# Khadaji's What'cha reading -- May 2014 **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 1, 2014, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-reading-may-2014/687445 "2014-05-01T15:58:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**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:** [May 7, 2014, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-reading-may-2014/687445/41 "2014-05-07T16:13:51Z")
Damn. Posted this in the April thread by mistake: \*\*Finished Phnom Penh Noir, a collection of crime short stories and even rap songs set in or near the Cambodian capital and edited by the Canadian writer Christopher G. Moore. Good, but it somehow falls just a tad short of Bangkok Noir, also edited by Moore and which I’d read immediately prior to this volume. This week I’ll start The Litigators, by John Grisham.\*\* ---
**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:** [May 8, 2014, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-reading-may-2014/687445/42 "2014-05-08T14:21:54Z")
Currently reading [Promise Not to Tell](http://www.amazon.com/Promise-Not-Tell-Jennifer-McMahon/dp/B002N2XFRI/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&sr=1-1&qid=1399558497) by Jennifer McMahon. This author has apparently written several similar books (murdered or missing girl, small town life, ghostly rumors) and if they are as interesting and well-written as this seems to be, I wouldn’t mind going on to read them all. ---
**Author:** ![Ace331](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Ace331](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ace331)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2014, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-reading-may-2014/687445/43 "2014-05-08T15:21:55Z")
I just finished Piers Anthony’s The Apprentice Adept series (7 books). Pretty decent books if you are a fan of his style of writing. Not sure what series I want to start next. Thinking I may start Cassnadra Clare’s The Mortal Instruments series. I recently watched the Movie of book 1 in the series and enjoyed it. If not that I will either start on Tad William’s Otherland Series, William Gibson’s Sprawl Trilogy or Anthony Horowitz’s Alex Rider Series. I enjoyed Horowitz’s Power of 5 series so this may get moved up to the top of the list. ---
**Author:** ![Waymore](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/919ad9/32.png) [@Waymore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Waymore)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2014, 8:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-reading-may-2014/687445/44 "2014-05-09T08:41:29Z")
I’m reading _Southern Storm_ by Noah Trudeau, about Sherman’s march to the sea. Interesting topic, but the guy is a better historian than he is a writer. How about you? ---
**Author:** ![jabiru](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/bbce88/32.png) [@jabiru](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jabiru)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2014, 9:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-reading-may-2014/687445/45 "2014-05-09T09:15:48Z")
Just finished _Trust Your Eyes_ by Linwood Barclay - couldn’t put it down. Now I’m reading _Thunder of Time_ by James F. David and I’m having trouble forcing myself to pick it up. ---
**Author:** ![sandra\_nz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/eada6e/32.png) [@sandra\_nz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sandra_nz)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2014, 9:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-reading-may-2014/687445/46 "2014-05-09T09:30:29Z")
_Hit Parade_ by Lawrence Block. Third novel (although they seem to be more in the form of short stories) about a hit man. Despite the topic, it’s quite a light read. ---
**Author:** ![Doctor\_Who](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ed8c4c/32.png) [@Doctor\_Who](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doctor_Who)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2014, 10:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-reading-may-2014/687445/47 "2014-05-09T10:42:33Z")
You know we have a monthly thread on this very topic right? Search for Khadaji and it should turn right up. ---
**Author:** ![MrKnowItAll](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrknowitall/32/87_2.png) [@MrKnowItAll](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrKnowItAll)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2014, 10:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-reading-may-2014/687445/48 "2014-05-09T10:46:57Z")
Sorry. Didn’t see Doc’s post before posting this. I’ll go elsewhere. ---
**Author:** ![MrKnowItAll](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrknowitall/32/87_2.png) [@MrKnowItAll](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrKnowItAll)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2014, 10:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-reading-may-2014/687445/49 "2014-05-09T10:49:28Z")
I’ve just started the latest Pulitzer winner _The Goldfinch_ by Donna Tartt. Pretty engrossing so far. ---
**Author:** ![Meurglys](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/258eb7/32.png) [@Meurglys](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Meurglys)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2014, 11:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-reading-may-2014/687445/50 "2014-05-09T11:17:32Z")
> [@jabiru](#): > > Now I’m reading _Thunder of Time_ by James F. David and I’m having trouble forcing myself to pick it up. I read that when it came out and didn’t like it nearly as much as the first one, _Footprints of Thunder_. A third in the series, _Dinosaur Thunder_, came out in December 2012 and it was quite readable although the plot is getting pretty silly! I like dinosaurs and time travel, so I’ll probably keep reading if he writes a fourth. Currently reading _Afterparty_ by **Daryl Gregory**. Very good but reminding me a lot of _Zod Wallop_ by **William Browning Spencer** , which I reread fairly recently. ---
**Author:** ![Enterprise](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/76d3ee/32.png) [@Enterprise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enterprise)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2014, 11:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-reading-may-2014/687445/51 "2014-05-09T11:24:35Z")
Based on the recommendation in the thread on what Science-Fiction/Fantasy novels will still be read in the next fifty years, I read Tim Powers’s _Declare_, which I thought was excellent. Fun premise, remarkable execution. A question: Why did the SOE want to blow up the djinn on Ararat? Was it only because of the Russians’ success in extracting one of them and using her as a guardian angel? Or was it because of a longer-standing conflict between men and djinn? Otherwise, there are a couple of books I’m currently reading in parallel. Rana Mitter’s _China’s War with Japan, 1937-1945_ is proving very illuminating, as does D.M. Giangreco’s _Hell to Pay_, on the projected invasion of Japan in 1945. And since the World Cup is coming up, I’m reading Eduardo Galeano’s _Soccer in Sun and Shadow_, a highly episodic and highly idiosyncratic “history” of soccer. A fun read, too. ---
**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:** [May 9, 2014, 12:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-reading-may-2014/687445/52 "2014-05-09T12:37:58Z")
> [@Doctor\_Who](#): > > You know we have a monthly thread on this very topic right? Search for Khadaji and it should turn right up. Here’s the link, **Waymore** : [Khadaji's What'cha reading -- May 2014 - Cafe Society - Straight Dope Message Board](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=722346) Welcome to the SDMB! We can always use some more people who want to talk about books. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![yellowval](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/919ad9/32.png) [@yellowval](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yellowval)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2014, 12:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-reading-may-2014/687445/53 "2014-05-09T12:43:26Z")
> [@Dung\_Beetle](#): > > Currently reading [Promise Not to Tell](http://www.amazon.com/Promise-Not-Tell-Jennifer-McMahon/dp/B002N2XFRI/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&sr=1-1&qid=1399558497) by Jennifer McMahon. This author has apparently written several similar books (murdered or missing girl, small town life, ghostly rumors) and if they are as interesting and well-written as this seems to be, I wouldn’t mind going on to read them all. This has been on my to-read list since “The Winter People,” which was my first encounter with Jennifer McMahon. (I also have a neighbor by that name. Heh.) Looks like I may have to check it out sooner than later. I finished “The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair that Changed America,” by Erik Larson. I loved this book. It had the potential to be awkward, since it tells two completely different stories simultaneously, but it worked for me. I love anything set in the Gilded Age, especially if it’s a true story. ---
**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:** [May 9, 2014, 12:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-reading-may-2014/687445/54 "2014-05-09T12:49:28Z")
> [@yellowval](#): > > I finished “The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair that Changed America,” by Erik Larson. I loved this book. It had the potential to be awkward, since it tells two completely different stories simultaneously, but it worked for me. I love anything set in the Gilded Age, especially if it’s a true story. Took me forever to decide to read it. Based on the title I thought it would be sensationalistic and melodramatic, but it was neither. And I was fascinated by the history of the Ferris Wheel. ---
**Author:** ![chiroptera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/df705f/32.png) [@chiroptera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chiroptera)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2014, 12:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-reading-may-2014/687445/55 "2014-05-09T12:53:48Z")
[Syndrome E](http://www.amazon.com/Syndrome-E-Novel-Franck-Thilliez/product-reviews/067002578X/ref=cm_cr_dp_synop?ie=UTF8&showViewpoints=0&sortBy=bySubmissionDateDescending#R1X9LK5MKH24Z1) by Franck Thilliez. A clever and complex psychological thriller by a French author. Shades of Jo Nesbo and Steig Larsson. ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2014, 1:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-reading-may-2014/687445/56 "2014-05-09T13:09:54Z")
I’m currently about 60 pages (by my tablet’s count) from the end of Joe Hill’s NOS4A2. I think, based on it (the first of Hill’s prose I’ve read, though I’ve read a few of his comics before), that Hill is a slightly better writer than his dad, though King’s influence can be seen throughout. It has some pacing issues, though - as we’re getting into the endgame, any scene that doesn’t include the antagonist (including the realistic, and potentially interesting otherwise, bits with the police) feels like padding to add another couple hundred pages (which adds to the feeling of his dad influencing his writing) when the story should be getting resolved. Once I’ve finished that, I’m picking up Consider Phlebas, which I grabbed just after Banks passed on. (I’ve considered picking the books up before, it was his passing that made me finally go ahead and do 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:** [May 9, 2014, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-reading-may-2014/687445/57 "2014-05-09T13:22:26Z")
> [@yellowval](#): > > I finished “The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair that Changed America,” by Erik Larson. I loved this book. It had the potential to be awkward, since it tells two completely different stories simultaneously, but it worked for me. I love anything set in the Gilded Age, especially if it’s a true story. I read that in grad school about 7 years ago, and loved it. It’s one of the few “required reading” books I still have on a personal bookshelf. Might be time for a re-read soon! ---
**Author:** ![Malthus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/85f322/32.png) [@Malthus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malthus)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2014, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-reading-may-2014/687445/58 "2014-05-09T13:59:33Z")
> [@Meurglys](#): > > I read that when it came out and didn’t like it nearly as much as the first one, _Footprints of Thunder_. A third in the series, _Dinosaur Thunder_, came out in December 2012 and it was quite readable although the plot is getting pretty silly! I like dinosaurs and time travel, so I’ll probably keep reading if he writes a fourth. > > Currently reading _Afterparty_ by **Daryl Gregory**. Very good but reminding me a lot of _Zod Wallop_ by **William Browning Spencer** , which I reread fairly recently. I loved Zod Wallop. Wonderful book. ---
**Author:** ![Crafter\_Man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crafter_man/32/458_2.png) [@Crafter\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crafter_Man)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2014, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-reading-may-2014/687445/59 "2014-05-09T15:46:28Z")
[Iron Man: My Journey through Heaven and Hell with Black Sabbath](http://www.amazon.com/Iron-Man-Journey-through-Sabbath/dp/0306821451/) by Tony Iommi. It’s quite a hoot. ---
**Author:** ![Sitnam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Sitnam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sitnam)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2014, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-reading-may-2014/687445/60 "2014-05-09T16:00:53Z")
[The Holy Roman Empire by James Bryce](http://www.amazon.com/Holy-Roman-Empire-James-Bryce/dp/1479208523/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1399651118&sr=8-1&keywords=history+of+the+holy+roman+empire) currently, it’s research for a board game I’m working on. It’s dry as all get-out, but there’s a dearth of solid books on the subject. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-reading-may-2014/687445.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-reading-may-2014/687445.md?page=4)