# Khadaji's Whatcha Reading Thread - November 2019 edition **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 31, 2019, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-reading-thread-november-2019-edition/842809 "2019-10-31T23:38:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**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:** [November 16, 2019, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-reading-thread-november-2019-edition/842809/41 "2019-11-16T18:18:58Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > Now I’m reading [Black Leopard, Red Wolf](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/40524312-black-leopard-red-wolf?ac=1&from_search=true&qid=XXuQ4g2wYi&rank=1). A couple years ago I tried reading A Brief History of Seven Killings, but an early, brutal scene in 20th-century Jamaica was just too much for me, and I put it down. This book is every bit as brutal, but the fact that it’s fantasy makes it easier for me to stomach, and I’m really enjoying it. James is a gorgeous writer. Finished this one a little after midnight. Damn, this is a good book, but it leaves no horror unturned. There’s a Neil Gaiman blurb on the back where he says he can’t wait for the next installation (although the book ends satisfyingly, it certainly leaves the door open for a series). I can’t agree: I’m happy to wait a few years before diving back into this horrorshow world. ---
**Author:** ![Ca3799](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9f8e36/32.png) [@Ca3799](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ca3799)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2019, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-reading-thread-november-2019-edition/842809/42 "2019-11-16T18:46:23Z")
I’ve been on a binge after not reading any books for far too long. I just finished “River of Doubt: Theodore Roosevelt’s Darkest Journey” by Candice Millard. This book is about T. Roosevelt, his son Kermit, and Brazilian explorer Candido Rondon’s and others harrowing exploration of a large, uncharted tributary of the Amazon River now called Rio Roosevelt. A bit of bad planning, brutal conditions, and the continued loss of supplies and men led to the near death of Roosevelt himself, and it seems he never recovered his health fully after this trip. After returning, some even doubted the truth of this trip but everything was well documented. Great story, well written! ---
**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:** [November 17, 2019, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-reading-thread-november-2019-edition/842809/43 "2019-11-17T20:45:46Z")
Oops! I somehow manged to put the following post in last month’s thread by mistake ⭕ Finished _The Monkey’s Raincoat_, the first of a string of novels by Robert Crais featuring private detectives Elvis Cole and Joe Pike. Murder, kidnapping and drug deals in 1987 Los Angeles. Very good. The title is a reference to the 17th-century Japanese poet Matsuo Basho, who wrote: “Winter downpour; even the monkey needs a raincoat.” The novel won the 1988 Anthony Award for “Best Paperback Original” at Bouchercon XIX and the 1988 Mystery Readers International Macavity Award for “Best First Novel” and has since been named one of the 100 Favorite Mysteries of the Century by the Independent Mystery Booksellers Association. A little strange though in that I read Crais’ 2017 novel first and then this 1987 one – written 30 years apart, mind you – and he has the same cat in both. Definitely the same cat, an old street cat he lets live with him and which had once been shot in the head with a .22. This is one tough cat. Next up is Crais’ second novel, _Stalking the Angel_. ---
**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:** [November 17, 2019, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-reading-thread-november-2019-edition/842809/44 "2019-11-17T20:52:45Z")
> [@Ca3799](#): > > I recently read “A Walk in the Woods” about Bill Bryson and his friend Katz’s attempt to walk the Appalachian Trail. It was funny, interesting, and sent me to the dictionary more times that any other book I’ve read recently. I swear there seems to be at least two words in there that Bryson may have just made up! > > I’'l check later and see if I still have my notes on that book. I’ve read several of his books, including that one. They’re all engaging, if not always accurate. ---
**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:** [November 18, 2019, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-reading-thread-november-2019-edition/842809/45 "2019-11-18T13:54:41Z")
Started today on [A House of Ghosts](https://www.amazon.com/House-Ghosts-gripping-mystery-haunted/dp/1785767119/ref=sr_1_1?crid=CDWE86V034PQ&keywords=a+house+of+ghosts+w.c.+ryan&qid=1574085023&sprefix=a+house+of+%2Caps%2C147&sr=8-1), by W.C. Ryan. A group of people gather at an island mansion during the first world war to hold a seance. Then somebody gets murdered. Oh HELL YEAH. ---
**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:** [November 18, 2019, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-reading-thread-november-2019-edition/842809/46 "2019-11-18T14:13:40Z")
I finished Joe Haldeman’s _The Forever War_, a great military sf novel about a millennia-long interstellar conflict. It holds up pretty well and has a perfect ending. Just started Jack Vance’s 1968 sf novel _City of the Chasch_, which so far isn’t really wowing me, but I’ll keep at it. > [@Ca3799](#): > > I’ve been on a binge after not reading any books for far too long. > > I just finished “River of Doubt: Theodore Roosevelt’s Darkest Journey” by Candice Millard… TR fan that I am, I was underwhelmed by _River of Doubt_. I think Edmund Morris tells the story much more engagingly in _Colonel Roosevelt_, the last of his TR biographical trilogy. ---
**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:** [November 18, 2019, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-reading-thread-november-2019-edition/842809/47 "2019-11-18T14:15:01Z")
I must’ve gone to the wrong preschool - I don’t ever remember reading these: [Sinister 70s Collection 1 Coaster by Steven Rhodes | Society6](https://society6.com/product/sinister-70s-collection-1_coaster?utm_source=criteo&utm_medium=display&utm_campaign=1311&sku=s6-9188623p70a217v765&utm_campaign=1311&utm_source=criteo&utm_medium=display&utm_content=lower) ---
**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:** [November 18, 2019, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-reading-thread-november-2019-edition/842809/48 "2019-11-18T15:33:54Z")
Finished _Autonomous_, by Annalee Newitz. It’s excellent, and probably the best science fiction novel I’ve read this year. Now I’m reading _1066: The Story of a Year_, by Denis Butler. ---
**Author:** ![zimaane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a3d4f5/32.png) [@zimaane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zimaane)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2019, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-reading-thread-november-2019-edition/842809/49 "2019-11-18T16:12:59Z")
A Death in the Jungle How a Language and a Way of Life Came to an End in Papua New Guinea Don Kulick The “death” in the title is the death of the Tayap language, spoken in one small village in Papua New Guinea, which is being replaced by the English-based creole Tok Pisin ([Tok Pisin - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tok_Pisin)) The author is an anthropologist who lived in the village and learned the language. He writes about this and life in the village, and the challenges of working and living with people whose worldview is radically different from his own. I enjoyed the book and found it interesting to compare his experiences with my similar (but much less intense) experiences living in the developing world. ---
**Author:** ![Rough\_Draft](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/76d3ee/32.png) [@Rough\_Draft](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rough_Draft)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2019, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-reading-thread-november-2019-edition/842809/50 "2019-11-20T16:50:31Z")
> [@Dung\_Beetle](#): > > Started today on [A House of Ghosts](https://www.amazon.com/House-Ghosts-gripping-mystery-haunted/dp/1785767119/ref=sr_1_1?crid=CDWE86V034PQ&keywords=a+house+of+ghosts+w.c.+ryan&qid=1574085023&sprefix=a+house+of+%2Caps%2C147&sr=8-1), by W.C. Ryan. A group of people gather at an island mansion during the first world war to hold a seance. Then somebody gets murdered. Oh HELL YEAH. This sounds like it’s right up my alley! Please let us know your thoughts on the book once you’ve finished. ---
**Author:** ![MacSpon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/34f0e0/32.png) [@MacSpon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MacSpon)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2019, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-reading-thread-november-2019-edition/842809/51 "2019-11-20T23:02:33Z")
Re-reading some Stephen King. Finished _Insomnia_, now about two-thirds the way through _Rose Madder_. (Neither is anything like his finest work, but I like 'em.) ---
**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:** [November 21, 2019, 5:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-reading-thread-november-2019-edition/842809/52 "2019-11-21T05:11:24Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > …Just started Jack Vance’s 1968 sf novel _City of the Chasch_, which so far isn’t really wowing me, but I’ll keep at it… Finished it. Not bad, but not in the same league of some of his wonderful short stories (“The Moon Moth,” first and foremost). Now I’ve started Ian Fleming’s 1956 James Bond novel _Diamonds Are Forever_. So far, so good. ---
**Author:** ![pullin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c57346/32.png) [@pullin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pullin)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2019, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-reading-thread-november-2019-edition/842809/53 "2019-11-21T16:30:37Z")
Just finished: Outland - by Dennis E Taylor. Great scifi, looking forward to other works by him. Hell’s Gate - by Bill Schutt. Also great historical and (mild) scifi. Will continue this author. Working on: Hell Divers VI: Allegiance - by Nicholas Sansbury Smith. Fantastic series and this one’s great too. Background (when not reading something else): Our Oriental Heritage - by Will Durant. I keep getting drawn away by shinier books, but am determined to finish these. ---
**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:** [November 22, 2019, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-reading-thread-november-2019-edition/842809/54 "2019-11-22T14:59:13Z")
Finished _1066: The Story of a Year_, by Denis Butler. Very well done. Now I’m reading _The Clockwork Witch_, by Michelle D. Sonnier ---
**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:** [November 22, 2019, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-reading-thread-november-2019-edition/842809/55 "2019-11-22T18:32:50Z")
> [@pullin](#): > > Just finished: > > Outland - by Dennis E Taylor. Great scifi, looking forward to other works by him… Not a novelization of the Sean Connery sf/cop movie set on Io, I presume? ---
**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:** [November 23, 2019, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-reading-thread-november-2019-edition/842809/56 "2019-11-23T22:15:14Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > Not a novelization of the Sean Connery sf/cop movie set on Io, I presume? Nope – Alan Dean Foster did that (like 90% of SF movie novelizations in those years) ---
**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:** [November 23, 2019, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-reading-thread-november-2019-edition/842809/57 "2019-11-23T22:26:35Z")
I finally finished Poul Anderson’s **Operation: Luna** , which took me forever to get into. But once I got going, it was filled with weird tongue-in-cheek references, puns, and asides ("_Remoreselessness_ said my unruly mind. “Is that the inability or refusal to acquire more than one walrus?”) I then acquired and read a couple of weird guide books: **Off the Ancient Track: A Lovecraftian Guide to New England and Adjacent New York** by Jason C. Eckhardt and **The King Arthur Illustrated Guide** by R.J. Hutchings Now I’m halfway through **The Penguin Book of Witches** , a collection of source documents in English and American witchcraft trials, edited by Katherine Howe. She does a much better job of her history here than in her novel that I “read” on audio last month, but she still occasionally says something that’s not quite right. The rest of her research makes up for it, though. ---
**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:** [November 24, 2019, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-reading-thread-november-2019-edition/842809/58 "2019-11-24T02:22:25Z")
Finished _The Clockwork Witch_, by Michelle D. Sonnier, which I enjoyed. Now I’m reading _A Second Browser’s Dictionary: A Compendium of Curious Expressions and Intriguing Facts_, by John Ciardi. ---
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2019, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-reading-thread-november-2019-edition/842809/59 "2019-11-24T14:19:54Z")
I put a pause on my reread of the excellent _Man of Rome_ series by Colleen McCullough to read a borrowed library book, _Nine Perfect Strangers_ by Liane Moriarty. She’s becoming an automatic for me. In the wings, when I’m done with Sulla and Gaius Marius and Aurelia and Servilia and Caeser and Octavian is _Snakes and Ladders_, by Victoria Selman. It’s her third book in the detective series and I’ve liked them very much. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2019, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-reading-thread-november-2019-edition/842809/60 "2019-11-24T18:59:33Z")
_No Country for Old Gnomes_ by Delilah Dawson and Kevin Hearne. It’s been a big year for Hearne with me. A year ago I hadn’t heard of him. But I picked up a couple of his books in February and enjoyed them, so I’ve been going through the stuff he’s written. _No Country for Old Gnomes_ is the eighth book of his I’ve read this year. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-reading-thread-november-2019-edition/842809.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadajis-whatcha-reading-thread-november-2019-edition/842809.md?page=4)