Vanity...Read Any Good Books Lately?

n/a ^ | 7/10/21 | Me

[Don@VB]

Sometimes it's hard to find interesting reading. Any recommendations you care to share? I have a suggested book about the air campaign during World War II: more below...

[DFG]

I have read the following books this year:

“All the Way to Berlin: A Paratrooper at War in Europe” by James Megellas

Most decorated 82nd Airborne paratrooper in WW2. He was deployed from Anzio in 1944 to the postwar occupation in Berlin. Died at age 102 in 2020.

“At War with Spain in 1898” by David Trask

“The Bravest Man: Richard O’Kane and the Amazing Submarine Adventures of the USS Tang” by William Tuohy

“The Second World Wars: How the First Global Conflict Was Fought and Won” by Victor David Hanson

“Indianapolis: The True Story of the Worst Sea Disaster in U.S. Naval History and the Fifty-Year Fight to Exonerate an Innocent Man” by Lynn Vincent and Sara Vladic. My Mom’s name is on page 548 in the acknowledgements.

[JeanLM]

Read Daniel Kahnemen’s “Noise”. A good analysis of why experts make bad judgements.

[samadams2000]

Sparrowhawk- Book 1 Cline
The Virginian - Owen Wister
The Haj- Leon Uris
Chesapeake- Michener

[ProtectOurFreedom]

I'm currently reading "Broken Trail." I'm not sure why I selected that book, but I thought it would be a good summer read. You will probably recognize it as the 2006 Western television film of the same name. The book was written by Alan Geoffrion who also worked on the screenplay.

It's a story about an aging cowboy and his nephew who transport 500 horses from around Burns, Oregon to Wyoming to sell them to the British Army. Wiki --> "Along the way, their simple horse drive is complicated when they rescue five Chinese girls from a slave trader, saving them from a life of prostitution and indentured servitude. Compelled to do the right thing, they take the girls with them as they continue their perilous trek across the frontier, followed by a vicious gang of killers sent by the whorehouse madam who originally paid for the girls."

I love the way the story weaves the British fighting the Boer War in Africa, the sale of young women in China into prostitution in San Francisco, and the great American West. I'm a big fan of Robert Duvall and I can hear his voice while reading the book. I just found a review by DeltaQueen50 on LibraryThings:

The author wrote the book with Robert Duvall in mind for the older character, and I am guessing he was over the moon when Robert Duvall agreed to play the part in the movie that was made. I have to admit a great part of the enjoyment of this book for me was imagining Robert Duvall as “Uncle Print” Ritter. I enjoyed this book and found it a great escape read.

I couldn't agree more with that review -- good escape read, good historical fiction that weaves together Africa, China, and the US West, and a novel plot.

[SES1066]

"1941: The Year Germany Lost the War" [2019] by Andrew Nagorski. This link is to a Library of Congress (LoC) speech and Q&A by the author but the image is from a different Youtube video. I found the LoC talk to be quite fascinating!

To think that in the space of a single year, Germany went from its greatest success to creating its worst nightmare in sowing its own defeat.

[blam]

At the suggestion of my son:

Behave: The Biology Of Humans At Our Best And Worst

[RoosterRedux]

[Jolla]

Louis L’Amour The Adventure Stories

Includes my favorite hero Ponga Jim Mayo, captain of a merchant ship, lots of short stories mostly set in the far east and south china seas during WWII. Lots of fun adventure easy reads, can do one story a night.

[Don@VB]

Wow! To everyone, thanks for this wealth of reading recommendations. I hope you all discover some new reading here as well!

[BrexitBen]

The Pity Of War, by Niall Ferguson

Private Cathedral, by James Lee Burke

[Eric in the Ozarks]

Hillbilly Elegy

[BunnySlippers]

Bookmark

[srmanuel]

Napoleon is always right, I will work harder and Four legs Good, Two legs Bad….

[SES1066]

If I may be so bold, many of the older books listed here, that are out of copyright, should be looked up first on Project Gutenberg [PG] or other no-charge web sites (however I find PG quite sufficient). A short time back I had the desire to re-read Lou Wallace's "Ben Hur" and, before buying on Amazon, remembered PG and found it there! Excellent source for Sir Walter Scott, J.F.Cooper, Thoreau, Kipling etc.

From its Corporate website, The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, This is an IRS 501(c)(3) charity and it currently has 65k books for the USofA consumption. They do caution that other countries have different copyright restrictions and use of this domestic resource might violate their laws.

[pbear8]

While I generally read history and biographies, I made an exception for Andy Weir’s new book, “The Hail Mary Project”, it is sci-fi which I never read but it is funny.

[johngalt42]

The Railway Man by Eric Lomax is a great read about WWII British veteran and the effects of POW torture. I just finished Flags Of Our Fathers by James Bradley, and it was an awesome read. Bataan: The March Of Death by Stanley L. Falk is another good read. I would suggest Anthem by Ayn Rand to understand why the left is changing up all the pronouns and trying to control words and language.

[Orosius]

Even with some inaccuracies, that’s a great read. The story of Blue Jacket alone is worth the price of admission.

[Orosius]

I’ve been rereading THE GREAT MUTINY: India 1857 by Christopher Hibbert. A ripping yarn and all true.

[ml/nj]

ML/NJ

[PIF]

Just started The Three Body Problem by Cixin Liu. Intriguing so far.

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Read several years ago, followed by The Dark Forest, and Deaths End, as well as the fan sequel to the series: The Redemption of Time by Bao Shu which ties up all the loose ends. All recommended.

Also any book by Gene Wolfe who was, before he passed a few years ago, the last great writer of English. Starters: The Complete Book of the New Sun: The Shadow of the Torturer, The Claw of the Conciliator, The Sword of the Lictor, The Citadel of the Autarch, The Urth of the New Sun (The Book of the New Sun) - Kindle edition

Litany of the Long Sun: Nightside the Long Sun and Lake of the Long Sun (Book of the Long Sun, Books 1 and 2)
Epiphany of the Long Sun: Calde of the Long Sun and Exodus from the Long Sun (Book of the Long Sun, Books 3 and 4)

On Blue's Waters (Book of the Short Sun, 1)
In Green's Jungles (Book of the Short Sun, Book 2)
Return to the Whorl (Book of the Short Sun, 3)

Also recommended to keep track of the worlds is Lexicon Urthus: A Dictionary for the Urth Cycle and Gate of Horn, Book of Silk: A Guide to Gene Wolfe's The Book of the Long Sun and The Book of the Short Sun

Hint: Time is recursive for the characters in this very long series by Wolfe. Each book can stand alone, but makes more sense when read together and complete - you may even want to re-read them again.