# Khadaji's Whatcha Reading Thread--April 2019 edition **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 30, 2019, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-reading-thread-april-2019-edition/831775 "2019-03-30T16:28:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Hatchie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hatchie/32/3983_2.png) [@Hatchie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hatchie)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2019, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-reading-thread-april-2019-edition/831775/41 "2019-04-16T03:09:19Z")
I’ve been reading short stories aloud to my wife-to-be before bedtime as she sets up her dialysis machine (a boring process). I just finished _In Cold Blood_, a great bedtime read if you skip over some of the tedious bits like the long letter Dick’s father writes to the parole board about why his kid is not so bad. Starting tonight: _Lolita_. ---
**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:** [April 16, 2019, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-reading-thread-april-2019-edition/831775/42 "2019-04-16T17:18:09Z")
I zipped through Laura Marshall’s [Three Little Lies](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/38230559-three-little-lies). I didn’t like it as much as her debut, [Friend Request](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/40658082-friend-request), but it was still a solid offering. Marshall writes thrillers, and she has a talent for finding that balance where enough information is being revealed that you don’t get frustrated, but enough is being withheld that you’re curious and want to keep turning the pages to find out more. I’m still trying to figure out what I thought of [The Butterfly Garden](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/29981261-the-butterfly-garden). I didn’t realize going into the book how much I would have to suspend my disbelief in order to enjoy it, but once I adjusted for that fact, I liked it. There was a twist at the end that seemed completely unnecessary, but whatever. With the 2020 primaries ramping up, I decided it was a good time to read [Double Down](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17707705-double-down), a book about the 2012 presidential election campaigns. The first 80 pages or so were all about Obama, which made for a slow beginning. But once the book introduced the different Republican candidates, followed their rises and falls and outbursts and scandals, and then tracked the competition between Obama and Romney, it got more interesting and I enjoyed it. ---
**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:** [April 16, 2019, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-reading-thread-april-2019-edition/831775/43 "2019-04-16T17:40:37Z")
Into Benson’s **Space Odyssey** now. I visited an Author Expo over the weekend and picked up a lot of short small-press and self-published books that I’ll be reading next. Almost finished with Cussler and Cussler’s **Celtic Empire** on audio. I picked up a copy of Stephen King’s **Bazaar of Bad Dreams** cheap, so that’s next. ---
**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:** [April 16, 2019, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-reading-thread-april-2019-edition/831775/44 "2019-04-16T19:00:35Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > Just began Jo Nesbo’s _Headhunters_. It’s Nordic noir about an executive-search-firm douchebag who moonlights as an art thief and gets in _'way_ over his head with a client, a former Norwegian special-forces soldier. The movie is terrific, and I thought I’d try the book. It’s the first Nesbo novel I’ve read - so far, so good. Finished it this morning, and enjoyed it. Nesbo doesn’t entirely play fair, though, as sometimes the antihero protagonist is such an unreliable narrator that things he has told us as the absolute truth, scenes he has described as if they were actually happening, turn out not to have happened that way at all. I’m now resuming my reading of Philbrick’s _In the Hurricane’s Eye_. > [@zimaane](#): > > …The barons finally had enough and forced John to Runnymede, a meadow near London where he affirmed the Magna Carta… > > … the idea of Magna Carta grew in the English imagination and then beyond, inspiring part of the U.S. Bill of Rights, something that the original participants would have never imagined… You may know (or the book might’ve mentioned) that the American Bar Association has a monument at Runnymede, and there’s a memorial to JFK there, too. [![](https://azatty.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/stan-lehman-and-pat-greene-at-aba-magna-carta-memorial-runnymede_opt.jpg) ](https://azatty.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/stan-lehman-and-pat-greene-at-aba-magna-carta-memorial-runnymede_opt.jpg) [![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/2e/John_F_Kennedy_Memorial%2C_Runnymede_-_geograph.org.uk_-_1750972.jpg/1280px-John_F_Kennedy_Memorial%2C_Runnymede_-_geograph.org.uk_-_1750972.jpg) ](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/2e/John_F_Kennedy_Memorial%2C_Runnymede_-_geograph.org.uk_-_1750972.jpg/1280px-John_F_Kennedy_Memorial%2C_Runnymede_-_geograph.org.uk_-_1750972.jpg) > [@Rough\_Draft](#): > > In my more-than-two-year-long quest to read all of Agatha Christie’s mysteries, I’m just finishing up _The Witness for the Prosecution and Other Stories_ (boy, did that woman ever write a lot of short stories!). The title story is a classic, having been made into plays, movies, and a TV miniseries… I just saw \*Witness \*in a local production that was very good - I even got to sit up on stage with a friend in the “jury box,” almost close enough to touch the judge. Now I want to see the movies! > [@The\_wind\_of\_my\_soul](#): > > …With the 2020 primaries ramping up, I decided it was a good time to read [Double Down](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17707705-double-down), a book about the 2012 presidential election campaigns… The authors’ _Game Change_, about the 2008 campaign, is also very good. Unfortunately, coauthor Mark Halperin has had a pretty bad #MeToo moment and there will probably be no more books in the series. ---
**Author:** ![Quimby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/22d042/32.png) [@Quimby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quimby)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2019, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-reading-thread-april-2019-edition/831775/45 "2019-04-16T19:10:06Z")
> [@Quimby](#): > > I am reading Fire & Blood by GRRM. I got a signed copy a few months ago at release event that George attended but just didn’t have time to read it before now. It is basically an in universe history book in the world of Song of Ice and Fire (Game of Thrones) and is about the Targaryen line of rulers from the Conquest of the seven kingdoms to the Rebellion that was a few years before the original story (and show) started. I was unable to get into the SoI&F books. I made several attempts to read the first one before the show premiered and never got into it but I really like this book. Since it is a history the story moves fast. I do have an issue with there being so many names and characters, I sometimes have a hard time keeping track who is on what side when there are times of war but I would definitely recommend it if you like the show and/or the books. Correction in case someone decides to pick this up, it is part of a two book duology. I thought it went to the “present” but it begins 300 years before and stops about 150 years before. ---
**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:** [April 17, 2019, 11:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-reading-thread-april-2019-edition/831775/46 "2019-04-17T11:59:37Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > The authors’ _Game Change_, about the 2008 campaign, is also very good. Unfortunately, coauthor Mark Halperin has had a pretty bad #MeToo moment and there will probably be no more books in the series. I saw this and was disappointed. The 2016 elections would have made for a great third book in the series! ---
**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:** [April 17, 2019, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-reading-thread-april-2019-edition/831775/47 "2019-04-17T13:26:15Z")
Yay Spring Break, and I’ve finished a couple of books over the past few days: Mary Robinette Kowal’s Hugo-nominated [The Calculating Stars](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/33080122-the-calculating-stars) is an alt-history with a 1950s President Dewey killed, along with everyone else in a ~100 mile radius of DC, by an enormous meteorite that strikes off the coast of Maryland. The story is like a SF companion to **Hidden Figures** , following a brilliant mathematician who flew as a WASP during the war and who rises through the ranks of the newly-energized space program. It’s pretty fascinating and a very quick read. Ann Leckie’s [The Raven Tower](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/39395857-the-raven-tower?from_search=true) is an odd, complicated political fantasy told in the second person by a giant boulder. Morality in the story is . . . complicated. I really enjoyed it, in no small part due to the weirdness. Leckie’s pretty amazing, if you’ve not read any of her stuff yet. ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2019, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-reading-thread-april-2019-edition/831775/48 "2019-04-17T13:29:36Z")
Tracks, by Robyn Davidson, an account of her traveling through desert in Australia with camels, from the 1970s. I’m really enjoying it so far. ---
**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:** [April 17, 2019, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-reading-thread-april-2019-edition/831775/49 "2019-04-17T13:58:24Z")
Finished _Rogue Protocol_, by Martha Wells, which I enjoyed. Now I’m reading _Spinning Silver_, by Naomi Novik. ---
**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:** [April 17, 2019, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-reading-thread-april-2019-edition/831775/50 "2019-04-17T14:02:33Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > …Mary Robinette Kowal’s Hugo-nominated [The Calculating Stars](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/33080122-the-calculating-stars) is an alt-history with a 1950s President Dewey killed, along with everyone else in a ~100 mile radius of DC, by an enormous meteorite that strikes off the coast of Maryland. The story is like a SF companion to **Hidden Figures** , following a brilliant mathematician who flew as a WASP during the war and who rises through the ranks of the newly-energized space program. It’s pretty fascinating and a very quick read… Sounds interesting - thanks! ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2019, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-reading-thread-april-2019-edition/831775/51 "2019-04-17T14:58:52Z")
My dog-walking audiobook is _Space Prison_ by Tom Godwin. Hapless colonists are stranded on a killer planet with 1.5 Earth gravity and all the native species want to kill them. It has covered a couple of hundred years so far, and the colonists have adapted to the planet and are building a civilization up from the Stone Age. What is rather jarring is they were stranded there by the evil Gern empire, and their idea is to build a transmitter from leftover spare parts, send a radio signal to get the Gerns to come and attack them, and then spend the next 150 years getting ready to fight the Gerns’ space blasters with automatic-firing crossbows so they can take over the Gern ship and go to Athena, the planet they were originally heading for. A plan that strikes me as more than a little optimistic at best. Still, the novel moves along quickly, and the POV keeps changing as the central character dies. I am interested in how it all works out, if it does. On paper I am working on _The British in India: A Social History of the Raj_ by David Gilmour. Interesting, although kind of a slog - it’s primarily a collection of anecdotes and not as much over-arching analysis. Next up is _The Fox_ by Frederick Forsyth. I usually like him, so I have hopes. Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![aldiboronti](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9fc348/32.png) [@aldiboronti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aldiboronti)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2019, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-reading-thread-april-2019-edition/831775/52 "2019-04-17T15:55:15Z")
I’m re-reading _Gargantua and Pantagruel_ by Rabelais, the Urquhart/\Motteux translation. II really wish I had the chops to read it in French. One of the funniest books of all time and also a humanist classic. The tricks of Panurge are hilarious. Book 3 is my favorite. ---
**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:** [April 18, 2019, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-reading-thread-april-2019-edition/831775/53 "2019-04-18T18:34:43Z")
> [@Dung\_Beetle](#): > > Starting today on [The Science Fiction Hall of Fame, volume 2-B](https://www.amazon.com/Science-Fiction-Hall-Fame-Two/dp/076530533X/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1554124091&sr=8-4), edited by Ben Bova. Finished! The first two or three stories were a slog. I particularly hated Rogue Moon, because it had potential to be something interesting. Unfortunately, a lot of time was spent telling us about the protagonist’s ball-cutting bitch of a girlfriend for no narrative reason, and the dialogue was cringe-worthy, I don’t care what year it was written. After that, the tales lightened up, being more humorous or light, and I think the book overall had a sense of optimism which isn’t always to be expected in science fiction. I agree with **Elendil’s Heir** , The Moon Moth was the best of the bunch. Tomorrow I plan to start on a non-fiction book, [Maid: Hard work, low pay, and a mother’s will to survive](https://www.amazon.com/Maid-Hard-Work-Mothers-Survive/dp/0316505110/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1SOKHFLW6EMM9&keywords=maid+hard+work%2C+low+pay%2C+and+a+mother%27s+will+to+survive&qid=1555612397&s=books&sprefix=maid%2Caps%2C152&sr=1-1), by Stephanie Land. ---
**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:** [April 18, 2019, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-reading-thread-april-2019-edition/831775/54 "2019-04-18T18:55:44Z")
> [@Dung\_Beetle](#): > > … I agree with **Elendil’s Heir** , The Moon Moth was the best of the bunch… I’m glad! There was a graphic novel of it a few years back which isn’t very good, but you might want to check it out. ---
**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:** [April 19, 2019, 12:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-reading-thread-april-2019-edition/831775/55 "2019-04-19T12:29:22Z")
I started this morning on [Maid: Hard work, low pay, and a mother’s will to survive](https://www.amazon.com/Maid-Hard-Work-Mothers-Survive/dp/0316505110/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1JZD51TG84K9O&keywords=maid+stephanie+land&qid=1555675614&s=gateway&sprefix=maid+ste%2Caps%2C136&sr=8-1). I was expecting to see behind the scenes of the job, but after 45 pages of reading about poverty and unplanned pregnancy and domestic abuse, I can’t go on. I’ve been there myself and don’t need to revisit it. Feeling anxious and sad now. Next! ---
**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:** [April 19, 2019, 1:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-reading-thread-april-2019-edition/831775/56 "2019-04-19T13:08:06Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > My dog-walking audiobook is _Space Prison_ by Tom Godwin. Hapless colonists are stranded on a killer planet with 1.5 Earth gravity and all the native species want to kill them. It has covered a couple of hundred years so far, and the colonists have adapted to the planet and are building a civilization up from the Stone Age. What is rather jarring is they were stranded there by the evil Gern empire, and their idea is to build a transmitter from leftover spare parts, send a radio signal to get the Gerns to come and attack them, and then spend the next 150 years getting ready to fight the Gerns’ space blasters with automatic-firing crossbows so they can take over the Gern ship and go to Athena, the planet they were originally heading for. A plan that strikes me as more than a little optimistic at best. Still, the novel moves along quickly, and the POV keeps changing as the central character dies. I am interested in how it all works out, if it does. > > On paper I am working on _The British in India: A Social History of the Raj_ by David Gilmour. Interesting, although kind of a slog - it’s primarily a collection of anecdotes and not as much over-arching analysis. > > Next up is _The Fox_ by Frederick Forsyth. I usually like him, so I have hopes. > > Regards, > Shodan I read **The Fox** a couple of months ago, as I’m a big Forsyth fan, too. It involves computer hacking. as in a previous novel involving computer hacking, Forsyth avoids his usual in-depth research and description. Either he’s not comfortable with it, or he’s concluded that his audience isn’t comfortable with it, and it’s described in the vaguest of terms. The book mainly revolves around what you can do diplomatically and in espionage if you have access to a really top-notch hacker. ---
**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:** [April 19, 2019, 1:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-reading-thread-april-2019-edition/831775/57 "2019-04-19T13:20:57Z")
> [@Dendarii\_Dame](#): > > Now I’m reading _Spinning Silver_, by Naomi Novik. Oooh, I loved this one–my favorite Novik, and also my favorite retelling of a fairy tale. So so good. ---
**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:** [April 19, 2019, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-reading-thread-april-2019-edition/831775/58 "2019-04-19T14:53:42Z")
Just started **In the Hurricane’s Eye: The Genius of George Washington and the Victory at Yorktown** , by Nathaniel Philbrick. It’s too early to give any comments, but if it’s like his other books, I look forward to a well-written and informative read. ---
**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:** [April 19, 2019, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-reading-thread-april-2019-edition/831775/59 "2019-04-19T14:55:46Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > Just started **In the Hurricane’s Eye: The Genius of George Washington and the Victory at Yorktown** , by Nathaniel Philbrick. It’s too early to give any comments, but if it’s like his other books, I look forward to a well-written and informative read. I “read” it on audio, as I think I remarked in a previous thread. It’s very good, covering material not covered or inadequately covered in other histories of the Revolution I’ve read. In particular, it goes into the Southern campaigns quite a bit. ---
**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:** [April 19, 2019, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-reading-thread-april-2019-edition/831775/60 "2019-04-19T15:44:00Z")
I’m listening to an audiobook of it right now, too. The Continental and French armies are just beginning their siege of Lord Cornwallis’s forces, but Adm. de Grasse is not being quite as helpful as Washington wishes. A few years ago I’d read and enjoyed Richard M. Ketchum’s _Victory at Yorktown_, which as I recall was more engagingly written, but Philbrick goes into greater depth on the naval aspects of the Yorktown campaign, which I appreciate. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-reading-thread-april-2019-edition/831775.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-reading-thread-april-2019-edition/831775.md?page=4)