I've gone back to my early teens and bought a box of David Eddings books from ebay
. His Belgariad series was the 1st fantasy books I remember reading, picked it up like 10 year before I read any Tolkien
I've gone back to my early teens and bought a box of David Eddings books from ebay
. His Belgariad series was the 1st fantasy books I remember reading, picked it up like 10 year before I read any Tolkien
El Goofy Fantastico!
KevinD (03-25-2021), lost in melb. (05-18-2021), The Monk (03-29-2021)
Eddings is great. Currently I'm re reading past issues of John Conroes' The Demon Accords.
The Admirals: Nimitz, Halsey, Leahy, and King--The Five-Star Admirals Who Won the War at Sea
Fantastic book. I was a little worried I'd get lost with the author trying to tell the story of 4 very different men but Walter R. Borneman does an incredible job giving context to who each one was, and their incredible, fascinating and intertwining careers. Really enjoyed this book.
The second book in WEB Griffin's Brotherhood of War series - "The Captains".
KevinD (05-16-2021)
I wanted to be a Monk, but I never got the chants.
A fiction writer got divorced. He was confused. So he went deep reading all the teachings on masculinity dated back hundreds of years. He compiled the lessons into a story of a grandfather teaching his grandson how to be a man.
Short read and thought-provoking in the current anti-masculinity culture war.
I wanted to be a Monk, but I never got the chants.
KevinD (03-31-2021), lost in melb. (05-18-2021)
I've been reading several books by young leaders at war:
- Outlaw Platoon: Heroes, Renegades, Infidels, and the Brotherhood of War in Afghanistan by Sean Parnell
- Joker One: A Marine Platoon's Story of Courage, Leadership, and Brotherhood by Donovan Campbell
- House to House: An Epic Memoir of War by David Bellavia
Outlaw Platoon and Joker One are both written by young lieutenants who led platoons in Iraq and Afghanistan. House to House is by a Sargeant and squad leader who was awarded the MoH for his actions in Fallujah.
I'd say Outlaw Platoon was the most well written account. You could really start to get a sense of the weight and gravity of being a 20-something year old leading 19 year old boys in combat and death, the absolute quagmire of fighting in the mountains of Afghanistan and the red tape of the big military machine.
Joke One was mostly about the battle of Ramadi and was similarly well written and gripping.
House to House was gruesome and more raw, bit of a different perspective from a squad leader and NCO rather than an officer. The chapters of Bellavia describing his actions that eventually led to him being awarded the MoH made me sweat, describing hand to hand combat in a pitch black house in Fallujah.
All fantastic reads but I need to take a break from reading war memoirs now. I didn't sleep well for a day or two after reading House to House but I think they're important reads. I had several friends and acquaintances deploy to Afghanistan and my generation doesn't talk about it at all, but I sincerely want to know more about what happened there.
Last edited by Godfather; 05-16-2021 at 06:04 PM.
KevinD (05-16-2021)
Actuall accounts of war should be frightening and sobering to civilians. I didnt see any real combat, so can't speak for personal experience, but those of us who put their lives on the line deserve nothing but our respect. Glad you're reading up on it GF.
FBD (05-17-2021), Godfather (05-19-2021), lost in melb. (05-17-2021)
Just today finished the first book of WEB Griffin's series Badge of Honour - "Men in Blue" -
The Brotherhood of War and Clandestine Operations by Griffin were great reading.
my grandfather said ww2 was the most terrible, horrible, scary, terrible, terrible thing he ever experienced, to the point that he simply didnt talk much about the things he experienced. there was no word he used more than terrible, it was just that bad.
quite a contrast to my best friend's gramp, who had high falootin stories of flying around the south pacific working a refrigeration unit where his pilot would get too drunk to fly half the time and make him fly the plane, or getting bored and putting a 12 foot freon tank on a piece of angle iron and knocking the end off with a monkey wrench and watch the fucker go, or devising a letter code with his wife to figure out which ports werent stealing the cash he was sending back home from selling ciagarettes. that cig money built their family home.
playing paintball was enough of a taste of the fog of war for me
Godfather (05-19-2021)
Started a new bio last night - Lucrezia Borgia by Emma Lucas
Godfather (06-08-2021), lost in melb. (05-18-2021)
I'm reading The Guns of August. Not an easy read, lots of pauses to google people/places/events referenced. That said, what an incredibly well written book, fascinating. I can see already why Barbara W. Tuchman won two Pulitzers for this.
lost in melb. (07-21-2021)
The Victim - Book III WEB Griffin's Badge of Honor series.
lost in melb. (07-21-2021)
I'm reading One Mintute to Midnight right now
https://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B00...?ie=UTF8&psc=1
It has a lot of previously unpublished info about the Cuban Missile Crisis, and it's told in a day-by-day, sometimes minute-by-minute recap of the crisis. Absolutely fascinating and horrifying how close we came to the end. One of the most captivating history books I've read.
lost in melb. (07-21-2021)