What have you been reading?

July 17, 2024, 10:20 AM

joel9507

Just finished "The Golden Trade of the Moors" which is a history of northern Africa from pre-Roman times up to the start of European colonization. Not a period I'd had a lot of exposure to. An era and region where gold, salt, camels, slave trade, and the spread of Islam all had tremendous impact.

Next up is "The Indifferent Stars Above" laying out the story of the Donner Party disaster of 1846.

July 17, 2024, 09:27 PM

phxtoad

Just finished Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy and now reading Skunk Works.

July 18, 2024, 01:11 PM

YellowJacket

I have read Blood Meridian and The Road in the last 3 weeks.

July 20, 2024, 11:54 AM

UTsig

I really enjoy the writings of Tom Clavin and Bob Drury. They cover some war stories and some on the old West. Their current book, "Throne of Grace - A Mountain Man, an Epic Adventure and the Bloody Conquest of the American West", is very good. These men were incredible, this book focuses on Jedadiah Smith and his adventures. He did so much to map and explore the West yet doesn't get a lot of credit.

July 21, 2024, 05:39 AM

stkfox

Jack Carr’s latest “Red Sky Mourning”. It’s a good’un!

July 21, 2024, 08:51 AM

k5blazer

Killing Patton by Bill O’Reilly

July 22, 2024, 08:11 AM

stkfox

Nuclear War: A Scenario by Annie Jacobsen. Damn, what an eye opener! Explains what would occur, minute by minute, after a first strike on the U.S. by a rouge nation.

July 22, 2024, 03:01 PM

flesheatingvirus

Just finished the 3 Body Problem trilogy. AMAZING science fiction, though depressing as hell.

quote:
Originally posted by BearBio:
Curious: Ever read a Brief History of Time by Stephen Hawking?? Hard read! Took me a couple of days sometimes to understand a single page! But well worth it!

Try Hawking's Universe in a Nutshell. That was a very good read.

________________________________________

-- Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration. I will face my fear. I will permit it to pass over me and through me. And when it has gone past me I will turn the inner eye to see its path. Where the fear has gone there will be nothing. Only I will remain. --

July 28, 2024, 08:12 AM

Fed161

quote:
Originally posted by stkfox:
Nuclear War: A Scenario by Annie Jacobsen. Damn, what an eye opener! Explains what would occur, minute by minute, after a first strike on the U.S. by a rouge nation.

I just completed this book as well. This is a nonfiction book that is very well researched. The book lists all of the sources and interviews for her research. "Damn" is an understatement. Wow! You'll come away from this book with a different outlook.

July 28, 2024, 12:03 PM

UTsig

Just finished "A Walk in the Park" by Kevin Fedarko. If you like hiking, enjoy the outdoors I think you'll like this book. It's a bit of history, a bit of Native American and a whole lot about what a person can do when they set their mind to it. Through hiking the Grand Canyon, from end to end, it's 200 miles. But it's really 700 miles with hundreds of thousands of feet of elevation. Highly recommended, what an adventure.

July 28, 2024, 05:05 PM

6guns

quote:
Originally posted by flesheatingvirus:
Just finished the 3 Body Problem trilogy. AMAZING science fiction, though depressing as hell.

quote:
Originally posted by BearBio:
Curious: Ever read a Brief History of Time by Stephen Hawking?? Hard read! Took me a couple of days sometimes to understand a single page! But well worth it!

Try Hawking's Universe in a Nutshell. That was a very good read.

I have, but haven't yet read, Stephen Hawking's Universe. Can you compare them? Thanks.

July 29, 2024, 10:24 AM

AUTiger89

Finished 13 Hours, and it was very interesting. The movie covered it pretty well, but there was definitely some dramatic license taken in the movie. For example, there was a Team Leader on site for the GRS guys that wasn't even mentioned in the movie. I haven't read Sarah Adams' book on the subject yet.

Anyway, I started Ember, the latest book in the Tier One book series. I REALLY didn't like the previous book, Dempsey, but this one is starting out much better. There are a lot of threads spinning up, a lot of characters in the mix, at least one of whom was thought dead. It will be interesting to see how things weave together.

I have a separate thread on the series.

quote:
Originally posted by AUTiger89:
So I decided to read 13 Hours: The Inside Account of What Really Happened in Benghazi.

It's an account of the attacks on the diplomatic compound and "secret" CIA base in Benghazi, Libya on 9/11/2012. I'm about a third of the way through, and it largely is mirrored by the movie. Good writing, with some background on the lead-up to the attacks.

I've had it for a while but haven't read it, and when I heard Mark "Oz" Geist (who was there) on The Shawn Ryan Show podcast (highly recommended), I decided to go ahead and read it. I'm going to try and follow it up with Sarah Adams' Benghazi: Know Thy Enemy. Sarah, also interviewed on Shawn Ryan's podcast several times, was a CIA targeter (not analyst) with a lot of inside information on the attacks and follow-up on bringing the perpetrators to justice. Her interviews on the podcast about her work in the CIA are eye-opening and fascinating.

July 29, 2024, 09:34 PM

mr kablammo

quote:
Originally posted by joel9507:
Just finished "The Golden Trade of the Moors" which is a history of northern Africa from pre-Roman times up to the start of European colonization. Not a period I'd had a lot of exposure to. An era and region where gold, salt, camels, slave trade, and the spread of Islam all had tremendous impact.

Next up is "The Indifferent Stars Above" laying out the story of the Donner Party disaster of 1846.

Christian Slaves, Moslem Masters may be of interest.

I am starting Anger is An Energy by John Lydon. I found a signed paperback at Goodwill. The inscription is "Have fucking patience".

July 30, 2024, 01:58 AM

Schmelby

The Sniper. I always thought Carlos Hathcock was the best sniper in Vietnam.
It was Chuck Mawhinney. He never wanted the notoriety, but somebody outed him
and he finally relented and let Jim Lindsay write a book about him.
That's a true hero.

July 30, 2024, 10:56 AM

P250UA5

Read A Court of Thorns and Roses at the request of my wife.
Not bad, but don't see myself reading it again.

Re-reading Faster now.

July 30, 2024, 11:37 AM

RogueJSK

Currently reading "A Handful of Hard Men", about the Rhodesian SAS.

July 31, 2024, 11:00 PM

Appliance Brad

quote:
Originally posted by joel9507:
Just finished "The Golden Trade of the Moors" which is a history of northern Africa from pre-Roman times up to the start of European colonization.

Just ordered this on inter library loan. Thanks for the suggestion

July 31, 2024, 11:02 PM

Appliance Brad

quote:
Originally posted by RogueJSK:
Currently reading "A Handful of Hard Men", about the Rhodesian SAS.

Excellent book You should also check out The elite: The story of the Rhodesian Special Air Service

August 20, 2024, 08:15 PM

P250UA5

Ender's Game (for probably the 27th time) followed by the Shadow series then the rest of the Ender series [need to replace Children of the Mind which has disappeared along with 2 copies of Ender's Game, which I luckily have on Kindle].

Also learned that there is a prequel series covering the Formic Wars. Will probably add those to the library as well.