# Khadaji's Whatcha Reading Thread - May 2020 edition **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 1, 2020, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-reading-thread-may-2020-edition/852990 "2020-05-01T16:31:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**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 11, 2020, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-reading-thread-may-2020-edition/852990/41 "2020-05-11T13:54:48Z")
Finished Stephen King’s newest, [If It Bleeds](https://www.amazon.com/If-Bleeds-Stephen-King/dp/1982137975), and am happy to report that it was one of the good ones. It’s a collection of four novellas. The first one is called Mr. Harrigan’s Phone, and it’s a mild, unoriginal story. I enjoyed the comfort of experiencing it told in King’s familiar voice. The second, The Life of Chuck, was also sweet and gentle, but with an unconventional structure. I don’t know that I bought the central conceit, but I understood it. King also proves once again that his crystal ball is in good working order. The third story, If It Bleeds, was good but I don’t think it stands alone. It would be best for the reader if they had also read the Mr. Mercedes books and/or The Outsider. And finally, Rat. I think it might be my favorite. King steps out of his comfort zone to tell a story about a writer, with writer’s block, living in Maine. 😉 ---
**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:** [May 11, 2020, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-reading-thread-may-2020-edition/852990/42 "2020-05-11T14:17:51Z")
Finished _The Season: A Social History of the Debutante_, by Kristen Richardson, which was okay. Now I’m reading _The City in the Middle of the Night_, by Charlie Jane Anders. ---
**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:** [May 11, 2020, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-reading-thread-may-2020-edition/852990/43 "2020-05-11T17:06:35Z")
> [@Dendarii\_Dame](#): > > Now I’m reading _The City in the Middle of the Night_, by Charlie Jane Anders. I’ll be curious to hear what you think of this one. ---
**Author:** ![FollowMeDown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/6a8cbe/32.png) [@FollowMeDown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FollowMeDown)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2020, 5:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-reading-thread-may-2020-edition/852990/44 "2020-05-12T05:39:12Z")
> **[In the Heart of the Sea: The Tragedy of the Whaleship Essex: Philbrick,...](https://www.amazon.com/Heart-Sea-Tragedy-Whaleship-Essex/dp/0141001828)** > > In the Heart of the Sea: The Tragedy of the Whaleship Essex \[Philbrick, Nathaniel\] on Amazon.com. \*FREE\* shipping on qualifying offers. In the Heart of the Sea: The Tragedy of the Whaleship Essex Heart of the sea, tragedy of the whale ship Essex. My god, I’m ready to read something similar. Don’t judge but I’ve never read “Mutiny on the Bounty”. I’m looking for that same hard truth that I found in this one. Is it worth it? I was memorized. ---
**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 12, 2020, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-reading-thread-may-2020-edition/852990/45 "2020-05-12T13:50:50Z")
Book three of L.A. Witt’s series about Gay hockey players, **Shot on Goal** arrived on my Kindle in the wee hours of the morning. I may or may not have stayed awake and read a couple chapters… 😃 ---
**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 12, 2020, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-reading-thread-may-2020-edition/852990/46 "2020-05-12T13:53:43Z")
> [@FollowMeDown](#): > > [https://www.amazon.com/Heart-Sea-Tragedy-Whaleship-Essex/dp/0141001828](https://www.amazon.com/Heart-Sea-Tragedy-Whaleship-Essex/dp/0141001828) > > Heart of the sea, tragedy of the whale ship Essex. > > My god, I’m ready to read something similar. Don’t judge but I’ve never read “Mutiny on the Bounty”. I’m looking for that same hard truth that I found in this one. Is it worth it? I was memorized. It’s been forever since I read Mutiny, so I can’t say for it. but you might want to look at **Dead Wake: The Last Crossing of the Lusitania** by Erik Larson. ---
**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:** [May 12, 2020, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-reading-thread-may-2020-edition/852990/47 "2020-05-12T14:42:28Z")
> [@FollowMeDown](#): > > [https://www.amazon.com/Heart-Sea-Tragedy-Whaleship-Essex/dp/0141001828](https://www.amazon.com/Heart-Sea-Tragedy-Whaleship-Essex/dp/0141001828) > > Heart of the sea, tragedy of the whale ship Essex. > > My god, I’m ready to read something similar. Don’t judge but I’ve never read “Mutiny on the Bounty”. I’m looking for that same hard truth that I found in this one. Is it worth it? I was memorized. What did you memorize? The obvious thing, if you liked a book about the _Essex_, is to read Melville’s _Moby Dick_. Some people find it boring, or don’t like the way it flips between a straight narrative, a history of whaling, and Deep Symbolism, but I found it fascinating. The Penguin edition is liberally supplied with footnotes. I haven’t head Nordhoff and Hall’s trilogy on the Mutiny on the Bounty, either, but I have read Bligh’s own logbook, which was published in paperback as _The Mutiny on Board H.M.S. Bounty_. It’s worth pointing out that the Nordhoff and Hall trilogy is fictionalized. If you want a factual treatment, you might like Richard Hough’s \* Captain Bligh and Mr. Christian\*, the book upon which the 1984 movie _The Bounty_ was based (unlike the previous movie versions, which were based on Nordhoff and Hall). ---
**Author:** ![TroutMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troutman/32/6721_2.png) [@TroutMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TroutMan)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2020, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-reading-thread-may-2020-edition/852990/48 "2020-05-12T14:42:47Z")
> [@FollowMeDown](#): > > [https://www.amazon.com/Heart-Sea-Tragedy-Whaleship-Essex/dp/0141001828](https://www.amazon.com/Heart-Sea-Tragedy-Whaleship-Essex/dp/0141001828) > > Heart of the sea, tragedy of the whale ship Essex. > > My god, I’m ready to read something similar. Don’t judge but I’ve never read “Mutiny on the Bounty”. I’m looking for that same hard truth that I found in this one. Is it worth it? I was memorized. My favorite seafaring story is [_Endurance: Shackleton’s Incredible Voyage_](https://www.amazon.com/Endurance-Shackletons-Incredible-Alfred-Lansing/dp/0465062881/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0). Highly recommended if you liked _In the Heart of the Sea_. ---
**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:** [May 12, 2020, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-reading-thread-may-2020-edition/852990/49 "2020-05-12T23:43:54Z")
Finished _Ask Me Anything_, by Annie Lane, a collection of advice columns. It was okay. Still reading _The City in the Middle of the Night_, by Charlie Jane Anders. ---
**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 13, 2020, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-reading-thread-may-2020-edition/852990/50 "2020-05-13T17:07:00Z")
> [@TroutMan](#): > > My favorite seafaring story is [_Endurance: Shackleton’s Incredible Voyage_](https://www.amazon.com/Endurance-Shackletons-Incredible-Alfred-Lansing/dp/0465062881/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0). Highly recommended if you liked _In the Heart of the Sea_. If you’re open to a novel, I can’t say enough good things about Nicholas Monsarrat’s _The Cruel Sea,_ based on his experiences as a Royal Navy convoy officer in the North Atlantic during WWII. Funny, harrowing, sad and exciting by turns. ---
**Author:** ![TroutMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troutman/32/6721_2.png) [@TroutMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TroutMan)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2020, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-reading-thread-may-2020-edition/852990/51 "2020-05-13T17:15:46Z")
Thanks, added to my list. ---
**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:** [May 13, 2020, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-reading-thread-may-2020-edition/852990/52 "2020-05-13T19:20:40Z")
Finished _The City in the Middle of the Night_, by Charlie Jane Anders, which was brilliant. It’s definitely the best science fiction I’ve read so far this year, and possibly the best novel. Now I’m reading _Worlds of Tomorrow: The Amazing Universe of Science Fiction Art_, by Forrest J. Ackerman with Brad Linaweaver. ---
**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:** [May 13, 2020, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-reading-thread-may-2020-edition/852990/53 "2020-05-13T19:27:15Z")
> [@Dendarii\_Dame](#): > > Finished _The City in the Middle of the Night_, by Charlie Jane Anders, which was brilliant. It’s definitely the best science fiction I’ve read so far this year, and possibly the best novel. It’s good for me to hear this. I really didn’t care for it, and having read two of her books and having similar reactions, don’t much plan on reading more of her stuff. In both her books she’s got two female friends who go on different paths–one more naturalistic, one more techno/militaristic–and shows irreconcilable differences. Which is a fine setup, especially in the context of some excellent worldbuilding. But in both books, I felt like her thumb was way too heavily on the scales. She prefers the naturalistic take, and although she tries to portray the other side fairly, she really doesn’t. The result seems like a caricature of political beliefs she doesn’t like, and it kind of drove me bananas, even though I agree with her politics. ---
**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:** [May 13, 2020, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-reading-thread-may-2020-edition/852990/54 "2020-05-13T20:09:51Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > It’s good for me to hear this. I really didn’t care for it, and having read two of her books and having similar reactions, don’t much plan on reading more of her stuff. > > In both her books she’s got two female friends who go on different paths–one more naturalistic, one more techno/militaristic–and shows irreconcilable differences. Which is a fine setup, especially in the context of some excellent worldbuilding. > > But in both books, I felt like her thumb was way too heavily on the scales. She prefers the naturalistic take, and although she tries to portray the other side fairly, she really doesn’t. The result seems like a caricature of political beliefs she doesn’t like, and it kind of drove me bananas, even though I agree with her politics. FWIW, I didn’t care for _All the Birds in the Sky_, although for a different reason. In that book, I wasn’t interested in the non-fantasy elements of the story, and so I wanted her to focus on the fantasy elements. ---
**Author:** ![BetsQ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/fbc32d/32.png) [@BetsQ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BetsQ)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2020, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-reading-thread-may-2020-edition/852990/55 "2020-05-14T02:50:25Z")
I read and thoroughly enjoyed Martha Wells’ Murderbot Diaries: Network Effect. She wrote four novellas about Murderbot first - this is the first full-length book. Despite the name, they’re quite fun. The protagonist is a cyborg “security unit” who just wants to watch soap operas. Not starting something new until I catch up on sleep! ---
**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 14, 2020, 4:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-reading-thread-may-2020-edition/852990/56 "2020-05-14T04:14:34Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > Just this afternoon started _The Last Emperox_ by John Scalzi, the last in his distant-future sf epic trilogy, and in the first 50 pages there are already two major shifts in the storyline. I’m digging it. Finished it a few days ago - pretty good stuff, and a satisfying, if more than a little bittersweet, end to the trilogy. Tonight I finished Elmore Leonard’s 1995 semicomedic crime novel _Riding the Rap_, in which Deputy U.S. Marshal Raylan Givens takes on Miami’s three dumbest kidnappers. Not bad. I also zipped through Ann Droyd’s (a pen name, obviously) _Goodnight iPad_, a funny parody of the kids’ classic _Goodnight Moon_, in which a family 'way too dependent on smartphones, tablets and other gadgets is rid of them by their loving but insistent grandma. A charming little picture book. Now returning to _The Ask_ by Sam Lipsyte, a novel about a schlub of a fundraiser for a crappy NYC art school who gets a second chance to save his sputtering career. I’m not thrilled with it, but will keep going. ---
**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:** [May 14, 2020, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-reading-thread-may-2020-edition/852990/57 "2020-05-14T15:08:19Z")
Finished _Worlds of Tomorrow: The Amazing Universe of Science Fiction Art_, by Forrest J. Ackerman with Brad Linaweaver. Meh. I would’ve liked it better if the commentary on each piece of cover art had appeared on the same or opposite page, rather than ten pages before, four pages after, etc. It also had a funny mistake, in which Eando Binder is described as a “husband and wife team”. They were brothers, Earl and Otto. Now I’m reading _Sixteen Ways to Defend a Walled City_, by K. J. Parker, a pen name for Tom Holt. ---
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2020, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-reading-thread-may-2020-edition/852990/58 "2020-05-15T14:17:57Z")
I tried. I really tried. But I had to give up on **The First Mrs. Rothschild** with just 50 pages to go when the narrator celebrates and is thrilled beyond belief that her son marries her granddaughter. You do the math. Squicked me right out and I noped on out of there. I’m now curled up with the new Stephen King Book, **If it Bleeds**. ---
**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:** [May 16, 2020, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-reading-thread-may-2020-edition/852990/59 "2020-05-16T14:33:09Z")
Finished _Sixteen Ways to Defend a Walled City_, by K. J. Parker. I enjoyed this a lot. The problem-solving plot made me think of the Moist Lipwig _Discworld_ novels by Terry Pratchett, the _1632_ novels featuring Mike Stearns, and even Mark Watney’s struggle to survive in _The Martian_. This makes the fourth novel this month I’ve read with the word “city” in the title, and one of them had that word twice. There’s at least one more novel in our house with that word in the title, and I think there may be a fifth somewhere, but enough is enough. Now I"m reading _Upstream_, a collection of essays by Mary Oliver. ---
**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 17, 2020, 5:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-reading-thread-may-2020-edition/852990/60 "2020-05-17T05:06:17Z")
Finished _This Side of Paradise_, by F Scott Fitzgerald, his largely autobiographical first novel, published exactly 100 years ago at age 23. It was wildly popular at the time for embracing the thoughts and feelings of the beginning of what would become known as the Jazz Age. Fitzgerald would of course go on to be the embodiment of the 1920s. It was rather uneven, but that was apparently a huge part of its appeal back then. At one point, it even lapsed into the style of a play’s script. I found it okay but will always consider _The Great Gatsby_ as my favorite of his. Next up is _The Classical World: An Epic History from Homer to Hadrian_, by Robin Lane Fox. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-reading-thread-may-2020-edition/852990.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-reading-thread-may-2020-edition/852990.md?page=4)