Civil War Poetry and Prose by Walt Whitman. I keep this little paperback in my purse for brief reading, such as on the treadmill, during a Cub Scouts hike, or at a stoplight.
The Gates of November: Chronicles of the Slepak Family by Chaim Potok. Chaim Potok is a new author for me, recent FR recommendation. I read My Name Is Asher Lev last week, and The Chosen is waiting at the library.
To the Other Towns: A Life of Blessed Peter Favre by William V. Bangert, S.J. This is a re-read of a biography of one of the founders of the Jesuits.
And on the CD player, One Nation by Dr. Ben Carson. This audiobook is being passed around my prayer group.
I’ve read all of Jan Karon’s “Mitford” books and am now reading her “Father Tim” books. All focus around an Episcopilian priest, Father Timothy Cavanaugh, and a town called Mitford set in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains.
Loved Karon’s characterizations of the locals and the spirit in which the books were written. I’m not Episcoplian; but can appreciate following Father Tim’s ministry and personal growth.
Full of laughter and tears. I’m going to hate it when I run out of Karon’s books; but, I have hundreds of others waiting on my Kindle. :)
An early Communist activist, József Pogány, aka John Pepper, was active for a while in this country and wrote the pamphlet American Negro Problems (New York.: Workers' Library, 1928) which called on American blacks to secede and form their own nation. The pamphlet was reprinted in the 1960's by the John Birch Society. Pogány/Pepper later moved to Moscow, where he was liquidated in one of Stalin's purges.
Anyone interested in the early history of the Cold War, Soviet espionage, or "McCarthyism" would be interested in Sakmyster's earlier work Red Conspirator: J. Peters and the American Communist Underground (Urbana, Ill.: University of Illinois Press, 2011). This is the story of "J. Peters," one of the many aliases of a highly influential yet mysterious Soviet agent during the 1930's and 1940's who was deported to Communist Hungary, where he became a celebrity. Sakmyster, who is apparently fluent in Hungarian, was able to gain access to previously secret documents so as to be able to finally tell his story.
Another book along this line that I have recently read is The Lost Spy: An American in Stalin's Secret Service (New York: Norton, 2008), which is about an American Communist who spies for the Soviet Union and is rewarded for his service by being thrown into Stalin's Gulag.
1.) The Circle by Dave Eggers ***
2.) The Auschwitz Escape by Joel C. Rosenberg ***1/2
3.) The Story of Edgar Sawtelle by David Wroblewski ***
4.) Iron House by John Hart ***1/2
5.) Bushville Wins by John Kilma ***
6.) The Book Thief by Markus Zusak ****
7.) Goat Mountain by David Vann **
8.) The Longest Ride by Nicholas Sparks ***1/2
9.) Winter of the World by Ken Follett ****
10.) Fall of Giants by Ken Follett ****
11.) And Then the Roof Caved In by David Faber **1/2
12.) The Talent Code by Daniel Coyle ****
13.) 11-22-63 by Stephen King **1/2
A few brief notes:
The final book in the Century Trilogy by Ken Follett will be released in September.
The Story of Edgar Sawtelle was an excellent read ...until the final 25 pages. I would definitely have given **** with a different ending.
Currently reading The Twelfth Imam trilogy by Joel C. Rosenberg. Half way through the first volume, and thus far it is a very good read, that, while fiction, is drawn right from the headlines coming out of Iran as I type.
Churchill’s History of the English Speaking Peoples (abridged version)
The book ADAPT. Into a lot of books on marketing, psychology, marketing behavior, tech.
Will read Book #5 of FIRE & ICE (Game of Thrones) series soon. That is my “fun” reading for the summer. Period.
At the moment The Monuments Men
But I just finished a fantastic first book by the author: “Native Crimes” by Steven Wright. It weaves the Apache Indian story, Yale University/Skull and Bones, and historical events into an amazing fiction mystery. This one will be on my must read recommendations!
Currently reading:
Senatorial Privilege-The Chappaquiddick Cover-up (Leo Damore, I read this years ago...just amazing)
Next up:
Dare Call it Treason (John Stormer, about the mutiny in the French army in 1917)
I just finished listening to:
Last Stand at Khe Sanh (Gregg Jones)
The Great Explorers (Samuel Eliot Morison, best books about the age of discovery)
The Battle-The Story of The Bulge (John Toland Very good book.)
Atomic Accidents (James Mahaffey-Excellent book! About civilian and military nuclear-related accidents)
Last Men Out (Bob Drury and Tom Clavin, about the fall of Saigon...appropriate reading)
The Long Boats (about the viking raiders, translated from Swedish, written in 1940, recommended by a Freeper, but cannot remember who!)
The White Company by Arthur Conan Doyle.
Lionheart by Sharon Kay Penman.
Classic science fiction from a books on tape series that my son downloaded for me to listen to when I had to fly across the country.
I’ve read most of them ages ago and what’s amazing is that the top 10 that were considered “The Best” back when I was in college in the dark ages (according to my kids) are the same books listed in the 2010s.
1. 1984
2. Dune
3. Foundation
4. Stranger in a Stranger Land
5. Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (which I read to my son when he was small).
6. Enders Game.
Recommend all, that is if you like Sci Fi, I know a lot of people don’t.
Ira Levin’s dystopian novel This Perfect Day” yet again-a nail biter of sorts, it does have a happy ending-then it will be “The Pagan Lord”, the latest in Bernard Cornwell’s series about a Northumbrian Earl during the rule of King Alfred and his kids/grandkids-real history that is not boring because of plenty of dry British humor...
Living on Fire - The Life of L. Brent Bozell Jr.
OK. I am reading the Disappearing Spoon - an interesting non fiction about the elements - you know, mercury, silver, etc - lots of little interesting tidbits.
I also just finished a young adult book called the Rithmatist which is sort of a fantasy steampunk mystery. The author (Brandon Sanderson) usually writes adult fantasy stuff and is considered quite good but I do like stuff to be clean, so I like YA.
I also recently read Look to the Lady by Margery Allingham as I like older British whodunit.
And I intend to listen to this on audible:
http://www.audible.com/pd/Fiction/Free-The-Secret-Life-of-Walter-Mitty-Audiobook/B00GNGL8CE
Just read the book on Babi Yar. The others are strong recommendations that I read some time back.
The Riddle of Babi Yar
Excellent, moving, frightening true story of the massacre of over 100,000 at Babi Yar written by a survivor.
Ghost Soldiers
Non-fiction about the rescue of about 300 survivors of the Bataan Death March prior to McArthur’s return to the Phillipines
Killer Angels by Shaara,
novel, but fact-based, on Battle of Gettysburg
Second Opinion by Theodore Dalrymple
Non fiction commentary by doctor who worked in East End London - very germane and painfully close to America now and where we are heading.
Finishing the Myth Adventures series, which I grew up on but lost touch with. As I get closer to the day Bob died the books get kind of depressing, not in content, just in knowledge.
I have lots of time on my hands now.
I loved, “The Chosen.”