# Khadaji's Whatcha Readin' thread -- September 2017 Edition **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 30, 2017, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-september-2017-edition/795116 "2017-08-30T18:22:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**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, 2017, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-september-2017-edition/795116/81 "2017-09-20T13:22:41Z")
> [@Finagle](#): > > I finally re-started Six Frigates: The Epic History of the Founding of the U.S. Navy after a bit of a hiatus. It really is an fascinating story… Yes, indeed - I read that a year or so ago and really enjoyed it. Good point about Aubrey, Maturin and our different perspectives. All the stories about dueling horrified me, too; so many brave young officers’ lives, stupidly and unnecessarily lost. ---
**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:** [September 20, 2017, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-september-2017-edition/795116/82 "2017-09-20T16:59:20Z")
Just finished _Quest for a Maid_, by Frances Mary Hendry. I thought it was excellent, especially the villain. Next up: \* Fragment\*, by warren Fahy. ---
**Author:** ![Finagle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b19c9b/32.png) [@Finagle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Finagle)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2017, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-september-2017-edition/795116/83 "2017-09-20T17:21:32Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > Yes, indeed - I read that a year or so ago and really enjoyed it. Good point about Aubrey, Maturin and our different perspectives. All the stories about dueling horrified me, too; so many brave young officers’ lives, stupidly and unnecessarily lost. Yeah, this period still idolized “gallant idiot” notion of warfare. The prime example being Lawrence taking the Chesapeake out for a one-to-one duel with the Shannon for no good reason except for the pursuit of “honor”/glory. What the hell – is this some kind of game to you people? Wait for another US frigate to become available and double team them. ---
**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:** [September 21, 2017, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-september-2017-edition/795116/84 "2017-09-21T00:15:49Z")
Warren Fahy’s _Fragment_ has an interesting premise, lifeforms on a tiny island developing completely differently since they’ve been isolated from the rest of Earth for a half billion years, but the characters didn’t interest me, and some of the creatures don’t seem plausible, so I’m not finishing it. Next up: _Beauty Queens_, by Libba Bray. ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2017, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-september-2017-edition/795116/85 "2017-09-21T01:42:46Z")
Finished _The Goblin Emperor_, by Katherine Addison. Really enjoyable YA? fantasy that indulges too much in making up words for no reason. Still, I liked it a lot. ---
**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, 2017, 4:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-september-2017-edition/795116/86 "2017-09-21T04:03:00Z")
> [@Finagle](#): > > Yeah, this period still idolized “gallant idiot” notion of warfare. The prime example being > Lawrence taking the Chesapeake out for a one-to-one duel with the Shannon for no good reason except for the pursuit of “honor”/glory. What the hell – is this some kind of game to you people? Wait for another US frigate to become available and double team them. If you’re a Heinlein fan, you may remember his discussion of that incident in _Starship Troopers._ ---
**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 21, 2017, 10:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-september-2017-edition/795116/87 "2017-09-21T10:56:17Z")
> [@DZedNConfused](#): > > Honestly, I’ve neverread anything by either gentleman that didn’t have a flat ending. I was relatively satisfied with the ending to “Inferno”. Of course, they wrote a sequel that totally ruined it, but I’ll just go back to pretending it never existed. ---
**Author:** ![delphica](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e9a140/32.png) [@delphica](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/delphica)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2017, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-september-2017-edition/795116/88 "2017-09-21T16:37:18Z")
> [@Grrlbrarian](#): > > Love love love all of Sam Kean’s books. The Tale of the Dueling Neurosurgeons might be my next favorite, although it’s a close race with The Violinist’s Thumb. I haven’t read Caesar’s Last Breath yet, but it’s on my TBR! Cool, I will look for those! Especially _The Violinist’s Thumb,_ because I relatively recently hacked my way through a serious book on genetics through sheer force of will, and maybe reading something designed for a general audience will get everything to gel in my mind. I recently finished a YA novel that I enjoyed a lot, _Saints and Misfits_ by S.K. Ali, about a teenage hijabi girl. I thought this was a great way to see an American high school girl with a lot of the usual high school stuff going on, who also happens to be an observant Muslim. If you like this YA high school genre, this was very well-written and an engaging read. ---
**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, 2017, 12:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-september-2017-edition/795116/89 "2017-09-22T12:48:58Z")
> [@DZedNConfused](#): > > I finished **The Empty Grave** byJonathon Stroud and all I can say is WOW! I was late to work this morning, but I was determined to finish every last word…and all I can say is, “Oh, Skull!” What a great freakin’ series that was. I’ll be riding this book-high for a little while, which is good because I must keep the decks clear for the release of [Sleeping Beauties](https://www.amazon.com/Sleeping-Beauties-Novel-Stephen-King/dp/150116340X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1506084485&sr=8-1&keywords=sleeping+beauties+stephen+king) on Tuesday. ---
**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, 2017, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-september-2017-edition/795116/90 "2017-09-22T15:43:47Z")
> [@Dung\_Beetle](#): > > I was late to work this morning, but I was determined to finish every last word…and all I can say is, “Oh, Skull!” What a great freakin’ series that was. > > I’ll be riding this book-high for a little while, which is good because I must keep the decks clear for the release of [Sleeping Beauties](https://www.amazon.com/Sleeping-Beauties-Novel-Stephen-King/dp/150116340X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1506084485&sr=8-1&keywords=sleeping+beauties+stephen+king) on Tuesday. Right??? So the “he” who went into the darkness, was not the he Lucy expected… I squealed, I admit it. ---
**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, 2017, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-september-2017-edition/795116/91 "2017-09-22T15:59:45Z")
I thought it was pretty cool what we learned about Holly as well. ETA: I hope no one reading this got a look at me screwing up those spoiler tags. I’m just going to quit while I’m ahead! ---
**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, 2017, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-september-2017-edition/795116/92 "2017-09-22T16:14:01Z")
I wasn’t too worried about that, but Lockwood is so close to death already… Yes, I loved the way he expanded the characters, fleshing out the details. ---
**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, 2017, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-september-2017-edition/795116/93 "2017-09-24T02:43:21Z")
I reread “Inferno” by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle. I like the idea (a science fiction writer tries to escape from Dante’s Inferno) and it still holds up on the 3rd or 4th reading. ---
**Author:** ![MacSpon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/34f0e0/32.png) [@MacSpon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MacSpon)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2017, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-september-2017-edition/795116/94 "2017-09-25T00:20:19Z")
I’m reading “Gunwitch: Rebirth” by Niall Teasdale. Decent fun so far. Teasdale does have this schtick where all his female characters turn out to be lesbians or at least bisexual, but I … don’t actually hate that. ---
**Author:** ![koeeoaddi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/koeeoaddi/32/408_2.png) [@koeeoaddi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/koeeoaddi)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2017, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-september-2017-edition/795116/95 "2017-09-26T01:54:30Z")
I’m ripping right through John Le Carre’s first new George Smiley novel in 25 yers, **A Legacy of Spies**. Read it for Peter Guillam’s interrogation by the new, smart and thoroughly irritating Circus lawyer, Bunny. Stay for all the flashbacks; the lamplighters, moles, honey traps, Bywater Street, “bloody Bill Hayden” and “that cow, Ann.” Love it! ---
**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 27, 2017, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-september-2017-edition/795116/96 "2017-09-27T14:28:49Z")
Started this morning on [Sleeping Beauties](https://www.amazon.com/Sleeping-Beauties-Novel-Stephen-King/dp/150116340X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1506522259&sr=8-1&keywords=sleeping+beauties+stephen+king) by Stephen and Owen King. I’m up to page 59. It’s about four inches thick and begins with a long list of characters, so I’m expecting an Under-the-Dome-like reading experience. I have to admit I couldn’t finish the one book I tried by Owen, but I have hopes he’ll temper some of his dad’s weirder tendencies. I’m finding this interesting so far. ---
**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 27, 2017, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-september-2017-edition/795116/97 "2017-09-27T19:11:03Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > Just started an audiobook of Scott Turow’s _Testimony_, about a well-heeled Kindle County lawyer who, after his divorce and a bit of a midlife crisis, decides to accept an appointment as a prosecutor for the International Criminal Court in The Hague. He’s soon investigating an alleged massacre of Romani (Gypsies) in Bosnia in 2004. Pretty good so far. Finished it this morning. It had an absolutely terrific scene where a bad guy is captured by NATO commandos, but the book ended kind of flat overall. Not Turow’s best. Also just finished Alan Dean Foster’s 1977 short story collection _With Friends Like These_… Not really worth it other than for the title story, which was good but very reminiscent of Arthur C. Clarke’s “Rescue Party.” Next up: Foster’s sf novel _Icerigger_, and an audiobook of _Clouds of Witness_, Dorothy L. Sayers’s 1926 novel featuring Lord Peter Wimsey. ---
**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:** [September 27, 2017, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-september-2017-edition/795116/98 "2017-09-27T20:27:54Z")
Finished Libba Bray’s _Beauty Queens_, which I heard about because of the controversy over two men writing an “all-girls” version of Lord of the Flies. Beauty Queens could be described in that way. It’s a satire that’s fun to read, and I suspect a film version of it would be a hit. Currently, I’m reading _Troubleshooting Your Novel: Essential Techniques for Identifying and Solving Manuscript Problems_, by Steven James. ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2017, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-september-2017-edition/795116/99 "2017-09-27T23:13:11Z")
Recent reads _Thornhill_, by Pam Smy. Someone on here read it recently and it looked interesting. Whoever you were, thank you! I enjoyed it a lot, though I didn’t find a kindle to be the right medium. Still, it’s creepy and spooky in just the right doses, considering I started it at 10 at night when my husband was out of town. _An Unmarked Grave_, by Charles Todd. Historical mystery set during WWI. Love the settings and the characters and writing are strong. But the coincidences were so eye-rolling that they made me guffaw, and I’m usually way too classy to guffaw. _Betsy and Tacy Go Over the Big Hill_, by Maud Hart Lovelace. The third of the Betsy-Tacy books. So cute. _Compromised_, by Kate Noble. Historical romance. My full Goodreads review: “Arch writing, forced plot, good characters, silly invented country.” Recent DNFs _The Library at Mount Char_, by Scott Hawkins. Fantasy. This didn’t work for me at any level. I bailed. Bleargh. _Poison_, by Sara Poole. Historical mystery set in the Borgia’s court in the 15th century. It just didn’t click. _Death of a Domestic Diva_, by Sharon Short. Cozy mystery. I’m not sure why I disliked it, but I did. ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2017, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-september-2017-edition/795116/100 "2017-09-27T23:23:10Z")
I forgot my current reads. _Decoy Princess_, by Dawn Cook. A woman is raised as a princess then learns she’s a decoy in case of an assassination attempt. _All the Best, George Bush_, by George HW Bush. A collection of letters from the elder Bush throughout his life. It’s pretty good and mellow. Nice wind-down book at night. _A Semi-Definitive List of Worst Nightmares_, by Krystal Sutherland. I don’t even know what the genre is here. The genre is weirdness. Too many more to list, though I am getting somewhat better about either finishing or DNF-ing! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-september-2017-edition/795116.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-september-2017-edition/795116.md?page=6)