# Khadaji's Whatcha Readin' thread -- September 2018 Edition **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 31, 2018, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-september-2018-edition/820551 "2018-08-31T01:00:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**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, 2018, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-september-2018-edition/820551/61 "2018-09-18T15:20:13Z")
I read and really enjoyed _Space Odyssey: Stanley Kubrick, Arthur C. Clarke, and the Making of a Masterpiece_ by Michael Benson. Any fan of \*2001 \*should read it - lots of great behind-the-scenes stuff. Kubrick comes across as a very gifted asshole; Clarke, desperate for money to pay his debts and finalize his divorce at the end of a loveless marriage, put up with an awful lot. Ernest Hemingway’s _Bylines_, a collection of his journalism and nonfiction (I’m now up to the Spanish Civil War, 1937-39), has its moments but has become a bit of a slog. Still, I’ll probably get through it. Just started Joe Haldeman’s _Worlds Apart_ (1983), the second book in his Worlds trilogy, and it’s better than I remember it. Set in 2085 and thereafter, with interesting contrasts between life in the high-tech, near-utopian orbital colony of New New York and the barbarity on Earth’s surface after a brief but devastating World War III. ---
**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 18, 2018, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-september-2018-edition/820551/62 "2018-09-18T15:20:56Z")
I started **Cold Comfort Farm** by Stella Gibbons yesterday. I’m only 30 pages in but so far I’m not feeling it… ---
**Author:** ![Barkis\_is\_Willin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a183cd/32.png) [@Barkis\_is\_Willin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Barkis_is_Willin)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2018, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-september-2018-edition/820551/63 "2018-09-19T17:19:54Z")
Last night I started reading _The Sun Also Rises_, my first Hemingway experience. Five chapters in I can admire his style, but don’t love his storytelling. ---
**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 19, 2018, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-september-2018-edition/820551/64 "2018-09-19T18:11:33Z")
**Fear** , Bob Woodward ---
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2018, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-september-2018-edition/820551/65 "2018-09-19T18:21:09Z")
I’ve got Harry Potter on hold while I read **Sharp Objects**. ---
**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, 2018, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-september-2018-edition/820551/66 "2018-09-21T19:22:40Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > …Ernest Hemingway’s _Bylines_, a collection of his journalism and nonfiction (I’m now up to the Spanish Civil War, 1937-39), has its moments but has become a bit of a slog. Still, I’ll probably get through it… Just finished it. The best parts are his writings on outdoor life, bullfighting and World War II (including observing the D-Day landings from offshore, and later working with French partisans during the advance on Paris). Some good bits I wrote down: “Everybody wanted to see Ishmet Pasha, but once they had, they didn’t want to see him again.” “You know what a classic is, right? A book that everyone mentions but nobody reads.” “In Bulgaria, intellectuals are those who have absorbed sufficient learning so as to no longer be honest.” “He had only one real defect as a chauffeur: he couldn’t drive a car.” “One must be careful not to spill it [a cheap Spanish liqueur] on one’s clothes, because it eats wool.” “In Hong Kong since the British wives have been evacuated [before the outbreak of World War II], morale is high and morals are low.” Still reading Joe Haldeman’s sf novel _Worlds Apart_ and digging it. I’ve also begun an audiobook of Amity Shlaes’s biography _Coolidge_. Not far into it, but already she’s overselling him. Calvin Coolidge wasn’t all _that_. ---
**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, 2018, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-september-2018-edition/820551/67 "2018-09-21T19:56:04Z")
Finished _The Princess and the Goblin/The Princess and Curdie_ by George MacDonald. The back cover of my edition says the C. S. Lewis and J. R. R. Tolkien were both fans of the first book, and I suspect they also read the second, which is the better written, in my opinion. The influence on their books is clear to me. One character seems like a cross between Aslan and Galadriel, and, in the second book, there are a number of sequences very reminiscent of _The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe_ and _Prince Caspian_. Religious themes are very prevalent, especially in the second book, which I recommend to fans of the Narnia books. Now I’m reading _The Bees_, by Laline Paull. ---
**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, 2018, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-september-2018-edition/820551/68 "2018-09-21T23:02:12Z")
> [@Dendarii\_Dame](#): > > Now I’m reading _The Bees_, by Laline Paull. Not the BEES! Oh God, not the BEES! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![chaika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chaika/32/405_2.png) [@chaika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chaika)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2018, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-september-2018-edition/820551/69 "2018-09-23T16:14:21Z")
I finished _The White City_ which I quite enjoyed. Also _The Incendiaries_ by R.O. Kwon, a novel about college students who become involved with a cult and end up bombing abortion clinics. Extremely well written, with some interesting insights into Korean and Korean-American culture. Obviously influenced by _The Secret History_ but not hugely derivative. I have given up on _Just One Damned Thing After Another_, at least for now. This novel is about time-traveling historians, a brilliant premise. Alas, I find it tedious. Perhaps I’ll return to it later. I’m currently reading _The Feather Thief_ by Kirk Johnson. A fascinating account of a bold crime: the theft of stuffed birds and feathers from a natural history museum. The thief wanted them in order to feed his obsession of fly-tying. Strange events indeed. Also includes some information about natural history and a contemporary of Darwin’s who collected most of the specimens that were stolen. Also reading Anne Tyler’s latest, _Clock Dance_. The release of a new book by Anne Tyler is always something to rejoice about.🙂 ---
**Author:** ![BetsQ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/fbc32d/32.png) [@BetsQ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BetsQ)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2018, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-september-2018-edition/820551/70 "2018-09-23T23:35:10Z")
I recently read Sue Monk Kidd’s [The Invention of Wings](https://www.amazon.com/Invention-Wings-Publishers-No-Annotations-ebook/dp/B00DMCV7K0/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1537745656&sr=8-1&keywords=the+invention+of+wings+by+sue+monk+kidd), a novelization of the lives of Sarah and Angelina Grimke. The sisters were from a prominent slave-owning family in South Carolina, but became well known abolitionists and feminists. Their chapters alternate with a story told from the perspective of one of the slaves their family owned. It was an interesting read. ---
**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, 2018, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-september-2018-edition/820551/71 "2018-09-24T00:32:29Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > Still reading Joe Haldeman’s sf novel _Worlds Apart_ and digging it… Finished it, and really liked it. An interesting portrayal of an orbital society, good characterization and crackling dialogue. Makes me eager to move on to the final book in the trilogy, _Worlds Enough And Time_. Just started Richard Hoyt’s 1983 novel _Trotsky’s Run_, in which the CIA gets word - in what may or may not be a deception operation by the KGB - that the likely next Democratic nominee for President is a Soviet deep-cover agent. The author doesn’t quite seem to have decided if it’s a satire or a spy thriller, but it’s got a foot firmly in both camps. A fun read so far, though. ---
**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 24, 2018, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-september-2018-edition/820551/72 "2018-09-24T13:51:36Z")
Finished _French Exit_. It was a story of unpleasant people doing inexplicable things. Quirky, if you like that sort of book. As for me, I think the author may have used up the goodwill generated by _The Sisters Brothers_. Next up, [And The Ocean Was Our Sky](https://www.amazon.com/Ocean-Was-Our-Sky/dp/0062860720/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1537796991&sr=1-1&keywords=and+the+ocean+was+our+sky&dpID=51M9o-J%252BKEL&preST=_SY291_BO1,204,203,200_QL40_&dpSrc=srch) by Patrick Ness. YA. Sort of a Moby Dick retelling from a whale’s point of view. ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2018, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-september-2018-edition/820551/73 "2018-09-24T14:06:40Z")
Finished _The Art of War_ by Sun-Tzu. I don’t feel like I know anything more now than I did before I started it - lots of advice about “the wise general deceives the enemy” and “attack boldly but never before you are ready”. OK, but can you be a little more specific? Started _The Middle of Things_ by J.S. Fletcher, a very nice pre-WWI murder mystery with innocent accused, noble families, lost heirs, diamonds, and whatnot. Fun. Also plowing thru _12 Rules to Live By_ by Jordan Peterson. Some of it is rather heavy going, for a self-help book. He does have interesting things to say about the Bible and some Egyptian myths about Horus and things like that. Also lobsters. Regards, Shodan ---
**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:** [September 24, 2018, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-september-2018-edition/820551/74 "2018-09-24T16:33:26Z")
Last night I finished _Phantom Pains_ and immediately bought/started reading book three in the Arcadia Project series, _**[Impostor Syndrome](https://www.amazon.com/Impostor-Syndrome-Arcadia-Project-Mishell/dp/1481451944/)**_. It was just released six months ago, so when I finish it I should be all caught up with this series…at least, for another six months (so far the author has released one book each March). My birthday was on Friday, and my uncle gave me a copy of _[Uncommon People: The Rise and Fall of the Rock Stars](https://www.amazon.com/Uncommon-People-Rise-Stars-1955-1994/dp/1784162078/)_. From Amazon: “In _Uncommon People_, David Hepworth zeroes in on defining moments and turning points in the lives of forty rock stars from 1955 to 1995, taking us on a journey to burst a hundred myths and create a hundred more.” I’ll probably read that next. 🙂 ---
**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 25, 2018, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-september-2018-edition/820551/75 "2018-09-25T19:32:00Z")
Just got done with two five-star books. (1) [The Starboard Sea](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/12151801-the-starboard-sea) by Amber Dermont. Tbh, there were parts of the book that don’t deserve five stars. Too many characters, too much focus on material wealth. But the other parts of the book easily make up for this. There are passages in this book that are so beautifully written, and just speak to the whole process of finding your own way that is so prevalent in your high school years. (2) [Men Chase, Women Choose: The Neuroscience of Meeting, Dating, Losing Your Mind, and Finding True Love](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/29440863-men-chase-women-choose) by Dawn Maslar. The cover looked a bit kitschy, and I was a little concerned that this would be one of those pop-science books that tried too hard to cater to a non-reading population and watered things down. But it wasn’t. It rang true, but at the same time provided new insights to me – essentially, while I can observe human behavior, I don’t have the scientific background to understand what’s hormonally going on in men and women’s brains as they fall in love with one in another, and I found the description of those neurochemical changes to be fascinating. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2018, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-september-2018-edition/820551/76 "2018-09-25T20:11:57Z")
> [@Misnomer](#): > > Last night I finished _Phantom Pains_ and immediately bought/started reading book three in the Arcadia Project series, _**[Impostor Syndrome](https://www.amazon.com/Impostor-Syndrome-Arcadia-Project-Mishell/dp/1481451944/)**_. It was just released six months ago, so when I finish it I should be all caught up with this series…at least, for another six months (so far the author has released one book each March). I can’t find any information one way or the other about it online, but the series sure reads like a trilogy; while there’s room to write more in that world, I’m not sure whether she intends to do so. ---
**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, 2018, 12:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-september-2018-edition/820551/77 "2018-09-26T12:33:10Z")
Started today and read over half of a childrens’ book, [The Wicked, Wicked Ladies in the Haunted House](https://www.amazon.com/Wicked-Ladies-Haunted-House-ebook/dp/B00UEL0LEK?crid=3KXDZLFQQNUMF&keywords=mary+chase&qid=1537964924&sprefix=mary+chase%2Caps%2C146&sr=8-3&ref=sr_1_3), by Mary Chase, published in 1968. I really thought this would be much more charming than it is. Even making the usual allowances for a childrens’ book, it’s just weak. ---
**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:** [September 26, 2018, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-september-2018-edition/820551/78 "2018-09-26T15:47:23Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > I can’t find any information one way or the other about it online, but the series sure reads like a trilogy; while there’s room to write more in that world, I’m not sure whether she intends to do so. Noooo! ☹ I mean, maybe I’ll feel differently when I finish _Impostor Syndrome_ – maybe I’ll agree that it feels “done” – but right now I’m sad at the thought of no more Arcadia Project. ---
**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 28, 2018, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-september-2018-edition/820551/79 "2018-09-28T00:54:11Z")
Finished _The Bees_, by Laline Paull, which I enjoyed. Recommended. Note that the less you know about bees, the more you’ll enjoy it, because knowledge of apilology will spoil some of the plot twists. Started _A Handful of Time_ by Rosel George Brown, a science fiction short story collection. ---
**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 30, 2018, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-september-2018-edition/820551/80 "2018-09-30T03:37:26Z")
New thread: [Leaves are fallin!](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=21239280#post21239280) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-readin-thread-september-2018-edition/820551.md?page=3)