What book are you reading now?

[vonGarvin]

Just finished reading First Clash by Kenneth Macksay (for the hundredth time)

 

[EngineerWannabe]

I just bought Rum Diaries to read on the plane out to Nanaimo. I'm also bringing Fear and Loathing. I really like Hunter S. Thompson RIP

 

[Redeye]

Starship Troopers.. Definitely an amazing book.. Actually only read it cause when I was overseas it was in a pile of books left by the previous roto, and I thought it would be funny like the movie.. So glad I read it! Right now, reading Gates of Fire again. Such an incredible book as well.

It's pretty much nothing like the movie except in the vaguest of terms - but a fantastic read. I read it cover to cover over a three hour flight.

 

[Danjanou]

Just finished Defiance: The Bielski Partisans and considering what today is I pulled Pierre Berton's The Invasion of Canada 1812-13 off the shelf for another reread over the weekend. Finished it last night, and grabbed the sequel Flames Across the Border: 1813-1814 off the shelf today for some subway reading.

 

[cphansen]

Holding Juno: "Canada's Heroic Defence of the D-Day Beaches: June 7-12, 1944" by Mark Zuehike,

It covers a period of time which is sadly under reported, It has info on the RCAF and RCN actions during that time period and shows how the entire Canadian forces fought.

It has a lot of info on the 9 CIB and 2 CAB as well as the 7th and 8th CIB and 1st CAB. It has a lot of info on how 2 units stopped the attack on 7 June, 1944 by the SS, and the terrible price they paid, especially the North Novas and the Sherbrooke Fusilier Regiment.  The Sherbrookes and the North Novas justified their units' existence that day, of course if they weren't there, other militia units would have been.

It is a very good read and sheds light on an overlooked but essential campaign

 

[VIChris]

Just started Mockingjay, the 3rd in the Hunger Games series. I was quite surprised at how well developed the story is in this series.Totally engrossing, which I don't usually feel while reading books of the genre.

 

[fraserdw]

Just started "Stolen Valor".  AN interesting book about how Vietnam veterans had their heroes and reputation stolen by Hollywood and phoney vets.

 

[jeffb]

\
The Forever War, by Joe Haldeman

I'll second that one. Haldeman was a Vietnam vet if I recall correctly and the book is a metaphor for never ending war. There are some great themes here that I think are perhaps even more relevant today then they were when Haldeman wrote the book. This, and Starship Troopers, are the only books that I have ever read more then 2 or 3 times. Fantastic reads and, in my opinion at least, they should be mandatory reading for any officer/ NCO.

 

[Dissident]

I'll second that one. Haldeman was a Vietnam vet if I recall correctly and the book is a metaphor for never ending war. There are some great themes here that I think are perhaps even more relevant today then they were when Haldeman wrote the book. This, and Starship Troopers, are the only books that I have ever read more then 2 or 3 times. Fantastic reads and, in my opinion at least, they should be mandatory reading for any officer/ NCO.

Indeed.

 

[brihard]

Currently reading Francis Fukuyama: The Origins of Political Order.

It is to 'where do states come from?' what Guns, Germs and Steel is to 'where does civilization come from?' Excellent book, very readable.

 

[Jarnhamar]

Friend sent this in an email. Thought I'd throw it up here for ideas.



USMC suggested book list by rank


Commandant’s Choice Book
• First to Fight: An Inside View of the U.S. Marine Corps by Victor H. Krulak


Recruit/Poolee
• I’m Staying With My Boys by Jim Proser
• The United States Marines: A History by Edwin Simmons

Private/Private First Class
• A Message To Garcia by Elbert Hubbard • Rifleman Dodd by C.S. Forester
• Blink by Malcolm Gladwell
• 1984 by George Orwell
• No True Glory by Bing West
• The Gift of Valor by Michael M. Phillips

Lance Corporal
• The 360 Degree Leader by John Maxwell
• The Afghan Campaign by Steven Pressfield
• My Men Are My Heroes by Nathaniel R. Helms
• Starship Troopers by Robert Heinlein
• The Ugly American by Eugene Burdick
• We Were One by Patrick K. O’Donnell

Corporal
• Afghanistan by Stephen Tanner
• All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque • Chosen Soldier by Dick Couch
• Flags of Our Fathers by James Bradley
• Ghost Soldiers by Hampton Sides
• Noble Warrior by James E. Livingston
• Once a Marine by Nick Popaditch
• The Defence of duffer’s Drift by Ernest Dunlop Swinton
• Marines in the Garden of Eden by Richard Lowry

Sergeant
• American Soldiers by Peter S. Kindsvatter
• Common Sense Training by Arthur S. Collins • Counterinsurgency Warfare by David Galula
July 11, 2011
• From the Horse’s Mouth by Major Ted McKeldin
• The Killer Angels by Michael Shaara
• A Soldier’s Load and the Mobility of a Nation by S.L.A. Marshall • Storm of Steel by Ernst Junger
• The Village by Bing West
• Tip of the Spear by G.J. Michaels
• With the Old Breed by E.B. Sledge

Staff Sergeant
• A Bell for Adano by John Hersey
• American Spartans by James A. Warren
• The Arab Mind by Raphael Patai
• Attacks by Erwin Rommel
• Battle Cry by Leon Uris
• The Defense of Hill 781 by James McDonough • The Face of Battle by John Keegan
• The Last Stand of Fox Company by Bob Drury • McCoy’s Marines by James M. McPherson
• On Killing by Dave Grossman
• Soldiers of God by Robert D. Kaplan
• The Speed of Trust by Stephen M.R. Covey

Gunnery Sergeant
• Afghan Guerilla Warfare by Ali Jalali
• Tiger Force: A True Story of Men and War by M. Sallah • Islands of the Damned by R. V. Burgin
• Killing Ground on Okinawa by James H. Hallas
• The Mission, The Men, and Me by Pete Blaber
• On Command by Dave Grossman
• Ride the Thunder by Richard Botkin
• The Savage Wars of Peace by Max Boot
• Victory at High Tide by Robert Heinlein
• We Were Soldiers Once and Young by Harold G. Moore

Master Sergeant/First Sergeant
• The Accidental Guerilla by David Kilcullen
• Courageous Follower by Ira Chaleff
• Fields of Battle by John Keegan
• Forgotten Warriors by Thomas Hammes
• Ghost Wars by Steve Coll
• The Guns of August by Barbara W. Tuchman
• The Lexus and the Olive Tree by Thomas Friedman
• The Passion of Command by Bryan McCoy
• Seven Deadly Scenarios by Andrew Krepinevich
• The Sling and the Stone by Thomas X. Hammes
• Technology and War by Martin L. Van Creveld

Master Gunnery Sergeant/Sergeant Major
• Achilles in Vietnam by Jonathan Shay
• At the Water’s Edge: Defending Against the Modern Amphibious Assault
by Theodore Gatchel
• The Crisis of Islam by Bernard Lewis
• The Coldest Winter by David Halberstam
• Crisis Leadership by Gene Klann
• The General by C.S. Forrester
• The Mask of Command by John Keegan
• No Bended Knee by Merril B. Twining
• On War by Carl Von Clausewitz
• A Peace to End All Peace by David Fromkin

Officer Candidate/Midshipman
• The Armed Forces Officer, DoD 2006
• My Men Are My Heroes by Nathaniel R. Helms
• United States Marines: A History by E. Simmons
• On Infantry by John A. English

2d Lieutenant / Warrant Officer/Chief Warrant Officer 2
• The Art of War by Sun Tzu
• Blink by Malcolm Gladwell
• Counterinsurgency Warfare by David Galula
• Leadership: The Warrior’s Art by Christopher D. Kolenda • The Mission, The Men and Me by Pete Blaber
• The Savage Wars of Peace by Max Boot
• Soldiers of God by Robert D. Kaplan
• The Speed of Trust by Stephen M.R. Covey
• Storm Landings by Joseph H. Alexander
• A Tactical Ethic by Dick Couch
• The Village by Bing West

1st Lieutenant / Chief Warrant Officer 3
• The Enlightened Soldier by Charles Edward • Seeds of Disaster by Robert Doughty
• Stormtroop Tactics by Bruce Gudmundsson • Command or Control by Marin Samuels
• The Breaking Point by Robert Doughty
• Fighting Power by Martin L. Van Creveld
• Transformation of War by Martin L. Van Creveld • Attacks by Erwin Rommell
• Battle Leadership by Adolf Von Schell
• The Peloponnesian War by Donald Kagan
• The Last Stand of Fox Company by Bob Drury
.
Captain / Chief Warrant Officer 4
• The Arab Mind by R. Patai
• The Defense of Hill 781 by James McDonough
• The General by C. S. Forrester
• Lions of Iwo Jima by Fred Haynes
• Lost Victories by Erich Von Manstein
• The Mask of Command by John Keegan
• Passion of Command by Bryan McCoy
• Sources of Power by Gary Klein
• The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell
• Victory at High Tide by Robert D. Heinl
• We Were Soldiers Once and Young by Harold G. Moore

Major/Chief Warrant Officer 5
• The Crucible of War by Fred Anderson
• The Guns of August by Barbara W. Tuchman
• This Kind of War by T. R. Fehrenbach
• The Landmark Thucydides edited by Robert Strassler
• The Last Stand: Custer, Sitting Bull, and the Battle of Little Big Horn by Nathaniel
Philbrick
• The Lexus and the Olive Tree by Thomas Friedman
• Masters of War by Michael Handel
• Once an Eagle by Anton Myrer
• Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln by Doris Goodwin
• Tiger Force: A True Story of Men and War by M. Sallah
• Utmost Savagery: The Three Days of Tarawa by Joseph Alexander
• Wired for War by P. W. Singer

Lieutenant Colonel
• A Bell for Adano by John Hersey
• Accidental Guerilla by David Kilcullen
• At The Water’s Edge: Defending Against the Modern Amphibious Assault by
Theodore Gatchel
• The Blitzkrieg Legend by Karl-Heinz Freiser
• The Bottom Billion by Paul Collier
• Brute: The Life of Victor Krulak by Robert Coram • Carnage and Culture by Victor Hanson
• Defeat into Victory by William Slim
• Forgotten Warriors by Thomas Hammes
• A Peace to End All Peace by David Fromkin
• Seven Deadly Scenarios by Andrew Krepinevich

Colonel to General *
• Another Bloody Century by Colin Gray
• The Coldest Winter by David Halberstam
• The Crisis of Islam by Bernard Lewis
• Decoding Clausewitz by Jon Sumida
• Dereliction of Duty by H.R. McMaster
• Diplomacy by Henry Kissinger
• Fault Lines: How Hidden Fractures Still Threaten the World by Raghuram Rajan • How Wars End by Gideon Rose
• Tried by War by James McPherson
• Supreme Command: Soldiers, Statesmen, and Leadership in Wartime by Eliot A.
Cohen

 

[Infanteer]

Currently reading Francis Fukuyama: The Origins of Political Order.

It is to 'where do states come from?' what Guns, Germs and Steel is to 'where does civilization come from?' Excellent book, very readable.

Concur, I just finished up the first part on China.  Very fascinating.  I consider it must read for those wanting to learn about war and its relation to society.

 

[brihard]

Concur, I just finished up the first part on China.  Very fascinating.  I consider it must read for those wanting to learn about war and its relation to society.

China was fascinating- I knew they had established a bureaucratic state early. I didn't realize how early.

Once you get through India, the Caliphate and the Ottomans and you can contrast them all it's even better; one of those 'more than the sum of its parts' things. Great book so far.

 

[Cloud Cover]

- 50 Shades- my EA suggested I read this, wtf? I put it down after about a hundred pages, think I will also avoid her for a little while as well. 
- This morning I finished Road of Bones [Fergal Keane]- a book about the battles in and near Kohima in 1944. Interesting in that it tells the story citing sources and interviews from 3 primary sources - Indian/British Army, V Force and of course the Japanese. 
- Last weekend I read Those Who Save Us [Jenna Blum] on the way back from Beijing. I enjoyed it, parts of it made my blood run cold. Definitely a book of war time survival for German civilians. Not at all like Kommandants Girl by Jenoff, but both are good books.
- I've started reading Six Days of War by Michael Oren. So far, I like it. I would like to find a decent book on this war written by the "other side".
- I've got Hastings work on Churchill, and Woodwards "Obama's Wars" to read through in the next few weeks as well.

The way the way things are going at RIM, I may have lots of reading time in the near future anyway!   
   

 

[jeffb]

Not so much a real book as a book I would like to see but I really want to see a book telling the Lord of the Rings story from the perspective of Mordor. After all, haven't they been repressed by the evil humans, dwarves and elves for centuries and forced to live in the Hamilton of Middle Earth? Can't an orc get some love too? All they really wanted was some good farm land...

 

[FoverF]

Curently reading Jerry Pournelle and S.M. Stirling's The Prince, a collection of previously published (and good) novels set in the late 21st century, chronicling the political and military actions of Falkenberg's Mercenary Legion.

I'm a huge fan. I've actually started writing a mod for the Steel Panthers series of games, which will be set in this universe. Mainly for my own enjoyment, but if anyone is interested I'd be glad to pass it along when it's done.

The whole series is available free online from the publisher:
http://baencd.thefifthimperium.com/06-WindRiderCD/WindRiderCD/The%20Prince/The_Prince.htm

 

[Danjanou]

Friend sent this in an email. Thought I'd throw it up here for ideas.



USMC suggested book list by rank


Commandant’s Choice Book
• First to Fight: An Inside View of the U.S. Marine Corps by Victor H. Krulak


Recruit/Poolee
• I’m Staying With My Boys by Jim Proser
• The United States Marines: A History by Edwin Simmons

Private/Private First Class
• A Message To Garcia by Elbert Hubbard • Rifleman Dodd by C.S. Forester
• Blink by Malcolm Gladwell
• 1984 by George Orwell
• No True Glory by Bing West
• The Gift of Valor by Michael M. Phillips

Lance Corporal
• The 360 Degree Leader by John Maxwell
• The Afghan Campaign by Steven Pressfield
• My Men Are My Heroes by Nathaniel R. Helms
• Starship Troopers by Robert Heinlein
• The Ugly American by Eugene Burdick
• We Were One by Patrick K. O’Donnell

Corporal
• Afghanistan by Stephen Tanner
• All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque • Chosen Soldier by Dick Couch
• Flags of Our Fathers by James Bradley
• Ghost Soldiers by Hampton Sides
• Noble Warrior by James E. Livingston
• Once a Marine by Nick Popaditch
• The Defence of duffer’s Drift by Ernest Dunlop Swinton
• Marines in the Garden of Eden by Richard Lowry

Sergeant
• American Soldiers by Peter S. Kindsvatter
• Common Sense Training by Arthur S. Collins • Counterinsurgency Warfare by David Galula
July 11, 2011
• From the Horse’s Mouth by Major Ted McKeldin
• The Killer Angels by Michael Shaara
• A Soldier’s Load and the Mobility of a Nation by S.L.A. Marshall • Storm of Steel by Ernst Junger
• The Village by Bing West
• Tip of the Spear by G.J. Michaels
• With the Old Breed by E.B. Sledge

Staff Sergeant
• A Bell for Adano by John Hersey
• American Spartans by James A. Warren
• The Arab Mind by Raphael Patai
• Attacks by Erwin Rommel
• Battle Cry by Leon Uris
• The Defense of Hill 781 by James McDonough • The Face of Battle by John Keegan
• The Last Stand of Fox Company by Bob Drury • McCoy’s Marines by James M. McPherson
• On Killing by Dave Grossman
• Soldiers of God by Robert D. Kaplan
• The Speed of Trust by Stephen M.R. Covey

Gunnery Sergeant
• Afghan Guerilla Warfare by Ali Jalali
• Tiger Force: A True Story of Men and War by M. Sallah • Islands of the Damned by R. V. Burgin
• Killing Ground on Okinawa by James H. Hallas
• The Mission, The Men, and Me by Pete Blaber
• On Command by Dave Grossman
• Ride the Thunder by Richard Botkin
• The Savage Wars of Peace by Max Boot
• Victory at High Tide by Robert Heinlein
• We Were Soldiers Once and Young by Harold G. Moore

Master Sergeant/First Sergeant
• The Accidental Guerilla by David Kilcullen
• Courageous Follower by Ira Chaleff
• Fields of Battle by John Keegan
• Forgotten Warriors by Thomas Hammes
• Ghost Wars by Steve Coll
• The Guns of August by Barbara W. Tuchman
• The Lexus and the Olive Tree by Thomas Friedman
• The Passion of Command by Bryan McCoy
• Seven Deadly Scenarios by Andrew Krepinevich
• The Sling and the Stone by Thomas X. Hammes
• Technology and War by Martin L. Van Creveld

Master Gunnery Sergeant/Sergeant Major
• Achilles in Vietnam by Jonathan Shay
• At the Water’s Edge: Defending Against the Modern Amphibious Assault
by Theodore Gatchel
• The Crisis of Islam by Bernard Lewis
• The Coldest Winter by David Halberstam
• Crisis Leadership by Gene Klann
• The General by C.S. Forrester
• The Mask of Command by John Keegan
• No Bended Knee by Merril B. Twining
• On War by Carl Von Clausewitz
• A Peace to End All Peace by David Fromkin

Officer Candidate/Midshipman
• The Armed Forces Officer, DoD 2006
• My Men Are My Heroes by Nathaniel R. Helms
• United States Marines: A History by E. Simmons
• On Infantry by John A. English

2d Lieutenant / Warrant Officer/Chief Warrant Officer 2
• The Art of War by Sun Tzu
• Blink by Malcolm Gladwell
• Counterinsurgency Warfare by David Galula
• Leadership: The Warrior’s Art by Christopher D. Kolenda • The Mission, The Men and Me by Pete Blaber
• The Savage Wars of Peace by Max Boot
• Soldiers of God by Robert D. Kaplan
• The Speed of Trust by Stephen M.R. Covey
• Storm Landings by Joseph H. Alexander
• A Tactical Ethic by Dick Couch
• The Village by Bing West

1st Lieutenant / Chief Warrant Officer 3
• The Enlightened Soldier by Charles Edward • Seeds of Disaster by Robert Doughty
• Stormtroop Tactics by Bruce Gudmundsson • Command or Control by Marin Samuels
• The Breaking Point by Robert Doughty
• Fighting Power by Martin L. Van Creveld
• Transformation of War by Martin L. Van Creveld • Attacks by Erwin Rommell
• Battle Leadership by Adolf Von Schell
• The Peloponnesian War by Donald Kagan
• The Last Stand of Fox Company by Bob Drury
.
Captain / Chief Warrant Officer 4
• The Arab Mind by R. Patai
• The Defense of Hill 781 by James McDonough
• The General by C. S. Forrester
• Lions of Iwo Jima by Fred Haynes
• Lost Victories by Erich Von Manstein
• The Mask of Command by John Keegan
• Passion of Command by Bryan McCoy
• Sources of Power by Gary Klein
• The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell
• Victory at High Tide by Robert D. Heinl
• We Were Soldiers Once and Young by Harold G. Moore

Major/Chief Warrant Officer 5
• The Crucible of War by Fred Anderson
• The Guns of August by Barbara W. Tuchman
• This Kind of War by T. R. Fehrenbach
• The Landmark Thucydides edited by Robert Strassler
• The Last Stand: Custer, Sitting Bull, and the Battle of Little Big Horn by Nathaniel
Philbrick
• The Lexus and the Olive Tree by Thomas Friedman
• Masters of War by Michael Handel
• Once an Eagle by Anton Myrer
• Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln by Doris Goodwin
• Tiger Force: A True Story of Men and War by M. Sallah
• Utmost Savagery: The Three Days of Tarawa by Joseph Alexander
• Wired for War by P. W. Singer

Lieutenant Colonel
• A Bell for Adano by John Hersey
• Accidental Guerilla by David Kilcullen
• At The Water’s Edge: Defending Against the Modern Amphibious Assault by
Theodore Gatchel
• The Blitzkrieg Legend by Karl-Heinz Freiser
• The Bottom Billion by Paul Collier
• Brute: The Life of Victor Krulak by Robert Coram • Carnage and Culture by Victor Hanson
• Defeat into Victory by William Slim
• Forgotten Warriors by Thomas Hammes
• A Peace to End All Peace by David Fromkin
• Seven Deadly Scenarios by Andrew Krepinevich

Colonel to General *
• Another Bloody Century by Colin Gray
• The Coldest Winter by David Halberstam
• The Crisis of Islam by Bernard Lewis
• Decoding Clausewitz by Jon Sumida
• Dereliction of Duty by H.R. McMaster
• Diplomacy by Henry Kissinger
• Fault Lines: How Hidden Fractures Still Threaten the World by Raghuram Rajan • How Wars End by Gideon Rose
• Tried by War by James McPherson
• Supreme Command: Soldiers, Statesmen, and Leadership in Wartime by Eliot A.
Cohen

Good list, I've read about 18 on there as far as I can tell. Two interesting points, one seveal books keep reappearing higher up on the list, and there are quite a few novels on there.

 

[cupper]

Good list, I've read about 18 on there as far as I can tell. Two interesting points, one seveal books keep reappearing higher up on the list, and there are quite a few novels on there.

Well, you wouldn't want them reading "Fifty Shades" would you? ;D

I counted 11 that I've read over the years.

 

[brihard]

Good list, I've read about 18 on there as far as I can tell. Two interesting points, one seveal books keep reappearing higher up on the list, and there are quite a few novels on there.

Ten for me. I'm not displeased by that at all.

Since Grossman has not written a book called 'On Command', I'm quite positive that it meant to say 'On Combat'. It fits, too.

 

[Danjanou]

Ten for me. I'm not displeased by that at all.

Since Grossman has not written a book called 'On Command', I'm quite positive that it meant to say 'On Combat'. It fits, too.

You know I automatically read that as On Combat.

BTW what's wrong with 50 Shades of Grey, all the female members of the site were raving about it  :whiteflag: