# Khadaji's Whatcha Readin' thread - September 2014 **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 29, 2014, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-september-2014/696911 "2014-08-29T22:15:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 8
**Author:** ![Jack\_Burden](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/958977/32.png) [@Jack\_Burden](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jack_Burden)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2014, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-september-2014/696911/141 "2014-09-24T01:26:05Z")
Just finished a re-read of **The Passage** and **The Twelve** in anticipation of the concluding book being published soon, and hoping that HBO or Showtime will give these books the miniseries treatment, way too much going on for a two hour movie. Diving in to **The Bone Clocks** with great excitement and anticipation… ---
**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:** [September 24, 2014, 4:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-september-2014/696911/142 "2014-09-24T04:04:49Z")
I finished reading “The Iron Heel” by Jack London. What an odd book. The first half is like an alternate universe version of “Atlas Shrugged” and then he quickly runs through a bunch of (alternate) historical events and culminates with a gruesomely-described massacre. I’m not sure exactly what I was expecting, though. ---
**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:** [September 25, 2014, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-september-2014/696911/143 "2014-09-25T00:08:20Z")
The first book in J.D. Robb’s “In Death” series, **Naked in Death** is interesting less in the mystery, which was well written but hardly original, but in the author’s issues and politics splashed in bright colors through the whole book. In a world of the not so distant future, guns and tobacco are illegal but prostitution is not only legal but a licensed profession! Eh? What? Funny thing tho, someone was still killing whores… Also someone PLEASE tell Ms Robb that humans do NOT breathe through their skin! They have lungs for that, you would think in a world of super computers, space flight, flying cars no one could possibly murder someone by PAINTING THEM! Paint will not make you “smother to death”! You breathe through your NOSE not your skin! ---
**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:** [September 25, 2014, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-september-2014/696911/144 "2014-09-25T00:53:54Z")
> [@DZedNConfused](#): > > …Also someone PLEASE tell Ms Robb that humans do NOT breathe through their skin! They have lungs for that, you would think in a world of super computers, space flight, flying cars no one could possibly murder someone by PAINTING THEM! Paint will not make you “smother to death”! You breathe through your NOSE not your skin! I blame Ian Fleming. ---
**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:** [September 25, 2014, 4:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-september-2014/696911/145 "2014-09-25T04:23:56Z")
Finished _1491: New Revelations of the Americas before Columbus_, by Charles C. Mann. Very interesting. Next up is _1493: Uncovering the New World Columbus Created_, Mann’s sequel. ---
**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:** [September 25, 2014, 7:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-september-2014/696911/146 "2014-09-25T07:40:35Z")
As for myself, I’m holding out for _1494: Columbus’s Electric Boogaloo_. ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2014, 7:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-september-2014/696911/147 "2014-09-25T07:57:58Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > As for myself, I’m holding out for _1494: Columbus’s Electric Boogaloo_. _In Fourteen Hundred and Ninety-Five/Columbus sailed the ocean jive…_ ---
**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:** [September 25, 2014, 8:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-september-2014/696911/148 "2014-09-25T08:46:04Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > Finished _1491: New Revelations of the Americas before Columbus_, by Charles C. Mann. Very interesting. > > Next up is _1493: Uncovering the New World Columbus Created_, Mann’s sequel. > [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > As for myself, I’m holding out for _1494: Columbus’s Electric Boogaloo_. I think Mann only does odd-numbered years. ---
**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:** [September 25, 2014, 12:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-september-2014/696911/149 "2014-09-25T12:01:50Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > I think Mann only does odd-numbered years. How odd… _rimshot_ ---
**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:** [September 25, 2014, 12:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-september-2014/696911/150 "2014-09-25T12:23:50Z")
> [@DZedNConfused](#): > > I love Susan Cooper’s ability to set a scene. Her book **King of Shadows** is another YA, but the story is fantastic. This is what I’m reading now. ---
**Author:** ![Malthus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/85f322/32.png) [@Malthus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malthus)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2014, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-september-2014/696911/151 "2014-09-25T13:43:39Z")
> [@DZedNConfused](#): > > The first book in J.D. Robb’s “In Death” series, **Naked in Death** is interesting less in the mystery, which was well written but hardly original, but in the author’s issues and politics splashed in bright colors through the whole book. In a world of the not so distant future, guns and tobacco are illegal but prostitution is not only legal but a licensed profession! Eh? What? Funny thing tho, someone was still killing whores… > > Also someone PLEASE tell Ms Robb that humans do NOT breathe through their skin! They have lungs for that, you would think in a world of super computers, space flight, flying cars no one could possibly murder someone by PAINTING THEM! Paint will not make you “smother to death”! You breathe through your NOSE not your skin! In a world of the not so distant future, humans have been replaced with amphibians. ---
**Author:** ![Sattua](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sattua/32/11906_2.png) [@Sattua](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sattua)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2014, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-september-2014/696911/152 "2014-09-25T14:20:38Z")
nm ---
**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:** [September 25, 2014, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-september-2014/696911/153 "2014-09-25T14:33:13Z")
Forgot to mention that I read about 80% of [All Heads Turn When the Hunt Goes By](http://www.amazon.com/Heads-Turn-When-Hunt-Goes/dp/0445043601/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1411653968&sr=1-2&keywords=all+heads+turn+when+the+hunt+goes+by). Started off with a bang and slowed to a plod. I didn’t like any of the characters. Some specific things irritated me: [spoiler]One character describes the leader of an African tribe by asking, “Have you read _She_, by H. Rider Haggard? Well, this woman was like Ayesha.” I’m thinking, yeah, _that_ book was good. Another thing: When Dr. Holley is on a private train under odd circumstances, he meets Early Boy and knows him right away. But it’s not explained to us until quite a bit further on. I’m like, is Early Boy a celebrity or something? What are the odds these people could possibly know each other? Too much detail, like the love life of the Red Cross woman. Admittedly I didn’t read the whole book, but I bet we never needed to know that and it bored the crap out of me.[/spoiler]_sigh_ Anyway, a greatly acclaimed classic horror novel, but I just didn’t get it. ---
**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:** [September 25, 2014, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-september-2014/696911/154 "2014-09-25T15:04:46Z")
YAY! I hope you like it. I think she did a really good job of creating Elizabethan London, from a teenage perspective. ---
**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:** [September 25, 2014, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-september-2014/696911/155 "2014-09-25T15:07:11Z")
> [@Malthus](#): > > In a world of the not so distant future, humans have been replaced with amphibians. Ribbit, ribbit… ---
**Author:** ![LavenderBlue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e95f7d/32.png) [@LavenderBlue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LavenderBlue)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2014, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-september-2014/696911/156 "2014-09-25T15:34:22Z")
I finished _The Romanov Sisters_ by Helen Rappaport. So sad. The czar was an asshole and the czarina a nasty bitch but their poor girls hardly deserved to be shot. Also thank god we have the damned MMR shot. All four girls got measles and it was terrifying. Tatiana temporarily lost her hearing. Maria had days of 104 fever. Anastasia dealt with pressure in her ears so bad they had to puncture both of her eardrums! Olga had pneumonia. The poor girls were miserable for months. So much unnecessary suffering. I wonder what would have happened had they been allowed to grow up. Given the obvious possibility that all girls were carriers for hemophilia, would they have been sought after as brides for European royalty? Would the girls have been allowed to marry Russians? The author speculates that the czar would have eventually allowed his daughters to marry high ranking Russians. If Alexei had died young, would the crown have passed to Olga, the eldest Romanov? Would the monarchy have survived had there been no problem with hemophilia? Alexandra’s cousin was Ena, Queen of Spain. She was also a carrier of hemophilia. Her solution was to keep having sons until she had one that was healthy. She and her husband were eventually deposed but her descendant sits on the throne of Spain today. Would a similar experience have happened had Alexandra keep having children? Or was the monarchy doomed once the revolution started? Would the revolution had started in the first place had Nicholas been a better leader? Questions, questions, questions . . . ---
**Author:** ![Meurglys](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/258eb7/32.png) [@Meurglys](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Meurglys)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2014, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-september-2014/696911/157 "2014-09-25T16:29:52Z")
> [@hogarth](#): > > I finished reading “The Iron Heel” by Jack London. What an odd book. The first half is like an alternate universe version of “Atlas Shrugged” and then he quickly runs through a bunch of (alternate) historical events and culminates with a gruesomely-described massacre. I’m not sure exactly what I was expecting, though. I read [this review](http://yellowedandcreased.wordpress.com/2014/09/03/the-iron-heel-jack-london/) of it just a week or two ago, if you’re interested. The reviewer usually only reviews old books he picks up cheap! Usually sf or crime titles. Still enjoying _The Bullet-Catcher’s Daughter_… ---
**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:** [September 26, 2014, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-september-2014/696911/158 "2014-09-26T01:49:43Z")
Just finished Ted Sorensen’s _Counselor_, about his years working with and for John F. Kennedy (U.S. Senate and White House) and later involvement in liberal causes, as well as his longtime international legal career. Very interesting. Lots of good behind-the-scenes stories about working for JFK, who was, he concedes, not perfect but was nevertheless a great man who accomplished far more in office than cynics now credit him for. The book ended with the author’s cry from the heart for a return to JFK’s ideals of public service, peacemaking, and America as a force for good in the world. Skimmed Alexander Rose’s _Washington’s Spies_ (inspiration for the AMC series _Turn_), which was all right, but not good enough to read cover to cover. Still reading _The Year of Living Biblically: One Man’s Humble Quest to follow the Bible as Literally as Possible_ by A.J. Jacobs, and enjoying it. ---
**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:** [September 26, 2014, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-september-2014/696911/159 "2014-09-26T02:22:26Z")
Started **Lost Light** by Michael Connelly today. So far very good, he’s done a get job of getting the backstory out to the reader without bogging down the book. ---
**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:** [September 26, 2014, 12:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-september-2014/696911/160 "2014-09-26T12:17:47Z")
> [@DZedNConfused](#): > > YAY! > > I hope you like it. I think she did a really good job of creating Elizabethan London, from a teenage perspective. I did like _King of Shadows_, thanks for recommending it! Even though I read the last couple of chapters with tears in my eyes. 🙂 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-september-2014/696911.md?page=7) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-september-2014/696911.md?page=9)