Murph kindly reminded me (inadvertently) of this when he PMd me asking if I wanted a copy of "Three Hearts and Three Lions" (I already have it, classic fantasy, recommended).
So what else are we reading?
The Book Topic
Started by
Guest_Hans Engström_*
, Jan 05 2005 0607 AM
208 replies to this topic
#2
Von Richter
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Posted 05 January 2005 - 0621 AM
Got two good 'uns for Christmas. 
'No Parachute' by Arthur Gould Lee. This is a classic tale of the early birdmen. The author and his mates trying to hold their own in outdated Sopwith Pups against the flying circus. Their Squadron got the Camel just as ground strafing came into fashion and Lee was shot down three times in a week!
'Into Battle With 57 Squadron' by Roland Hammersley DFM. The book relates his training as a Wireless op/Airgunner in WW2. The author went on to fly Lancasters with B Flight from East Kirkby in Lincolnshire. My mate's Dad was in B Flight 57 Squadron which makes the read a bit more piognent.
The airfield, now restored, is home to Lancaster 'Just Jane' and is one of our favourite haunts during the summer.
http://www.controlto...East_Kirkby.htm
'No Parachute' by Arthur Gould Lee. This is a classic tale of the early birdmen. The author and his mates trying to hold their own in outdated Sopwith Pups against the flying circus. Their Squadron got the Camel just as ground strafing came into fashion and Lee was shot down three times in a week!
'Into Battle With 57 Squadron' by Roland Hammersley DFM. The book relates his training as a Wireless op/Airgunner in WW2. The author went on to fly Lancasters with B Flight from East Kirkby in Lincolnshire. My mate's Dad was in B Flight 57 Squadron which makes the read a bit more piognent.
The airfield, now restored, is home to Lancaster 'Just Jane' and is one of our favourite haunts during the summer.
http://www.controlto...East_Kirkby.htm
#3
Ms Glottis
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Posted 05 January 2005 - 0721 AM
Twist of the Wrist II. Keith Code.
And polishing the motorcycle.
Joanne - a very damp, rather disgruntled Ms. Glottis
And polishing the motorcycle.
Joanne - a very damp, rather disgruntled Ms. Glottis
#4
Ol Paint
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Wing-Nut
Posted 05 January 2005 - 0912 AM
"Tanks for the Memories"--a collection of oral stories about the 712th (I think) Tank Battalion in WWII. Very interesting.
"Vees for Victory"--I started this one before the holidays, but haven't picked it up since I got back. A history of the development of the Allison V1710. I highly recommend this one.
Douglas
"Vees for Victory"--I started this one before the holidays, but haven't picked it up since I got back. A history of the development of the Allison V1710. I highly recommend this one.
Douglas
#5
Guest_aevans_*
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Posted 05 January 2005 - 1539 PM
Faithful by Stewart O'Nan and Stephen King (yes, that Stephen King). This book chronicles the 2004 baseball season as seen through the eyes of two Red Sox fans. You don't have to be a baseball fan to like this book, though ti helps to pick up some of the details. But the biggest part of the book is the buddy story -- two guys who have a passion for the same thing, and share it with each other. It's also hilariously funny at times. O'Nan stays up past midnight to watch Boston lose yet another game by just one run, and screams at his televison: "Why do you suck so much?" Or the long-running and oft-recapitulated hatred that both have for anything Yankee -- King: "the Great Satan Jeter"; O'Nan: "the [Yankee] Stadium, where the only sellouts are the players". This is probably the final word on a baseball season where the truth two novelists lived was indeed stranger than any fiction.
#6
Lentzner
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America, f**k yeah!
Posted 05 January 2005 - 1554 PM
It's been out for a while, but Moneyball by Michael Lewis is a great book. It's about baseball, statitstics, and most of all, business. It's an easy read and highly entertaining.
Matt
Matt
#7
Guest_aevans_*
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Posted 05 January 2005 - 1602 PM
It's been out for a while, but Moneyball by Michael Lewis is a great book. It's about baseball, statitstics, and most of all, business. It's an easy read and highly entertaining.
Matt
King and O'Nan have a lot to say about Moneyball, none of it particularly complimentary. The whole idea is like Steinbrenner's checkbook (talk about sucking so much) -- it distorts the game.
#8
Lentzner
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America, f**k yeah!
Posted 05 January 2005 - 1628 PM
King and O'Nan have a lot to say about Moneyball, none of it particularly complimentary. The whole idea is like Steinbrenner's checkbook (talk about sucking so much) -- it distorts the game.
That surprises me since the Bosox, along with Toronto and LA, are one of the new "Moneyball" type teams. Bill James (inventor of Sabrmetrics) works for the Red Sox. Boston even offered Billy Beane (GM of Oakland) a job and he was within inches of accepting it. They probably broke the "Curse of the Bambino" due to the edge that was gained by running a Moneyball style club. It makes no sense for a Boston fan to criticize it.
#9
Guest_aevans_*
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Posted 05 January 2005 - 1804 PM
That surprises me since the Bosox, along with Toronto and LA, are one of the new "Moneyball" type teams. Bill James (inventor of Sabrmetrics) works for the Red Sox. Boston even offered Billy Beane (GM of Oakland) a job and he was within inches of accepting it. They probably broke the "Curse of the Bambino" due to the edge that was gained by running a Moneyball style club. It makes no sense for a Boston fan to criticize it.
Like I said, they have a lot to say about it. In the end, unless I read it entirely wrong, they don't think OBP and Power had much to do with Boston winning. I would tend to agree, considering how many baserunners Boston managed to strand in losing games over the season, and how many games the Sox lost by one run -- in the AL of all places.
#10
sabotshooter 88
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My Indian name is "Runs With Beer"
Posted 06 January 2005 - 0104 AM
Stalking the VietCong by Stuart Herrington.
He was involved with Operation Phoenix. So far it's pretty interesting. He covers the history of insurgency tactic within the Vietminh. More to follow
He was involved with Operation Phoenix. So far it's pretty interesting. He covers the history of insurgency tactic within the Vietminh. More to follow
#11
DesertFox
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Posted 06 January 2005 - 2150 PM
"Empire from the Ashes" by David Weber
SF novel where the moon is a battlestation named Dahak which has been in robit for the last 50,000 years.
SF novel where the moon is a battlestation named Dahak which has been in robit for the last 50,000 years.
#12
DB
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Crew
Posted 07 January 2005 - 0230 AM
Max Arthur's "Forgotten Voices of the Second World War".
The WWI book was pretty good, so I picked this up just before Christmas. It seems that I've picked up a taste for history books that concentrate on eyewitness comments, rather than the opinionated detailed analysis (I can get that here
)
David
The WWI book was pretty good, so I picked this up just before Christmas. It seems that I've picked up a taste for history books that concentrate on eyewitness comments, rather than the opinionated detailed analysis (I can get that here
)David
#13
Guest_Hans Engström_*
Guest_Hans Engström_*
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Posted 07 January 2005 - 0510 AM
Tad Williams "Shadowmarch"- seems OK so far
#14
Jim Martin
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Kick me! I'm not allowed to hit back!
Posted 07 January 2005 - 1014 AM
My mother-in-law bought "Me and Big Russ" for Christmas. I'll be reading it on the flight (I've been under pressure, people will be offended if I don't). We'll see how it is.
#15
Michael Eastes
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Trans-Dimensional Monarchist Ilk
Posted 07 January 2005 - 1254 PM
I'm currently reading "The Battle of Salamis",by Barry Strauss. It's a good read; thanks for the loan, Sarg.
Next in line is "A War of Nerves" by Ben Shephard. Comrade Rubberneck mentioned it in a post a few weeks back, and it looks like a good study of shell shock/combat fatigue/PTSD and the various treatments through the 20th century.
Next in line is "A War of Nerves" by Ben Shephard. Comrade Rubberneck mentioned it in a post a few weeks back, and it looks like a good study of shell shock/combat fatigue/PTSD and the various treatments through the 20th century.
#16
vardulli
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Posted 07 January 2005 - 1706 PM
just finished The Hell Riders about charge of the light brigade
bought it a week ago
bought it a week ago
#17
Corinthian
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Posted 09 January 2005 - 0932 AM
Back to reading "The Deceivers" by Thaddeus Holt, a book on WW2 Allied deception operations. Thick book, good read. Still not finished. Most interesting subject.
Done with "Team Yankee" a few weeks ago. Great book - thanks for the recommendations from previous threads.
Done with "Team Yankee" a few weeks ago. Great book - thanks for the recommendations from previous threads.
#18
ABNredleg
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Posted 10 January 2005 - 1329 PM
"Quartered Safe Out Here: A Recollection of the War in Burma" by George Fraser.
His Flashman books were a hoot, and his biography is good reading so far.
His Flashman books were a hoot, and his biography is good reading so far.
Edited by ABNredleg, 10 January 2005 - 1330 PM.
#19
FlyingCanOpener
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Posted 10 January 2005 - 2124 PM
Castles of Steel- Robert Massie
The Hunt for the Graff Spee- Dudley Pope
The Royal Navy, Seapower and Strategy between the Wars- By Christopher Bell
The Hunt for the Graff Spee- Dudley Pope
The Royal Navy, Seapower and Strategy between the Wars- By Christopher Bell
#20
Allan Wotherspoon
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Radamanthine
Posted 11 January 2005 - 0043 AM
Finished 5 books while on vacation in Florida over Christmas.
First was Death Ground by Daniel Bolger. Subtitled "Today's American Infantry in Battle" it presents 8 separate stories covering US Infantry in action in Haiti, Panama, Desert Storm, Somalia and Liberia. Except for Bolger's infantry uber alles attitude that gets a bit tiresome after a while, it was an enjoyable read.
Second was When Thunder Rolled by Ed Rasmus. I loved this book. It's written by an F-105 pilot about his expriences flying the F-105 early in the Vietnam War. It's an example of how autobiographical war books should be written.
Third was Stalingrad by Antony Beevor. It was the first book that I had read on the East Front and seemed to provide a reasonable overview of the battle and why it occurred, although I would have liked to seek more detail on the fighting in the city itself.
Fourth was Rising Tide by Gary Wier and Walter Boyne. It is the story of Russian Submarines in the cold war and it is a chilling tale. Well worth the read.
Fifth was Tigers in the Mud by Otto Carius. Interesting book that was very easy to read because of the short chapters. It put a human face on the German Army that you don't often see. Rather than the military machine that some people make it out to be, Cariuis' book shows that it had its share of incompentants and cowards just like other armies.
If I were to rank the books in terms of my enjoyment, When Thunder Rolled would be first, followed by Rising Tide, Tigers in the Mud, Stalingrad and finally Death Ground.
First was Death Ground by Daniel Bolger. Subtitled "Today's American Infantry in Battle" it presents 8 separate stories covering US Infantry in action in Haiti, Panama, Desert Storm, Somalia and Liberia. Except for Bolger's infantry uber alles attitude that gets a bit tiresome after a while, it was an enjoyable read.
Second was When Thunder Rolled by Ed Rasmus. I loved this book. It's written by an F-105 pilot about his expriences flying the F-105 early in the Vietnam War. It's an example of how autobiographical war books should be written.
Third was Stalingrad by Antony Beevor. It was the first book that I had read on the East Front and seemed to provide a reasonable overview of the battle and why it occurred, although I would have liked to seek more detail on the fighting in the city itself.
Fourth was Rising Tide by Gary Wier and Walter Boyne. It is the story of Russian Submarines in the cold war and it is a chilling tale. Well worth the read.
Fifth was Tigers in the Mud by Otto Carius. Interesting book that was very easy to read because of the short chapters. It put a human face on the German Army that you don't often see. Rather than the military machine that some people make it out to be, Cariuis' book shows that it had its share of incompentants and cowards just like other armies.
If I were to rank the books in terms of my enjoyment, When Thunder Rolled would be first, followed by Rising Tide, Tigers in the Mud, Stalingrad and finally Death Ground.
