# Khadaji's Whatcha Readin' Thread - September 2015 Edition **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 1, 2015, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-september-2015-edition/729572 "2015-09-01T02:51:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![kayT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayt/32/3633_2.png) [@kayT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayT)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2015, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-september-2015-edition/729572/81 "2015-09-17T21:45:40Z")
Well, **wind of my soul** , I found The Spirit Catches You to be completely fascinating and un-put-downable. I hope you enjoy it too (although enjoy is probably not the right word). Disturbing and compelling, maybe. I think your own experiences might make it even more so. I’m sorry about your loss. ---
**Author:** ![Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulf_the_Unwashed)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2015, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-september-2015-edition/729572/82 "2015-09-17T22:52:36Z")
> [@kayT](#): > > Well, **wind of my soul** , I found The Spirit Catches You to be completely fascinating and un-put-downable. I hope you enjoy it too (although enjoy is probably not the right word). Disturbing and compelling, maybe. I think your own experiences might make it even more so. I’m sorry about your loss. Agreed, agreed, agreed. Wonderfully written, wonderfully informative, wonderfully compassionate. If you can manage it, and I certainly understand if you can’t, it is well worth the time. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2015, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-september-2015-edition/729572/83 "2015-09-17T23:53:15Z")
I’m on my eighth Craig Johnson novel of the Longmire series. The dude can write. ---
**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 18, 2015, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-september-2015-edition/729572/84 "2015-09-18T02:14:35Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > Dwight Holly is the “rogue FBI agent” who kills MLK in the alternate history that unfolds after JFK survives Oswald’s assassination attempt in Dallas. Aha! Thanks. I never would have remembered that. So is Dwight also: … the agent who met with Jake in the hotel after the assassination was foiled and advised him to disappear? I don’t have a copy of _11/22/63_. Checked it out of the library at the time. ---
**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 18, 2015, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-september-2015-edition/729572/85 "2015-09-18T03:20:20Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > Aha! Thanks. I never would have remembered that. So is Dwight also: > > … the agent who met with Jake in the hotel after the assassination was foiled and advised him to disappear?… No, that was a real person (although obviously doing fictional things), long mentioned in conspiracy-theorizing about the JFK assassination: [James P. Hosty - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_P._Hosty) ---
**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:** [September 18, 2015, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-september-2015-edition/729572/86 "2015-09-18T16:15:19Z")
> [@kayT](#): > > Well, **wind of my soul** , I found The Spirit Catches You to be completely fascinating and un-put-downable. I hope you enjoy it too (although enjoy is probably not the right word). Disturbing and compelling, maybe. I think your own experiences might make it even more so. I’m sorry about your loss. > [@Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](#): > > Agreed, agreed, agreed. > > Wonderfully written, wonderfully informative, wonderfully compassionate. If you can manage it, and I certainly understand if you can’t, it is well worth the time. Oh good! It’s certainly a good sign to know this book has been so well-received by other members in the Doper community. (Haven’t made any progress since I posted, so I still can’t really say my thoughts on the book yet.) ---
**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 20, 2015, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-september-2015-edition/729572/87 "2015-09-20T03:55:27Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > No, that was a real person (although obviously doing fictional things), long mentioned in conspiracy-theorizing about the JFK assassination: [James P. Hosty - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_P._Hosty) I see. Thanks again. _11/22/63_ really is a great book. ---
**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 20, 2015, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-september-2015-edition/729572/88 "2015-09-20T19:54:12Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > I see. Thanks again. _11/22/63_ really is a great book. Agreed, and two of my well-read historian friends who are VERY into the JFK assassination say it’s quite accurate. ---
**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 21, 2015, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-september-2015-edition/729572/89 "2015-09-21T15:12:17Z")
Over the weekend finished Dominique Enright’s _The Wicked Wit of Winston Churchill_, which had some of his best quips, observations and zingers. Some minor factual errors, but worth a read. Also reread a childhood favorite, F.N. Monjo’s _The One Bad Thing About Father_, about life in the White House as if told by one of Theodore Roosevelt’s rambunctious little boys. Funny and charming. ---
**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 21, 2015, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-september-2015-edition/729572/90 "2015-09-21T23:21:01Z")
I finished **Dragons at Crumbling Castle** by Terry Pratchett Friday (busy weekend was BUSY!) Even though the stories were written for young children, anyone who enjoys Sir Terry’s humour will likely enjoy them as well. I started **The hollow Boy** today. Starts right off with a BANG as usual! I’m getting to like this series more and more. ---
**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 22, 2015, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-september-2015-edition/729572/91 "2015-09-22T00:38:40Z")
I finished reading **New Arabian Nights** , a book of short stories (some of which are connected) by Robert Louis Stevenson. It got off to a bang with “The Suicide Club” cycle, which I thought was terrific, and “The Rajah’s Diamond” cycle, which was also great – Prince Florizel and Col. Geraldine really had a Harun al-Rashid/Jafar plus Holmes/Watson vibe which I really liked. However, the last set of unrelated stories were much less interesting to me. ---
**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 22, 2015, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-september-2015-edition/729572/92 "2015-09-22T14:33:48Z")
> [@DZedNConfused](#): > > I started **The hollow Boy** today. Starts right off with a BANG as usual! I’m getting to like this series more and more. I just finished it yesterday and absolutely loved it. One of my favorite things about these books is the subtlety with which Stroud describes the Lucy/Lockwood relationship. Starting today on [Undermajordomo Minor](http://www.amazon.com/Undermajordomo-Minor-Novel-Patrick-deWitt/dp/0062281208/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1442931790&sr=1-1&keywords=patrick+dewitt) a humorous and peculiarly-flavored fairy tale for adults by Patrick DeWitt. I’m expecting great things, since DeWitt also wrote the nicely True-Gritesque [The Sisters Brothers](http://www.amazon.com/Sisters-Brothers-Patrick-deWitt/dp/0062041282/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1442932331&sr=1-3&keywords=patrick+dewitt). Whaddaya mean “gritesque” isn’t a word? ---
**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 22, 2015, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-september-2015-edition/729572/93 "2015-09-22T14:55:51Z")
> [@Dung\_Beetle](#): > > I just finished it yesterday and absolutely loved it. One of my favorite things about these books is the subtlety with which Stroud describes the Lucy/Lockwood relationship. Oh absolutely! I do like that his teens aren’t short adults, they act and sound like teens. I just reached the bloody footprints… Stroud really does NOT like staircases, does he? Particularly spiral ones 😉 ---
**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 23, 2015, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-september-2015-edition/729572/94 "2015-09-23T01:18:02Z")
Finished **The Hollow Boy** by Jonathon Stroud just minutes ago! WOW! What a ride! And what an EVIL, EVIL cliffhanger to leave us on! **Dung Beetle** want to take bets on who owned that cigarette? Or do wee think it is glaringly obvious? ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2015, 12:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-september-2015-edition/729572/95 "2015-09-23T12:38:04Z")
Started **Paths of Glory** by Humphrey Cobb. I’ve seen the Kubrick film lots of times, and own the DVD. But I didn’t realize it was based on a book. Kubrick apparently read it as a teenager and was struck by it. (the book came out in 1935). It had been turned into a play, and the playwrite hoped to film it, but both he and Cobb were long dead by the time the Kubrick film, starring Kirk Douglas, came out in 1957. The paperback I found I a used book store was a movie tie-in. Like my paperback copy of _Spartacus_, it has modern-art drawings on the cover of Douglas as the lead character. Interesting, so far. ---
**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 23, 2015, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-september-2015-edition/729572/96 "2015-09-23T14:49:01Z")
Started **Aloha from Hell** by Richard Kadrey, one thing about his writing, it gets right to the action! ---
**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 23, 2015, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-september-2015-edition/729572/97 "2015-09-23T14:56:19Z")
> [@DZedNConfused](#): > > Finished **The Hollow Boy** by Jonathon Stroud just minutes ago! WOW! What a ride! And what an EVIL, EVIL cliffhanger to leave us on! > > **Dung Beetle** want to take bets on who owned that cigarette? Or do wee think it is glaringly obvious? Yeah, I think it was meant to be. I have another Sandman Slim in my TBR pile too, but it’ll still be a little while before I get around to it! ---
**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 24, 2015, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-september-2015-edition/729572/98 "2015-09-24T01:53:03Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > Started **Paths of Glory** by Humphrey Cobb. I’ve seen the Kubrick film lots of times, and own the DVD. But I didn’t realize it was based on a book. And I believe the novel was based on a true incident. ---
**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 24, 2015, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-september-2015-edition/729572/99 "2015-09-24T02:38:28Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > Started **Paths of Glory** by Humphrey Cobb. I’ve seen the Kubrick film lots of times, and own the DVD… Cool. Pretty true to the movie? > [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > And I believe the novel was based on a true incident. An appalling one, yes: [Géraud Réveilhac - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/G%C3%A9raud_R%C3%A9veilhac) ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2015, 11:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-september-2015-edition/729572/100 "2015-09-24T11:30:48Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > Cool. Pretty true to the movie? > An appalling one, yes: [Géraud Réveilhac - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/G%C3%A9raud_R%C3%A9veilhac) So far, the novel and movie are very similar. I understand that Kubrick added the last scene, though, with the German girl singing, which is not in the book. One reviewer thought that Cobb would have appreciated that scene, though. As mentioned, there was a similar incident in WWI in France, and which Cobb based his book on. Nevertheless, when Kubrick’s film came out, the French government protested about the depiction of the French army (although not to the point of banning the film in France, despite what rumors say) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-september-2015-edition/729572.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-september-2015-edition/729572.md?page=6)