# 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:** 8
**Author:** ![Eleanor\_of\_Aquitaine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a88e4f/32.png) [@Eleanor\_of\_Aquitaine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eleanor_of_Aquitaine)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2014, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-reading-may-2014/687445/141 "2014-05-27T18:27:57Z")
> [@DZedNConfused](#): > > Can someone explain why the Mitfords are interesting and have books about them? I keep hearing about them but I don’t get it. I was amused by Nancy Mitford’s semi-autobiographical novels, _The Pursuit of Love_ and _Love in a Cold Climate_. I also liked her breezy, gossipy book about Louis XIV’s life at Versailles. The middle book in Jo Walton’s Small Change trilogy, which is an alternate history set shortly after Britain makes peace with Nazi Germany, features a family based on the Mitfords. I’ve gotten a little burnt out on urban fantasy, but I enjoyed Ben Aaronovitch’s _Midnight Riot_, which is set in modern-day London (the original U.K. name is _Rivers of London_). It’s lighter than Mike Carey’s Felix Castor books, which are also set in London, and it’s humorous without being as relentlessly goofy and snarky as Harry Dresden. Now I’m reading _One Good Turn_ by Kate Atkinson, the second of her Jackson Brodie mysteries, which have a contemporary British setting. They aren’t as interesting as her novel _Life After Life_, but I like her writing. ---
**Author:** ![Grrlbrarian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrlbrarian/32/4048_2.png) [@Grrlbrarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrlbrarian)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2014, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-reading-may-2014/687445/142 "2014-05-27T18:52:21Z")
> [@Eleanor\_of\_Aquitaine](#): > > \ > I’ve gotten a little burnt out on urban fantasy, but I enjoyed Ben Aaronovitch’s _Midnight Riot_, which is set in modern-day London (the original U.K. name is _Rivers of London_). It’s lighter than Mike Carey’s Felix Castor books, which are also set in London, and it’s humorous without being as relentlessly goofy and snarky as Harry Dresden. I adore this series too, **Eleanor of Aquitaine**. The series has held up well through each installment, I think - and the latest was quite riveting. ---
**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:** [May 27, 2014, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-reading-may-2014/687445/143 "2014-05-27T21:53:31Z")
Coming to the end of Joe Haldeman’s _Tool of the Trade_, a great Cold War sf spy novel that I’m reading aloud with my teenage son. Still a terrific book after all these years. ---
**Author:** ![chiroptera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/df705f/32.png) [@chiroptera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chiroptera)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2014, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-reading-may-2014/687445/144 "2014-05-27T22:20:20Z")
I just finished Jo Nesbo’s [Headhunters](http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/11777020-headhunters) last night. What a marvelously sick, twisted, funny, violent and dark book. ---
**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 29, 2014, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-reading-may-2014/687445/145 "2014-05-29T03:05:13Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > Just started _Conspirata_, by Robert Harris. A sequel of sorts to his _Imperium_, although Harris insists it’s not necessary to have read the earlier book first, that this one stands on its own. In ancient Rome, the statesman Cicero becomes involved in a bizarre murder on the eve of his consulship. Finished _Conspirata_, by Robert Harris. It is a sequel to _Imperium_, but Harris is correct that you don’t need to have read the earlier work. It’s good but not as good as the earlier work. Just a a tad slow and plodding. The ending leaves room for another sequel. Now it’s back to John Grisham and his first novel, _A Time to Kill_. In the fictional Ford County, Mississippi in the 1980s (based on the mention of May 15 being a Wednesday, I’ve been able to place the exact year as 1985), two white redneck scumbags rape a 10-year-old black girl, the girl’s father takes justice into his own hands, and it falls to the local liberal white lawyer to defend him. Some people think _The Firm_ was Grisham’s first novel, but _A Time to Kill_ was published two years earlier in 1989. But that first novel was poorly marketed by a crappy publisher, and the print run of 5000 copies didn’t even sell out. Then following the runaway success of _The Firm_, the new publisher reprinted _A Time to Kill_ and marketed it properly, and it became a bestseller. ---
**Author:** ![TexCat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/texcat/32/9041_2.png) [@TexCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TexCat)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2014, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-reading-may-2014/687445/146 "2014-05-29T03:25:50Z")
I’ve read several books this month that I’ve seen discussed here, and glad to have read all of them: _The Supremes at Earl’s All-You-Can-Eat_ by Edward Kelsey Moore _Last Chance to See_ by Douglas Adams _Bad Guys_ by Linwood Barclay _Mind’s Eye: An Inspector Van Vetteren Mystery_ by Hakan Nesser Currently on: _Defending Jacob_ by William Landay and in the car: _Paris: A Love Story_ by Kati Marton ---
**Author:** ![carnut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnut/32/3531_2.png) [@carnut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnut)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2014, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-reading-may-2014/687445/147 "2014-05-30T17:13:15Z")
Just started reading _How the Mind Works_ by Stephen Pinker. Recommended to me for my job. It sounds interesting to me so far, but others may find it dry. ---
**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:** [May 30, 2014, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-reading-may-2014/687445/148 "2014-05-30T20:11:11Z")
> [@chiroptera](#): > > I just finished Jo Nesbo’s [Headhunters](http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/11777020-headhunters) last night. What a marvelously sick, twisted, funny, violent and dark book. Haven’t read the book, but the movie is fantastic, and could be described with all of those adjectives, too. The actor who plays Jaime Lannister on _Game of Thrones_ costars. One of my favorite thrillers - _highly_ recommended: [Headhunters (film) - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Headhunters_(film)) ---
**Author:** ![Malthus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/85f322/32.png) [@Malthus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malthus)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2014, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-reading-may-2014/687445/149 "2014-05-30T20:32:19Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > Haven’t read the book, but the movie is fantastic, and could be described with all of those adjectives, too. The actor who plays Jaime Lannister on _Game of Thrones_ costars. One of my favorite thrillers - _highly_ recommended: [Headhunters (film) - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Headhunters_(film)) On a whim, I picked up and read Jo Nesbo’s latest book _The Son_, having never read anything else by him (or even heard of him). It was excellent. I’m now seriously psyched to read this book and the fact that there is a movie based on it that is also recommended, is icing on the cake. 😃 Has anyone read his Harry Hole novels? What do you think? ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2014, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-reading-may-2014/687445/150 "2014-05-30T20:34:46Z")
Continuing my longstanding alternation between detective novels and selections from the Modern Library’s 100 Greatest Novels of the 20th Century, I’m now reading Chinua Achebe’s _ **Things Fall Apart.** _ ---
**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:** [June 1, 2014, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-reading-may-2014/687445/151 "2014-06-01T02:08:25Z")
Finished both Haldeman’s _Tool of the Trade_ and Mitchell’s _Cloud Atlas_ tonight. The first was just about good as I remembered, but the second didn’t quite click for me by the end. I don’t often say this, but I actually liked the movie better… ---
**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:** [June 1, 2014, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-reading-may-2014/687445/152 "2014-06-01T02:21:28Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > Finished both Haldeman’s _Tool of the Trade_ and Mitchell’s _Cloud Atlas_ tonight. The first was just about good as I remembered, but the second didn’t quite click for me by the end. I don’t often say this, but I actually liked the movie better… I liked the book a little better, but the movie was good too. ---
**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:** [June 1, 2014, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-reading-may-2014/687445/153 "2014-06-01T02:25:09Z")
Do we have a June thread yet? Do I need new glasses? ---
**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:** [June 1, 2014, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-reading-may-2014/687445/154 "2014-06-01T03:02:43Z")
> [@Malthus](#): > > I read a harrowing, but very good, memoir by a Cambodian woman about her childhood growing up under the Khmer Rouge. It is called _First They Killed My Father_. I thought it was very well written; and naturally, emotionally draining. The horrors she experienced are made all the worse by the fact she was a young chld, yet old enough to understand them. > > [First They Killed My Father: A Daughter of Cambodia Remembers : Ung, Loung: Amazon.ca: Books](http://www.amazon.ca/First-They-Killed-Father-Remembers/dp/0060856262) > > The same author has written two other books about her experiences later in life - I have ordered them. In particular, her second book looks interesting - it deals with her immediate post-Khmer Rouge life, after she has immigrated to America. It is called _Lucky Child_ and it deals, I understand, with her eventual reunion with her beloved sister who also survived the Khmer Rouge, but remained in Cambodia (the surviving extended family only had enough cash to get the authour out, and her sister had to stay behind - that’s why the author is the “lucky child” of the title). > > [Lucky Child: A Daughter of Cambodia Reunites with the Sister She Left Behind: Ung, Loung: 9780060733957: Books - Amazon.ca](http://www.amazon.ca/Lucky-Child-Daughter-Cambodia-Reunites/dp/0060733950/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1399928242&sr=1-3) Ung does a good job of capturing the experience in her first two books (I haven’t read the third yet). I needed Bizot’s [The Gate](http://www.amazon.com/Gate-Francois-Bizot/dp/037572723X/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1401591672&sr=1-1&keywords=bizot+the+gate) to fill in some details (like why the KR cadres took everyone’s watches)–he was an adult at the time, where Ung, Chanrithy Him, and some others give a child’s perspective. ---
**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:** [June 1, 2014, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-reading-may-2014/687445/155 "2014-06-01T16:30:31Z")
> [@DZedNConfused](#): > > Do we have a June thread yet? Do I need new glasses? Here you go: [Khadaji's What'cha Readin' thread - June 2014 - Cafe Society - Straight Dope Message Board](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=724905) ---
**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:** [June 1, 2014, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-reading-may-2014/687445/156 "2014-06-01T16:44:51Z")
Ahh thank you! ---
**Author:** ![Malthus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/85f322/32.png) [@Malthus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malthus)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2014, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-reading-may-2014/687445/157 "2014-06-02T13:42:09Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > Finished both Haldeman’s _Tool of the Trade_ and Mitchell’s _Cloud Atlas_ tonight. The first was just about good as I remembered, but the second didn’t quite click for me by the end. I don’t often say this, but I actually liked the movie better… Both had their virtues. I enjoyed the ambitious structure of the book, which would not work in movie form; I enjoyed the way they adapted it into a movie. ---
**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:** [June 2, 2014, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-reading-may-2014/687445/158 "2014-06-02T14:17:53Z")
> [@Malthus](#): > > Both had their virtues. I enjoyed the ambitious structure of the book, which would not work in movie form; I enjoyed the way they adapted it into a movie. Me, too. The edition of _Cloud Atlas_ that I have includes a postscript by the author, discussing the process of adapting the book into a movie. He was very pleased by what they did. During an early cast read-through he turned to the screenwriter from time to time when he heard a particularly good line and whispered, “Was that mine or yours?” The final tally was about 50/50. BTW, **Malthus** , did you notice the passing reference to “Saint Malthus” in the future-Korea section of the book? ---
**Author:** ![Malthus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/85f322/32.png) [@Malthus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malthus)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2014, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-reading-may-2014/687445/159 "2014-06-02T14:23:06Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > Me, too. The edition of _Cloud Atlas_ that I have includes a postscript by the author, discussing the process of adapting the book into a movie. He was very pleased by what they did. During an early cast read-through he turned to the screenwriter from time to time when he heard a particularly good line and whispered, “Was that mine or yours?” The final tally was about 50/50. > > BTW, **Malthus** , did you notice the passing reference to “Saint Malthus” in the future-Korea section of the book? I did not - I’ll have to re-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:** [June 2, 2014, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-reading-may-2014/687445/160 "2014-06-02T14:50:56Z")
> [@Malthus](#): > > I did not - I’ll have to re-read. 😃 I just checked - it’s actually “Prophet Malthus,” on p. 328 of my 2012 Random House trade paperback edition. It’s in the second Sonmi chapter, as she and Hae-Joo Im are fleeing to Pusan. Near Ch’unju Lake she notes, “A malachite statue of Prophet Malthus surveyed a dust bowl.” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-reading-may-2014/687445.md?page=7)