What book are you reading now?
- Thread starter Ex-Dragoon
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ZacheryK said:
A classic I usually read that (in the 3 separate books) and The Hobbit every Christmas leave. I have read "The Silmarillion" a few times but I have to be in a dedicated frame of mind to read it, I don't enjoy it as much.
daftandbarmy
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Bill Bryson's 'One Summer: America 1927'
http://www.theguardian.com/books/2013/sep/26/one-summer-1927-bill-bryson-review
Hilarious and weirdly informative. For example, I have never willingly learned so much about a sport I have little interest in: baseball. ;D
http://www.theguardian.com/books/2013/sep/26/one-summer-1927-bill-bryson-review
Hilarious and weirdly informative. For example, I have never willingly learned so much about a sport I have little interest in: baseball. ;D
Oldgateboatdriver
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daftandbarmy said:
Then you must read Shoeless Joe, by Mr. Kinsella. Because: "When the wow is spoken … things happen …"
Blackadder1916
Army.ca Fixture
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Re-reading Robert Lacey's 'The Kingdom: Arabia and the House of Sa'ud'.
http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2089503.The_Kingdom
Originally published in 1981, I didn't first read it until 1990. I guess a lot of copies were sold that year to soldiers in response to world events. Since then, I've gone back to it every few years not just because of Lacey's insight into the workings of that part of the world, but because the first part of the book (the story of Abdul Aziz's retaking of Riyadh and the conquest/reshaping of the Arabian Peninsula into Saudi Arabia) reads like an adventure tale.
Every time I re-read it and judge currents events in the region, I'll usually have a moment of epiphany and think "Okay, now I get it, that's why!"
Lacey's also wrote a follow-up that was published in 2009, 'Inside The Kingdom' that is equally good.
http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2089503.The_Kingdom
Originally published in 1981, I didn't first read it until 1990. I guess a lot of copies were sold that year to soldiers in response to world events. Since then, I've gone back to it every few years not just because of Lacey's insight into the workings of that part of the world, but because the first part of the book (the story of Abdul Aziz's retaking of Riyadh and the conquest/reshaping of the Arabian Peninsula into Saudi Arabia) reads like an adventure tale.
Every time I re-read it and judge currents events in the region, I'll usually have a moment of epiphany and think "Okay, now I get it, that's why!"
Lacey's also wrote a follow-up that was published in 2009, 'Inside The Kingdom' that is equally good.
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Just finished "What It Is Like to Go to War" by a former USMC platoon commander in Vietnam* - an interesting discussion of different options to prepare the minds and souls of warriors before they go into battle to kill, and how to ease the transition of the same minds and souls as they return from battle, and as they move on back into civilian life.
* Same author - Karl Marlantes - as "Matterhorn", which is on the USMC Commandant's list of must-reads.
* Same author - Karl Marlantes - as "Matterhorn", which is on the USMC Commandant's list of must-reads.
daftandbarmy
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Oldgateboatdriver said:Then you must read Shoeless Joe, by Mr. Kinsella. Because: "When the wow is spoken … things happen …"
No. I can't. Someone actually bought me a copy of that once and I couldn't touch it. Too much quasi-religious sports stuff ;D
caocao said:
Awesome.
The first couple times around, it felt like a completely different writer from Starship Troopers and the rest of his books. Reading the unabridged version that his wife managed to finally get published, it was his voice. Still good, but it didn't hit me as strongly.
The "tight" version where his publisher made him cut one word in three still feels like the best, definitive version for me.
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10% Happier: How I Tamed the Voice in My Head, Reduced Stress Without Losing My Edge, and Found Self-Help That Actually Works--A True Story
December 30, 1914
By Dan Harris
Harris had the ambition and drive to rise to ABC News television anchor. He’d felt the “journalistic heroin” of reporting from war zones, anchored national broadcasts, and even recovered from cocaine addiction. But he also had a voice in his head, the same voice most of us wrestle with, constantly second-guessing him. If he could only quiet that voice, he’d be happier and less stressed. Harris was already covering the religion beat when he veered off on a personal journey to find answers beyond the self-help gurus. Along the way, he talked to Eckhart Tolle, Deepak Chopra, a host of Jewish Buddhists, and even the Dalai Lama before reluctantly trying meditation. Approaching it with all the skepticism of a reporter, Harris checked out the neurological research and learned that meditation was being used in the corporate and military arenas to heighten focus and clarity. After going on a meditation retreat, he ultimately found the balance he sought between ambition and inner peace. In this brave, completely engaging, and often hilarious book, Harris achieves his aim of demystifying meditation. --Vanessa Bush --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
http://www.amazon.com/10-Happier-Self-Help-Actually-Works-A/dp/0062265431
Prize winning book by Dan Harris. The story of his journey into becoming a practitioner of meditation.
December 30, 1914
By Dan Harris
Harris had the ambition and drive to rise to ABC News television anchor. He’d felt the “journalistic heroin” of reporting from war zones, anchored national broadcasts, and even recovered from cocaine addiction. But he also had a voice in his head, the same voice most of us wrestle with, constantly second-guessing him. If he could only quiet that voice, he’d be happier and less stressed. Harris was already covering the religion beat when he veered off on a personal journey to find answers beyond the self-help gurus. Along the way, he talked to Eckhart Tolle, Deepak Chopra, a host of Jewish Buddhists, and even the Dalai Lama before reluctantly trying meditation. Approaching it with all the skepticism of a reporter, Harris checked out the neurological research and learned that meditation was being used in the corporate and military arenas to heighten focus and clarity. After going on a meditation retreat, he ultimately found the balance he sought between ambition and inner peace. In this brave, completely engaging, and often hilarious book, Harris achieves his aim of demystifying meditation. --Vanessa Bush --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
http://www.amazon.com/10-Happier-Self-Help-Actually-Works-A/dp/0062265431
Prize winning book by Dan Harris. The story of his journey into becoming a practitioner of meditation.
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Knife Fights: A Memoir of Modern War in Theory and Practice Hardcover – October 16, 2014
by John Nagel
Peter R. Mansoor, Colonel, U.S. Army (Ret.); author, Surge: My Journey with General David Petraeus and the Remaking of the Iraq War:
"A magnificent memoir from one of the most brilliant officers of his generation. Knife Fights details John Nagl's journey from the halls of West Point and Oxford to the battlefields of Desert Storm and Operation Iraqi Freedom, as well as his struggles and triumphs among Washington's power elite. Highly recommended for those who seek to understand how the Army overcame its initial dysfunction to wage the messy counterinsurgency wars in Iraq and Afghanistan."
by John Nagel
Peter R. Mansoor, Colonel, U.S. Army (Ret.); author, Surge: My Journey with General David Petraeus and the Remaking of the Iraq War:
"A magnificent memoir from one of the most brilliant officers of his generation. Knife Fights details John Nagl's journey from the halls of West Point and Oxford to the battlefields of Desert Storm and Operation Iraqi Freedom, as well as his struggles and triumphs among Washington's power elite. Highly recommended for those who seek to understand how the Army overcame its initial dysfunction to wage the messy counterinsurgency wars in Iraq and Afghanistan."
Just about to finish a re-read of Dune. Only read it once before, many years ago. Watched the miniseries a bunch. Debating whether to continue on with the next two (as covered in the "sequel" miniseries). I know later on the series diminishes in quality when the son takes over, but still, might be worth the read at least once.
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Carlotta Gall - The Wrong Enemy: America in Afghanistan 2001 - 2014
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"Satan's Circus: Murder, Vice, Police Corruption, and New York's Trial of the Century" by Mike Dash. Non-fiction.
The life and times of Lieutenant Charles Becker NYPD:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Becker
The only American police officer ever to be executed for murder.
There are no heroes in the story ( he himself was the first to admit he was no angel ), but my sympathy was with Lieutenant and Mrs. Becker.
The life and times of Lieutenant Charles Becker NYPD:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Becker
The only American police officer ever to be executed for murder.
There are no heroes in the story ( he himself was the first to admit he was no angel ), but my sympathy was with Lieutenant and Mrs. Becker.
I finished Rommel Reconsidered edited by Ian W Beckett a couple of weeks ago. As the title suggests, it is a series of essays on various aspects of Rommel's life, career and legend by a group of British historians. It is an interesting, if not exactly earth shattering effort, that considers his First World War service as well as that between the wars and his relationship with Hitler; his service in France in 1940; North Africa; Normandy; his [according to the essay non-existent] part in the bomb plot; and the growth of his legend post-war.
Probably the strongest and most interesting parts deal with 1940 and North Africa, although one senses a double standard, especially where one author notes Rommel's use of signals intelligence, while acknowledging the later British reliance on Ultra as setting the stage for the turn of the tide in 1942 at first El Alamein. I found what could have been the most interesting part of the book - the discussion of the growth of his legend - not as strong and as well supported by more than opinion as I would have liked. Still, it is quite possible and probably true that the British built up his legend both during and after the war as a cover for their own failures in generalship, basic tactics and communications security. There was more to Rommel than a product of both British and German propaganda. It also takes a leap in logic to dismiss Brig Desmond Young's 1950 biography and the subsequent film as attempts to rehabilitate West Germany. Last, while Rommel may have supported National Socialism as a movement, it is noteworthy that he did not pass on down his chain of command Hitler's direction to shoot captured Allied commandoes without trial.
Probably the strongest and most interesting parts deal with 1940 and North Africa, although one senses a double standard, especially where one author notes Rommel's use of signals intelligence, while acknowledging the later British reliance on Ultra as setting the stage for the turn of the tide in 1942 at first El Alamein. I found what could have been the most interesting part of the book - the discussion of the growth of his legend - not as strong and as well supported by more than opinion as I would have liked. Still, it is quite possible and probably true that the British built up his legend both during and after the war as a cover for their own failures in generalship, basic tactics and communications security. There was more to Rommel than a product of both British and German propaganda. It also takes a leap in logic to dismiss Brig Desmond Young's 1950 biography and the subsequent film as attempts to rehabilitate West Germany. Last, while Rommel may have supported National Socialism as a movement, it is noteworthy that he did not pass on down his chain of command Hitler's direction to shoot captured Allied commandoes without trial.
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I just began reading Robert M Gates autobiography titled "Duty". Gates was a former Secretary of Defense for the USA
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The Dogs Are Eating Them Now: Our War in Afghanistan Hardcover
by Graeme Smith.
by Graeme Smith.
