quote:

Originally posted by Jimbo Jones:
Just finished "Concrete Blonde" by Michael Connelly. Bosch series # 3

Prob going to start John D. McDonald's Travis McGee series (will be third or fourth time reading them).

I loved the Travis McGee series.

I’m reading The Last Gunfight by Jeff Guinn.

I'm reading an old issue of Playboy, October 1998, featuring a 32-year old farm girl named Cindy Crawford. Just the articles.

I was supposed to read 1984 back in high school for an American lit and comp class, but I didn’t read it.
So I’m reading it now, figured it was about time.

Chasing Villa: The Last Campaign of the US Cavalry.

As a LEO a huge part of my job has always involved writing (narratives). Now as a supervisor I spend most of my days reading and approving others’ tales of the criminally stupid. Over the last 20 years that has seriously detracted from my desire to read for pleasure.

In retrospect that’s probably one of my most resented aspects of the job. I used to read a lot in my youth for pleasure. Especially love the Parker ‘SPENSER’ novels.

I’ve had an old hardcover of ‘The Exorcist’ for years. I’ve just gotten back into reading some on the weekends and am a couple chapters in.

Harry S. Truman
by his daughter Margaret

Good read.

Ride the Devil's Herd: Wyatt Earp's Epic Battle Against the West's Biggest Outlaw Gang


The Fighting Bunch
The Battle of Athens and How World War II Veterans Won the Only Successful Armed Rebellion Since the Revolution

Ordinary Men By Christoper R. Browning

Shows how easily men can be convinced to do horrendous acts.

I just finished reading this...


Now I'm looking for something new.

Undaunted Courage by Stephen Ambrose. The story of the Lewis and Clark expedition of which I knew very little aside from the general where and when they glossed over in school. Recommend it highly.

Nick by Michael Farris Smith. The author's take on the life of Nick Carraway before The Great Gatsby. I love Gatsby so the bar was set impossibly high and not cleared. It didn't make me angry so there's that. It did seem as though half of the story was already written and Nick was inserted into that part while the other part was written to flesh out an entire book and tie Nick into both sides. Wasn't a bad read just never had an a-ha moment that screamed yes it's Nick Carraway.

Currently reading A Patriots History of the United States. Up to the civil war

"The Black Death: The World's Most Devastating Plague". Audio book/college course by Dr. Dorsey Armstrong. Interesting similarities and parallels with our current problem.

"Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds" on my Kindle.

"The text concentrates on a wide variety of phenomena which had occurred over the centuries prior to this book's publication in 1841. It begins by examining various economic bubbles, such as the infamous Tulipomania - wherein Dutch tulips rocketed in value amid claims they could be substituted for actual currency - and various follies spread by word of mouth in urban areas.

The scope of the book broadens into several more exotic fields of mass self-deception."

“The Guns of John Moses Browning”. By Gorenstein. He was able to get unprecedented access to documents never released by the browning family. Quite interesting.

Recently finished "The Soviet Tragedy, A History of Socialism in Russia, 1917-1991" by Martin Malia.
Far more detailed than expected making it a slow read for me, but I thought relevant to our times.

quote:

Originally posted by GrumpyBiker:
Just started reading Maverick, the biography of the great man (& enlisted Marine) Thomas Sowell.
I’ve been anxious to finish the books I had ahead of it.
So far a very good read.

Good to hear. I bought the book, but haven't opened it yet. I read a lot. So far this year, my favorite reads have been:

Midnight in Chernobyl by Adam Higginbotham. If you liked the HBO series Chernobyl, you should like this book as it goes into greater detail about the disaster.

Benjamin Franklin: An American Life by Walter Issacson. Good bio of the iconic Founding Father.

Twilight of the Gods by Ian Toll Third volume of Toll's Pacific War triology. I thought it was outstanding.

With the Old Breed by E. B. Sledge My second read of this classic war memoir. It was just as good the second time. I will probably read it again at some point.

Can't Hurt Me by David Goggins This book has been plugged incessantly, but I was underwhelmed. Goggins overcame some big obstacles, but by the end of the book, I ended up disliking him.

Permanent Record by Edward Snowden Not the best memoir, but definitely an eye opener if you have doubts about the extent of the 'surveillance state'. I wouldn't allow a Alexa or other such "smart" device in my house before. Now, I'm trying to figure out a way to dump my smart phone.

Shogun by James Clavell Seond read for this book as well. I liked it well enough the first time and didn't plan on reading it again. But, I was bored one night, picked it up, kept going, and a quick 1,100 pages later, I was finished.

quote:

Originally posted by D_Steve:
Recently finished "The Soviet Tragedy, A History of Socialism in Russia, 1917-1991" by Martin Malia.

I can’t recommend that book enough to anyone with the slightest interest in how communism or even socialism works in practice.

It should be required reading, with verification through testing, for anyone running for public office higher than street sweeper.

quote:

Originally posted by mrapteam666:
Ride the Devil's Herd: Wyatt Earp's Epic Battle Against the West's Biggest Outlaw Gang

I saw the title - how is it?

quote:

Originally posted by CoolRich59:
Benjamin Franklin: An American Life by Walter Isaacson. Good bio of the iconic Founding Father.

If you enjoyed that enough to want a little more, I can highly recommend "Young Benjamin Franklin: The Birth Of Ingenuity" by Nick Bunker.

I just finished the Jack Carr The Terminal List series, and enjoyed it quite a bit!

quote:

Originally posted by Il Cattivo:

If you enjoyed that enough to want a little more, I can highly recommend "Young Benjamin Franklin: The Birth Of Ingenuity" by Nick Bunker.

I will check it out. Thank you!

quote:

Originally posted by BillF:
Ordinary Men By Christoper R. Browning

Shows how easily men can be convinced to do horrendous acts.

That caught my eye; it's in my Kindle wishlist, will be reading it soon.

Just finished "The Deluge" by Adam Tooze, covering American foreign policy 1916-1931. A good read for folks interested in the history of the early 20th century.