# Khadaji's Whatcha Readin' thread - October 2014 Edition **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 30, 2014, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-october-2014-edition/699986 "2014-09-30T17:49:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![SCAdian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scadian/32/3292_2.png) [@SCAdian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SCAdian)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2014, 5:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-october-2014-edition/699986/21 "2014-10-03T05:02:26Z")
> [@delphica](#): > > After seeing it mentioned in one of our previous threads, I read Jo Walton’s _My Real Children._ I liked it very much overall, I especially liked that even though one of the two lives was pretty much objectively “better” than the other, the other one still had some great high points and really moving emotional moments so it wasn’t like one good life and one bad life. That looks interesting - I’m going to have to look for it. I really enjoyed her “Small Change” series. ---
**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:** [October 3, 2014, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-october-2014-edition/699986/22 "2014-10-03T15:38:08Z")
I have a craptacular head cold, so I opted to go for “potato chip” reading today. I started **Glory in Death** the 2nd book in JD Robb’s In Death series. Mary Sues are good for sinus congestion 😃 ---
**Author:** ![chiroptera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/df705f/32.png) [@chiroptera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chiroptera)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2014, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-october-2014-edition/699986/23 "2014-10-03T15:47:41Z")
I just finished Anne Rule’s _Practice to Deceive_. Absolutely not up to her usual standards; many inconsistencies and repeated statements…as if the book was never edited. I hope she’s not losing her touch. I’ve been enjoying the late crop of Nordic crime writers (Larsson, Nesbo, Mankell) so I’m about to start Camilla Lackberg’s _The Stonecutter_. ---
**Author:** ![swampspruce](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/swampspruce/32/261_2.png) [@swampspruce](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/swampspruce)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2014, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-october-2014-edition/699986/24 "2014-10-03T17:02:57Z")
Started Henry Miller’s Tropic of Capricorn this month, the lists are getting tiresome. ---
**Author:** ![LavenderBlue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e95f7d/32.png) [@LavenderBlue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LavenderBlue)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2014, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-october-2014-edition/699986/25 "2014-10-03T17:04:32Z")
I read **The Daring Ladies of Lowell** by Kate Alcott. The book centers around a cotton mill worker in the 1830’s and what happens when a co-worker of hers is murdered. Very fast paced historical fiction. The main character is a bit too angelic to be real but as a whole it is a very well done novel. ---
**Author:** ![Tapiotar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3be4f8/32.png) [@Tapiotar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tapiotar)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2014, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-october-2014-edition/699986/26 "2014-10-03T17:27:26Z")
Just finished **The Bullet Catcher’s Daughter** , by Rod Duncan. Steampunk with excellent world-building. Great Britain has been divided in two, the north, with Scotland, into a superego-like Republic, where women are respected and logic rules, and the idl-like Kingdom in the south, which is colorful and creative, but aristocrats can hold indentured servants like slaves. The agents of the Patent Office, like a powerful UN or League of Nations, rule in all countries, and seek out and destroy unseemly inventions. Our protagonist is a private intelligencer who grew up in a traveling carnival and is an expert cross-dresser. Good fun. Am now reading **Clare DeWitt and the Bohemian Highway** , the sequel to\*\* Claire DeWitt and the City of the Dead,\*\* by Sara Gran. It’s present-day noir mixed with philosophy, quirky in the right ways, and good. I recommend it. ---
**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:** [October 3, 2014, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-october-2014-edition/699986/27 "2014-10-03T17:34:22Z")
I’m currently about 80% of the way through _**[The Silkworm](http://www.amazon.com/The-Silkworm-Cormoran-Strike-Novel/dp/0316206873/)**_, the second Cormoran Strike novel from Robert Galbraith – aka J.K. Rowling. I’m enjoying it quite a bit, as I did the first novel. > [@Dung\_Beetle](#): > > This one is [Rooms](http://www.amazon.com/Rooms-Novel-Lauren-Oliver/dp/0062223194/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1412099942&sr=1-1&keywords=lauren+oliver), by Lauren Oliver. It’s about a family who has gathered in their old home for the reading of the father’s will, and the characters all get to tell a part of the story, the viewpoint changing with each chapter. Among them are two ghosts, who fill us in on the history of the house. It isn’t at all scary, but I’m liking it a lot and feeling that the author is redeeming herself after her last YA book. Your description sounded interesting enough for me to check it out on Amazon; it has since been added to my wish list. Thanks! > [@Enterprise](#): > > Otherwise, I’m reading Ray Bradbury’s _Something Wicked This Way Comes_, which is delightfully lyrical I’ve seen the (IMO excellent) movie several times, and I always forget that there’s a book! That has also been added to my wish list. 🙂 Also, when I looked it up on Amazon, I discovered that it’s the second book in a series (“Greentown Book 2”). I went ahead and also added Greentown Book 1 – _Dandelion Wine_ – just because. ---
**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:** [October 4, 2014, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-october-2014-edition/699986/28 "2014-10-04T19:16:40Z")
> [@Misnomer](#): > > Also, when I looked it up on Amazon, I discovered that it’s the second book in a series (“Greentown Book 2”). I went ahead and also added Greentown Book 1 – _Dandelion Wine_ – just because. It’s been ages since I read **Dandelion Wine** , I really ought to reread it. Those of you reading **Something Wicked This Way Comes** , might be interested in this [From the Dust Returned](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1059682.From_the_Dust_Returned). It’s more in the vein of **Halloween Tree** and\*\* Dandelion Wine\*\* but I enjoyed 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:** [October 5, 2014, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-october-2014-edition/699986/29 "2014-10-05T01:27:14Z")
> [@swampspruce](#): > > Started Henry Miller’s Tropic of Capricorn this month, the lists are getting tiresome. Lists of orifices, girls, perversions, types of booze, or something else…? ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2014, 5:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-october-2014-edition/699986/30 "2014-10-06T05:03:54Z")
> [@SCAdian](#): > > Finally getting around to reading _Three Men in a Boat (To Say Nothing of the Dog)_, by Jerome K Jerome - something I’ve been meaning to do for years. (Nay, decades…) I mentioned that one in the August list - glad someone else is enjoying it! I’m a few chapters into _Kim_ - one that I’d meant to read for a long time but never got around to it. He’s a cheeky little blighter, is Kim. Just finished the chapter where the lama ignores the cobra and teaches Kim to do the same. ---
**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:** [October 6, 2014, 5:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-october-2014-edition/699986/31 "2014-10-06T05:31:11Z")
I read some more stories by Lord Dunsany (Time and the Gods, Tales of Wonder, The Book of Wonder). I also ready Tales of War, a collection of his stories about World War One published in 1918; some were funny, some were sad, and some showed a lot of bitterness against the Kaiser. Now I’m reading Ambrose Bierce’s _Fantastic Fables_ which is a collection of…jokes, I guess? They’re really too short to be short stories and they’re too long to be quips. ---
**Author:** ![Meurglys](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/258eb7/32.png) [@Meurglys](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Meurglys)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2014, 12:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-october-2014-edition/699986/32 "2014-10-06T12:35:05Z")
> [@Tapiotar](#): > > Just finished **The Bullet Catcher’s Daughter** , by Rod Duncan. Steampunk with excellent world-building. Great Britain has been divided in two, the north, with Scotland, into a superego-like Republic, where women are respected and logic rules, and the idl-like Kingdom in the south, which is colorful and creative, but aristocrats can hold indentured servants like slaves. The agents of the Patent Office, like a powerful UN or League of Nations, rule in all countries, and seek out and destroy unseemly inventions. Our protagonist is a private intelligencer who grew up in a traveling carnival and is an expert cross-dresser. Good fun. I just read this too and agree; it’s great fun. I often don’t read more than the initial ‘set-up’ volume of a series, but I’m fairly sure I’ll read the next one in this set when it comes out… Currently spending time on both **Amundsen** ’s autobiography, _My Life as an Explorer_ (1927) and **Edward M. Lerner** ’s _Energized_, set in an energy-poor near future about the fight (literally) to beam energy down from orbiting satellites. It’s not bad but I doubt I’d miss it if I stop reading any time. ---
**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:** [October 6, 2014, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-october-2014-edition/699986/33 "2014-10-06T17:43:55Z")
Only book I’m currently reading is [Flight Behavior](http://www.amazon.com/Flight-Behavior-Novel-Barbara-Kingsolver-ebook/dp/B007HBY89E/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1412617090&sr=8-1&keywords=flight+behavior) by Barbara Kingsolver. It’s all right, but I must confess that I prefer Kingsolver’s nonfiction to her fiction. Recently finished [The Rook](http://www.amazon.com/Rook-Checquy-Files-1-ebook/dp/B004QX07EG/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1412617162&sr=8-1&keywords=the+rook), which I discovered by reading previous editions of this thread. Also have [What Every Body Is Saying: An Ex-FBI Agent’s Guide to Speed-Reading People](http://www.amazon.com/What-Every-BODY-Saying-Navarro-ebook/dp/B0010SKSTO/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1412617198&sr=8-1&keywords=what+every+body+is+saying+an+ex-fbi+agent%27s+guide+to+speed-reading+people) sitting at home waiting for me to start reading it. I actually order it around Labor Day, and while the first few pages were enticing, I put it down until I could better focus on it (I’m trying to hold down a full-time job, re-certify as an EMT, and get married, all in the same month). I hope to get back to it soon! ---
**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:** [October 6, 2014, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-october-2014-edition/699986/34 "2014-10-06T18:30:46Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > Thanks for the new thread, **DZNC**. > > I’m still really enjoying _The Year of Living Biblically: One Man’s Humble Quest to follow the Bible as Literally as Possible_ by A.J. Jacobs, and am now more than halfway through. I’m about halfway through this too. I knew there were loads of Biblical pre- and proscriptions but had no idea of most of the reasoning behind same. Trying to adopt all of them leaves Mr. Jacobs’ life in quite an amusing muddle most of the time but in others, touches his life with unexpected poignancy. I’m riveted. ---
**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:** [October 6, 2014, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-october-2014-edition/699986/35 "2014-10-06T20:43:49Z")
The first time I read _The Lies of Locke Lamora_ I liked it. The second time I read it I didn’t. It’s a good story but there are several things wrong with it: 1. It goes on too long. 2. I get tired of flashing back every other chapter. By the end it was just getting ridiculous. Keep the story moving! (See #1.) 3. If Locke is such a master trickster, why did he keep shooting himself in the foot? What was the point of imitating the Midnighters at the beginning? Why didn’t he try to find a way out of the bind the Grey King put him in? Why did he keep trying to steal clothes from the clerks at the bank? He did way too many boneheaded things for me to take him seriously as a thief by the end. I am curious as to what happens next, though. Eventually I’ll pick up the other two books just for the closure. ---
**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:** [October 7, 2014, 3:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-october-2014-edition/699986/36 "2014-10-07T03:16:31Z")
> [@Grrlbrarian](#): > > I’m about halfway through [_The Year of Living Biblically_] too. I knew there were loads of Biblical pre- and proscriptions but had no idea of most of the reasoning behind same. Trying to adopt all of them leaves Mr. Jacobs’ life in quite an amusing muddle most of the time but in others, touches his life with unexpected poignancy. I’m riveted. Me too, and well put. Finally gave up on _The Namesake_. Reached the 50-page mark and didn’t find it engaging enough to continue. ---
**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:** [October 7, 2014, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-october-2014-edition/699986/37 "2014-10-07T16:23:28Z")
I finished _Rooms_ and liked it quite a bit. I hope you do too, **Misnomer**! Now I’m on to Fritz Leiber’s [Conjure Wife](http://www.amazon.com/Conjure-Wife-Fritz-Leiber/dp/B0046LUOVO/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1412698737&sr=1-2&keywords=conjure+wife) (catching up on some horror classics lately). I wonder if this was the source material for the TV show “Bewitched”. ---
**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:** [October 9, 2014, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-october-2014-edition/699986/38 "2014-10-09T00:08:22Z")
I finished Barry Eisler’s 3rd John Rain book **Rain Storm** , I’m really surprisingly enjoying a series where the main character is an assasin. I haven’t read a lot of espionage, thriller types of books so this is a new adventure for me. Eisler does a MUCH better job of getting into his assasin’s head than Daniel Silva does with his character Gabriel Allon. Over all I think Eisler’s seris is the better one. ---
**Author:** ![sinjin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ebca7d/32.png) [@sinjin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sinjin)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2014, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-october-2014-edition/699986/39 "2014-10-09T03:55:54Z")
> [@susan](#): > > Enjoying \*The Golem and the Jinni, \*just not having a lot of reading time this year. I am also reading The Golem and the Jinni based on reviews a couple of months ago. Liking it more than I expected. Just finished The Paper Magician, light, easy, soon to be forgotten. ---
**Author:** ![sinjin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ebca7d/32.png) [@sinjin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sinjin)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2014, 4:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-october-2014-edition/699986/40 "2014-10-09T04:10:06Z")
> [@SpazCat](#): > > The first time I read _The Lies of Locke Lamora_ I liked it. The second time I read it I didn’t. It’s a good story but there are several things wrong with it: > > 1. It goes on too long. > 2. I get tired of flashing back every other chapter. By the end it was just getting ridiculous. Keep the story moving! (See #1.) > 3. If Locke is such a master trickster, why did he keep shooting himself in the foot? What was the point of imitating the Midnighters at the beginning? Why didn’t he try to find a way out of the bind the Grey King put him in? Why did he keep trying to steal clothes from the clerks at the bank? He did way too many boneheaded things for me to take him seriously as a thief by the end. > > I am curious as to what happens next, though. Eventually I’ll pick up the other two books just for the closure. I tried to read this and got about 1/2 way thru and didn’t really care about any of the characters. If it gets better let me know. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-october-2014-edition/699986.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-october-2014-edition/699986.md?page=3)