I'm currently reading David Baldacci's 'End Game' and about 3/4 the way through it. Typical good read of his.

Jim

I decided to read some of the Hardy Boys I have on my book shelf.

Just about to finish up American Gods. And as Ive already read Neuromancer, I figure I’ll finish up William Gibson’s Sprawl Trilogy next.

Arredondo, Last Spanish Ruler of Texas and Northeastern New Spain by one Bradley Folsom. It's a good tale, especially if you ever wondered who taught Santa Anna (of Alamo infamy) how to be Santa Anna.

The downsides are that the book is a bit thin (the author could've done more to fit the biography into not just Mexican and Spanish history, but American and world history as well) and the author's a PC pantywaist. Beyond that, good stuff. It'll definitely also reinforce the lesson that Spain basically jumped from expelling the Moors directly into being the major power in the Americas, with all of the baggage that goes with making such a leap.

Just started Grant by Ron Chernow.

IT by Stephen King. I have to reread this about once every decade.

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Originally posted by qxsoup:

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Originally posted by f2:

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Originally posted by Hound Dog:
D-Day by Stephen Ambrose.

EXCELLENT read about the D-Day landings in Normandy. Full of first-person accounts, enemy and allied points of view, etc. He is an outstanding author. The book is 700+ pages long, but it's a very easy read. . .

While I'm waiting for D-Day, I'm reading his
Nothing Like It in the World: The Men Who Built the Transcontinental Railroad 1863-69.

Nothing like it in the world is by far my favorite Stephen Ambrose book. His Lewis and Clark book is great as well.

+1 to both. The Men Who Built the Transcontinental Railroad is an excellent primer for anyone who watched Hell On Wheels.

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Originally posted by PHPaul:

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Originally posted by RogueJSK:
Churchill's Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare

https://www.amazon.com/Churchi...ricks/dp/1250119022/

I watched a documentary on that. Fascinating.

Fascinating is right. I wish it had gone on for a bit further into the war.

Washington: A Life on Audible by Ron Chernow. Before that, Grant also by Chernow.

Neptunes Inferno - James Hornfischer.
(battles of Guadalcanal)

Re-reading some of Tom Clancy's original works. (Originally read these maybe 15-20 years ago). Just finished Red Storm Rising, The Hunt for Red October, & The Sum of All Fears. Just started The Cardinal of the Kremlin. They somehow seem better the second time through, especially after the 15-20 year time in between.

Edit to add recently read Astrophysics for People in a Hurry. Fascinating look at the topic from a simplified but interesting perspective.

Don Winslow's THE FORCE.

I’ve just completed 2 books back2back about rangers. Not Rangers, but rangers. Park rangers. The stories are real; so is the PTSD, mental breakdowns, danger, heartbreak and feelings of resentment towards the community they are sworn to protect.

I highly recommend both, there are so many similarities in what these folks deal with compared to Vets that I think most of you will find quite a bit that resonate with you. Some of the recuse missions (wins and losses) described in Ranger Confidential get pretty honest and gruesome, so be warned.

Ranger Confidential: Living, Working, and Dying in the National Parks by Andrea Langford
I would consider this a woman’s perspective of the “there we were” type books that so many Vets like to write. She’s seen it all in the Grand Cannon; death, crime, suicide, bear attacks, entitles BASE jumpers, you name it.

The Last Season by Eric Blehm
The Last Season tells the true story of the life and disappearance of Randy Morgenson who, over the course of twenty-eight summers spent in California’s Sierra Nevada Mountains, became arguably the most celebrated ranger in the National Park Service’s most adventurous SAR unit.
He eventually went ‘native’ on the bit and disappeared, causing the same type of dangerous search for him by his peers and friends, that he had executed so many times in the past.

I liked the work that Mark Greaney did on the Tom Clancy Jack Ryan, Jr. series, so I thought I'd give the "Gray Man' a try and bought the first three books in the series. I am now on the third book and to be honest, I'm not overly impressed and I'm having a hard time getting through the third book.

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Originally posted by ggile:
I liked the work that Mark Greaney did on the Tom Clancy Jack Ryan, Jr. series, so I thought I'd give the "Gray Man' a try and bought the first three books in the series. I am now on the third book and to be honest, I'm not overly impressed and I'm having a hard time getting through the third book.

They all stay pretty much the same, if you are not grooving on them, you are probably better off beginning a new series.

Similar genre:
The Mitch Rapp books by Vince Flynn
These are more modern times/CIA type books.

The Jack reacher books by Lee Child
These are more Kane from Kung Fu wandering from town-to-town and getting into adventures books.

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Originally posted by Ronin1069:

They all stay pretty much the same, if you are not grooving on them, you are probably better off beginning a new series.

Similar genre:
The Mitch Rapp books by Vince Flynn
These are more modern times/CIA type books.

The Jack reacher books by Lee Child
These are more Kane from Kung Fu wandering from town-to-town and getting into adventures books.

I was into Mitch Rapp until Vince Flynn passed away and haven't read any of the Rapp series since. I'm generally a little leery of new authors taking over a well established series.

quote:

Originally posted by ggile:

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Originally posted by Ronin1069:

They all stay pretty much the same, if you are not grooving on them, you are probably better off beginning a new series.

Similar genre:
The Mitch Rapp books by Vince Flynn
These are more modern times/CIA type books.

The Jack reacher books by Lee Child
These are more Kane from Kung Fu wandering from town-to-town and getting into adventures books.

I was into Mitch Rapp until Vince Flynn passed away and haven't read any of the Rapp series since. I'm generally a little leery of new authors taking over a well established series.

Ya know…he actually did a pretty good job channeling what Vince would probably have wanted. The ‘new’ guy recently announced that the current book being released will be his last for the series.

I lost part of my love for the series when Flynn died. He was a regular participant on talk radio in Minnesota and ran very conservative; he wrote Rapp very much how he wished things could be done in real life. For me Mitch Rapp became just another character after cancer stole Vince Flynn from us.

FWIW, there's a 32 page thread about reading here...

https://sigforum.com/eve/forum...0601935/m/7300027024

I have been trying to Read Ghost Rider by Neil Peart but it’s just too dry for me. I gave it to the kid today because he gave me Off the Rails by Rudy Sarzo for Father’s Day. I am enjoying it.

Ambrose definitely had a knack for writing readable works. Everything he wrote is generally enjoyable.

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Originally posted by qxsoup:

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Originally posted by f2:

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Originally posted by Hound Dog:
D-Day by Stephen Ambrose.

EXCELLENT read about the D-Day landings in Normandy. Full of first-person accounts, enemy and allied points of view, etc. He is an outstanding author. The book is 700+ pages long, but it's a very easy read. . .

While I'm waiting for D-Day, I'm reading his
Nothing Like It in the World: The Men Who Built the Transcontinental Railroad 1863-69.

Nothing like it in the world is by far my favorite Stephen Ambrose book. His Lewis and Clark book is great as well.