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Book Recommendations
Just like the title says. Picked up a Kindle recently and figured I'd mine you guys for ideas on things to pick up for it. May as well make it a general book recommendation thread while we're at it.
Picked these two up just to give the Kindle a work out:
Kitchen Confidential - Anthony Bourdain - I'd been meaning to read this for a while since I'm a fan of his Travel Channel show. It's a quick, entertaining read that's an interesting blend of personal memoir, commentary on the restaurant business, and meditation on good food mixed in with a steady stream of tales of debauchery. Definitely recommended if you're a fan of the show, but probably still a worthwhile read for anyone who doesn't mind the unapologetically crass tone Bourdain tends to favor.
Pakistan and the Mumbai Attacks: The Untold Story - Sebastian Rotella - I picked this up mostly on impulse as a way of checking out the Kindle Singles offered by Amazon, which are shorter pieces that sell in the $1-2 range. Roughly 38 pages in length, and totally worth it. It reconstructs what's publicly known about the lead up to and execution of the terror attacks on Mumbai in 2008. It (unfortunately) has all the elements of a well-written thriller - the relatively obscure Lashkar-i-Taiba terror group, its involvement with the Pakistani ISI, an American jihadi performing reconnaissance around the world, ignored warning, and the story of a French judge who was one of the few people taking the group seriously prior to Mumbai. This one is also available free-of-charge on ProPublica's website and I'd certainly encourage anyone to take the time to read it.
ETA:
One more. I haven't read this one personally yet, but it's in my "to-read" pile on the recommendation of another member here: What Every BODY is Saying - Joe Navarro
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The Unforgiving Minute
Autobiography of a Rhodes Scholar and Army Ranger
With the Old Breed
Story of K/3/5 Marines in the Pacific
War on the Run
Story of Robert's Rangers in the French and Indian War
Into Thin Air
Great story of a tragic Everett climb, demonstration of what some men do in the face of death
Band of Brothers
If you don't know what this is... just go shoot.
Hornblower and the Hotspur
Fictional story of young British ship's captain in the Napoleonic Wars, great leadership lessons
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To Ride, Shoot Straight, And Speak The Truth and Fireworks by Jeff Cooper.
No Second Place Winner by Bill Jordan.
Fast And Fancy Revolver Shooting by Ed McGivern.
Quick Or Dead by William L. Cassidy.
The Snubby Revolver by Ed Lovette
and one novel that I re-read recently.
The Sea Runners by Ivan Doig.
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The Average American Male by Chad Kultgen.
"I Heard You Paint Houses" by Charles Brandt.
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"Unrepentant Sinner" - autobiography of Col. Charles Askins
"One Ranger" - Joachin Jackson
"Future Jihad" - Walid Phares (cannot recommend this highly enough)
"The Pentagon's New Map" - Thomas Barnett (a futurist hired by the Pentagon shortly after 9/11)
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As Far as My Feet Will Carry Me: The Extraordinary True Story of One Man's Escape from a Siberian Labour Camp and His 3-Year Trek to Freedom
The Long Walk: The True Story of a Trek to Freedom, by Slavomir Rawicz
Hell In A Very Small Place: The Siege Of Dien Bien Phu
The Case for Israel
The Coldest Winter: America and the Korean War
The Picture Of Dorian Gray
In The Company Of Heroes, Michael Durant
Beyond Band of Brothers: The War Memoirs of Major Dick Winters
Searching for Schindler: A memoir , Thomas Keneally
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Undaunted Courage
Helmet for My Pillow
With the Old Breed
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Grunts by John McManus*
Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson (Sci-Fi)
Neuromancer By William Gibson (Sci-Fi)
Count Zero by William Gibson (Sci-Fi) - Follow on to Neuromancer
Mona Lisa Overdrive by William Gibson (Sci-Fi) - Conclusion? of the Neuromancer Trilogy
david
* - John is a good friend. He is also a great Military History author
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Recently: John Adams by David McCullough
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Surgical Speed Shooting, How to Achieve High Speed Marksmanship in a Gunfight
I just read it, nothing in there you probably don't already know from being on this website but this adds a lot of the why we do things, and how they're advantageous instead of just do it this way.
Short, to the point, with pictures, and relatively scientific.