Book Recommendations

[Medusa]

I absolutely am not looking for conversation on a book I’ve read and you didn’t based on your impression of the cover. You can respond to the facts and information in the book after reading it, or you can simply keep running your mouth.

Pretend to believe, or believe, whatever you want. I thought this was a book recommendation thread, not an I didn’t read the book but I’m gonna keep talking about it thread. To me you sound a bit like someone who hasn’t read a holy text but insists they don’t need to because they see how the followers of that text behave, or that one quote taken from it that’s problematic, or because they just know theirs is the absolute truth.

All because I posted the cover of the book, and you absurdly insist people who fight for a private corporation for money, not in the us armed forces, many of whom are foreign nationals, aren’t really mercenaries. The quotes about profit motive, for example, come from actual people who worked for Blackwater.

I’m not an expert on Blackwater. I wanted to learn more. I read the book. If I come across another book with a different perspective, I’ll probably read that too. If you can suggest such a book, I’ll try to read it. That would have been a helpful comment instead of a “well, ackshuslly”

I see Eric Prince wrote a book. I’m sure that’s objective and unbiased, unlike the book I read.

[BehindBlueI's]

I absolutely am not looking for conversation on a book I’ve read and you didn’t based on your impression of the cover. You can respond to the facts and information in the book after reading it, or you can simply keep running your mouth.

Pretend to believe, or believe, whatever you want. I thought this was a book recommendation thread, not an I didn’t read the book but I’m gonna keep talking about it thread. To me you sound a bit like someone who hasn’t read a holy text but insists they don’t need to because they see how the followers of that text behave, or that one quote taken from it that’s problematic, or because they just know theirs is the absolute truth.

All because I posted the cover of the book, and you absurdly insist people who fight for a private corporation for money, not in the us armed forces, many of whom are foreign nationals, aren’t really mercenaries. The quotes about profit motive, for example, come from actual people who worked for Blackwater.

I’m not an expert on Blackwater. I wanted to learn more. I read the book. If I come across another book with a different perspective, I’ll probably read that too. If you can suggest such a book, I’ll try to read it. That would have been a helpful comment instead of a “well, ackshuslly”

I see Eric Prince wrote a book. I’m sure that’s objective and unbiased, unlike the book I read.

I'm not sure why you've chosen to be so insulting and assigning a lot of positions/thoughts to me I never expressed. I could probably answer at least some of the questions from personal experience and from the experiences of my friends who kept contracting for various companies in various positions long after I left for the real world, but seriously I have no interest in engaging with you any longer. I have been nothing but respectful to you, but from this point on I'm done with you.

As a reminder, the sole takeaway from my first post was "In either case, I would suspect the author's work based on that alone." A simple indication of the bias that's likely present, and that the reader should be aware of, was the catalyst for all the assigned positions both about the book and the topic matter you assigned me.

[Medusa]

I disagree. I don’t think you’ve been respectful in jumping in on a book you’ve not read, based, on your own admission, on the cover. I think it would have been respectful to say, here’s a book that .... if you had one to suggest. Rather than engaging with the points it raises - which in large measure you’d have to read the book for first , you simply say stuff like well gee we give immunity to crooks, so..... .

I responded to your disrespect in the way it deserved.

I’m done with you as well.

[Darth_Uno]

I see Eric Prince wrote a book. I’m sure that’s objective and unbiased, unlike the book I read.

Well I think they both look interesting.

If I wrote a book about myself and my company, and then someone else wrote a book about myself and my company, the truth would probably be somewhere in between.

I’m sure I could read parts of their book and honestly say, no that’s not what happened. I’m sure I could also read parts of it and say that’s exactly what happened but damn, you coulda left that part out.


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[blues]

Well I think they both look interesting.

If I wrote a book about myself and my company, and then someone else wrote a book about myself and my company, the truth would probably be somewhere in between.

I’m sure I could read parts of their book and honestly say, no that’s not what happened. I’m sure I could also read parts of it and say that’s exactly what happened but damn, you coulda left that part out.


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I hope in your book both the Cards and the Yankees will win the world series again at some point. ;)

[Medusa]

I read this book and enjoyed it. After enjoying Doc as referenced up thread, and The Sisters Brothers a while back, I’ve been looking for decent quality westerns to read, and remembered enjoying the tv mini series Lonesome Dove with my father many many years ago. I’ll read the rest as they come available from the library. It’s an engaging and evocative tale, casually brutal and sometimes beautiful.

43759

On a whim I checked out The Gunslinger by Stephen King, an author I don’t normally like, to read. If I don’t like it or if I finish it quickly, as I expect, I also got Banks’ Use of Weapons.

[LockedBreech]

43759

On a whim I checked out The Gunslinger by Stephen King, an author I don’t normally like, to read. If I don’t like it or if I finish it quickly, as I expect, I also got Banks’ Use of Weapons.

The Gunslinger series as a whole (especially the 1st, 4th, and 4.5th (Wind Through the Keyhole) along with Use of Weapons are on my permanent top-10 list, and I read a lot​. Good whim.

[BehindBlueI's]

Has anyone read McCullogh's The Pioneers: The Heroic Story of the Settlers Who Brought the American Ideal West book released earlier this year? I've generally enjoyed his work and am thinking of picking it up.

[TheRoland]

Stone

Are there any mystery/police series that are more.... reasonable, or realistic?

I've really enjoyed the Bosch novels, which started off not-that-convincing, but become more and more believable as LA cops became fans and reached out to the author.

Anything like that?

[blues]

Are there any mystery/police series that are more.... reasonable, or realistic?

I've really enjoyed the Bosch novels, which started off not-that-convincing, but become more and more believable as LA cops became fans and reached out to the author.

Anything like that?

I'm pretty much up to date on the Bosch books.

I recently began reading the Inspector Rebus series by Ian Rankin. Rebus is a Detective Sergeant in the first book but moves up to Inspector in the following books. Most of the action takes place in and around Edinburgh, Scotland though the 3rd book is in London. Series runs from about 1987 to present.

Not as much gun play as the U.S. based Bosch books, but good stories, well told. I don't like a lot of b.s. and fantasy in my police procedurals. Thus far this series does not force a lot of suspension of belief.

Worth a look, imho. I think you'll find them worth your while.

[Cheap Shot]

Are there any mystery/police series that are more.... reasonable, or realistic?

I've really enjoyed the Bosch novels, which started off not-that-convincing, but become more and more believable as LA cops became fans and reached out to the author.

Anything like that?

I very much enjoy the "Prey" series and the Virgil Flowers books by John Sanford. Not sure about how realistic they are from am LEO perspective but both Sanford and Connelly are extremely gifted writers

[NickA]

I'll second both John Sandford series. I have some catching up to do with the Flowers books but have been reading the Prey novels since he started them.
Also not an expert on police procedure but I don't think there's anything too fantastical in them. The dialog between the cops is always entertaining, realistic or not. There's plenty of instances where Davenport screws up and pays the consequences, and he ages and changes as the series progresses which you don't always see.
He also does a good job making Flowers a very different character, so the series have a different feel.

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[BehindBlueI's]

Spearhead by Adam Makos

This was an awesome read. If you like WWII military history and armor you’ll like this book. I read three quarters of it in one sitting.


I just started this one and am a touch over 1/4 through it already. You're right, it's an awesome read.

[Coyotesfan97]

It’s time to reread it.

[Lester Polfus]

In other words, the kind of book people read in order to impress people they really don't like. Or at least say they've read.

While spending your own time and money to do things you can't stand to impress people you don't like (and who often don't care or notice) isn't quite Hell on Earth, it's still a pretty miserable time.

I vicariously experienced my ex-wife getting an MFA in creative writing. At one point the plan was for her to get hers, then for me to get mine. After watching her navigate that toxic environment, I said "nope" and now I write lowly genre fiction. Those folks would look down on me , but I'm paying the mortgage with book royalties, so there's that.

What comes to be considered "good" in literary fiction is interesting. Some of those books are breathtaking books that will change your life. Most of them are boosted because of who the author knows, or in many cases, literally sleeping with.

There's long been speculation that many people buy the popular lit-fic books as a form of virtue signaling, but don't actually read them. One of the funny things about eBooks is that retailers like Amazon and Kobo actually know whether books are getting finished or not, and their numbers bear that out.

[Cheap Shot]

I just started this one and am a touch over 1/4 through it already. You're right, it's an awesome read.

Spoiler Alert.

Agree but beware. After reading the book you'll probably feel a compelling urge to buy a tank. It really seems like it would be a handy problem solver during the weekly commute. I image a future of zen like calmness once I get mine!

Namaste

[Clusterfrack]

I just finished the latest Expanse book (https://www.amazon.com/Tiamats-Wrath-Expanse-Book-8-ebook/dp/B07BVNVWL6/). I love the series (https://www.amazon.com/James-S-A-Corey/e/B004AQ1W8Y), both in print and on Amazon streaming.

[LockedBreech]

I vicariously experienced my ex-wife getting an MFA in creative writing. At one point the plan was for her to get hers, then for me to get mine. After watching her navigate that toxic environment, I said "nope" and now I write lowly genre fiction. Those folks would look down on me , but I'm paying the mortgage with book royalties, so there's that.

What comes to be considered "good" in literary fiction is interesting. Some of those books are breathtaking books that will change your life. Most of them are boosted because of who the author knows, or in many cases, literally sleeping with.

There's long been speculation that many people buy the popular lit-fic books as a form of virtue signaling, but don't actually read them. One of the funny things about eBooks is that retailers like Amazon and Kobo actually know whether books are getting finished or not, and their numbers bear that out.

My shelves have a few dozen "signaling" titles from my college years. A fair number are, indeed, unread.

I stopped caring what anyone thought about what I read a long time ago, and I finish every single book I buy now - Neil Gaiman, Stephen King, Iain M. Banks (sadly, I have exhausted his works and am on my last Banks read ever, rest his soul), Alastair Reynolds, and anything that I just genuinely enjoy and am excited to read, which is usually military, sci fi, fantasy, or detective-type stuff.

Life is such a short, fleeting thing, and reading such an enjoyable escape from it, that the very idea I once cared what some mysterious peer group thought about what I'm reading is alien, like a different human being had those concerns.

[Medusa]

I just finished the latest Expanse book (https://www.amazon.com/Tiamats-Wrath-Expanse-Book-8-ebook/dp/B07BVNVWL6/). I love the series (https://www.amazon.com/James-S-A-Corey/e/B004AQ1W8Y), both in print and on Amazon streaming.

I’m saving my reading of the series for whenever the amazon series ends - definitely on my to be read list.

[Clusterfrack]

I’m saving my reading of the series for whenever the amazon series ends - definitely on my to be read list.

I think you get more out of the show having read the books.

[NEPAKevin]

Are there any mystery/police series that are more.... reasonable, or realistic?



If you like old school, The Friends of Eddie Coyle by George V. Higgins (https://www.amazon.com/Friends-Eddie-Coyle-Novel-ebook/dp/B003H4I54E/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=THE+FRIENDS+OF+EDDIE+COYLE&qid=1571678487&sr=8-1) seemed pretty realistic and even got a mention on the last episode of Justified.

If you like Wambaugh, The Black Marble (https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00658EPSE/ref=s9_acsd_hps_bw_c_x_17_w?pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=merchandised-search-2&pf_rd_r=X4JWC9BQC7VT9GK36JTM&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=cb4d8e42-7b16-4f4c-a0d8-9c7389f53802&pf_rd_i=11552285011) is on today's Kindle Deals. Wambaugh is no DL Barbur (https://www.amazon.com/DL-Barbur/e/B075PXYD3M?ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_1&qid=1571679300&sr=1-1), but while patiently waiting for the next novel, ya gotta make due with what's out there.
:)

[BehindBlueI's]

Spoiler Alert.

Agree but beware. After reading the book you'll probably feel a compelling urge to buy a tank. It really seems like it would be a handy problem solver during the weekly commute. I image a future of zen like calmness once I get mine!

Namaste

I've been both a driver and tank commander of a mine clearing tank (not as impressive as it sounds, it's just a 2 man crew so if you aren't driving you're commanding, but I leave that part off of resumes :cool:).

Driving a tank is, without a doubt, fucking awesome. I got to run over a Jeep. It was like driving a Cadillac over a 1x4". You sorta noticed you ran over something, but meh, didn't upset the ride at all. Maintenance isn't even that terrible as long as you've got two people. Fuel economy, being 0.8 mpg (IIRC) for the M60 chassis burning JP-8, might be a bit of burden on the commuter's budget, though.

[Medusa]

I think you get more out of the show having read the books.

I was afraid of plot line clashes, etc. I’ll get on the library wait list for the first one ....by the time I get to the top the series probably will be over.

[Clusterfrack]

I was afraid of plot line clashes, etc. I’ll get on the library wait list for the first one ....by the time I get to the top the series probably will be over.

They've done a remarkable job of staying pretty close to the books--much more so than GoT. Of course, they had to leave out some things. On the other hand, there are a lot of details from the books that are also in the show, but you probably didn't notice without having benefit of reading the books. Some parts of the books are even more suspenseful than in the show.

There are also several novellas that provide backstory for the main books and the show, and are among my favorites in the series.

[Medusa]

They've done a remarkable job of staying pretty close to the books--much more so than GoT. Of course, they had to leave out some things. On the other hand, there are a lot of details from the books that are also in the show, but you probably didn't notice without having benefit of reading the books. Some parts of the books are even more suspenseful than in the show.

There are also several novellas that provide backstory for the main books and the show, and are among my favorites in the series.

Cool. It’s a five week estimated wait for Leviathan Wakes, which isn’t too bad. 9 weeks for audio. I always try to get them at the same time, but I’ll spend an audible credit if need be.

[Clusterfrack]

Cool. It’s a five week estimated wait for Leviathan Wakes, which isn’t too bad. 9 weeks for audio. I always try to get them at the same time, but I’ll spend an audible credit if need be.

I read pretty much everything on a Kindle.

[Medusa]

I read pretty much everything on a Kindle.

As do I. I get kindle books from the library, as well as audio books. Sometimes I’ll check out the library kindle copy and buy the audible, and enjoy the sync between them as I read / listen.

[Stephanie B]

Has anyone read McCullogh's The Pioneers: The Heroic Story of the Settlers Who Brought the American Ideal West book released earlier this year? I've generally enjoyed his work and am thinking of picking it up.

Yes, see post #914. It's sort of a local history, as it really focuses on Marietta, OH. It also had some details on Aaron Burr's arrest that I hadn't heard before.

[Medusa]

Finished this today. It was ok, but it strikes me a bit like an allegory with no real point or purpose. There’s some good description at times, some neat turns of phrase; and there is, or may be, enough substance there I may read the next to see if there’s a payoff, but it won’t be high on my list of to read books. I wonder, as well, if this is a book that suffers as an audiobook rather than being read. That’s rare in my experience, but maybe that was part of my being underwhelmed.

43897

[psalms144.1]

Finished this today. It was ok, but it strikes me a bit like an allegory with no real point or purpose. There’s some good description at times, some neat turns of phrase; and there is, or may be, enough substance there I may read the next to see if there’s a payoff, but it won’t be high on my list of to read books. I wonder, as well, if this is a book that suffers as an audiobook rather than being read. That’s rare in my experience, but maybe that was part of my being underwhelmed.

43897I just refinished reading the entire series. "The man in black fled across the Desert, and the Gunslinger followed" - best opening line ever (nearly). The rest of the series will bend your brain, and, as much as I love the story, the obvious and heavy handed deux ex machina(s) employed later on take some of the shine off the whole enterprise. But, if you're a King fan, this is his opus, and weaves many of his other works into itself (with various levels of success).

[JSGlock34]

"The man in black fled across the Desert, and the Gunslinger followed" - best opening line ever (nearly).

It's a good one, but I'm partial to the Parker opening lines.

Hunter (December 1962): “When a fresh-faced guy in a Chevy offered him a lift, Parker told him to go to hell.”
The Man With the Getaway Face (March 1963): “When the bandages came off, Parker looked in the mirror at a stranger.”
The Outfit (September 1963): “When the woman screamed, Parker awoke and rolled off the bed.”
The Mourner (December 1963): “When the guy with the asthma finally came in from the fire escape, Parker rabbit-punched him and took his gun away.”
The Score (July 1964): “When the bellboy left, Parker went over to the house phone and made his call.”
The Jugger (July 1965): “When the knock came at the door, Parker was just turning to the obituary page.”
The Handle (February 1966): “When the engine stopped, Parker came up on deck for a look around.”
The Seventh (March 1966): “When he didn’t get any answer the second time he knocked, Parker kicked the door in.”
The Rare Coin Score (1967): “Parker spent two weeks on the white sand beach at Biloxi, and on a white sandy bitch named Belle, but he was restless, and one day without thinking about it he checked out and sent a forwarding address to Handy McKay and moved on to New Orleans.”
The Green Eagle Score (1967): “Parker looked in at the beach and there was a guy in a black suit standing there, surrounded by all the bodies in bathing suits.”
The Black Ice Score (1968): “Parker walked into his hotel room, and there was a guy in there going through his suitcase laid out on his bed.”
The Sour Lemon Score (1969): “Parker put the revolver away and looked out the windshield.”
Deadly Edge (1971): “Up here, the music was just a throbbing under the feet, a distant pulse.”
Slayground (1971): “Parker jumped out of the Ford with a gun in one hand and the packet of explosive in the other.”
Plunder Squad (1972): “Hearing the click behind him, Parker threw his glass straight back over his right shoulder, and dove off his chair to the left.”
Butcher’s Moon (1974): “Running toward the light, Parker fired twice over his left shoulder, not caring whether he hit anything or not.”
Comeback (1997): “When the angel opened the door, Parker stepped first past the threshold into the darkness of the cinder block corridor beneath the stage.”
Backflash (1998): “When the car stopped rolling, Parker kicked out the rest of the windshield and crawled through onto the wrinkled hood, Glock first.”
Flashfire (2000): “When the dashboard clock read 2:40, Parker drove out of the drugstore parking lot and across the sunlit road to the convenience store/gas station.”
Firebreak (2001): “When the phone rang, Parker was in the garage, killing a man.”
Breakout (2002) : “When the alarm went off, Parker and Armiston were far to the rear of the warehouse, Armiston with the clipboard, checking off the boxes they’d want.”
Nobody Runs Forever (2004): “When he saw that the one called Harbin was wearing a wire, Parker said, ‘Deal me out a hand,’ and got to his feet.”
Ask the Parrot (2006): “When the helicopter swept northward and lifted out of sight over the top of the hill, Parker stepped away from the tree he’d waited beside and continued his climb.”
Dirty Money (2008): “When the silver Toyota Avalon bumped down the dirt road out of the woods and across the railroad tracks, Parker put the Infiniti into low and stepped out onto the gravel.”

[Joe in PNG]

Or one of the greatest of all time:
"We were somewhere around Barstow on the edge of the desert when the drugs began to take hold."

[JAD]

“I can feel the heat closing in, feel them out there making their moves, setting up their devil doll stool pigeons, crooning over my spoon and dropper I throw away at Washington Square station, vault a turnstile and two flights down the iron stairs, catch an uptown A train...”

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”

“The sky above the port was the color of television, tuned to a dead channel.”

“A screaming comes across the sky.”

“It was now lunch time and they were all sitting under the double green fly of the dining tent pretending that nothing had happened.”

“Once upon a time and a very good time it was there was a moocow coming down along the road and this moocow that was coming down along the road met a nicens little boy named baby tuckoo. . .”

[Joe in PNG]

"There was me, that is Alex, and my three droogs, that is Pete, Georgie and Dim and we sat in the Korova milkbar trying to make up our rassoodocks what to do with the evening."

[BehindBlueI's]

It’s time to reread it.

I'm done. I'm a bit saddened as I thought I had a lot more but didn't realize how many pictures were at the end that counted toward the percentage. Funny how percentage has taken the place of page number since I do most of my reading on Kindle these days.

It was a great book, and the post-war endings were compelling and touching.

The Burning White (Lightbringer Book 5) will probably be my next book, but it doesn't come out for two more days. It's the final book in that series and I'm quite impressed with Brent Weeks' fiction. Same guy that wrote Night Angel.

[Lester Polfus]

Finished this today. It was ok, but it strikes me a bit like an allegory with no real point or purpose. There’s some good description at times, some neat turns of phrase; and there is, or may be, enough substance there I may read the next to see if there’s a payoff, but it won’t be high on my list of to read books. I wonder, as well, if this is a book that suffers as an audiobook rather than being read. That’s rare in my experience, but maybe that was part of my being underwhelmed.



To be quite honest, you probably wont' like book 2.

[Lester Polfus]

“The sky above the port was the color of television, tuned to a dead channel.”



I don't know how many times I've read the Sprawl Trilogy, but this reminds me I need to read it one more time.

[Lester Polfus]

It's a good one, but I'm partial to the Parker opening lines.


He's no Joseph Wambaugh, but I hear tell that DL Barbur was heavily influenced by Westlake's opening lines in the Parker series.

My favorite so far:

I wanted to buy my girlfriend an ice cream cone but wound up in a gunfight instead.

[0ddl0t]

This first line seems so much more applicable today than when I first read it decades ago:

"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way – in short, the period was so far like the present period, that some of its noisiest authorities insisted on its being received, for good or for evil, in the superlative degree of comparison only."

[Medusa]

He's no Joseph Wambaugh, but I hear tell that DL Barbur was heavily influenced by Westlake's opening lines in the Parker series.

My favorite so far:

I wanted to buy my girlfriend an ice cream cone but wound up in a gunfight instead.

I’ll be glad to read whatever that Barbur writes next.

[Lester Polfus]

I’ll be glad to read whatever that Barbur writes next.

Spoiler Alert:

Dent goes home to Appalachia. Zany hijinks ensue. Probably late 2020.

[JAD]

I don't know how many times I've read the Sprawl Trilogy, but this reminds me I need to read it one more time.

For sure once more; and since I used it for a 'great first lines,' I think it's important to read at least 'Naked Lunch' as a sort of prologue to Gibson.

[Medusa]

Finished this. The brutality of it along with what felt to me like too much length and filler followed by an over rushed finish, plus some other stuff but mostly those, puts paid to my continuing the Culture series. Three is enough. I get why he’s an influential figure and understand why others are into this, but I’m done.

44171

Started Hurley’s Light Brigade. As it happens I abandoned her Mirror Empire series for similar reasons as above, so I’m interested to see how it goes.

[TheRoland]

I just refinished reading the entire series. "The man in black fled across the Desert, and the Gunslinger followed" - best opening line ever (nearly). The rest of the series will bend your brain, and, as much as I love the story, the obvious and heavy handed deux ex machina(s) employed later on take some of the shine off the whole enterprise. But, if you're a King fan, this is his opus, and weaves many of his other works into itself (with various levels of success).

Without saying too much, I hope, it is a fantastic line even when it's not the opening. Even if you're not a King fan, this series is special enough to excuse some odd middle segments.

[Jim Watson]

Opening paragraph
"As I left the Kenya Beanstalk capsule he was right on my heels. He followed me through the door leading to Customs, Health, and Immigration. As the door contracted behind him I killed him."

I am mostly SF with some contemporary adventure (Frex "that fuckin' Virgil Flowers,") but when I want poetry, I read Lois McMaster Bujold. She thinks she is writing F/SF.

[Clusterfrack]

Finished this today. It was ok, but it strikes me a bit like an allegory with no real point or purpose. There’s some good description at times, some neat turns of phrase; and there is, or may be, enough substance there I may read the next to see if there’s a payoff, but it won’t be high on my list of to read books. I wonder, as well, if this is a book that suffers as an audiobook rather than being read. That’s rare in my experience, but maybe that was part of my being underwhelmed.

I tried hard to read these, but only made it most of the way through the 2nd. I was underwhelmed also, and didn't find it much better than the other stuff he writes. Stephen King needs a good editor who can tell him that he's not a clever or deep as he thinks he is. King needs to cut his word count by at least 75%.

[blues]

Stephen King needs a good editor who can tell him that he's not a clever or deep as he thinks he is. King needs to cut his word count by at least 75%.

I enjoyed "Pet Sematary" and maybe one or two other early works. Anything I've tried to read since suffers from bad writing, bad editing and poor concept, imho. I couldn't agree with you more.

[BN]

I now have Children of God out of the library.

I couldn't finish it. I read the first few chapters and got lost in the switching timelines. Sparrow did the same thing, but I got through it. I'm glad I use the public library rather than buying books. ;)

[Medusa]

I couldn't finish it. I read the first few chapters and got lost in the switching timelines. Sparrow did the same thing, but I got through it. I'm glad I use the public library rather than buying books. ;)

Libraries, at least good ones, are the business. As for switching timelines, I agree, sometimes it works for a given reader, sometimes it doesn’t. I found the switching in use of weapons annoying, but was okay with it in children of god and sparrow and many others.

[Joe in PNG]

Finished this. The brutality of it along with what felt to me like too much length and filler followed by an over rushed finish, plus some other stuff but mostly those, puts paid to my continuing the Culture series. Three is enough. I get why he’s an influential figure and understand why others are into this, but I’m done.

44171


Banks is a bit like PTerry, in that the earlier books in the series are not a particularly good intro to the series. I've read "Use of Weapons", and wasn't especially impressed- nor did I like "Excession" all that much.
I will say that "Look To Windward" and "Surface Detail" are far better Culture novels, and ones I re-read on a regular basis.

[BN]

As for switching timelines, I agree, sometimes it works for a given reader, sometimes it doesn’t. I found the switching in use of weapons annoying, but was okay with it in children of god and sparrow and many others.

I read a book recently that had 3 different main characters and they were all in first person. Talk about confusing. :(

[Eric_L]

https://marcuswynne.wordpress.com/

Read the first post.

[Medusa]

Finished this (https://www.amazon.com/Light-Brigade-Kameron-Hurley-ebook/dp/B075RQ63DZ/ref=as_li_ss_tl?crid=KX9XN1AJ5JJD&keywords=kameron+hurley+the+light+brigade&qid=1573129284&sprefix=kameron+hurley+,aps,134&sr=8-1&linkCode=ll1&tag=ratio07-20&linkId=ad43028f6289fada0c99d7f33cfd6f32&language=en_US) today. Other than being a bit magical/ mystical at the end, I found it a refreshing and interesting, but still familiar, take on military sci-fi. Many small details I really appreciated, there if you look, not distracting. Worth a read imo.

My 1,000 mile road trip for my TPC class starts tomorrow and I have four books to read / listen to, but I haven’t decided which one I’ll read first.

44366

[Coyotesfan97]

I’m starting to read John Sanford’s Storm Front book 7 (https://www.amazon.com/Storm-Front-Virgil-Flowers-Novel-ebook/dp/B00C5R7I9C/ref=as_li_ss_tl?keywords=john+sanford+virgil+flowe rs+storm+front&qid=1573129227&sr=8-1&linkCode=ll1&tag=ratio07-20&linkId=fe1b4d2b12690165c1fae4c668954061&language=en_US) of the Virgil Flowers series. Of course I had to reread the first six. That fucking Flowers!;)

[Yung]

The USCCA's eLearning module on concealed carry and home defense is not a slog-through as I'd thought it might be.

Reposting the 'Institutional Memory' book list in case anyone missed it the first time:
https://www.activeresponsetraining.net/institutional-memory

Finally going to order Kita Busse's Smart Move (https://www.amazon.com/Smart-Move-Economy-Motion-Shooting/dp/109241567X/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=kita+busse&qid=1573129177&sr=8-1) since apparently nobody else here is gonna do it. I'll let you know my thoughts.

[Coyotesfan97]

If you like Flowers you’ll like Storm Front.

[Medusa]

I listened to this novel (https://www.amazon.com/Cellist-Sarajevo-Steven-Galloway-ebook/dp/B001CUUNK4/ref=as_li_ss_tl?crid=1I0349OIH8F6D&keywords=cellist+of+sarajevo&qid=1573129115&sprefix=cellist+of+,aps,135&sr=8-1&linkCode=ll1&tag=ratio07-20&linkId=8b5fd73a940a0eec24a59abc7ae1a6cb&language=en_US), set during the 1990s Siege of Sarajevo, in one sitting on a long drive today. I found it beautiful, terrible, and masterful. It is one of the best books I’ve read this year and it will certainly stay with me.

44433

[Lex Luthier]

https://marcuswynne.wordpress.com/

Read the first post.

I read the second post, too. The coffee at Old Jim's really is good, as in world-class, and he loves my dog.
(He's rabidly anti-gun, though.)

[Medusa]

Listened to this (https://www.amazon.com/Girl-at-War-Sara-Novic-ebook/dp/B00NRQW84K/ref=as_li_ss_tl?crid=GM2WWX714TQA&keywords=girl+at+war,+sara+novic&qid=1573129078&sprefix=girl+at+war,aps,141&sr=8-1&linkCode=ll1&tag=ratio07-20&linkId=65102ac8f1424c233f3ea318b67a339a&language=en_US) today on another long day on the road. Outstanding as well, this novel is set in and around Zagreb in the early 90s, during (and 10 years after) the Croatian war for independence. It is unforgettable and vivid, and has important things to say about grief, trauma, and memory. Recommended.

44471

[Coyotesfan97]

I can’t remember if someone here recommended As You Wish: Inconceivable Tales from the Making of The Princess Bride by Cary Elwes. I finished it in two sittings and loved reading it. Two chapters stand out. En Garde about the training Elwes and Pantinkin received to prepare for the “Greatest Sword Fight in Modern Times” and the chapter about filming it. It was just outstanding. Lots of great stories and lots of anecdotes from his co stars and Rob Reiner.

Elwes talks a lot about Andre the Giant. So he says to google him and beer can. Here’s the result. 44530
Just wow!

[ACP230]

Just finished The Arsenal Of Democracy by A.J. Baime. Subtitle is "FDR, Detroit, And An Epic Quest To Arm
An America At War".

About the successful effort to arm the U.S. forces with four-engine B24 Liberator bombers. Other things that
were built in Detroit, and environs, were aircraft engines, bomb sights, jeeps, trucks and
other more esoteric stuff. Many of the planes were built at the Willow Run plant. Some were used on the raids
on Ploesti, Rumania.

My late mother in law worked there during the war. She was good at math and did some
esoteric measurements on her job. Not Rosie The Riveter but she probably ate lunch
with her in the plant cafeteria. My late father-in law worked on the line at a car factory in Detroit
on the last run of cars before it started making tanks. Then he joined the Army.

Good read. Covered lots of things I didn't hear about from my in-laws.

[Guerrero]

Anyone have Dan Carlin's new book?

[Drang]

I can’t remember if someone here recommended As You Wish: Inconceivable Tales from the Making of The Princess Bride by Cary Elwes.


Just finished The Arsenal Of Democracy by A.J. Baime. Subtitle is "FDR, Detroit, And An Epic Quest To Arm An America At War".

I have read and endorse both these books.

I normally avoid books by celebrities, but the Princess Bride book was good, very interesting behind-the-scenes look at the making of a classic. I despise Rob Reiner's political opinions, and haven't cared for anything else he has made, but he gets a by for this one. (Well, part of a by, he really is a meathead, politically.)

As a native Detroiter, I knew some of the background related in that book, interesting to see a deeper reporting. Can't wonder how FoMoCO might have been different if Edsel had lived. And too bad the ex-Fed hadn't run Henry's security goon out of town earlier...

[JSGlock34]

Anyone have Dan Carlin's new book?

I'm listening to it. In many ways it is a compilation of his earlier podcasts...Bubonic Nukes, Judgment at Nineveh, Old School Toughness, Suffer the Children, Logical Insanity, and The Destroyer of Worlds. These are actually some of the chapter titles too. Some of these I didn't listen to when they came out, so it was new to me. I'm enjoying it, but some who have listened to the entire Hardcore History library may find it covers familiar ground.

The Audiobook is narrated by Dan and is very much just like episodes of his Podcast. Which is what I was looking for.

[Bigguy]

Not a recommendation, but a question. I'm reading a book for Kindle review "No Safe Place" *** Sigh ***
Not promising. One of the FBI agents responding to a school shooting identifies the weapon used by the shooters as an M4, based on a shell casing he picks up off the floor. *** Sigh ***
Let me point out that the author already has police in the build with AR-15s.

My question concerns protocol. The two agents come across "a maniac’s bloodbath." A wounded girl reaches out to them and asks for help.
From the book:
A ponytailed teenage girl reached out and weakly caught Erin’s ankle with her fingers. The front of her pink blouse was covered with a spreading red stain. “Please,” she whispered hoarsely between shallow, rasping breaths. “Help… me….”
"As much as instinct told Erin to linger and comfort the victims, protocol dictated that she wasn’t to stop moving until the shooter was no longer a threat."
She tells her "kindly" that help is on the was the way and they would come to her as soon as they can.

Any chance in hades that is really protocol? I want to be sure before I ding him stars for it.

[BehindBlueI's]

"As much as instinct told Erin to linger and comfort the victims, protocol dictated that she wasn’t to stop moving until the shooter was no longer a threat."
She tells her "kindly" that help is on the was the way and they would come to her as soon as they can.

Any chance in hades that is really protocol? I want to be sure before I ding him stars for it.

Yup, that's current best practice. If I stop to help one casualty, more casualties are being made. I'll tell you to self evacuate if you can and move on.

What's not best practice is stopping to look at shell casings, etc. Let alone disturb them.

[BehindBlueI's]

I finished the 5 book "Lightbringer" series yesterday. The whole series is very good. The last book is one of my favorite fiction books of all time. I love a good redemption story and so many characters have a chance at it. I feel like anything else I say would result in spoilers, so I'll leave it this: I loved the story, the writing style, the character development, the cohesive narrative, the quotable notions, just the whole thing. Highly recommended.

[Bigguy]

Yup, that's current best practice. If I stop to help one casualty, more casualties are being made. I'll tell you to self evacuate if you can and move on.

What's not best practice is stopping to look at shell casings, etc. Let alone disturb them.

Thanks. Glad I won't ding him for it.

[Coyotesfan97]

A ponytailed teenage girl reached out and weakly caught Erin’s ankle with her fingers. The front of her pink blouse was covered with a spreading red stain. “Please,” she whispered hoarsely between shallow, rasping breaths. “Help… me….”
"As much as instinct told Erin to linger and comfort the victims, protocol dictated that she wasn’t to stop moving until the shooter was no longer a threat."
She tells her "kindly" that help is on the was the way and they would come to her as soon as they can.

Any chance in hades that is really protocol? I want to be sure before I ding him stars for it.

Yes it is. It’s protocol as long as I can remember. But it’s not just victims it’s wounded Officers. For HRTs and Active shooters you don’t stop for wounded Officers. You continue to stop the threat. That’s why we all carry IFIAKs now.

It’s getting better for us as our Fire medics are training to enter warm zones with police cover to treat and evacuate the wounded. Walking wounded are told to exit the best they can.

It sounds bad but stopping just means more victims in the long run.

[Medusa]

I read this and found it a benign, competent palate cleanser after the two very heavy books on the Balkan Wars. Workmanlike military sci fi with above average ship battles.

44755

In honor of Veteran’s Day I grabbed Alone at Dawn on Audible. An excellent book, and despite my reading a lot of military history all my life, really the first I’ve read about post 9/11 conflicts. I’ll be reading more.

44756

I tried to listen to One Minute After, by William Forstchen, despite the introduction by Newt Gingrich. I had high hopes when I realized it was set near Asheville, Nc, but a few pages were all I could stand. Too many “could indeed,” “yes indeed,” “he had indeed” in a few pages told me the writing was not gonna do it.

Instead I listened to this Audible Original. It was decent for the price of free, and I learned a little bit.

44758

[JSGlock34]

In honor of Veteran’s Day I grabbed Alone at Dawn on Audible. An excellent book, and despite my reading a lot of military history all my life, really the first I’ve read about post 9/11 conflicts. I’ll be reading more.

Try Not a Good Day to Die (https://www.amazon.com/Not-Good-Day-Die-Operation-ebook/dp/B000Q360E6/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=not+a+good+day+to+die&qid=1573697445&sr=8-1)by Sean Naylor if you want to read more about Operation Anaconda.

[Stephanie B]

An old book for Foamers that I picked up at a yard sale:

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20191116/3793478f9d4623ccd2c251f61203a1e6.jpg

[Medusa]

I just finished this and really enjoyed it. Basically battalion level and up but with interesting vignettes and technical / doctrinal info about the TDs.

44902

[revchuck38]

^^^Going off on a tangent, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar wrote at least two military history books focused on black Americans' role in the military, one of which was about the 761st TD Bn. (The other I've read was about the 10th Cav Reg.). He graduated from UCLA with a degree in history, and apparently was one of those jocks who actually went to class and studied.

[blues]

^^^Going off on a tangent, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar wrote at least two military history books focused on black Americans' role in the military, one of which was about the 761st TD Bn. (The other I've read was about the 10th Cav Reg.). He graduated from UCLA with a degree in history, and apparently was one of those jocks who actually went to class and studied.

I can still remember his Power Memorial High days back in NYC when he was still known as Lew Alcindor. It was LeBron way before LeBron.

Too bad he never made anything of himself. ;)

[BehindBlueI's]

I finished "The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck" and will admit I picked it up mostly because the title was funny. I'd read some excerpts and knew what to expect, but again...mostly because of the title. It's a fun read and there's some interesting tidbits in there, but what you get out of it is mostly going to be based on where you're at now. It would have done me a lot more good to have had the info contained in the book some twenty years ago before I'd figured out a lot of this stuff the hard/stupid way. Still worth the read, though, and there were some fresh ways (to me) at looking at concepts that I agreed with but hadn't considered from the angles presented.

[Medusa]

I finished this today.

45190

I think if I’d read this when I first started studying Vietnam decades ago, I’d have a better impression of it. I want to give the author credit for doing first what later books like Matterhorn, or Sympathy with the Devil, have done far better, and far less self consciously. As it is, I think it’s a completist’s read, not an essential one on this war.

[Coyotesfan97]

45211

I’ve read Fields of Fire several times. It’s a great book. I also like A Sense of Honor which is set in the Naval Academy in 1967-68. From what I understand this is based on Webb’s time at the Academy. If you liked Fields of Fire I think you’d like this Butterfly.

[BehindBlueI's]

I read "The Looming Tower" since it came up in another thread awhile back. It's a decent book and provides a bird's eye view of the lengthy run up to 9/11. There's basically nothing on the hijackers themselves, but the decades of factors and personalities that put them in motion is the focus of the book. I was familiar with most of the information already, although some of the Egyptian history was new to me. The Saudi and Afghani portions didn't have any new revelations to me but it'd be an excellent place for a beginning.

The book also reminds me of what a complete fuck up Bill Clinton was and how badly he damaged this country. His blowjob at working distracting him from doing his job (along with the symbolism that had on the world stage), his cuts to the necessary defense apparatus of this nation, and his complete fucking ineptitude were instrumental in the success of terrorism under his watch. There's few people I legitimately hate in this world, and Bill is #1. I honestly can't think of a sole who's damaged this country more in my lifetime. If you'd like a reminder of what a fuck up he was, this is the book for you. Not that I'm bitter or anything. But fuck him.

The CIA is certainly made to look inept as well, and this has been a common theme I've encountered in other places. The FBI is depicted as being a significantly more effective institution. The author does give passing mention to the CIA being cut back to the point it's capacity for Human Intelligence was negligible in much of the world and that they were operating under some odd rules (Clinton again...) and their interpretation of those rules. I'm not in a position to know if the CIA had successes that aren't public because they are still classified or if they really were the hindrance they are portrayed as in this book and others.

Definitely a more specialized look, but https://www.amazon.com/Question-Torture-Interrogation-American-Project/dp/0805082484 is also a good comparison between the "FBI way" and the "CIA way", focusing on interrogation. CIA interrogation isn't mentioned in The Looming Tower, but the effectiveness of the FBI method is.

[blues]

^^^^Read it, (Looming Tower), thought much of it was good though some of it bogged down. I'll leave my opinions of various three letter agencies at the door based upon prior personal experience.

[BN]

I just finished the first 2 in "The Remaining" series. I have the next 2 on order at the public library. :)

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07F7NFKQG/?ie=UTF8&crid=2VB5HQHE0F9F8&keywords=the%20remaining%20dj%20molles%20series&qid=1574722631&ref_=sr_1_16&sprefix=The%20Remaining%20series%20D%20J%20Molles% 2Caps%2C-1&sr=8-16

My love of Post Apocalyptic Novels began years ago with "Alas Babylon" and "Malevil"

https://www.amazon.com/Alas-Babylon-Frank-HarryHart-ebook/dp/B07VZ9T5CP/ref=sr_1_2?crid=3TJ9MRWE6S7SV&keywords=alas+babylon+by+pat+frank&qid=1574722804&s=digital-text&sprefix=Alas+Bab%2Cdigital-text%2C2129&sr=1-2

https://www.amazon.com/Malevil/dp/B00TC32TMI/ref=sr_1_1?crid=V0CSVGMO25PJ&keywords=malevil&qid=1574722869&s=digital-text&sprefix=Malevil+%2Cdigital-text%2C631&sr=1-1

Every time I read one of these books I want to go buy more guns and ammo. ;)

[blues]

My love of Post Apocalyptic Novels began years ago with "Alas Babylon" and "Malevil"



That was required reading in junior high. I had the paperback up until relatively recently when I donated it to a library.

[BehindBlueI's]

I read Malcom Gladwell's "Outliers" and enjoyed it. It's a good companion to "Talent is Overrated" and goes beyond the 10,000 hours of practice to also examine the factors external to the individual that lead to incredible success. Cultural legacy, being born at the right time, having the right resources, etc. I enjoyed it enough I nearly finished it in a day.

[Medusa]

I listened to the abridged version of this book over the last day or two. It was referenced up thread. 45258

Not a lot of surprises here, except I’d never known there was explicit discussion in some government circles about strategies they knew and expected would lead to eventual US loss and withdrawal and a collapse of South Vietnam, ie what we got; they felt such an outcome could still be a “win.” Good book and I appreciate the recommendation.

[Stephanie B]

Allow me to go off on the other direction and say how much I've come to despise the works of John Le Carré. I picked up Absolute Friends and I'm finding it to be damn near unreadable. I keep wondering if a given chapter is ever going to get to the frigging point.

He must be paid by the word.

If I was back where I had private land to shoot on, I'd have used the damn book for target practice.

[blues]

Allow me to go off on the other direction and say how much I've come to despise the works of John Le Carré. I picked up Absolute Friends and I'm finding it to be damn near unreadable. I keep wondering if a given chapter is ever going to get to the frigging point.

He must be paid by the word.

If I was back where I had private land to shoot on, I'd have used the damn book for target practice.


That's how I feel about Stephen King.

[BehindBlueI's]

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00QPHNUFO/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?_encoding=UTF8&btkr=1

$2.00 a Day: Living on Almost Nothing in America

The book is essentially a series of looks into various kinds of poverty, urban vs rural, recently fell on hard times vs generations of poverty, etc. The common factor is every family in the book is surviving on less than $2/day per person in cash income from both legal and illegal sources. The researches spent years getting to know the families and have information that, while they realize is likely incomplete, is a more complete picture then anyone would tell a census worker or social worker. The book is sympathetic to the poor but does not gloss over bad decision making, vice, etc. It also paints Bill Clinton in a bad light, which I always enjoy. (I swear I'm not seeking out books that bash Clinton on purpose, I had no idea he'd be mentioned in this one...but it's always welcome because fuck that guy).

The book offers some solutions, although I think perhaps they are over optimistic with some of their plans. I'll not go into detail since that'll likely turn the book thread into a social safety net debate thread. I think many folks would be surprised at some of the solutions offered and how the current welfare system is viewed, though.

It's a tough book to say "enjoyed" but I found it interesting and worth the read.

[Drang]

I finished this today.

{Fields of Fire: A Novel - Kindle edition by James Webb. Literature & Fiction Kindle eBooks @ AmazonSmile. (https://smile.amazon.com/Fields-Fire-Novel-James-Webb-ebook/dp/B000SEFH74/ref=sr_1_1?crid=EVVPBOJERITU&keywords=fields+of+fire+james+webb&qid=1575092265&sprefix=fields+of+fire%2Caps%2C238&sr=8-1)}

I think if I’d read this when I first started studying Vietnam decades ago, I’d have a better impression of it. I want to give the author credit for doing first what later books like Matterhorn, or Sympathy with the Devil, have done far better, and far less self consciously. As it is, I think it’s a completist’s read, not an essential one on this war.

789952798515339264

[Drang]

Allow me to go off on the other direction and say how much I've come to despise the works of John Le Carre.


That's how I feel about Stephen King.

I am D.W. Drang, and I endorse both these opinions.

Similarly...

AmazonSmile: The Ghost Mountain Boys: Their Epic March and the Terrifying Battle for New Guinea--The Forgotten War of the South Pacific (9780307335975): James Campbell: Books (https://smile.amazon.com/Ghost-Mountain-Boys-Terrifying-Guinea/dp/0307335976/ref=sr_1_1?crid=349LPG67WVCQZ&keywords=ghost+mountain+boys&qid=1575092660&sprefix=ghost+mountain%2Caps%2C646&sr=8-1)

Book about an unknown/forgotten/ignored campaign in WWII, by a guy who clearly knows jack/shit about the military, and isn't afraid to let his ignorance get in the way of telling the story. I got a few chapters into it, and got so sick of the endless bashing of Military leadership for failing to predict that there would some day be a campaign in the jungles and mountains of Papua New Guinea and developing the appropriate tactics and techniques, and fielding the appropriate equipment for same, in advance...

...And, oh, by the way, the National Guard sucks, that bunch of politically-motivated cronies who just joined for the money...

...Anyway, the King County Library got it back early.

YMMV.

Joe in PNG

[blues]

Just started On Desperate Ground (https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1101971215/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i1) by Hampton Sides last night. It's the story of the battle of Chosin Reservoir during the Korean War.

I've read several books non-fiction books by Sides over the years and he doesn't disappoint. I expect no less from this volume.

[BehindBlueI's]

I'm starting Promise of Blood, the first book of the Powder Mage Trilogy. I don't really know much about it other then it popped up on my recommended and got a blurb of endorsement from Brandon Sanderson. It sounds like a gunpowder/sorcery take on sort of an immediately post-French Revolution society.


Civil unrest cripples the citizens of Adro in the aftermath of the revolution that obliterated the monarchy. Now, Field Marshal Tamas and his lieutenants must confront the true cost of freedom in book one of the Powder Mage Trilogy.
It's a bloody business overthrowing a king...
Field Marshal Tamas' coup against his king sent corrupt aristocrats to the guillotine and brought bread to the starving. But it also provoked war with the Nine Nations, internal attacks by royalist fanatics, and the greedy to scramble for money and power by Tamas's supposed allies: the Church, workers unions, and mercenary forces.

It's up to a few...
Stretched to his limit, Tamas is relying heavily on his few remaining powder mages, including the embittered Taniel, a brilliant marksman who also happens to be his estranged son, and Adamat, a retired police inspector whose loyalty is being tested by blackmail.


But when gods are involved...
Now, as attacks batter them from within and without, the credulous are whispering about omens of death and destruction. Just old peasant legends about the gods waking to walk the earth. No modern educated man believes that sort of thing. But they should... - Amazon summary

[Glenn E. Meyer]

Lethal Agent (A Mitch Rapp Novel Book 16)

Don't. A complete boring book with no fire. NO real feel for Mitch in a totally contrived situation and cliched plot. It's rare to find someone who takes over a character and works. The same thing happened Spenser. Parker was failing at the end and Ace Atkins took over. His books were just quip after quip about how tough Spenser and Hawk were with some offensive Native American character.

[NEPAKevin]

Lethal Agent (A Mitch Rapp Novel Book 16)

Don't. A complete boring book with no fire. NO real feel for Mitch in a totally contrived situation and cliched plot. It's rare to find someone who takes over a character and works.

FWIW, I did like the manner in which he retired the Stan Hurley and Louis Gould characters.

[Glenn E. Meyer]

Yeah, but now he lives with Loius' girlfriend, who helped kill his wife and kid. Don't think so.

[Stephanie B]

Just started On Desperate Ground (https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1101971215/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i1) by Hampton Sides last night. It's the story of the battle of Chosin Reservoir during the Korean War.

I've read several books non-fiction books by Sides over the years and he doesn't disappoint. I expect no less from this volume.

Just got it from the library.

[Joe in PNG]

I am D.W. Drang, and I endorse both these opinions.

Similarly...

AmazonSmile: The Ghost Mountain Boys: Their Epic March and the Terrifying Battle for New Guinea--The Forgotten War of the South Pacific (9780307335975): James Campbell: Books (https://smile.amazon.com/Ghost-Mountain-Boys-Terrifying-Guinea/dp/0307335976/ref=sr_1_1?crid=349LPG67WVCQZ&keywords=ghost+mountain+boys&qid=1575092660&sprefix=ghost+mountain%2Caps%2C646&sr=8-1)

Book about an unknown/forgotten/ignored campaign in WWII, by a guy who clearly knows jack/shit about the military, and isn't afraid to let his ignorance get in the way of telling the story. I got a few chapters into it, and got so sick of the endless bashing of Military leadership for failing to predict that there would some day be a campaign in the jungles and mountains of Papua New Guinea and developing the appropriate tactics and techniques, and fielding the appropriate equipment for same, in advance...

...And, oh, by the way, the National Guard sucks, that bunch of politically-motivated cronies who just joined for the money...

...Anyway, the King County Library got it back early.

YMMV.

Joe in PNG

I own the book, but couldn't get into it. Still, there was a LOT of FUBAR during the early days of the Pacific War- mainly because we were making it up as we went along.

[AZgunguy]

I’m starting to read John Sanford’s Storm Front book 7 (https://www.amazon.com/Storm-Front-Virgil-Flowers-Novel-ebook/dp/B00C5R7I9C/ref=as_li_ss_tl?keywords=john+sanford+virgil+flowe rs+storm+front&qid=1573129227&sr=8-1&linkCode=ll1&tag=ratio07-20&linkId=fe1b4d2b12690165c1fae4c668954061&language=en_US) of the Virgil Flowers series. Of course I had to reread the first six. That fucking Flowers!;)


I really like these books as well as Sanford's Lucas Davenport series.

[jeep45238]

Norwegian Wood: Chopping, Stacking, and Drying Wood the Scandinavian Way - Lars Mytting

https://www.amazon.com/Norwegian-Wood-Chopping-Stacking-Scandinavian/dp/1419717987/ref=sr_1_4?keywords=norweagian&qid=1575176373&sr=8-4-spell

A simple but enjoyable read on a simple and enjoyable topic. It has me wanting to buy some land and make a wood lot truth be told.




Violence of Mind: Training and Preparation for Extreme Violence - Varg Freeborn

https://www.amazon.com/Violence-Mind-Training-Preparation-Extreme/dp/057820200X/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=violence+of+mind&qid=1575176475&sr=8-1

A wonderful read with a completely different, and very applicable context.

[Medusa]

Since Clusterfrack said he didn't find reading the books to be inconsistent with enjoying the series on Prime, I fought my way to the top of the library waitlist to read this.

45571

3.8 stars. It punches above its intellectual weight, and has some pretty good character insight that makes me overlook some of the plot holes and deus ex stuff. In fact the series this first book made me think of most was Vandermeer's Southern Reach books - the "baddie" or central element is in many respects similar - but with a better fleshed out and realized everything. I understand the latter were written after this, but I read them before this book.

Holden kind of annoys me, but I'll keep reading.

[0ddl0t]

I read Malcom Gladwell's "Outliers" and enjoyed it. It's a good companion to "Talent is Overrated" and goes beyond the 10,000 hours of practice to also examine the factors external to the individual that lead to incredible success. Cultural legacy, being born at the right time, having the right resources, etc. I enjoyed it enough I nearly finished it in a day.

So nice to see a review from someone who understands that an outlier isn't just someone with 10,000 hours of practice, but someone who combines that with other rare/unique traits that may be outside their full control.

If you can get past his tendency toward anecdata, Gladwell's other books are usually pretty entertaining. For something peripherally related to PF's self defense/combat mindset, "David & Goliath" might be a good next read/listen:


https://youtu.be/PGYScLkl7M0?list=PLpKh7GoTpiYPtbRqW3ZyqZxJcwWcIvKK v

(When Gladwell narrates, I recommend changing the playback speed to at least 1.5x)

[peterb]

Just read “Storm Front”and “Fool Moon”, the first two books in the “Dresden Files” series by Jim Butcher. Hero is a modern-day wizard, style is hard-boiled detective. Entertaining if you just want to be entertained. First one is only $2.99 on Kindle.
https://www.amazon.com/Storm-Front-Dresden-Files-Book-ebook/dp/B000WH7PLS/ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=

[Bigghoss]

Just finished Shadow Warriors by Tom Clancy and Carl Steiner. It's basically a historical account of special forces. It's a long read but interesting if you're into that sort of thing.

[BehindBlueI's]

If you can get past his tendency toward anecdata, Gladwell's other books are usually pretty entertaining.

I've read Blink and have the David v Goliath on my wait list.

[BehindBlueI's]

Just read “Storm Front”and “Fool Moon”, the first two books in the “Dresden Files” series by Jim Butcher. Hero is a modern-day wizard, style is hard-boiled detective. Entertaining if you just want to be entertained. First one is only $2.99 on Kindle.
https://www.amazon.com/Storm-Front-Dresden-Files-Book-ebook/dp/B000WH7PLS/ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=

IMO, that series gets significantly better as it goes. I think book four is where they start to lose their formulaic approach and many of the side characters really start to bloom into interesting personalities with their own stories. If you like the Dresden Files, The Hollows series by Kim Harrison is similar but with a female protagonist.

[FNFAN]

If you like the Dresden Files, The Hollows series by Kim Harrison is similar but with a female protagonist.

Too Cool! I was basically trapped into the Hollows books by a GF who replaced any reading material in the bathroom with a Harrison book. I finished the series long after we'd gone our different ways. I always had a thing for Ivy!:rolleyes:

[BehindBlueI's]

Too Cool! I was basically trapped into the Hollows books by a GF who replaced any reading material in the bathroom with a Harrison book. I finished the series long after we'd gone our different ways. I always had a thing for Ivy!:rolleyes:

I think I've read the first six or seven, haven't picked it up in quite awhile.

[Coyotesfan97]

I just finished this and really enjoyed it. Basically battalion level and up but with interesting vignettes and technical / doctrinal info about the TDs.

44902

So I bought this book because I knew my Great Uncle Ronnie was in TDs in the ETO. Before I read the book I was given a box of papers by my parents to go through. I found his Silver Star award paperwork as well as the paperwork for his oak leaf cluster on his first Purple Heart. He was also awarded a Bronze Star but I haven’t found the paper for that or his first Purple Heart. He was a First Lieutenant which I hadn’t known before. There was also a pamphlet detailing the “Super Sixth” 6th Armored Division “From Brest to Bastogne”.

The best part was a letter he wrote to my Grandparents and my Dad on 4/25/45. It listed his unit in the return address. He was in Company B 603rd TD Battalion 6th Armor. This is information I never knew. I also have his service number now.

Anyways this is a long way of saying I enjoyed reading the book and thinking of my Great Uncle. Thanks RB!

[Medusa]

Just got it from the library.

Same.

[Glenn E. Meyer]

The Only Plane in the Sky: An Oral History of 9/11 by Graff

Chilling oral reminisces of those involved from the Twin Towers, Pennsylvania, military, air traffic, etc.

Whenever I see a politician, president, etc. go kissy face and/or excuse the latest excesses of the Saudis, it turns my stomach.

[BehindBlueI's]

I'm starting Promise of Blood, the first book of the Powder Mage Trilogy.

It's an entertaining read. Not great, but certainly passable. I'll pick up the second book after I read Karen Armstrong's A History of God.

[Glenn E. Meyer]

That's a really good book on the subject. My kid read it in college and I read her copy.

[Stephanie B]

Just started On Desperate Ground (https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1101971215/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i1) by Hampton Sides last night. It's the story of the battle of Chosin Reservoir during the Korean War.

One of my uncles was a two-war Marine (Pacific landings and Korea). He had a visceral dislike of MacArthur. The book gave me a better understanding of why that was so.

[blues]

One of my uncles was a two-war Marine (Pacific landings and Korea). He had a visceral dislike of MacArthur. The book gave me a better understanding of why that was so.

Everything I've ever read pretty much substantiates the same. Thankfully there were individuals of high character, integrity and possessing great initiative able to overcome his flaws.

[SeriousStudent]

One of my uncles was a two-war Marine (Pacific landings and Korea). He had a visceral dislike of MacArthur. The book gave me a better understanding of why that was so.

I have relatives who would have concurred with the opinions about McArthur. Both have passed on, but the word "visceral dislike" would have covered it nicely.

I remember a rare time when they discussed their time in the WWII Pacific. Both were combat Marines who survived multiple landings. One was called back for Korea, the other was too shot up. They rarely ask one-armed Marines back for a second war.

That was the first time I ever heard someone say "I hope he's doing cartwheels in Hell now."

I was a teenager sitting on the back porch at a Fourth of July BBQ, refilling Bourbon glasses. They admired the heck out of Nimitz, Bradley and a few others I cannot recall. They were not exactly effusive with praise for McArthur and Puller.

All of my uncles were either Infantry, Armor or Airborne in WWII or Korea. My father was a submariner in WWII in the Pacific. They were not shy or reticent people.

[Stephanie B]

I have relatives who would have concurred with the opinions about McArthur. Both have passed on, but the word "visceral dislike" would have covered it nicely.

I remember a rare time when they discussed their time in the WWII Pacific. Both were combat Marines who survived multiple landings. One was called back for Korea, the other was too shot up. They rarely ask one-armed Marines back for a second war.

That was the first time I ever heard someone say "I hope he's doing cartwheels in Hell now."

I was a teenager sitting on the back porch at a Fourth of July BBQ, refilling Bourbon glasses. They admired the heck out of Nimitz, Bradley and a few others I cannot recall. They were not exactly effusive with praise for McArthur and Puller.

All of my uncles were either Infantry, Armor or Airborne in WWII or Korea. My father was a submariner in WWII in the Pacific. They were not shy or reticent people.
One uncle was a motorcycle messenger in the ETO. He had a pellet pistol; it had a pump-piston that was on top of the barrel and it came out the front, so you could push against something. He could hit a thumbtack at ten yards. Dad was in tank destroyers and demining (longish story). Another uncle was in Pacific landings and Korea (he was offered a battlefield commission in the Pacific and refused, because they took all those back after WW1. He took the commission when offered in Korea). One uncle was so frail in health that when he was drafted, his mother said it was time to start learning German (the Army soon discharged him). One was doing something with Western Union and was classified as exempt.

A couple of my uncles died when I was a bit young to ask them what they did.

[SeriousStudent]

I do not know if the other branches do this, but the Marine Corps has an oral history program. I participated in it briefly as a photographer. The Corps sent me to a short photography school prior to a deployment, and I was occasionally tasked with shooting pictures for the interviews when we ran across former Marines overseas.

It was a very humbling thing to participate in the process. I listened to a Marine two-star Major General discuss how he landed on Okinawa as a Private, and was a Captain when the fight was over. He was also one of three Marines from his company considered still combat effective at that point. Not unwounded, but still able to fight.

He later was awarded the Medal of Honor in 1998.

I also got to chat with the LtGen who was the senior aviator in the Marine Corps and Department of the Navy for a bit. He flew over 200 missions off a carrier in Vietnam - over 50 of them with a crack lower vertebra after being shot down. The Corp and society was not very enlightened then, he was afraid of being booted out. He was the first black Marine aviator, and the first to join general officer ranks. He was a fierce but gracious man, a fascinating dichotomy.

I do wish the Corps would transcribe them, and publish those interviews as a book. Just from the ones I listened to, they would be a tremendous resource.

[luckyman]

One of my uncles was a two-war Marine (Pacific landings and Korea). He had a visceral dislike of MacArthur. The book gave me a better understanding of why that was so.

Yeah “visceral dislike” completely understates the depths of my dad’s (WW II, through the battle of the bulge) loathing of MacArthur and he wasn’t a Patton fan either.

[Medusa]

Read this and really enjoyed it. I’m reading these books in historical order, meaning the chronological order of Gus and Woodrow’s lives; so for me this is the second book of four. Lonesome Dove is next in the series.

45938

[SeriousStudent]

I loved Lonesome Dove. One of my favorite books, period.

[NEPAKevin]

The Ultimate Survival Medicine Guide: Emergency Preparedness for ANY Disaster Kindle Edition (https://smile.amazon.com/dp/B00PSSELYK/ref=s9_acsd_bw_wf_a_MDDLight_mdl?pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX 0DER&pf_rd_s=merchandised-search-14&pf_rd_r=0CYGDXJRP0RZ5BJJA2XR&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=ea7df6e8-9501-4226-b11f-4fcf20ccf7a0&pf_rd_i=6165845011)

Not exactly light reading, but as it's a limited time deal $1.99, might be a worth while resource to have available should there ever be a need.

[MK11]

Read this and really enjoyed it. I’m reading these books in historical order, meaning the chronological order of Gus and Woodrow’s lives; so for me this is the second book of four. Lonesome Dove is next in the series.

45938

Agree with the other comment on Lonesome Dove, it's one of the new classics. Enjoyed Comanche Moon as well, particularly the interactions of the Indians, who for once weren't presented as either mystic flower children or total savages.

"To his surprise he saw Old Slow Tree, sitting on a robe with Buffalo Hump. Slow Tree was talking, which was no surprise--Slow Tree was always talking. Buffalo Hump looked angry--no doubt the old chief had been making boring speeches to him for a long time. Slow Tree might have been bragging to Buffalo Hump about how many times he had been with his wives; he wanted everyone to believe that he was always at his women, bringing them great pleasure. Slow Tree had always been boastful, but he had once been a terrible fighter and had to be treated respectfully, even though he was old and boring."

[NickA]

The Lonesome Dove miniseries is almost as good as the book IMO. The casting is absolutely perfect, especially Robert Duvall as McRae.

"My main skills are talking and cooking biscuits.'And getting drunk on the porch"

"They don't know it, but the wrath of the Lord is about to descend upon them."

“I'm just tryin' to keep everything in balance, Woodrow. You do more work than you got to, so it's my obligation to do less.”

Sent from my Pixel 3 using Tapatalk

[blues]

The Lonesome Dove miniseries is almost as good as the book IMO. The casting is absolutely perfect, especially Robert Duvall as McRae.

Almost.

"We don't rent pigs!"

Uva Uvam Vivendo Varia Fit

[Medusa]

The Lonesome Dove miniseries is almost as good as the book IMO. The casting is absolutely perfect, especially Robert Duvall as McRae.

"My main skills are talking and cooking biscuits.'And getting drunk on the porch"

"They don't know it, but the wrath of the Lord is about to descend upon them."

“I'm just tryin' to keep everything in balance, Woodrow. You do more work than you got to, so it's my obligation to do less.”

Sent from my Pixel 3 using Tapatalk

I watched it many years ago, when it came out. I remember liking it but not much else about it. I think reading the book will be better and almost a clean slate save my knowledge of the backstory from the first two books.

[NickA]

Almost.

"We don't rent pigs!"

Uva Uvam Vivendo Varia Fit

So many great quotes and exchanges between Gus and Call.

Woodrow Call: You ever get tired o' loafin' I reckon you can get a job waitin' on tables.
Gus McCrae: Oh, I had a job waitin' tables once. S' on a riverboat. I wasn't no older than Newt, there, but I hadda give it up.
Newt: How come?
Gus McCrae: Well I was too young and pretty and the whores wouldn't let me alone.


I watched it many years ago, when it came out. I remember liking it but not much else about it. I think reading the book will be better and almost a clean slate save my knowledge of the backstory from the first two books.

Definitely read the book first or else you'll only be able to hear Duvall and Tommy Lee Jones 8n your head [emoji16] But rewatch it if you have time, it really is a great companion piece.

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[NEPAKevin]

Definitely read the book first or else you'll only be able to hear Duvall and Tommy Lee Jones in your head [emoji16] But rewatch it if you have time, it really is a great companion piece.

Sent from my Pixel 3 using Tapatalk

I got that just reading the last couple of posts. FWIW, my favorite line was from TLJ: “I hate rude behavior in a man. I won’t tolerate it.”


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wLAY15lB4I4

[BehindBlueI's]

The whole Lonesome Dove series, both books and mini-series, is excellent. I've always enjoyed the surly bartender scene.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OLNshIY2W-Y

I won't spoil anything and mention specifics, but I also appreciate the characters who decide to check out on their own terms instead of submitting to the whims of fate.

[blues]

After having read "Lonesome Dove" a couple times, I went back and read all of the series in the order they would have taken place had they been written that way. There are worse ways to spend one's time.

[Bigghoss]

I just finished Six Years in Hell by Jay R. Jensen. The author recounts his time as a POW in north Vietnam. Short but interesting.

[Medusa]

Like several others here, I just finished this book. It was outstanding.

46081

My father was in Korea at this time, in the 8th Army, 2d ID, 23rd RCT, 72d Tank Battalion. He fought from approximately July 1950 (among the first to be sent; he was 20) to August 1951, fought in the Pusan Perimeter and numerous other major battles in the maneuver portions of the War. His view of MacArthur was dim in the extreme, mad he always felt it was MacArthur’s arrogance that nearly got him killed and so many of his friends killed. He spoke of the Chinese bugles, the human wave attacks, of sweeping their tank Mgs like firehoses and killing wave after wave but still seeing them coming. These memories could make him cry, tough as he was. He was an extraordinary man, a product of the depression and raised by a working mother, so traditional and yet so ahead of his time in having no patience for racism, homophobia, and other stuff one sees so commonly even today - he didn’t talk about it, he showed it in the workplace he ran. That’s how my sister and I learned, because he lived it. I really miss him.

If you’re interested in Korean War history, and some of the events of the Chinese intervention in November 1950 affecting his unit among others, read “The River and the Gauntlet” by SLA Marshall.

46082

[Coyotesfan97]

RB have you ever read Unit Pride? It’s a novel set in the Korean War. I think you’d like it.


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[BobM]

The whole Lonesome Dove series, both books and mini-series, is excellent. I've always enjoyed the surly bartender scene.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OLNshIY2W-Y

I won't spoil anything and mention specifics, but I also appreciate the characters who decide to check out on their own terms instead of submitting to the whims of fate.

That's my favorite scene, probably followed by Gus shooting the Indian at long range when they had him pinned down on the prairie.

[Medusa]

RB have you ever read Unit Pride? It’s a novel set in the Korean War. I think you’d like it.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I’ll see if I can find it in the library.

[Stephanie B]

Like several others here, I just finished this book. It was outstanding.

46081

If you’re interested in Korean War history, and some of the events of the Chinese intervention in November 1950 affecting his unit among others, read “The River and the Gauntlet” by SLA Marshall.

46082

I just picked up Breakout, by Martin Russ, which was favorably mentioned in Desperate Ground

[Stephanie B]

If you want to read something old, try The Newgate Calendar (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/search/?query=newgate+calendar), an accounting of various crimes and trials from a few centuries back. The link will take you to the download page for Project Gutenberg,

[peterb]

It's time to reread my traditional Christmas books: Terry Pratchett's Hogfather and Frederick Forsyth's The Shepherd

Christmas eve we'll turn the lights low and listen to the audiobook of Patrick Stewart reading A Christmas Carol

[blues]

Just finished Kent Anderson's "Sympathy for the Devil" and realized part way through that I'd read it previously. Not being a quitter, I finished this morning.

Wonder if the same will be the case when I begin "Night Dogs" later today.

[HCM]

Like several others here, I just finished this book. It was outstanding.

46081

My father was in Korea at this time, in the 8th Army, 2d ID, 23rd RCT, 72d Tank Battalion. He fought from approximately July 1950 (among the first to be sent; he was 20) to August 1951, fought in the Pusan Perimeter and numerous other major battles in the maneuver portions of the War. His view of MacArthur was dim in the extreme, mad he always felt it was MacArthur’s arrogance that nearly got him killed and so many of his friends killed. He spoke of the Chinese bugles, the human wave attacks, of sweeping their tank Mgs like firehoses and killing wave after wave but still seeing them coming. These memories could make him cry, tough as he was. He was an extraordinary man, a product of the depression and raised by a working mother, so traditional and yet so ahead of his time in having no patience for racism, homophobia, and other stuff one sees so commonly even today - he didn’t talk about it, he showed it in the workplace he ran. That’s how my sister and I learned, because he lived it. I really miss him.

If you’re interested in Korean War history, and some of the events of the Chinese intervention in November 1950 affecting his unit among others, read “The River and the Gauntlet” by SLA Marshall.

46082

Jocks Willink has covered some excellent forts person accounts of combat in Korea.


https://youtu.be/erAqhsytrgI


https://youtu.be/mXqRnDB5rI8


https://youtu.be/by8yqWVWkfI


https://youtu.be/_K9ICXapatg

[Medusa]

I’ll try and check those out. Thanks.

[BehindBlueI's]

...after I read Karen Armstrong's A History of God.

Not a light read and it gave me a literal headache a time or two as I fussed with the foreign terms and archaic spellings. (side note, why do we not translate things into modern language for books like this? Just because some poet wrote "fyre" in his time doesn't mean we can't go ahead and write it as "fire" today without losing any of the meaning or "flavor". I dislike archaic or exotic that has no purpose other than displaying the fact it's archaic or exotic)

I can't say I enjoyed it, but I learned from it. One challenge with this sort of book is knowing your audience. How much do they already know and how deep down any given rabbit hole do they wish to plunge? For my personal tastes, there was too much repetition and too much naming of names. I'm not going to remember the names of hundreds of scholars over the years, but some might find that information of value and interest. I could have done with "some scholars suggested...while others believed..." without the catalog of names attached. Footnotes or the like for those who want to know a given person to research further would have made the book more reader friendly, IMO. I also get that the theme of repetition and new people independently discovering the same thing as some other guy hundreds of years earlier had, but we've already talked about the hundred years earlier guy so I didn't feel we needed as much recapping.

I've read several of the author's other books written both before and after this one. I found her style in the others to flow better and be a more enjoyable read without losing anything. This one almost seemed like it was going for a certain page count and filler was required.

All that said, I wish this book or something like it would have been available to me in my formative years. The information is well worth the sometimes-slog of a read.

[BehindBlueI's]

Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis

In 5 hours I'd read over half of "Hillbilly Elegy" and finished it in the next sitting. A good friend of mine recommended the book to me some time ago and told me it's like reading your own biography for "guys like us". He was right, to a greater or lesser degree. My hillbilly childhood wasn't as violent as the author's, not violence free mind you but not as violent, but so much of the book is exactly my experiences. Even the names are often the same. Scotch-Irish hillbillies from eastern Kentucky and West Virginia, some of the family leaves to Ohio and Indiana to chase jobs, grandparents raising the kids, moving house to house but only one real "home" that you sometimes go years without seeing, the family matriarch Mamaw, the downward trajectory that gets reversed but could soooo easily have not been, alcohol abuse before having a driver's license, a literal and anti-science but oddly secular religious experience that ultimately drives you away, the death of the patriach Papaw splintering the family, the questions of if step-siblings are still real siblings after divorces, etc, etc. etc.

If you are an Appalachia hillbilly, or a first/second generation removed, you'll probably see yourself in at least parts of this book. If you aren't, you'll see part of what makes us so damned...us. Why we'll laugh at the concept of "white privilege" and how the great Democrat -> Republican switch happened so quickly when the jobs dried up. Why economic and social mobility matter, and why a combination of self-deception, laziness, lack of opportunity, and plenty of opportunity for drug use is gutting so much of Appalachia.

[blues]

I tried to read the book, BBI, but something about the author, his style, whatever, put me off. It's not the people. The people I get. The problems, I get.
Something about him in particular. Too bad...

[BehindBlueI's]

I tried to read the book, BBI, but something about the author, his style, whatever, put me off. It's not the people. The people I get. The problems, I get.
Something about him in particular. Too bad...

That surprises me. Maybe because the author and I had such a similar experience I'm overlooking whatever flaws there were but I flew through the book. I'd have finished it in one sitting if I hadn't needed to go to sleep.

[Stephanie B]

Close Quarters by Larry Heinemann. It’s fiction about a soldier named Phillip Dozier in a mechanized platoon with M113 ACAVs. It’s one of my favorite Vietnam novels..

Larry Heinemann died earlier this month (https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/17/books/larry-heinemann-dead.html). My local bird-cage liner ran the obit this morning.

[Coyotesfan97]

Larry Heinemann died earlier this month (https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/17/books/larry-heinemann-dead.html). My local bird-cage liner ran the obit this morning.

Well that’s unexpected bad news. To paraphrase the last line of Close Quarters when Dozier is standing at Quinn’s grave, Goddamn you Heinemann.

RIP sir. It’s a little dusty this morning. :(

[NickA]

Not a recommendation, but has anyone else seen or tried out the "Great on Kindle" feature? I ran across it last night accidentally. If you buy a Great on Kindle designated book for say 12.99, you get a hefty credit (like 9.99) towards your next Great on Kindle.
The selection seems pretty good. I flipped through the history and biography titles and saw 8-10 books that I would read. There were at least 200 titles available.

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[Glenn E. Meyer]

Robert B. Parker's The Bitterest Pill (A Jesse Stone Novel Book 18)
by Reed Farrel Coleman

Read it in two days, from the library. It is a very dark book focusing on terrible substance abuse in high school and Jesse's problems with alcohol. This annoyed some the Parker fans who liked his lighter touch. However, I found it a good read, esp. for free. True taxes support the library and I did buy two chocolate bars to support them.

It's a good read. Much better than the Atkins Spenser books, IMHO. I found the last Parker books and the Atkins books almost unreadable. Spenser and Hawk became cartoons.

[Stephanie B]

Robert B. Parker's The Bitterest Pill (A Jesse Stone Novel Book 18)
by Reed Farrel Coleman

Read it in two days, from the library. It is a very dark book focusing on terrible substance abuse in high school and Jesse's problems with alcohol. This annoyed some the Parker fans who liked his lighter touch. However, I found it a good read, esp. for free. True taxes support the library and I did buy two chocolate bars to support them.

It's a good read. Much better than the Atkins Spenser books, IMHO. I found the last Parker books and the Atkins books almost unreadable. Spenser and Hawk became cartoons.

Concur. A few of the Stone books post Parker have been meh, but most have been good. I read the first two Atkins books, they sucked. Mike Lupica has picked up the Sunny Randall series; it is about as bad or worse than Parker's book. The differences between Sunny and Parker are Sex, size, Sunny sometimes cries, and Sunny has a hobby. The characters are not that much different. For Sunny, the books ring hollow.

[Medusa]

I just finished this book. I wanted to learn more about this period of American history. It was even sadder than I expected. This is an excellent, well researched and footnoted book, and a hard one.

46530


This passage, near the end of the book, could as well serve as the introduction, or a summary of what is explained in scholarly and painstaking detail.

46531

I was struck by many things as I read this book, but one connection I hadn’t expected was the similarity between the notion that the Indians had no right to maintain their lifestyles where those lifestyles took “too much space” and dominated “too much” land for which newcomers had other uses, and the legal doctrines supporting such things as people moving near a racetrack or shooting range, knowing it was there, and closing it anyway because the “nuisance” blocked other and “better” uses of the land.

[BehindBlueI's]

I'm about half way through with Call Sign Chaos: Learning to Lead https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07SBRFVNH/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?_encoding=UTF8&btkr=1

General Mattis (with co-author) gives a brief biography prior to the military then, allegedly, talks about leadership. If that's the only part you care about, I can save you some time. The entirety of the message of the first half of the book is: Train your people well, practice until you can't get it wrong, then get out of their way. Let decision making occur at the lowest possible level that is competent to do so. Reward initiative based on following your vision, not on outcome beyond their control.

I'm currently up to the stall in the fighting at Fallujah. There is plenty of "I told them so" and "If they would only have listened" in the book. I find this pretty common among books by military leadership. I don't know who's correct and what, if any, unforeseen circumstances would have followed his 'correct' actions. I do feel his frustration of being ordered to do X then, once committed to X, being told X is now counter to the mission and do Y instead. I get the frustration with 'leadership' that isn't at the scene and has no real feel for the situation on the ground countermanding your orders because they think their telescope view is the entirety of the situation.

So far I've found the book rather mediocre. I think the celebrity of the author is probably the leading cause of it's best seller status. Maybe the second half will turn it around, but at this point it's not a "recommend" from me.

[pyrotechnic]

I'm about half way through with Call Sign Chaos: Learning to Lead https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07SBRFVNH/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?_encoding=UTF8&btkr=1

General Mattis (with co-author) gives a brief biography prior to the military then, allegedly, talks about leadership. If that's the only part you care about, I can save you some time. The entirety of the message of the first half of the book is: Train your people well, practice until you can't get it wrong, then get out of their way. Let decision making occur at the lowest possible level that is competent to do so. Reward initiative based on following your vision, not on outcome beyond their control.

I'm currently up to the stall in the fighting at Fallujah. There is plenty of "I told them so" and "If they would only have listened" in the book. I find this pretty common among books by military leadership. I don't know who's correct and what, if any, unforeseen circumstances would have followed his 'correct' actions. I do feel his frustration of being ordered to do X then, once committed to X, being told X is now counter to the mission and do Y instead. I get the frustration with 'leadership' that isn't at the scene and has no real feel for the situation on the ground countermanding your orders because they think their telescope view is the entirety of the situation.

So far I've found the book rather mediocre. I think the celebrity of the author is probably the leading cause of it's best seller status. Maybe the second half will turn it around, but at this point it's not a "recommend" from me.I can't say you're wrong, but I thoroughly enjoyed the read. I have read little about the bigger picture stuff in the GWOT (embarrassing considering how much of my adult life I've spent on it) though, so quite a bit of the information was either new or from a new perspective.

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[Joe S]

Finished the book We Few by Nick Brokhausen, his tale of part of his time in MACV-SOG. Funny, exciting, and harrowing. I knew about SOG and what they did, but had never read a first person account. I'm now reading all I can about them.

[Coyotesfan97]

Finished the book We Few by Nick Brokhausen, his tale of part of his time in MACV-SOG. Funny, exciting, and harrowing. I knew about SOG and what they did, but had never read a first person account. I'm now reading all I can about them.

I think you’d like Reflections of a Warrior by Franklyn Miller. It’s about his six years in Vietnam. Three were with MACV-SOG. He was awarded the Medal of Honor for one of his missions. It’s a great book.

[BehindBlueI's]

I'm about half way through with Call Sign Chaos: Learning to Lead https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07SBRFVNH/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?_encoding=UTF8&btkr=1

General Mattis (with co-author) gives a brief biography prior to the military then, allegedly, talks about leadership. If that's the only part you care about, I can save you some time. The entirety of the message of the first half of the book is: Train your people well, practice until you can't get it wrong, then get out of their way. Let decision making occur at the lowest possible level that is competent to do so. Reward initiative based on following your vision, not on outcome beyond their control.

I'm currently up to the stall in the fighting at Fallujah. There is plenty of "I told them so" and "If they would only have listened" in the book. I find this pretty common among books by military leadership. I don't know who's correct and what, if any, unforeseen circumstances would have followed his 'correct' actions. I do feel his frustration of being ordered to do X then, once committed to X, being told X is now counter to the mission and do Y instead. I get the frustration with 'leadership' that isn't at the scene and has no real feel for the situation on the ground countermanding your orders because they think their telescope view is the entirety of the situation.

So far I've found the book rather mediocre. I think the celebrity of the author is probably the leading cause of it's best seller status. Maybe the second half will turn it around, but at this point it's not a "recommend" from me.

Done. If you want a high altitude view of Mattis' career and his take on the GWOT, it's an interesting book, although other then the fact the Iranian gov't approved an attack on US soil and Obama stayed quiet about it there wasn't anything new to me personally. As a leadership book, there's nothing to add other then my synopsis already given. It's not a bad book (though certainly not a great one, either) but it wasn't really what I thought I was getting. I was looking more for a leadership development book then a memoir.

[Glenn E. Meyer]

The New Girl - Daniel Silva

A Gabriel Allon book. I usually love the series. The book is a good read but the major plot focus is a little too stretched. As Silva mentions the book was based on MBS becoming a 'good' guy which went to hell with the killing of Khashhoggi. Got the feeling it was rushed to make a deadline. Who knows?

It is worth the read, though.

As a general comment, current events can screw up a series. The other example is Lucas Davenport. The series looked like he was going to work for a President Hillary like person. Then she lost and Lucas became a Federal marshall. While not a knock on that service, it doesn't fit Lucas. He should go back to being a cop in MN.

[blues]

The New Girl - Daniel Silva

A Gabriel Allon book. I usually love the series. The book is a good read but the major plot focus is a little too stretched. As Silva mentions the book was based on MBS becoming a 'good' guy which went to hell with the killing of Khashhoggi. Got the feeling it was rushed to make a deadline. Who knows?

It is worth the read, though.

As a general comment, current events can screw up a series. The other example is Lucas Davenport. The series looked like he was going to work for a President Hillary like person. Then she lost and Lucas became a Federal marshall. While not a knock on that service, it doesn't fit Lucas. He should go back to being a cop in MN.

I like the way that Silva throws a quiet nod to Michael Connelly and vice versa in the Allon and Bosch series'. Always brings a smile when I run across one buried in the text. Nice that they have a little fun with it.

[NEPAKevin]

I started reading The Terminal List (https://smile.amazon.com/Terminal-List-Thriller-Jack-Carr-ebook/dp/B074ZL7LY1/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=the+terminal+list&qid=1561655701&s=digital-text&sr=1-1) by Jack Carr and so far am liking it. Similar to Vince Flynn, Brad Thor type thrillers but darker.

Amazon has Carr's Terminal List (https://smile.amazon.com/Terminal-List-Thriller-Jack-Carr-ebook/dp/B074ZL7LY1/ref=lp_6165851011_1_3?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1577989221&sr=1-3) on their Kindle daily deals.

[JAD]

I was looking more for a leadership development book then a memoir.

I got an awful lot out of Rudy Giuliani's Leadership​.

[JAD]

Finished the book We Few by Nick Brokhausen, his tale of part of his time in MACV-SOG. Funny, exciting, and harrowing. I knew about SOG and what they did, but had never read a first person account. I'm now reading all I can about them.

It's been almost 20 years since I read it, but I really enjoyed Plaster's Secret Commandos. I don't know what I don't know about the military and that war, though, so grain of salt.

[BehindBlueI's]

I got an awful lot out of Rudy Giuliani's Leadership​.

Thanks, I'll take a look.

[Medusa]

Finished this today, and read it while also watching The Pacific miniseries, which has many of these characters and stories. A worthy read, obviously. The last chapter was a bit schmaltzy, but overall, a good book.

46741

[BehindBlueI's]

I finished the second book of the Powder Mage trilogy. I found it better than the first, although there were a couple instances where I had to just give a "come the fuck on" at some overused plot device. I'll see it through with the third and final book, and it *is* an enjoyable light read despite the few bobbles here and there.

[pyrotechnic]

Malazan Book of the Fallen, it's been a while since I've read them, but I highly recommend. I've seen quite a few fantasy books mentioned here. (Currently reading and enjoying the Lightbringer series).

Put your reading pants on if you decide to tackle Malazan, it's 10 long books with a lot of main characters. It can be hard to start as the author doesn't really throw you any bones so you'll definitely spend alot of the firs book trying to understand what is going in. Then it shifts to different main characters for the 2nd and again for the 3rd before coming back to familiar faces. Highly recommend it though, favorite fantasy series I've read.

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[GearFondler]

Malazan Book of the Fallen, it's been a while since I've read them, but I highly recommend. I've seen quite a few fantasy books mentioned here. (Currently reading and enjoying the Lightbringer series).

Put your reading pants on if you decide to tackle Malazan, it's 10 long books with a lot of main characters. It can be hard to start as the author doesn't really throw you any bones so you'll definitely spend alot of the firs book trying to understand what is going in. Then it shifts to different main characters for the 2nd and again for the 3rd before coming back to familiar faces. Highly recommend it though, favorite fantasy series I've read.

Sent from my SM-G950U1 using TapatalkTotally agree with everything you said... Takes some real effort but so totally worth it.

[BehindBlueI's]

https://www.amazon.com/Love-Thy-Neighbor-Doctors-Struggle/dp/0525577203/

Love Thy Neighbor: A Muslim Doctor's Struggle for Home in Rural America

I'm relatively certain most here will take issue with his politics. He's virulently anti-Trump and pro-Hillary. I think many Trump supporters gloss over his impact with his early talks on things like a Muslim registry, but I remember the fear from the Muslim community pretty vividly. I personally don't find that a reason to embrace Hillary, but I'm not nearly as liberal as the author is. Even if you disagree with him on literally everything, I think it's a good look at *why* he believes what he believes. If you can't stand criticism of Trump you'll likely find the first half of the book tough to get through. It does get better, though, and I thing it does show the ebb and flow of the author's anger.

The author chucks in mentions of his side business for weight loss A LOT. Like I get it, you've mentioned your weight loss business. Fat people who are interested are now aware. Stop freaking shoe-horning it in. Tell the story. I found it a bit annoying in an otherwise well presented book.

I certainly don't agree with all the author's politics or conclusions, although I largely concur with his view of Islam and what it means to be Muslim. I think it's an interesting, perhaps even an important, read in the face of the continuing divisiveness in this nation.

I had already decided to read some atheist material as my next book. Atheism: The Case Against God is, I think, available at the moment. This is not in response to the above book, mind you, just a conscious decision to try and read more material I suspect I won't agree with. I mean, perhaps I'll "de-convert" but I suspect I won't.

[Medusa]

If you want to read something a bit more rigorous, J L Mackie’s The Miracle of Theism remains, old as it is, a better read imo.

[dogcaller]

I recently finished Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett. Really enjoyed the book, and was intrigued by the rendering of medieval life--a period I have never really read much about since grade school. Would love to hear your recommendations for a period novel/historical fiction/compelling non-fiction which elucidates more about this period. Am not --at all-- interested in fantasy/dragons/etc.

Also, for what it's worth--I recently finished Norco '80, which detailed perhaps the most infamous modern bank robbery (though the N. Hollywood shoutout may be better remembered). I grew up near there so there is definitely some accurate and interesting local color. the story is pretty compelling and complete, even though the author was not careful with the gun stuff.

I'm currently listening to Samurai! on Audible, which is the story of one of the top Japanese aces in WW2. Very interesting story, but the narrator is HORRIBLE--by far the worst I have encountered. If the story was fictional or less interesting I would have given up. Did I mention--he's horrible?! Also interested in your recommendations for fighter pilot memoirs, heavy on the fighter pilot. I recently read Pappy Boyingtons's memoir which was interesting, but relatively short on the dogfighting specifics. Also, if you haven't (re)read To Kill a Mockingbird recently, do it.

[SeriousStudent]

The German Aces Speak, volumes I and II.

Adolf Galland's memoir is also good.

Chuck Yeager's book is excellent.

[dogcaller]

Try Not a Good Day to Die (https://www.amazon.com/Not-Good-Day-Die-Operation-ebook/dp/B000Q360E6/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=not+a+good+day+to+die&qid=1573697445&sr=8-1)by Sean Naylor if you want to read more about Operation Anaconda.

That's a good one, for sure.

[Joe in PNG]

I recently finished Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett. Really enjoyed the book, and was intrigued by the rendering of medieval life--a period I have never really read much about since grade school. Would love to hear your recommendations for a period novel/historical fiction/compelling non-fiction which elucidates more about this period. Am not --at all-- interested in fantasy/dragons/etc.


Barbara Tuchman's "A Distant Mirror" (https://www.amazon.com/Distant-Mirror-Calamitous-14th-Century-ebook/dp/B004R1Q296/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1K330CZ6XKPYT&keywords=a+distant+mirror+the+calamitous+14th+cent ury&qid=1578284462&sprefix=a+distant+mi%2Caps%2C399&sr=8-1) is pretty interesting history of the 14th century, if a bit dated.

[dogcaller]

I listened to the abridged version of this book over the last day or two. It was referenced up thread. 45258

Not a lot of surprises here, except I’d never known there was explicit discussion in some government circles about strategies they knew and expected would lead to eventual US loss and withdrawal and a collapse of South Vietnam, ie what we got; they felt such an outcome could still be a “win.” Good book and I appreciate the recommendation.

I remember reading about Mcmaster as a stud armor officer at the battle of 73 Easting after the Persian Gulf War. For some reason, his name stuck in my mind and I purchased (but did not read) Dereliction of Duty many years later. Fast forward to the era of Audible.com and I recently read/listened to it. it was pretty much what I expected, and I worry that Trump can't keep quality folks in his cabinet or national security staff...

[Medusa]

The German Aces Speak, volumes I and II.

Adolf Galland's memoir is also good.

Chuck Yeager's book is excellent.

Heinz Knoke’s “I Flew for the Fuhrer” is a decent read. Not a fighter pilot except at the end, but Hans Ulrich Rudel was an astounding pilot and Stuka Pilot is an extremely memorable read.

Fly for your Life, about British Spitfire pilot Robert Stanford Tuck, is also good.

Horrido! By Toliver and Constable is another good book about ww2 German aces.

Almost forgot, I loved the movie The Blue Max, set among German WWI fighter pilots (yes, WWI) and only read the novel it was based on a few years ago. Really enjoyed it.

[314159]

A different take on "Stuka Pilot".

Recently read it with a view to learning a bit about close air support on the Eastern front. I have a vague memory about Rudel being consulted way back when on the A-10 when it was new, no idea where I heard that though.

The ONLY tactical tip I can recall from the entire book was Rudel scoffing at the belief that you needed speed for a close support aircraft (while berating his USAAF captors in a heroic manner). By that time he had been flying the FW-190 and not the Stuka. The bulk of the book is an awful lot of "I did this and I did thats" with a good bit of "and I told him" thrown in.

The weasel was an unrepentant Nazi to the end. If I were to believe him it just wasn't fair that the Russians had so much stuff from the West, the Rumanians were the reason they lost at Stalingrad, and what they did to the Jews was the moral equivalent to Britain's and America's bombing campaign. His combat claims are frankly unbelievable. Nobody, even the Nazi superman he claimed to be, could have done what he claimed. The "battleship" he sank was built in 1912 (!) and was returned to service and scrapped post war. Consider the over-claiming we see in the rigorous system we and the Brits had. Remember that the Germans were in near constant retreat when he was doing his best work and did not have access to the battlefields to check out the damage claims of anybody. Sometime in 1943 the Luftwaffe quit even trying to have a realistic system of claim confirmation and accepted what Staffel commanders reported. Guess who was the CO here.

TL;DR version. He was an egotistical weasel that claimed a lot. A not uncommon personality type in combat aviation but my apologies to weasels.
ps. I loved The Blue Max too.

[Medusa]

Yes, he was unrepentant. I’m not good with that. I find a similar problem reading many Wehrmacht fighter memoirs, and I have read a fair number.

But I first read the book when i was maybe 8 or 9, and what really struck me then was his tenacity and endurance in the face of hardship and injury. His aphorism , “only he is lost who gives himself up for lost” has always stayed with me when I needed it.

Other good fighter pilot books, this time from Vietnam. Bury Us Upside Down, about the Misty fast FACs in Vietnam flying f-100s; Thud Ridge and Going Downtown by Jack Broughton, and When Thunder Rolled and Palace Cobra by Ed Rasimus.






A different take on "Stuka Pilot".

Recently read it with a view to learning a bit about close air support on the Eastern front. I have a vague memory about Rudel being consulted way back when on the A-10 when it was new, no idea where I heard that though.

The ONLY tactical tip I can recall from the entire book was Rudel scoffing at the belief that you needed speed for a close support aircraft (while berating his USAAF captors in a heroic manner). By that time he had been flying the FW-190 and not the Stuka. The bulk of the book is an awful lot of "I did this and I did thats" with a good bit of "and I told him" thrown in.

The weasel was an unrepentant Nazi to the end. If I were to believe him it just wasn't fair that the Russians had so much stuff from the West, the Rumanians were the reason they lost at Stalingrad, and what they did to the Jews was the moral equivalent to Britain's and America's bombing campaign. His combat claims are frankly unbelievable. Nobody, even the Nazi superman he claimed to be, could have done what he claimed. The "battleship" he sank was built in 1912 (!) and was returned to service and scrapped post war. Consider the over-claiming we see in the rigorous system we and the Brits had. Remember that the Germans were in near constant retreat when he was doing his best work and did not have access to the battlefields to check out the damage claims of anybody. Sometime in 1943 the Luftwaffe quit even trying to have a realistic system of claim confirmation and accepted what Staffel commanders reported. Guess who was the CO here.

TL;DR version. He was an egotistical weasel that claimed a lot. A not uncommon personality type in combat aviation but my apologies to weasels.
ps. I loved The Blue Max too.

[SeriousStudent]

And let us not forget USAF Brigadier General Robin Olds, who was a 24-carat solid gold stud.

I have a couple of books about him. He'd be 98 this year. Can you imagine him being handed the reins of the US Space Force, and told "Go to work"?

Much, much respect.

[Medusa]

And let us not forget USAF Brigadier General Robin Olds, who was a 24-carat solid gold stud.

I have a couple of books about him. He'd be 98 this year. Can you imagine him being handed the reins of the US Space Force, and told "Go to work"?

Much, much respect.

Yeah, I enjoyed his book, for the most part. He was an amazing combat pilot.

[Glenn E. Meyer]

A Dangerous Man - Crais, a Cole and Pike book.

Harmless, brainless read. Pike saves a woman. He is still psychologically damaged as are lots of these types (Reacher, for example). He started as the side kick but now is equal to Cole as a main character.

One interesting thing that while he is a big tough guy, he still carries a wheel gun of big boom awesome qualities. However, he does run out in a fight and has to speed load and then runs out again. Oops. You would think a highly trained dude would move on to a higher capacity something like a Glock 17, unless he couldn't shoot it because of the grip angle.

He's kind of like Spenser's Hawk - damaged, great fighter, carries a show off wheel gun. Not a big mouth like Hawk though.

All in all, if you are retired and got it out of the library, it's ok.

[Coyotesfan97]

Yeah, I enjoyed his book, for the most part. He was an amazing combat pilot.

I read Fighter Pilot after a recommendation by a friend. It’s a great read.

I really liked A Lonely Kind of War: Forward Air Controller, Vietnam by Marshall Harrison.

I highly recommend Mark Berent’s Wings of War series (5 novels) set in Vietnam and Washington.

[blues]

Coyotesfan97

Finished the Hanson trilogy last night. Very worthwhile read. (I definitely had read the first, may have read the second previously...but definitely not the third.)

Good stuff and recommended.

[Medusa]

Just finished this book, and valued it for the insights into Custer and some of his fellow officers. I wouldn’t call it a top flight military history, but it’s a worthwhile study. I also think this book ended up highlighting how thorough and comprehensive the Cozzens book I mentioned above is.

47005

[BehindBlueI's]

Atheist Manifesto: The Case Against Christianity, Judaism, and Islam https://www.amazon.com/Atheist-Manifesto-Against-Christianity-Judaism-ebook/dp/B0052ZO7BQ/

If you'd like to know how a communist attacks the concept of religion (Abrahamic religion only, mind you) and would like a well written book, this is actually worth the read. Don't be too picky about facts, mind you, and intellectual honestly is a bit short. Of course the book is going to be biased, the title is what you get, and I expected some stripping of context or twisting. The Bible blesses cooking with human feces, he says. He doesn't explain the symbolism of Ezekiel nor explain the fact that burning animal feces for fuel is a matter of necessity in many times and places, and that this was a reference to extreme deprivation yet to come when even cattle's dung would be unavailable. The protestant reader might be surprised to find he's not really a Christian since he doesn't believe in papal infallibility, because something about picking and choosing which Bible verses you'll believe. Similarly, somehow the Ayatollah speaks for all Muslims because reasons that aren't really fleshed out. Some things are strictly wrong. He states that all three holy books state Eve gave Adam the fruit of original sin and this is important to him because it helps him "prove" the misogyny he sees as inherent to the religions. This isn't the case for the Qu'ran. 30 seconds with Google will confirm that Adam and Eve were tempted by Satan together and elected to disobey God together. https://quran.com/7/20 I noted others that were incorrect for the Bible as well, and I suspect someone with better familiarity with the Torah would find similar there as well. On a side note, prohibitions on prostitution and pagan ritual sex cults while celebrating mothers and wives are further "proof" of misogyny. That's an argument that's not really fleshed out, but I guess I'm just too brainwashed by Judeo-Christian thinking to celebrate prostitution and ritual orgies as "feminism".

He, of course, goes to lengths to point out the evils done in the name of religion or by the religious to prove religion is bad (again, only Abrahamic religions though). There's no questioning of what it means when atheists do the same acts. It must also be puzzling to him how a time and place like feudal Japan wasn't an idyllic land without Abraham and his ilk polluting the population's thoughts. 9/11 and the resulting GWOT is simply Jews+Christians vs Muslims. He must be puzzled as to why we have Muslim allies, and must be truly puzzled why American Indians fought amongst themselves or why China, Korea, and Japan haven't always been besties who just used their words to hash out differences.

Perhaps my most “WTF” moment was his railing against the concept of free will and punishment by secular authorities. Apparently we shouldn’t jail child molesters because they lack free will or something. In his reality we just throw them in jail to get raped then let them out without treatment.

Atheists aren't atheistic enough if they still embrace Judeo-Christian values. The following quote is reference France, post-Revolution through modernity: "Moral handbooks in republican schools preach the excellence of the family, the virtues of work, the need to respect one's parents and honor the old, the rightness of nationalism, patriotic obligations, mistrust of the flesh, the body and passions, the beauty of manual labor, submission to political authority, duty to the poor. What could the village priest obect to here? Work, Family, Fatherland: the holy secular Trinity of Christendom...and of Vichy France.

Finally, despite the name the author doesn't spend much time at all dealing with the concept of the existence or non-existence of God. He just assumes it to be fact and doesn't appear to have much worry about it. Which is fine, mind you, but the title sort of led me to expect a bit more meat on that particular bone would be gnawed at.

I did no research on the author until after finishing the book, but he seems quite enthralled with Marx. A cursory bit of research shows he is some sort of anarchist-communist hybrid, which I'm not even sure how to begin to fathom. On one hand bashing the idea that even the family should be the most basic unit, only the individual matters but then backing a communist political candidate seems like shouting the merits of veganism while handing out t-bones to the masses. I am 100% certain you can be a moral and just person without believing in any given concept of God, but I frankly doubt I would find the author to be someone I'd consider moral and ethical. Not because of atheism, but because pedophile defense and communism.

Now, what I will agree with the author on is you should question your own beliefs and certainly not simply accept faith like a hand-me-down sweater. He seems to have no idea that religions aren't monolithic and we all just believe what the Pope or Ayatollah (?) tell us, but the basic lesson still applies. And that yes, humans do shitty things to each other. I think that's more in spite of religion then because of it, but again the lesson holds.

A point by point rebuttal would be much to lengthy and beyond the scope of this thread, so I'll just sum up with a recommendation. If you believe in a literal interpretation of your holy book of choice and have no interest in an opposing view, this book will likely only be a source of anger or boredom for you. If you're not threatened by a systematic attack on what you probably don't believe to begin with (if you don't believe two of every animal literally rode around in an ark to escape a global flood) and are already familiar with the Council of Nicaea, there's probably nothing in here that's going to get you too worked up or "de-convert" you. It is a technically well-written, eloquent, and informative read *if* you don't mind doing some fact checking here and there and want to see how "the other side" characterizes the argument.

[blues]

^^^^Nobody knows nothin'. What's the point of getting worked up?

[ACP230]

Read a short book by Velma Wallis called Two Old Women.

In the legend two native women were abandoned by their tribe during
a winter with lots of weather and not enough food.
They survived the event. Lots of ways to make the most of the land you
find yourself on mentioned, although it is not a survival book per se.

Out of my usual reading area but my wife found it somewhere and, since I was
done with a couple of other books, I picked it up and enjoyed it.

[Glenn E. Meyer]

Blood Feud - a Sunny Randall follow up to Parker's series by Lupica.

Don't - it is terrible. The Amazon reviews have it nailed (outside of the sycophant, paid for 5 star reviews). Total POS.

[Stephanie B]

I'm reading Checkpoint Charlie by Iain MacGregor (https://www.amazon.com/Checkpoint-Charlie-Berlin-Dangerous-Place/dp/1982100036/) about mostly the military in West Berlin

[BehindBlueI's]

I finished the "Powder Mage" trilogy. Book 1 here: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0092XHPIG/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?_encoding=UTF8&btkr=1

It's good and the second and third book were better than the first. The author matured a bit as an author, I think, and it wasn't quite so samey-same as Brandon Sanderson's work. As I mentioned after reading the first one, it's a gunpowder fantasy with a few interesting elements. I like the powder magic, where the mage can manipulate the energy in black powder to strengthen themselves or to do marksmanship feats like extending range or nudging bullets in flight, steal the energy from an enemy's charge leaving them with a fouled musket, etc.

All in all, good but not great. A perfect reasonable fantasy read but not a standout performance...and perhaps just a little too much like a retread of Mistborn for me. I get this author was Sanderson's student and obviously heavily influenced by his work, but I hope he branches out a bit more in the second trilogy (which is also out and complete but I think it'll be a bit before I pursue it.)

I started Malcolm Gladwell's Talking to Strangers as my next book: https://www.amazon.com/Talking-Strangers-Should-about-People-ebook/dp/B07NDKVWZW/

[Coyotesfan97]

Whoever recommended Into the Earth by Jill Heinerth thank you very much! It opened a fantastic view of the beauty and dangers of cave diving. I highly recommend it.

[Medusa]

I just finished this, having read the prior two books as noted upthread. It was outstanding and one I may buy to keep, which is rare. Few little tangles with relationship details that aren’t consistent with the details from the chronologically earlier books, but stil. It is an excellent character study with believable and memorable male and female characters, and it really evokes a time and place. A long read but a fine one.

47599

[BehindBlueI's]

I started Malcolm Gladwell's Talking to Strangers as my next book: https://www.amazon.com/Talking-Strangers-Should-about-People-ebook/dp/B07NDKVWZW/

I found this to be a worthwhile read. I did have a few nitpicks with the way he presented a few things about policing and investigation, but I see how an outsider would make the conclusions he did. For example, having experienced investigators watch videos of people lying and then having them guess truth/lie isn't showing what he thinks it shows. Of course experienced investigators get 100% of the people showing lie behaviors as liars, they are trained to spot those behaviors. Of course they miss the liars not displaying those signs...but not because they suck at detecting lies, rather they haven't had time to establish a baseline. There's a reason interview/interrogation starts off with a bunch of unrelated innocuous questioning. If you don't look me in the eye telling me what your middle name is, I don't expect that to be a sign of a lie later. He also mentions Reid Technique and has a very shallow understanding of it, IMO. Despite the title, he also occasionally uses examples of people interacting with people they obviously know and then explaining away their suspicions to maintain social compatibility which, to me, should be a separate topic and not intermingled. It kind of muddies the water in a few places in the book.

Now, zooming out a little bit I think the information is valuable to anyone who routinely has to talk to people they don't know. That is to say, nearly everyone. If you happen to know a cop, you'll probably walk away with a bit more understanding of why we are like we are and why we don't think like you think, generally. If you're a cop, you'll be reminded of why everyone around you doesn't see the incredibly obvious things you routinely see.

One of the most unexpected things I got from the book was research on alcohol use and the old "removes inhibitions" isn't really the case. He makes a very compelling argument that a much better explanation is your brain gets myopia. You become incredibly focused on the very short term and can't see the long term at all.

Quick, easy read and worth the time invested. I think I'm going to recommend it to my shift at roll call tomorrow.

[Welder]

For the last week I've been reading Robert Pirsig's Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. I've been told to read it many, many times and finally picked up a $1.00 copy at a thrift store. Parts of it are honestly a little beyond me (thankful for the little bit of Philosophy I took a couple decades ago), but I'm back in my comfort zone now about 3/4 of the way through. I can often pick up a book and read a couple hundred pages at a sitting, but not this one. It's not light reading.

It's not really about fixing a motorcycle at all, spoiler alert,in case there's another human being out there that hasn't read it. But I sure do wish I'd have read this in college.

[blues]

For the last week I've been reading Robert Pirsig's Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. I've been told to read it many, many times and finally picked up a $1.00 copy at a thrift store. Parts of it are honestly a little beyond me (thankful for the little bit of Philosophy I took a couple decades ago), but I'm back in my comfort zone now about 3/4 of the way through. I can often pick up a book and read a couple hundred pages at a sitting, but not this one. It's not light reading.

It's not really about fixing a motorcycle at all, spoiler alert,in case there's another human being out there that hasn't read it. But I sure do wish I'd have read this in college.

https://genehowington.files.wordpress.com/2016/06/the-graduate-plastics.png

"I want to say one word to you. Just one word. Chautauqua."

[Welder]

"I want to say one word to you. Just one word. Chautauqua."

"I think that if we are going to reform the world, and make it a better place to live in, the way to do it is not with talk about relationships of a political nature, which are inevitably dualistic, full of subjects and objects and their relationship to one another; or with programs full of things for other people to do. I think that kind of approach starts at the end and presumes the end is the beginning. Programs of a political nature are important end products of social quality that can be effective only if the underlying structure of social values is right. The social values are right only if the individual values are right. The place to improve the world is first in one's own heart and head and hands, and then work outward from there. Other people can talk about how to expand the destiny of mankind. I just want to talk about how to fix a motorcycle. I think that what I have to say has more lasting value."

p. 267, 3rd edition, 1981

[Gater]

For the last week I've been reading Robert Pirsig's Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. I've been told to read it many, many times and finally picked up a $1.00 copy at a thrift store. Parts of it are honestly a little beyond me (thankful for the little bit of Philosophy I took a couple decades ago), but I'm back in my comfort zone now about 3/4 of the way through. I can often pick up a book and read a couple hundred pages at a sitting, but not this one. It's not light reading.

It's not really about fixing a motorcycle at all, spoiler alert,in case there's another human being out there that hasn't read it. But I sure do wish I'd have read this in college.

I think my copy cost me $1.50, and I was in college, which probably/partially explains my inability to totally "get it". (I was definitely more interested in (applied) mechanics than philosophy!)

I still have the same copy, 30 years later--it'll go on the plane with me the next time I head out. Thank you.

[revchuck38]

For the last week I've been reading Robert Pirsig's Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. I've been told to read it many, many times and finally picked up a $1.00 copy at a thrift store. Parts of it are honestly a little beyond me (thankful for the little bit of Philosophy I took a couple decades ago), but I'm back in my comfort zone now about 3/4 of the way through. I can often pick up a book and read a couple hundred pages at a sitting, but not this one. It's not light reading.

It's not really about fixing a motorcycle at all, spoiler alert,in case there's another human being out there that hasn't read it. But I sure do wish I'd have read this in college.

I read it after having read Zen and the Art of Archery, actually a couple of years afterward when I had joined the Army, so probably 76-77(?). I was deep into motorcycles at the time and wasn't sure if it was a clever takeoff on the former book or something different. It was an eye-opening book. The main thing I remember from it was the scene where Pirsig's friend with the BMW needed to shim his bars and Pirsig suggested a strip of Coke can since it had the proper characteristics, but his friend recoiled from the idea of fixing his purebred Beemer with such a pedestrian material.

I need to get another copy and re-read it. It'll be interesting to see what 40+ years of life experience does to the way I understand the book.

[BehindBlueI's]

For the last week I've been reading Robert Pirsig's Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. I've been told to read it many, many times and finally picked up a $1.00 copy at a thrift store. Parts of it are honestly a little beyond me (thankful for the little bit of Philosophy I took a couple decades ago), but I'm back in my comfort zone now about 3/4 of the way through. I can often pick up a book and read a couple hundred pages at a sitting, but not this one. It's not light reading.

It's not really about fixing a motorcycle at all, spoiler alert,in case there's another human being out there that hasn't read it. But I sure do wish I'd have read this in college.

I read that back in my early Army days. The sailboat one, too. Lila, according to a quick search. I'd forgotten the name and even it's existence you mentioned the Zen book.

I'm starting Sam Houston and the Alamo Avengers The Texas Victory That Changed American History tonight: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07NKP1PTN/

[BehindBlueI's]

I'm starting Sam Houston and the Alamo Avengers The Texas Victory That Changed American History tonight: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07NKP1PTN/

Quick and easy read. It's obviously aimed at the casual reader, not the academic, and that's me. He mentions the various controversies about Houston at the end of the book, that not everyone agrees with his depictions of how various decisions were made, etc. I'm glad he does that, but in the end it's not a big difference to me. The story is inspiring and is probably "true enough" regardless. An easy recommendation for anyone remotely interested in the history of the Alamo and the aftermath leading to the founding of Texas as an independent nation then a US state.

[Bergeron]

Just finished reading Sword and Scimitar: Fourteen Centuries of War between Islam and the West. It was a real barn-burner, and I was able to read it with severe enthusiasm. Aside from a general history of the two entities, eight battles in particular are discussed.

The author’s parents are Copts, and the author himself did graduate work under Victor Davis Hanson. The book advances a very particular view on its topic. The author is fluent in Arabic and has an excellent scholarship of various sources.

What people have done, for real, remains to me more curious and fascinating than most of what I can find in fiction.

[Coyotesfan97]

I reread To Hell and Back yesterday on the date Audie Murphy stood on a burning Tank Destroyer manning the M2 while calling artillery on his position stopping a German armor attack.

[Medusa]

47956

Finished this and learned a lot of history about an era and time and place I wanted know more about, which was the point. The book was let down at times by the author’s uncritical cultural chauvinism, generally taking the form of assuming that Apaches were “uncivilized” and that their spiritual beliefs were inferior.

[BehindBlueI's]

I'm a couple chapters deep into: https://www.amazon.com/Other-Minds-Octopus-Origins-Consciousness/dp/0374227764

Other Minds: The Octopus, the Sea, and the Deep Origins of Consciousness

I don't have the background to know if what he's saying is true or not RevolverRob is probably much more suited for that. Going with the assumption that his rendition of the underlying science into something suitable for laymen is accurate, it's an extremely interesting book so far.

[RevolverRob]

I'm a couple chapters deep into: https://www.amazon.com/Other-Minds-Octopus-Origins-Consciousness/dp/0374227764

Other Minds: The Octopus, the Sea, and the Deep Origins of Consciousness

I don't have the background to know if what he's saying is true or not RevolverRob is probably much more suited for that. Going with the assumption that his rendition of the underlying science into something suitable for laymen, it's an extremely interesting book so far.

I dunno too much about that one. The synopsis makes it look pretty good, though.

I can tell you for sure, is that one of the ongoing and raging debates within animal research right now, is whether or not experiments on Octopus should be covered by Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC) protocols. IACUC protocols are the kinds of things that say, "You cannot torture monkeys." or, "All animals used in this study must be euthanized in an ethical and minimally invasive way." or "You have to feed your rabbits every day." - Basically the things that says you won't treat your animals like garbage and torture them for fun.

Most universities/research institutes do not have formal IACUC procedures for non-vertebrate organisms, only vertebrate organisms. The case is being made now, and I think it is a good one, that Octopus and its relatives have sufficiently high intelligence to warrant IACUC protection. The argument has been in the past that organisms which "cannot feel pain" do not need to be covered. It's sort of obvious how one might apply that to plants and how one might apply that to vertebrates, particularly terrestrial ones. It's less clear how you apply these things to invertebrate organisms. In the case of the Octopus, sufficient evidence to demonstrate that Octopus has an advanced neurological system, memory, and sensory system, make it a great example of how our study and understanding of a system can change how we study and even feel about it.

Tangent - A good friend of mine who does neurobiology thinks one way around this problem is to in effect quantify the number of neurons an organism has. It's generally accepted more neurons = more brain = more intelligence = more sensory ability. It's not a bad idea and it would help clarify that say...octopus is protected, but zebra mussels are not.

It sounds like this book talks a lot about the evolution of the neuro-sensory system and likely makes that broad point of more neurons = more x, y, z.

[Ed L]

Guns of the FBI: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1946267406/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o07_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

It is a $52 hardback book--but well worth it. The book, written by a former FBI agent who worked as an agent and as a trainer with the Firearms Training Unit, is rich with both information and pictures. It covers a complete history of the FBI guns, training, holsters, ammo, courses of fire, bits from training manuals, and much more. It has a chapter on the latest switch to 9mm with a 3 page FTU position paper on the hows and whys of the adoption as well as terminal ballistics.

It is one of the two best gun books that I bought in the last few years, the other being Tom Givens latest book.

The easiest thing to do is attach scans of the table of contents:

47977
47978

[Gater]

Guns of the FBI:

It is a $52 hardback book--but well worth it. The book, written by a former FBI agent who worked as an agent and as a trainer with the Firearms Training Unit, is rich with both information and pictures. It covers a complete history of the FBI guns, training, holsters, ammo, courses of fire, bits from training manuals, and much more. It has a chapter on the latest switch to 9mm with a 3 page FTU position paper on the hows and whys of the adoption as well as terminal ballistics.


Thanks, Ed-- I had not heard of this one. Link below to publisher page with some more info and sample pages from the book. There's also a podcast interview with the author that I'm going to check out.

https://www.gundigeststore.com/product/guns-of-the-fbi-a-history-of-the-bureaus-firearms-and-training/

https://jerriwilliams.com/bill-vanderpool-guns-of-the-fbi-firearms-training/

About the Author
Bill Vanderpool is a retired Special Agent with the FBI. He was a sniper on the agency’s SWAT Team at Washington Field Office, until transferred to the FBI Academy at Quantico as a member of the Firearms Training Unit. Vanderpool is the only agent in FBI history to have fired a “Possible” — an official perfect score — in both the FBI and the FBI’s National Academy.

[blues]

Brings back memories of me as a youngster visiting the FBI building in D.C.

The range officer gave me the silhouette target he used and some brass after demonstrating a couple handguns and a "Tommy" gun. They were prized possessions for years as the target adorned one of my walls while the brass was kept with some of my other favorite items.

[Medusa]

Finished this, found it surprisingly engrossing. Though not my usual fare, and despite a few kind of jarring firearms related glitches (eg the “mule kick” of a mini 14) I’ll read the next in the series.

48174

[BehindBlueI's]

I'm a couple chapters deep into: https://www.amazon.com/Other-Minds-Octopus-Origins-Consciousness/dp/0374227764

Other Minds: The Octopus, the Sea, and the Deep Origins of Consciousness


I wish this book was longer. It was extremely interesting and dived into subjects I didn't even know existed, let alone knew I'd be interested in.


I absolutely recommend this one.

[Kukuforguns]

Brings back memories of me as a youngster visiting the FBI building in D.C.

The range officer gave me the silhouette target he used and some brass after demonstrating a couple handguns and a "Tommy" gun. They were prized possessions for years as the target adorned one of my walls while the brass was kept with some of my other favorite items.
As a child, I saved the brass from the Veteran's Day celebrations. After the salute, there would a rush of children to collect the brass.

[blues]

As a child, I saved the brass from the Veteran's Day celebrations. After the salute, there would a rush of children to collect the brass.

It's nice to reflect on the innocence of childhood past...



...Nowadays kids can just pick up the guns dropped in the street. :rolleyes:

[Elkhitman]

Most David Morrell books, Brotherhood Of The Rose being my favorite.
Nicholas Sansbury Smith, Extinction series.
DJ Molles, The Remaining series.
Mark Greaney, The Gray Man series.
William Forstchen, Day of Wrath.

[blues]

Most David Morrell books, Brotherhood Of The Rose being my favorite.
Nicholas Sansbury Smith, Extinction series.
DJ Molles, The Remaining series.
Mark Greaney, The Gray Man series.
William Forstchen, Day of Wrath.

Blast from the past. I read many of his books years ago when they first came out.

[NEPAKevin]

I started reading The Terminal List (https://smile.amazon.com/Terminal-List-Thriller-Jack-Carr-ebook/dp/B074ZL7LY1/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=the+terminal+list&qid=1561655701&s=digital-text&sr=1-1) by Jack Carr and so far am liking it. Similar to Vince Flynn, Brad Thor type thrillers but darker.


https://twitter.com/afterbuzztv/status/1224795126737719296

[BehindBlueI's]

I read the novella "Edgedancer" by Brandon Sanderson. It takes place in the "Stormlight" universe, essentially a world in which an ever present series of storms continually circles the globe and makes the evolution of the world significantly different. Grass can retract into it's roots. Trees are lay down in the wind then spring back up. Many animals have shells and/or burrow. Since the storms always approach from the same direction, buildings don't have windows on those sides, etc. Magic exists and can be accomplished by drawing stored light from special gemstones, which are used as money.

It's a decent standalone book, but a pretty quick read.

[Medusa]

48338

just finished this book about the Battle off Samar in the Leyte Gulf in October, 1944; the author calls it the greatest naval upset in history. It focuses on the men of Taffy 3 in destroyers, destroyer escorts, and escort carriers. It is simply outstanding and I can not recommend it highly enough. I bet your local library has it as did mine. If you enjoy military history, you’ll find this a great tale, well told, and all true.

[peterb]

48338

just finished this book about the Battle off Samar in the Leyte Gulf in October, 1944; the author calls it the greatest naval upset in history. It focuses on the men of Taffy 3 in destroyers, destroyer escorts, and escort carriers. It is simply outstanding and I can not recommend it highly enough. I bet your local library has it as did mine. If you enjoy military history, you’ll find this a great tale, well told, and all true.

“This will be a fight against overwhelming odds from which survival cannot be expected. We will do what damage we can.”

Lt. Commander Robert W. Copeland, USS Samual B. Roberts

[revchuck38]

48338

just finished this book about the Battle off Samar in the Leyte Gulf in October, 1944; the author calls it the greatest naval upset in history. It focuses on the men of Taffy 3 in destroyers, destroyer escorts, and escort carriers. It is simply outstanding and I can not recommend it highly enough. I bet your local library has it as did mine. If you enjoy military history, you’ll find this a great tale, well told, and all true.

I read this several years ago and it left a deep impression on me. Highly recommended!

[Coyotesfan97]

48338

just finished this book about the Battle off Samar in the Leyte Gulf in October, 1944; the author calls it the greatest naval upset in history. It focuses on the men of Taffy 3 in destroyers, destroyer escorts, and escort carriers. It is simply outstanding and I can not recommend it highly enough. I bet your local library has it as did mine. If you enjoy military history, you’ll find this a great tale, well told, and all true.

I kept meaning to read this. Now it’s on my Kindle.

[BehindBlueI's]

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07P7HBZ3P/

24 Hours in Ancient Athens: A Day in the Life of the People Who Lived There (24 Hours in Ancient History Book 3)

This was a quick and easy read that was pretty well done. It's probably a high school level book, tops, but it was an interesting peek into mundane lives vs the famous folks you routinely hear about. It is historical fiction, but based largely on original writings and artifacts from the period. For example, based on a series of curses on lead scrolls it's a given that a tavern keeper paid a witch to have a curse placed on several of his rivals. The author fleshes that out with conversation and a bit of back story that's speculation but a realistic portrayal of how things likely went. The author routinely documents were conversations have been lifted whole cloth from writings of the time and is equally clear when he's changed things up a bit for continuity (this guy was a drunken ass at the party and I didn't want to include his drunken ramblings so in my version I had him pass out early on but the rest is as recounted by the host... sort of things)

I'll probably check out some of the others in the series, but I just picked up the rather lengthy titled: "Indianapolis: The True Story of the Worst Sea Disaster in U.S. Naval History and the Fifty-Year Fight to Exonerate an Innocent Man" https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1501135953/

[Glenn E. Meyer]

Catch and Kill by Ronan Farrow - got it from the library. The level of corruption in the media world and protection of monsters is astounding but not surprising. Note it is independent of the political orientation of the media outlet. The operative principle is men in power without scruples and the silence, enforced or complicit, by those in the business.

Surprising note - when Farrow was told to fear for his life (he was trailed by 'operatives') he turned in part to a Glock 19. Not a Cuomo self-defense memory rock.

As a side note, 'get a gun' is springs up surprisingly in 'liberal' channels when push comes to shove. Way back when, the APA was considering removing homosexuality from the DSM as a disorder. The main proponent of the proposal received death threats. He was told to get a gun. In the Chronicle of Higher Ed, one of their columnists (the Chronicle is on the PC side of the world) had a deranged student threaten him, he got a pump gun, IIRC. I saw a debate between an abortion advocate and opponent on PBS years, ago - the pro choice guy was asked what precautions he took and he went off on a classic I love 1911s rift. The pro life guy called him a gun nut.

Anyway, the book is a good mindless read for the retired. Now reading a history of the Russian Civil Wars after the revolution started in WWI. Interesting that the conquest of the Muslim bordering states was in part driven by our Civil War as when cotton supplies were short, the Russians wanted to take over those area to grow cotton. The Muslim areas rebelled, now independent states and still some insurgencies and terrorism.

[blues]

I kept meaning to read this. Now it’s on my Kindle.

Mine too.

[nalesq]

Woman’s Inhumanity to Woman, by Phyllis Chesler.

A fascinating exploration and analysis of female-on-female aggression written by a prominent second wave feminist psychologist. She posits that most female aggression (e.g., gossip, ostracism, betrayal, emotional manipulation, etc.) can be boiled down to jealousy and envy issues arising from frustrated desires for intimacy and bonding with other women that are far more important to women than male bonding is to men.

One of the main takeaways for me were that women are much harder on other women than they are even on bad men, and even that this tendency is so ingrained (whether by nature, personal neurosis, or institutional sexism internalized even by professed feminists), it would take extraordinary discipline of introspection and reformative effort to overcome.

The book gets a little maudlin and anecdotal at times, such as when the author reflects on her own past relational traumas, but overall it was an excellent read providing many thoughtful insights into what makes women uniquely women, both for good as well as for evil.



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

[Medusa]

48581

Second book in the Chris Cherry series. Some detestable characters but the plot was kind of bland for me. A pleasant, somewhat forgettable entertainment. I’ll read the third one I’m sure - the teaser they put at the end of this one was engaging.

[Lester Polfus]

48581

Second book in the Chris Cherry series. Some detestable characters but the plot was kind of bland for me. A pleasant, somewhat forgettable entertainment. I’ll read the third one I’m sure - the teaser they put at the end of this one was engaging.

I liked it ok, but I think it suffered from second book syndrome. You spend years, or decades working on the first book. It takes off and the publisher wants #2 so the can slot it in for the next year.

The third one was ok.

His next one is set in Appalachia, which makes it required reading for me.

[blues]

I liked it ok, but I think it suffered from second book syndrome. You spend years, or decades working on the first book. It takes off and the publisher wants #2 so the can slot it in for the next year.

The third one was ok.

His next one is set in Appalachia, which makes it required reading for me.

I thought the three books were okay, I gave them each a "3" on goodreads. The characters were a bit thin but the story line was interesting enough for me to want to see where they went.

My biggest problems with the books was the repetitiveness, (even within the same book, let alone from book to book), and the silly, superfluous two word Spanish language entries...some of which were actually wrong.

I think the author has promise, he just needs to hone his craft and technique some. A better editor could have helped immensely.

[Medusa]

I thought the three books were okay, I gave them each a "3" on goodreads. The characters were a bit thin but the story line was interesting enough for me to want to see where they went.

My biggest problems with the books was the repetitiveness, (even within the same book, let alone from book to book), and the silly, superfluous two word Spanish language entries...some of which were actually wrong.

I think the author has promise, he just needs to hone his craft and technique some. A better editor could have helped immensely.

I gave the first a 4, maybe because I’ve known people a lot like sheriff Ross, the second a 3. I wholeheartedly agree re the interposed Spanish phrases and the need for a better editor.

[Medusa]

48805

Finished this, this morning. It’s Gibson, so the writing is smart, stylish, and elegant with an easy and broad ranging intelligence that snaps with electricity. Typical themes are here - central, the personhood of artificial intelligence. But the plot is a bit thin, a central plot device is kind of deus ex, the ending a bit contrived, and in all it feels like less than the sum of its parts. I still enjoyed it.

[BehindBlueI's]

I'll probably check out some of the others in the series, but I just picked up the rather lengthy titled: "Indianapolis: The True Story of the Worst Sea Disaster in U.S. Naval History and the Fifty-Year Fight to Exonerate an Innocent Man" https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1501135953/

100% recommend but it's a hard read. I'm surprised the page count is just under 600, it seemed so much longer. There were honestly times I wasn't sure I wanted to finish the book. I don't know why, but the court-martial and just fucking over of people by the chain of command is harder for me to stomach then men being eaten by sharks. At least sharks are doing what sharks are supposed to do. "I want my chain of command to be my pall bearers so they can let me down one last time" is a common refrain among the military and first responders, so maybe I just relate to that more. Anyway, the story has it all. Villians and heroes, tragedy in plenty and redemption as well. It gets dusty sometimes when you're reading the book but it's worth it.

I need some bubble-gum read next, that was heavy.

[Medusa]

49023

I finished this today. Hornfischer is a superb writer and a thorough historian with an easy grasp of men and machines and their strengths and foibles, and the way they interact in warfare. Highly recommended.

[BehindBlueI's]

https://www.amazon.com/Department-Se.../dp/1524748218

The Department of Sensitive Crimes: A Detective Varg Novel

I had no idea what to expect from this book. I still am not sure how to describe it. Despite the name there's very little "detective novel" here. There's almost no finding whodunit at what there is is incidental. There's no real interviews, no detective finding the tiny thing that breaks the case, etc. It's almost no story at all, or rather it's just people being people and some of those people are police or detectives. Or their spouses. That said it's not exactly Seinfeld either, unless Seinfeld was written as a Swedish philosophy buff with an extensive vocabulary.

What it is, though, is beautifully written. It's a painting with words and superbly done. Perhaps it's a philosophy book masquerading as a novel but intentionally letting it's true nature show for those who look. It's literature in the artistic meaning. I enjoyed it immensely. I also learned a few new words, metonym being my favorite.

[TheNewbie]

Listened to Michael Medved's The American Miracle and God's Hand on America. Excellent books that give insight into the American idea and prominent people in our history. Some of the Teddy Roosevelt stuff had me laughing out loud, and it's hard to get me to do that.

Right now I am listening to Manhunters: How We Took Down Pablo Escobar by Javier Pena and Steve Murphy. At this point I am only in the early stages of the book, but it's good so far.

[Medusa]

49248

An excellent book which I finished this morning. It lacks a bit of focus, compared to the other two books of his I’ve read, but it’s still an outstanding historical study.

[ccmdfd]

49248

An excellent book which I finished this morning. It lacks a bit of focus, compared to the other two books of his I’ve read, but it’s still an outstanding historical study.

I really, really enjoyed his one on Guadalcanal.

Agree with you, this later one, while good, isn't up to the same level.

cc

[blues]

I really, really enjoyed his one on Guadalcanal.

Agree with you, this later one, while good, isn't up to the same level.

cc

While I enjoyed and was humbled by his book on the Leyte Gulf, I felt it was a bit too meandering in its presentation which could have been tightened up some.

That said, it was a worthwhile and important read as part of our history.

[ccmdfd]

While we are on the topic of WW2 US Navy; in case it hasn't been brought up (have not read all of this thread)

Borneman's The Admirals was an excellent read.

https://www.amazon.com/Admirals-Nimitz-Halsey-King-Five-Star/dp/0316097837/ref=sr_1_1?crid=3KCW14HSS67L7&keywords=the+admirals+nimitz%2C+halsey%2C+leahy%2C +and+king&qid=1582913586&sprefix=the+admi%2Caps%2C149&sr=8-1

[Stephanie B]

Barracoon (https://smile.amazon.com/Barracoon-Story-Last-Black-Cargo/dp/0062748211/)

49254

This was a tough read. Zora Hurston interviewed Cudjo Lewis, one of the last surviving slaves who had been sold into slavery in Africa. Hurston wrote Lewis's responses in the dialect that he spoke. If you can get past that, there are a lot of things that Lewis said that don't comport with the oft-told narrative of the slave trade and the aftermath of the liberation of the slaves.

[Warped Mindless]

Marcus Wynn just released a new one.

[Medusa]

49320

I wanted to know more about this time and place in history, and this book accomplished that. That’s about the best thing I can say about it. Also, the audiobook was narrated by the author, and his repeated pronunciation of “cavalry” as “Calvary” was exasperating. Texas history by a Texas booster is what you get here.

[Moshjath]

Just finished this last one while I was on a surprise 82nd ABN deployment to Iraq in the wake of the embassy crisis on New Year’s eve. Provided great context for the current state of affairs regarding US/Iran relations. Goes in depth into the ‘53 coup in Iran and how that set the stage for the ‘79 Islamic revolution.

[Cheap Shot]

Courage Under Fire: Testing Epictetus's Doctrines in a Laboratory of Human Behavior (Hoover Essays) Paperback – December 1, 1993
by James B. Stockdale (Author)

"Vice Admiral James Stockdale, a senior research fellow at the Hoover Institution, served in the navy from 1947 to 1979, beginning as a test pilot and instructor at Patuxent River, Maryland, and spending two years as a graduate student at Stanford University. He became a fighter pilot and was shot down on his second combat tour over North Vietnam, becoming a prisoner of war for eight years, four in solitary confinement. The highest-ranking naval officer held during the Vietnam War, he was tortured fifteen times and put in leg irons for two years.

When physical disability from combat wounds brought about Jim Stockdale's early retirement from military life, he had the distinction of being the only three-star officer in the history of the navy to wear both aviator wings and the Congressional Medal of Honor. His writings have been many and varied, but all converge on the central theme of how man can rise with dignity to prevail in the face of adversity"

32 page essay on the writings of Epictetus (stoic philosophy) and how Stockdale applied it to his experiences as a POW. Mental discipline > external circumstances.

I got this from the local public library but after reading it I'll buy a copy for my personal library. Highly recommend.

[Medusa]

49556

Finished this today and with it, all four books in the series.
Bittersweet, elegiac, majestic. IMO McMurtry has exceptional and uncommon insight into his female characters especially, as well as the men. I loved these books and they will stay with me a long time. I will miss these people.

[Medusa]

49707

Finished this just now. It’s still a popular library book with a long wait list. It has earned its place in the study of warfare, to be sure, especially the study of WW1, but the nationalistic clap trap in the end turns the stomach when one sees the fruits of such attitudes over the last 100 years and more.

[Coyotesfan97]

49707

Finished this just now. It’s still a popular library book with a long wait list. It has earned its place in the study of warfare, to be sure, especially the study of WW1, but the nationalistic clap trap in the end turns the stomach when one sees the fruits of such attitudes over the last 100 years and more.

It’s a free read with Kindle Unlimited and $4.99 on Kindle. I bought it. It’s translated from the 1929 edition.

[Coyotesfan97]

So I was reading Mark MacYoung’s book Violence, Blunders, and Fractured Jaws (https://www.amazon.com/Violence-Blunders-Fractured-Jaws-Techniques-ebook/dp/B07PXDHXTJ/ref=sr_1_2?crid=21MRQLB3UQXWU&keywords=marc+macyoung&qid=1583839714&s=digital-text&sprefix=marc+mac%2Caps%2C136&sr=1-2)the other day. He mentioned the Burke series by Andrew Vachss several times and said it was one of the most realistic portrayals of the street he’d read. So I bought Flood and Strega (https://www.amazon.com/Three-Burke-Novels-3-Book-Bundle-ebook/dp/B009QJNSEQ/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=flood+and+strega&qid=1583839759&s=digital-text&sr=1-1). I’m hooked now.

[Lester Polfus]

So I was reading Mark MacYoung’s book Violence, Blunders, and Fractured Jaws (https://www.amazon.com/Violence-Blunders-Fractured-Jaws-Techniques-ebook/dp/B07PXDHXTJ/ref=sr_1_2?crid=21MRQLB3UQXWU&keywords=marc+macyoung&qid=1583839714&s=digital-text&sprefix=marc+mac%2Caps%2C136&sr=1-2)the other day. He mentioned the Burke series by Andrew Vachss several times and said it was one of the most realistic portrayals of the street he’d read. So I bought Flood and Strega (https://www.amazon.com/Three-Burke-Novels-3-Book-Bundle-ebook/dp/B009QJNSEQ/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=flood+and+strega&qid=1583839759&s=digital-text&sr=1-1). I’m hooked now.

Those are good books. I kind of dropped out of the series at a time in my life when I needed a break from unrelenting darkness, but maybe I should dip my toe back in.

Vachss is an interesting character.

[ccmdfd]

While I enjoyed and was humbled by his book on the Leyte Gulf, I felt it was a bit too meandering in its presentation which could have been tightened up some.

That said, it was a worthwhile and important read as part of our history.

Just now finishing up his one on Leyte Gulf.

It's the most long-winded one of the three of his that I have read.

Guadalcanal best, Fleet at Flood Tide second, Leyte 3rd.

cc

[BehindBlueI's]

The Pioneers, by David McCullough. It’s about the settling of Ohio, focusing on Marietta, OH.

Finally got around to reading this. Kind of a slog. I found it pretty boring overall.

[Wondering Beard]

So I was reading Mark MacYoung’s book Violence, Blunders, and Fractured Jaws (https://www.amazon.com/Violence-Blunders-Fractured-Jaws-Techniques-ebook/dp/B07PXDHXTJ/ref=sr_1_2?crid=21MRQLB3UQXWU&keywords=marc+macyoung&qid=1583839714&s=digital-text&sprefix=marc+mac%2Caps%2C136&sr=1-2)the other day. He mentioned the Burke series by Andrew Vachss several times and said it was one of the most realistic portrayals of the street he’d read. So I bought Flood and Strega (https://www.amazon.com/Three-Burke-Novels-3-Book-Bundle-ebook/dp/B009QJNSEQ/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=flood+and+strega&qid=1583839759&s=digital-text&sr=1-1). I’m hooked now.

I met Vachss a couple of times, at book readings, and his ex-wife (during my time in law school). He's a very interesting and single minded guy.

I have very much enjoyed the books but they are not for the light hearted.

He has a couple of other series that are worth a look too.

[Gun Mutt]

So I was reading Mark MacYoung’s book Violence, Blunders, and Fractured Jaws (https://www.amazon.com/Violence-Blunders-Fractured-Jaws-Techniques-ebook/dp/B07PXDHXTJ/ref=sr_1_2?crid=21MRQLB3UQXWU&keywords=marc+macyoung&qid=1583839714&s=digital-text&sprefix=marc+mac%2Caps%2C136&sr=1-2)the other day. He mentioned the Burke series by Andrew Vachss several times and said it was one of the most realistic portrayals of the street he’d read. So I bought Flood and Strega (https://www.amazon.com/Three-Burke-Novels-3-Book-Bundle-ebook/dp/B009QJNSEQ/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=flood+and+strega&qid=1583839759&s=digital-text&sr=1-1). I’m hooked now.

I really dig on some Vachss...Shella (http://www.vachss.com/av_novels/shella.html) remains my stand alone favorite.

[Coyotesfan97]

I really dig on some Vachss...Shella (http://www.vachss.com/av_novels/shella.html) remains my stand alone favorite.

And I bought it. It sounds great.

[Coyotesfan97]

Burke reminds me of the Repairman Jack books by F Paul Wilson (which is another great series) but much darker and no supernatural.

[Wondering Beard]

And I bought it. It sounds great.

It is.

A totally different type of story but exactly the same type of world.

You will enjoy it, I believe.