Almost halfway through Targeted: Beirut, Jack Carr’s foray into non-fiction, along with co-writer, James M Scott. A deep dive into Beirut, Lebanon and the 1983 Marine Barracks suicide truck bomb that killed 241 Marines. You’ll get to know many of these Marines personally because the author’s thoroughly researched their correspondence with family at home. So many unheeded warning signs…

While I'm waiting for a few books to become available at my library, I've been reading brain dead books. Caught up on some Harlan Coben I hadn't read and a series by Marc Cameron, the Arliss Cutter books. Honestly, just good time wasters, I have some books at home that I should revisit!

For fun I am catching up on the Reacher series

On the serious side:

1. “Unvanquished”

2. Tom Selleck's book, "You never know"

3. Operation Biting: The 1942 Parachute Assault to Capture Hitler's Radar
by Max Hastings

4. I Have Your Back: How an American Soldier Became an International Hero
by Tom Sileo

5. The Incorruptibles: A True Story of Kingpins, Crime Busters, and the Birth of the American Underworld
by Dan Slater

6. Shadow of Doubt: A Thriller (Scot Harvath Book 23)


7. Semper Fidelis
by Johnnie M. Clark

This is the only book I have not read and saw it on kindle unlimited.

I read most of his works, years and years ago.
They were always a great way to pass the day. I passed around a couple of his books during AT and a NTC rotation.

Started a bunch, been kind of restless.

Settled on Before Augustus: The Collapse of the Roman Republic by Natale Barca. The title is self-explanatory.

I don't know a lot of my ancient history, and have wanted to know more. So far, it is pretty interesting. Starts off with a history of Julius Caesar.

Edited to add: There's a lot of unnecessary short histories about many of the people involved - who they were related to, what their position was from when to when - between the narrative portions of the book.

Didn't know Julius Caesar had sisters named Julia Major and Julia Minor. Their parents weren't very creative when it came to name choices.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: AUTiger89,

I've been reading a couple of series by Marc Cameron, they're OK but just time fillers waiting for some books to free up at the library.

This week I did get one that I was waiting for, "Bandit Heaven- The Hole in the Wall Gangs and the Final Chapter of the Wild West". Covered a lot of the cowboy outlaws with an emphasis on Butch Cassidy, of course. I like books like this, I like Tom Clancy. I'm somewhat familiar with some of the places that he mentions, still as rugged as back then.

Re-reading Ready Player One.
Just wrapped up the core Ender's Game series. Might pick up some of the later released books next year.

It’s been mentioned before, but unless the title is self-explanatory and if you’d recommend it, it’s a big help if a description of the book is given.

Some I’m reading, rereading, or read recently enough to recommend:

Deadly Force Encounters: Cops & Citizens Defending Themselves and Others, “Win the fight and the aftermath;” Alexis Artwohl and Loren Christensen. Real life self-defense accounts.

American Gunfight: The Plot to Kill Harry Truman; Stephen Hunter. An account of the Puerto Rican independence movement and the 1950 attack at the Blair House where Truman was staying while the White House was being renovated. The extensive details about the independence movement were more than I had interest in, but I did glean a bit.

Sniper: The World of Combat Sniping, “The skills, the weapons, the experiences;” Adrian Gilbert. A 1994 book and therefore what was current when the book was published is obviously dated now, but a good history by a knowledgeable author who gets (most) things right.

Stalk and Kill: The Sniper Experience; also by Gilbert. A book about military sniping that, as it says, focuses on the experiences rather than technical details. Many good first hand accounts.

Japan’s Infamous Unit 731: Firsthand Accounts of Japan’s Wartime Human Experimentation Program; Hal Gold. Not for the squeamish reader.

Crusade: The Untold Story of the Persian Gulf War; Rick Atkinson. Excellent detailed coverage by Atkinson (as usual) of the First Gulf War.

The Siege, “A six-day hostage crisis and the daring special-forces operation that shocked the world;” Ben Macintyre. The account of the takeover of the Iranian embassy in London and the ultimate SAS operation to end it.

Rogue Heroes; also by Ben Macintyre. The origin of the British SAS and its operations in World War II.

The Glorious Cause, “The American Revolution, 1763-1789; Robert Middlekauff. A massive, 687 page Oxford University Press history of the war including much of the prehistory and aftermath. Years ago when I first read the book I was able to cite something for my law professor cousin who was writing his own book, and which he hadn’t been familiar with. I’m a short ways into a reread, and am struck by how much of the grievances the colonists had about taxation by Britain without their being represented in Parliament led to later events.

A Million and One Gods: The Persistence of Polytheism; Page duBois. A discussion of polytheistic beliefs, even among the nominally monotheistic.

Rise and Kill First: The Secret History of Israel’s Targeted Assassinations; Ronen Bergman. Highly recommended for anyone interested in the topic.

Ammunition, Demystified, “The (non) Bubba’s Guide to How Ammo Really Works;” Jeff Siewert. A technical treatise worth the read for anyone interested with emphasis on internal ballistics. An independent review of the book:
https://precisionrifleblog.com...hooter-and-reloader/

Tribe: On Homecoming and Belonging; Sebastian Junger. A book about how we need personal connections with others to thrive. I’m a third of the way into it and am waiting for the author to get to the point. If a friend hadn’t given and recommended it to me, it would probably be in the trash, but perhaps it gets better (I hope).

Ghost Wars: The Secret History of the CIA, Afghanistan, and bin Laden, from the Soviet Invasion to September 10, 2001; Steve Coll. What happened in the area before 9/11.

Directorate S: The CIA and America’s Secret Wars in Afghanistan and Pakistan; Steve Coll. A depressing, but very informative read about US involvement in the area after 9/11.

Grunt; Mary Roach. Roach has written several books that go into nitty gritty detail about various subjects, but with a humorous touch. This one is about the facts of military life, including many specific details. One quotation: “And the Stryker was never a lushly appointed vehicle. There is no onboard toilet. (There are empty Gatorade bottles.)” Other books of hers I’ve read are Stiff about dead bodies, Bonk “science and sex,” and Gulp about our alimentary canal with details about how food is processed including the graphic ones at the literal end.

From Strength to Strength: Finding Success, Happiness and Deep Purpose in the Second Half of Life; Arthur C. Brooks. Another I got through only because of a friend’s recommendation. Some good recommendations about how to deal with later life, retirement, etc., but the author seems to have little appreciation of the lives of the common folk who aren’t CEOs of major corporations.

The Dying Citizen, Victor Davis Hanson. Another depressing read about the state of the Nation.

Police Sniper; Craig Roberts. More first-hand accounts, this time about LE snipers.

The Demon of Unrest: A Saga of Hubris, Heartbreak, and Heroism at the Dawn of the Civil War; another of Erik Larson’s fine histories covering little-known events. This is about the events leading to and surrounding the Confederate attack on Fort Sumter, including attitudes and policies pertaining to slavery.

Among others.

Fiction series: Gabriel Allon by Daniel Silva; many books about an Israeli Mossad operator. As I told a friend, I sometimes almost forgot whether I was reading one of the series or the nonfiction Rise and Kill First.

I really like all the thriller books by Marc Cameron and Jack Carr, although the latter books in Carr’s series are starting to get a little weird with the almost science fiction AI stuff. I understand that writers of such genre start to run out of ideas, but I hope he can avoid going down that path too much in the future.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: sigfreund,

I usually have a couple of books going at once, a fiction of some sort and a nonfiction over a topic of interest to me. Currently reading Artemis by Andy Weir and a book about the Selous Scouts called Three Sips of Gin by Timothy Bax.

I have enjoyed everything I've read by Weir, and The Martian movie as well. And the Selous Scouts/Rhodesia's bush wars are (for me) a fascinating topic. Truly remarkable men, and they essentially wrote the book on counterinsurgency operations from my understanding. I know there are many here more knowledgeable than I am on this topic, so if I'm off base in that please let me know (and send any reading recommendations!!!).

quote:

Originally posted by akcopnfbks:
And the Selous Scouts/Rhodesia's bush wars are (for me) a fascinating topic.

Any other books on the topic you recommend?
I know almost nothing about that time and place.

Just found out a local true crime book club is set to read In Cold Blood by Truman Capote for January, so I think I'll put aside everything else and go with that.

I don't read a lot of the book club's picks, because a lot of them have left-winger protagonists or victims, and I don't care for the agenda-pushing.

quote:

Originally posted by AUTiger89:
Started a bunch, been kind of restless.

Settled on Before Augustus: The Collapse of the Roman Republic by Natale Barca. The title is self-explanatory.

I don't know a lot of my ancient history, and have wanted to know more. So far, it is pretty interesting. Starts off with a history of Julius Caesar.

Edited to add: There's a lot of unnecessary short histories about many of the people involved - who they were related to, what their position was from when to when - between the narrative portions of the book.

Didn't know Julius Caesar had sisters named Julia Major and Julia Minor. Their parents weren't very creative when it came to name choices.

Speaking of not being for the squeamish, I should point out that Grunt by Mary Roach falls into that category as well. As I was reading in bed before going to sleep and got to the discussion about the treatment of war wounds, the detailed descriptions of penis reconstructions and even transplants prompted me to put that part off until later.

Since I retired not picked up a book; ridicules but the last was The Cabinet Of Dr Leng.
Im getting back into Special Agent Pendergast and his ward Constance Greene; with Angel of Vengeance.
Preston & Childs have written some good stuff I started with Relic 1995.

Horn of the Hunter by Robert Ruark

quote:

Originally posted by sigfreund:

quote:

Originally posted by akcopnfbks:
And the Selous Scouts/Rhodesia's bush wars are (for me) a fascinating topic.

Any other books on the topic you recommend?
I know almost nothing about that time and place.

I have the advantage of working in the mining industry, and there are several older South Africans guys in my company. All served in their military in earlier times in their lives. I've had the chance to talk with them at various occasions over the years. In addition to Three Sips of Gin there's a book called Selous Scouts (Top Secret War) by retired (from the Rhodesian SF I believe, though not sure) Lt. Col Ron Reid Daly as told to Peter Stiff that I've been recommended several times. It is expensive if you can find it. It isn't a very well documented war. A Handful of Hard Men is another decent book on the topic. The author of that one is Hannes Wessels. I haven't read either of the last two yet.

quote:

Originally posted by akcopnfbks:
It is expensive if you can find it.

Finding it wasn’t too hard, but expensive? Yes. I found one offered for $50 and would be willing to spend that, but an extra $40 for shipping slowed down the “buy now” click. It seems most available copies are in South Africa.

Some other titles turned up with a search, so I’ll give them some thought. Thanks again for the recommendations.

Brothers and Sisters- The Allman Brothers Band. By Alan Paul.

Scars and Stripes, Tim Kennedy’s autobiography with Nick Palmisciano. As Kennedy himself describes it: “An unapologetically American story of fighting the Taliban, UFC warriors, and myself.”

Have a couple of hours left of Jack Carr’s Targeted Beirut on Audible. Interesting feel hearing it narrated by Ray Porter who also narrated all of Carr’s fiction James Reece books.

Just started reading Dick Thompson’s Codename: Dynamite detailing his upbringing and career as a 1-0 in MACV SOG during the Vietnam War. I’ve seen interviews with him before and the missions those guys undertook in real life surpass some things in Hollywood blockbusters.

"The Boys of Riverside - A Deaf Football Team and Their Quest for Glory" by William Fuller. A terrific, inspiring story, educational, too. I learned a lot about the culture of the deaf, remarkable. This was gift from a friend and as a total coincidence I'd just purchased "Crashing Through" by Robert Kurson, the story of a blind man regaining his sight. I'll post when I've finished it.

Stephen King - 11/22/63

Never read anything King before. Only 1 chapter in & interesting so far.