children-Modern-Library-Novels/dp/0812976533/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1416330820&sr=8-1&keywords=midnight%27s+children)**. I can truthfully say I didn’t enjoy it, but strangely I had an impulse to re-read it the second I put it down. I won’t do so until I’ve read an history of India / Pakistan during Partition, though. And I still don’t like Saleem Sinai one tiny bit. I re-read \*\*[A Wizard of Earthsea](http://www.amazon.com/Wizard-Earthsea-Cycle/dp/0547773749/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1416330975&sr=8-1&keywords=ursula+k+leguin)\*\*over the weekend thanks to an enthusiastic recommendation from Terry Pratchett in **[A Slip of the Keyboard](http://www.amazon.com/Slip-Keyboard-Collected-Nonfiction/dp/0385538308/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1416331120&sr=8-1&keywords=a+slip+of+the+keyboard)**, which I read last week. It was the first time I’d read Earthsea as an adult, and if anything, I enjoyed this bildungsroman of Ged / Sparrowhawk even more than I did as a child. That formless shadow-thing is terrifying. I enjoyed Keyboard too though it made me sad at the end, reading of Pratchett’s struggles with Posterior Cortical Atrophy and his fight to be allowed to end his life as he chooses. I am 100% with him on that one. I’ve got 3 books going at the moment: **[Dreams of Gods and Monsters](http://www.amazon.com/Dreams-Gods-Monsters-Daughter-Smoke/dp/0316134074/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1416331183&sr=8-3&keywords=gods+and+monsters)** by Laini Taylor, **[Louisiana Longshot](http://www.amazon.com/Louisiana-Longshot-Miss-Fortune-Mystery-ebook/dp/B008E9VENQ/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1416331296&sr=8-2&keywords=louisiana+hotshot)** by Jana DeLeon, and **[How to Be a Victorian](http://www.amazon.com/How-Be-Victorian-Dawn---Dusk/dp/0871404850/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1416331238&sr=8-5&keywords=victorian+daily+life)** by Ruth Goodman. I’m interested to see how Taylor winds up the angels / chimera dynamic in her trilogy. The worlds she’s created, including the purposeful reincarnations / remakings, are pretty fascinating, and I like how the angels are not necessarily good, or even, in the sense that we think of them, angels. Louisiana Longshot is your typical humorous fish-out-of-water potato chip mystery. And **Victorian** is fascinating. I’ve got to own that one, because the minutiae of how Victorians lived their daily lives captivates me utterly. Who knew that most homes couldn’t even afford a rag rug next to the bed - and Goodman explains why. Riveting stuff and good, I’d think, for aspiring authors who want to get the details right. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2014, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-november-2014-edition/703208/70 "2014-11-18T20:09:12Z")
Still working on **We Are Not Ourse\*\*\*\*lves**. I’ve been on and off with it since I got it for my birthday (early October); meanwhile my father takes a copy out of the library and finishes it in a few days. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Catamount](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/catamount/32/2840_2.png) [@Catamount](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Catamount)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2014, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-november-2014-edition/703208/71 "2014-11-18T22:40:38Z")
> [@Grrlbrarian](#): > > And **Victorian** is fascinating. I’ve got to own that one, because the minutiae of how Victorians lived their daily lives captivates me utterly. Who knew that most homes couldn’t even afford a rag rug next to the bed - and Goodman explains why. Riveting stuff and good, I’d think, for aspiring authors who want to get the details right. Oooh, that is relevant to my interests! _adds to Mt. ToBeRead_ ---
**Author:** ![araminty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b5e925/32.png) [@araminty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/araminty)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2014, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-november-2014-edition/703208/72 "2014-11-18T22:45:52Z")
> [@chiroptera](#): > > I just finished Ann Patchett’s _Patron Saint of Liars_. Well-written, complex and enjoyable, but I’m not really clear on what the point of it all was. It was one of those deep and meaningful books that surely was supposed to have a point, but I didn’t get it. Except some people are inscrutable and fucked up, and other people deal with it OK. > > Onwards to Stephen King’s _Revival_! Which I am enjoying very much. Because, you know, Stephen King. I generally really like Ann Patchett, but I agree, PSoL is kind of… nebulous. In her defense, it’s her first novel, and she definitely improves. Bel Canto is my favourite. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2014, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-november-2014-edition/703208/73 "2014-11-18T22:50:50Z")
> [@araminty](#): > > I generally really like Ann Patchett, but I agree, PSoL is kind of… nebulous. In her defense, it’s her first novel, and she definitely improves. Bel Canto is my favourite. I really liked \*\*Bel Canto \*\*also. **This Is the Story of a Happy Marriage** (essays) is on my pile. ---
**Author:** ![araminty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b5e925/32.png) [@araminty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/araminty)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2014, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-november-2014-edition/703208/74 "2014-11-18T22:57:25Z")
> [@gigi](#): > > I really liked \*\*Bel Canto \*\*also. **This Is the Story of a Happy Marriage** (essays) is on my pile. I just finished it. I’m not into non-fic, but it was OK, especially the glimpses into her life. Still want a new novel though, Ann! Just started The Woman in White, for SDMB Classics Book Club. Come join us! ---
**Author:** ![LawMonkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d6d6ee/32.png) [@LawMonkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LawMonkey)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2014, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-november-2014-edition/703208/75 "2014-11-19T01:57:54Z")
> [@Meurglys](#): > > I think you’ll get into it and read it more quickly… I found #4 to be slower to grip me. Yeah, I mostly finished it up last night, staying up a bit late to do so. While Anna and the rest of the godbotherers did tickle my allergy to all things Jesus and the LORD-ey, it wasn’t quite as much of a bother as Praxideke and The Quest for Mei. Still got a few chapters to go, but it’s just capping things off and seeing what happens to Clarissa and Hector the Space-Televangelist. Since #4 seems to be a bit weak, I think I"m going to make a serious effort to put a dent in _ **McIlvanney on Football** _ before trying to go back to the Expanse. ---
**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:** [November 19, 2014, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-november-2014-edition/703208/76 "2014-11-19T02:41:18Z")
literally just finished **The Narrows** by Michael Conelly. Fast paced and intriguing, but the switching naratives got annoying after awhile, the first two thirds of the book it switched with chapter breaks, for the last third it switched whenever, once in the middle of a paragraph (what fool editor didn’t catch _that_!?) And I still don’t like Rachel and her habit of taking her issues out on the man she just slept with… ---
**Author:** ![Eleanor\_of\_Aquitaine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a88e4f/32.png) [@Eleanor\_of\_Aquitaine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eleanor_of_Aquitaine)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2014, 3:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-november-2014-edition/703208/77 "2014-11-19T03:24:14Z")
> [@araminty](#): > > Just started The Woman in White, for SDMB Classics Book Club. Come join us! I will start _The Woman in White_ soon! I read _The Late Scholar_, the newest of Jill Paton Walsh’s novels featuring Lord Peter Wimsey and Harriet Vane. These continue to feel like high quality fan fiction, but I enjoyed watching Peter and Harriet swan around Oxford in the 1950’s. I like Walsh’s writing, and she’s respectful of Sayers’ beloved characters. Right now I’m really enjoying _The Silkworm_, the second mystery novel by Robert Galbraith, a.k.a. J.K. Rowling. It’s even better than the first one - she has tamed her enthusiasm for adjectives, and I’m impressed by her writing. ---
**Author:** ![Politzania](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3ab097/32.png) [@Politzania](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Politzania)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2014, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-november-2014-edition/703208/78 "2014-11-19T15:30:32Z")
Checked out _**[The Invincible](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/251633.The_Invincible)**_ by Stanislaw Lem as my November Amazon Prime Lending Library book. Is it just me, or is naming your starship _Invincible_ kinda asking for it? Especially when you’re heading toward an apparently lifeless planet on which another ship has already disappeared? 🙂 While the characters are pretty much one-dimensional standins, that’s not what this novel is about. Rather, it’s an exploration of a planet where organic life has been replaced (at least on land) by a form of robotic, inorganic life. There are some relatively exciting battle scenes that are well-drawn; and the gradual reveal of the robotic lifeforms is fascinating, as is the discovery of what happened to the missing ship and its crew. I found myself wondering of any of the creative team on _Big Hero 6_ had read this novel, as the “microbots” in the film act very similarly to those in the book; albeit the Regis III version being autonomous. I enjoyed the novel and would recommend it if you’re into SF tech; but don’t see myself returning to it anytime soon. ============ Really enjoyed Cary Elwes’ _**[As You Wish: Inconceivable Tales from the Making of The Princess Bride](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/21412202-as-you-wish)**_. Being a fan of both the book and the film, it was good to discover that the making of the film was as fun an experience as the viewing. While this recollection is primarily from Elwes’ viewpoint, there are sidebars from many of his co-stars, as well as Goldman, Reiner and Lear, where they provide their own insights into the production. Elwes speaks particularly fondly of Andre the Giant, who left us too soon. The book wraps up with the 25th anniversary screening in New York, where the cast reunited for a panel discussion (I’d love to see video of this event!) and Elwes’ own reflections on the legacy of the film. Recommended to fans of _The Princess Bride_ looking for an upbeat behind the scenes look at the film. ---
**Author:** ![LavenderBlue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e95f7d/32.png) [@LavenderBlue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LavenderBlue)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2014, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-november-2014-edition/703208/79 "2014-11-19T18:30:37Z")
I am reading **Boychiks in the Hood: Travels in the Hasidic Underground** by Robert Eisenberg. Wonderful book about a society this Reform Jew still doesn’t fully know. Next up: **Margaret Powell’s Cookery Book: Five Hundred Recipes from Everyone’s Favorite Downstairs Kitchen Maid**. I ordered it on Amazon after reading one of her prior excellent books about being a kitchen maid in Edwardian England. ---
**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:** [November 19, 2014, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-november-2014-edition/703208/80 "2014-11-19T19:06:06Z")
i just started [The Slow Regard of Silent Things](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/21535271-the-slow-regard-of-silent-things) this morning. I understand that it’s probably not the best place to start on his world, but at the moment, I’m not interested in jumping into a huge fantasy tome, so there 😛 So far I’m enjoying it also… my bad to judge from the scuttlebutt I’m hearing on the 'net. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-november-2014-edition/703208.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-november-2014-edition/703208.md?page=5)