Movie Theater Recommend books
- Thread starter Prebanpaul
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Screwing around in the porta potty a comment came up and it flipped a switch in my head....you know I don't know much about this guy....so:
William McKinley by Kevin Phillips.
Roughly 1/4 the way in, pretty dry but do-able. Learning some things. Not quite the ho-hum Pres I thought he was. Learning new stuff, what it is all about.
Generally I feel the need to hit at least three books on a given subject, this one is pretty dry, while Pres at an important time for the US, and the guy coming after him getting credit for his ideas, what else is new, Hoover dam anyone. I am still learning stuff.
William McKinley by Kevin Phillips.
Roughly 1/4 the way in, pretty dry but do-able. Learning some things. Not quite the ho-hum Pres I thought he was. Learning new stuff, what it is all about.
Generally I feel the need to hit at least three books on a given subject, this one is pretty dry, while Pres at an important time for the US, and the guy coming after him getting credit for his ideas, what else is new, Hoover dam anyone. I am still learning stuff.
After writing a book on the WW II sniper, some of the research material waas placed into a compilation of WW II sniper training manuals. If you have any WW II sniper equipment, chapter V could be useful. Dust off your library card and ask your library too pick up a copy or borrow it via interlibrary loan. ISBN 978-0-982-48131-8.
-0-982
WW II Sniper's Pocket Manual
-0-982
WW II Sniper's Pocket Manual
I finished my McKinley book, and it was interesting. It was no real shock that things started under McKinley got finished under TR, or at least really rolling. He was the VP after all. Some interesting things in there, the last civil war pres....kinda figures. Very reluctant to start war with spain, and again figures, seeing one war you really don't want to see another. Many interesting comments on the press and "yellow press" seems not much has changed.
It was a good read on a pres that is not one usually thinks about....I learned quite a bit.
It was a good read on a pres that is not one usually thinks about....I learned quite a bit.
Now to start another, and with all the quotes in the porta potty I am going to read Atlas Shrugged. She gets quoted quite often and I think a read or two is in order. It is something common to my reading selections. I read Gulag Archipelago because someone quotes Solzhenitsyn quite often and had to read it for myself. That one should be required reading. I know if I was a school teacher I would have that be an assignment for my students, even if I was a math teacher....me math, thats funny.
I got this book from the library, was so intrigued by it and wanted to highlight items that I ordered it from Amazon. FDR is practically deified nowadays, this was written in 48 and this guy definitely was not a fan. A lot of the goings on seem pertinent to today.
Amazon product ASIN 0930073274
Rich
Amazon product ASIN 0930073274
Rich
Thank you for that one, it is on my list.
My grandmother, grand father, and.....I guess she is the grandmother in law, NOT fans of FDR. And they came from very different walks of life. The wifes grandmother was basically a share cropper, and my family was a pretty big lumber family, I grew up in country clubs. And both had the same ideas of FDR. I found that very interesting.
The more I read the creepier it gets, his 2 sons were banking on their fathers name and raking in the cash. Sort of like Hunter and anyone who criticized them were labeled as Nazis by the press. More things change the more they stay the same I guess.
Rich
Red Army by Ralph Peters is a very good read. It's about a war seen through the Soviet perspective.
Currently reading Lonesome dove for the second time. Love it. Also have the miniseries on DVD.
One of a few I got for Christmas. Only a few pages 40). Interesting how much sill rings true today. Even more so.
These have been on the list for a while. Wife and Kids got them for me. Just started the first one the other day.
I read that about a week ago. You could not be more correct if you tried.
Wonder what he would say if he was alive today......Ukraine anyone?
Figured out I would give a 5 chapter update on:
First off reading it because her work is being quoted in several places I visit online, around here it is quite common. So I figured I need to see what this is all about first hand. Can't stand someone telling me what so and so said, want it from the source.
The first three chapters are really dry.....REALLY. Lots of development, Chap 4 started to get interesting, and I fell asleep reading 5 did not want to put it down.
It is interesting, you can see just what she is doing with her "story telling". Knowing this going in it makes you smile when ever something along those lines hits you. She was a smart lady. Should have done the first book first, but you don't really have to.
It is a rough start but once the story takes off it is a page turner, can't wait to find out what happens.....I already hate James Taggart, such an idiot....and so typical.
First off reading it because her work is being quoted in several places I visit online, around here it is quite common. So I figured I need to see what this is all about first hand. Can't stand someone telling me what so and so said, want it from the source.
The first three chapters are really dry.....REALLY. Lots of development, Chap 4 started to get interesting, and I fell asleep reading 5 did not want to put it down.
It is interesting, you can see just what she is doing with her "story telling". Knowing this going in it makes you smile when ever something along those lines hits you. She was a smart lady. Should have done the first book first, but you don't really have to.
It is a rough start but once the story takes off it is a page turner, can't wait to find out what happens.....I already hate James Taggart, such an idiot....and so typical.
A Bright Shining Lie
When he came to Vietnam in 1962, Lieutenant Colonel John Paul Vann was the one clear-sighted participant in an enterprise riddled with arrogance and self-deception, a charismatic soldier who put his life and career on the line in an attempt to convince his superiors that the war should be fought another way. By the time he died in 1972, Vann had embraced the follies he once decried. He died believing that the war had been won.
In this magisterial book, a monument of history and biography that was awarded the National Book Award and the Pulitzer Prize for Nonfiction, a renowned journalist tells the story of John Vann—"the one irreplaceable American in Vietnam"—and of the tragedy that destroyed a country and squandered so much of America's young manhood and resources.
I found this book to be interesting.
A lot of information about what led up to the US getting involved in Vietnam.
When he came to Vietnam in 1962, Lieutenant Colonel John Paul Vann was the one clear-sighted participant in an enterprise riddled with arrogance and self-deception, a charismatic soldier who put his life and career on the line in an attempt to convince his superiors that the war should be fought another way. By the time he died in 1972, Vann had embraced the follies he once decried. He died believing that the war had been won.
In this magisterial book, a monument of history and biography that was awarded the National Book Award and the Pulitzer Prize for Nonfiction, a renowned journalist tells the story of John Vann—"the one irreplaceable American in Vietnam"—and of the tragedy that destroyed a country and squandered so much of America's young manhood and resources.
I found this book to be interesting.
A lot of information about what led up to the US getting involved in Vietnam.
- Vietnamese fought in the trenches in France during WW1.
- After WWII, the initial plan was not to let the the imperial powers back into their old territories. Got scraped due to fear of the Communism domino affect.
- The French wanted new weapons from the US to defend against Russia. They then used their older weapons in Vietnam.
- The French used Japanese soldiers still in Vietnam after the end of WWII to fight the Vietnamese nationalist/communists.
- The initial plan was to not defend South Korea if invaded from the north. Again scraped due to fear of domino affect.
I am a John Sandford fan for pure fiction. He misses the boat a little now and then on firearms but I can ignore that as his plots are always so good. He has written a bunch of books with Lucas Davenport as his main character and he is a genuine hardass as a cop. Lucas has an adopted daughter and I just read the novel featuring her. She's learning and displays the same nature as her adopted father. His novels are "can't put it down until finished" for me.
Robert Griffith's Riflemen: The History of the 5th Battalion, 60 (Royal American) Regiment, 1797-1818.
I read in Bill Mauldin's (Joe & Willie cartoon of WW II Stars and Stripes) book Brass Rings that Louie Lamour didn't write all the novels published under his name. Lamour died and many novels written by a 3rd party were published post-death under Lamour's name. HIs agent kept the gravy train going.
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I consider that to be one of his best. For westerns Elmer Kelton had the edge on him IMO. I might be prejudiced a little as Kelton wrote historical fiction based on Texas history and being from Texas I have an interest in the that. Kelton just inserted fictional characters into his tales that follow history very closely and really made it interesting. I would recommend "Stand Proud" and "the Man Who Road Midnight' as two of his best.
For sheer entertainment should any of you be into stories of the sword fighting kind...
Fiction, of course, but based in a true historical time, (15th century English invasion of France) and with many historical figures.
The "Master of War" series by David Gilman. I'm currently listening to these (book 6) on Audible.
Very well written, and also very well narrated by Gildart Jackson.
Fiction, of course, but based in a true historical time, (15th century English invasion of France) and with many historical figures.
The "Master of War" series by David Gilman. I'm currently listening to these (book 6) on Audible.
Very well written, and also very well narrated by Gildart Jackson.
I just finished “heat 2”. Excellent book. It is about the crews before the big robbery then gets into chris’s life on the run.
If you enjoyed the movie the book is a must read.
If you enjoyed the movie the book is a must read.
Slan - Vogt
Grunts - Mary Gentle
War for Eternity - Rowley
Hills of Homicide - L'amour
None of these are complicated or life changing but they're all pretty fun
Grunts - Mary Gentle
War for Eternity - Rowley
Hills of Homicide - L'amour
None of these are complicated or life changing but they're all pretty fun
One of the most incredible story of courage, leadership, and just plain survival ever documented. I highly recommend this book.
And for those of us who think we are tough guys and have experienced hardship, read this book. I believe it will gift you some humility, which is always a boon.
By the by, the cover art is an actual photo taken of their ship, the Endurance, caught in the antarctic pack ice. Would you sail 10k miles to Antarctica in that thing? And just a year ago they finally found this ship 10k feet down on the bottom in the Wendell Sea. Incredible.
And for those of us who think we are tough guys and have experienced hardship, read this book. I believe it will gift you some humility, which is always a boon.
By the by, the cover art is an actual photo taken of their ship, the Endurance, caught in the antarctic pack ice. Would you sail 10k miles to Antarctica in that thing? And just a year ago they finally found this ship 10k feet down on the bottom in the Wendell Sea. Incredible.
Endurance is a great book. Possibly my favorite until I read Once an Eagle which ranks right up there with it.
Amazon product ASIN 0062221620
Copied from Amazon description
Required reading for West Point and Marine Corps cadets, Once An Eagle is the story of one special man, a soldier named Sam Damon, and his adversary over a lifetime, fellow officer Courtney Massengale. Damon is a professional who puts duty, honor, and the men he commands above self-interest. Massengale, however, brilliantly advances by making the right connections behind the lines and in Washington's corridors of power. Beginning in the French countryside during the Great War, the conflict between these adversaries solidifies in the isolated garrison life marking peacetime, intensifies in the deadly Pacific jungles of World War II, and reaches its treacherous conclusion in the last major battleground of the Cold War—Vietnam.
Now with a new foreword by acclaimed historian Carlo D'Este, here is an unforgettable story of a man who embodies the best in our nation—and in us all.
Thank friend. I’m still in the hospital after lumbar fusion and need reading material.
I’ll return the favor. Book called Honor Bound about two missions that resulted in the Medal if Honor being awarded to two SEALs in V.N. StraIght forward with no drama as the actual plain facts are dramatic enough. An absolutely stunning book. I highly recommend it.
Got to go. Pain meds are kicking in and I’m seeing double! Lol
Amazon product ASIN 1250130212
I am reading "World Order" by Henry Kissinger.
Finished the European part, now have a much better understanding of Russia, and the millennia of European wars and conquests.
Here is a better summary:
"World Order refers to the concept held by a region or civilization about the nature of just arrangements and the distribution of power thought to be applicable to the entire world."
In the book, he explains how Western ideas changed with the 1648 Peace of Westphalia treaty, and explains the four systems of historic world order:
the Westphalian Peace born of 17th-century Europe,
the central imperium philosophy of China,
the religious supremacism of political Islam,
and the democratic idealism of the United States.
Kissinger aims to provide a window into today's struggling framework of international order.
Anyway, as a mouth breather delta minus, I had to look up some of Henry's words, too many syllables.....
Finished the European part, now have a much better understanding of Russia, and the millennia of European wars and conquests.
Here is a better summary:
"World Order refers to the concept held by a region or civilization about the nature of just arrangements and the distribution of power thought to be applicable to the entire world."
In the book, he explains how Western ideas changed with the 1648 Peace of Westphalia treaty, and explains the four systems of historic world order:
the Westphalian Peace born of 17th-century Europe,
the central imperium philosophy of China,
the religious supremacism of political Islam,
and the democratic idealism of the United States.
Kissinger aims to provide a window into today's struggling framework of international order.
Anyway, as a mouth breather delta minus, I had to look up some of Henry's words, too many syllables.....
I just looked when I started this book....December....ouch. Oh well it is thick and I do read slow.
Getting close to the end, in effort to not give too much away Cheryl just "died". Poor kid.
It continues to go from I can't put it down to yea I get it move along. Oddly enough the parts I don't want to move along are the parts other people complain about being long winded. Those long winded parts I have read and re read letting what that specific monolog was trying to drive home. The "tramp" on the train, I read that exchange at least three times. Might be why it is going so slow. The James Cheryl exchange read that at least twice. The part about Lilian and James (guess some spoilers in here...skip me now) Yea I get the reasons the reasons for both, and that exchange was intertaining, safety pin. But it could have gone a little faster.
I will read it again, but I am likely going to shift gears to her other books. I really want to dive deeper into her way of thinking. Shame I have at least 4 in que, some suggested here. But I really want to get to more of this stuff. It fell out of my hands last night, I did not want to put it down....The entire Cheryl "deal".
Damn James is a total ass.
Getting close to the end, in effort to not give too much away Cheryl just "died". Poor kid.
It continues to go from I can't put it down to yea I get it move along. Oddly enough the parts I don't want to move along are the parts other people complain about being long winded. Those long winded parts I have read and re read letting what that specific monolog was trying to drive home. The "tramp" on the train, I read that exchange at least three times. Might be why it is going so slow. The James Cheryl exchange read that at least twice. The part about Lilian and James (guess some spoilers in here...skip me now) Yea I get the reasons the reasons for both, and that exchange was intertaining, safety pin. But it could have gone a little faster.
I will read it again, but I am likely going to shift gears to her other books. I really want to dive deeper into her way of thinking. Shame I have at least 4 in que, some suggested here. But I really want to get to more of this stuff. It fell out of my hands last night, I did not want to put it down....The entire Cheryl "deal".
Damn James is a total ass.
"The Bullet Garden" by Stephen Hunter. An Earl Swagger novel set in WWII and Europe. VERY good read.
Finished, one hell of a book. Over all I will give it a B+ and worth reading. I fully understand why it is seen as "dangerous". It will do one of two things echo your own thoughts or be total garbage, there is no middle ground, but no matter what your thoughts I think it would be a good read.
And Dagny is a "typical" woman to the end.
Just started Anthem, this will be a cake walk next to the one before.
And Dagny is a "typical" woman to the end.
Just started Anthem, this will be a cake walk next to the one before.
Just finished this myself. I've read most of Stephen Hunter's books and this one was amongst his best.
Well Anthem went really fast, I just loved the "names" in that book. Not names like "the golden one" but names like Equality 7-2521, Liberty 5-3000. The names tell something as well.
I just shotguned that book, it went very fast. On to the next.
The virtue of selfishness.
I just shotguned that book, it went very fast. On to the next.
The virtue of selfishness.
Today being the 30th anniversary of the disastrous end of the Branch Davidian siege at Waco, I thought I'd mention these two books that have recently been released on the subject. I've just finished reading both, and found them to be very informative and, for the most part, well done.
The best of the two is titled simply "Waco", written by Jeff Guinn. Very thorough and well annotated, it provides details that are very often overlooked by many writers.
The second is "Waco Rising", by Kevin Cook. While not quite as good, it still offers some great details of the events that occurred during the 51 day standoff. This one goes off the rails a little bit when talking about some of the events in the aftermath, but there is enough good info to make it worth reading.
The best of the two is titled simply "Waco", written by Jeff Guinn. Very thorough and well annotated, it provides details that are very often overlooked by many writers.
The second is "Waco Rising", by Kevin Cook. While not quite as good, it still offers some great details of the events that occurred during the 51 day standoff. This one goes off the rails a little bit when talking about some of the events in the aftermath, but there is enough good info to make it worth reading.
Another one bites the dust:
Amazon product ASIN B00IRRERQ6
This is really a series of essays on all forms of topics, And they are all quite applicable today. The "chapter" on racism was quite telling, written IIRC in 1963, your just yup yup yup. So many things are quotable from just that one chapter that are in play today. Any quota system is racist, and it just keeps being true. You are to be punished for what your great grandfather MIGHT have done. Ahh, how in any is that seen as the right thing to do.
Hell in a handbasket, all I can say is hell in a hand basket.
All of this has made me just flat resign the fact that this thing is done, and it was done long ago. Could it be fixed, sure, will it be, I just don't see it ever happening.
Oh well it was a pretty good run I guess.
Now what to hit next. I am not sure I am done here with her yet, so not sure where to go. I know if I start something new and I am not "ready" for it, I will read a page and a half and leave it. I am also a bit tired of "it" right now. Might just take a rest for a bit.
Amazon product ASIN B00IRRERQ6
This is really a series of essays on all forms of topics, And they are all quite applicable today. The "chapter" on racism was quite telling, written IIRC in 1963, your just yup yup yup. So many things are quotable from just that one chapter that are in play today. Any quota system is racist, and it just keeps being true. You are to be punished for what your great grandfather MIGHT have done. Ahh, how in any is that seen as the right thing to do.
Hell in a handbasket, all I can say is hell in a hand basket.
All of this has made me just flat resign the fact that this thing is done, and it was done long ago. Could it be fixed, sure, will it be, I just don't see it ever happening.
Oh well it was a pretty good run I guess.
Now what to hit next. I am not sure I am done here with her yet, so not sure where to go. I know if I start something new and I am not "ready" for it, I will read a page and a half and leave it. I am also a bit tired of "it" right now. Might just take a rest for a bit.
Just killed another one, I actually had two going at a time.
These two.
The Ayn Rand book is really a bunch of lectures and each "chapter" stands on its own, not really a "book". The other is really going into TV and how it has shaped the world.
I will stick in a few quotes that I think will give you a general gist on what the take on the book is. Not expensive and an easy read.
These two really sum up the book, and likely things you already think. There is quite a bit of good stuff in here. That last quote, this is where we are now.
“When news is packaged as entertainment, that is the inevitable result. And in saying that the television news show entertains but does not inform, I am saying something far more serious than that we are being deprived of authentic information. I am saying we are losing our sense of what it means to be well informed.”
“Tyrants of all varieties have always known about the value of providing the masses with amusements as a means of pacifying discontent. But most of them could not have even hoped for a situation in which the masses would ignore that which does not amuse.”
These two.
The Ayn Rand book is really a bunch of lectures and each "chapter" stands on its own, not really a "book". The other is really going into TV and how it has shaped the world.
I will stick in a few quotes that I think will give you a general gist on what the take on the book is. Not expensive and an easy read.
These two really sum up the book, and likely things you already think. There is quite a bit of good stuff in here. That last quote, this is where we are now.
“When news is packaged as entertainment, that is the inevitable result. And in saying that the television news show entertains but does not inform, I am saying something far more serious than that we are being deprived of authentic information. I am saying we are losing our sense of what it means to be well informed.”
“Tyrants of all varieties have always known about the value of providing the masses with amusements as a means of pacifying discontent. But most of them could not have even hoped for a situation in which the masses would ignore that which does not amuse.”
A Sapper's War by Ralph Carr. His preface is spot on about war censors and locations being omitted by the writer or by the censor. I hate that (but understand) and he mentions the unit history helped him to rediscover the place where it was written. Once I asked a woman to go through the envelopes of her father's letters to locate the postmark so as to determine his location in England. All postmarked London (so no help).
As this is a thread needing a little kick I will give you my two bits on Fountainhead so far.
There will be spoilers so you are warned
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Still here, ok here is where we currently are.
Dominique has married Gail Wynand (its a dude, remember written in the 1930's different names back then) and she is starting to have real trouble with her....I guess I will say chosen lifestyle. Roark has been pretty out of the picture for some time now, she last saw him on her way to Rino to get the divorce from Peter.
She, Rand, can sure wright some complex people. Some you just want to throat punch, Ellsworth Toohey, some are just d-bags Peter Keeting, others it takes you a while to figure out, at least it took me a while to figure it out, Dominique. She buys a statue from europe, has it brought home, out of a museum, and was very hard to get. She gets it home looks at it for a bit, then tosses it down an elevator shaft, and destroys it. Why? so the rest of the humans can't look at it, it was too nice for the masses. Gail has the same thing, an art gallery that he lets no one into, just the care taker and now Dominique. They are cut from the same cloth. But why is he running such a trash newspaper.....I think I know, Dominique is figuring it out.
After getting married these two are figuring out they are the same, but can't admit it to themselves. Dominique just tried to warn Gail about that slug Toohey, but Gail dismissed it out of hand as no threat. I think he will learn a hard lesson. I thought Dominique would sell out Peter, her last husband and give Gails housing project to Roark, but nope, it went to Peter, Gail "bought" Dominique from him for 200,000 (remember 1930's money) and Peter got the comission for the housing project.
It is really a sideways book, but I think Atlas is better so far.
I am really interested in seeing what is going to happen to them all, I hope Toohey bites the big one.
There will be spoilers so you are warned
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Still here, ok here is where we currently are.
Dominique has married Gail Wynand (its a dude, remember written in the 1930's different names back then) and she is starting to have real trouble with her....I guess I will say chosen lifestyle. Roark has been pretty out of the picture for some time now, she last saw him on her way to Rino to get the divorce from Peter.
She, Rand, can sure wright some complex people. Some you just want to throat punch, Ellsworth Toohey, some are just d-bags Peter Keeting, others it takes you a while to figure out, at least it took me a while to figure it out, Dominique. She buys a statue from europe, has it brought home, out of a museum, and was very hard to get. She gets it home looks at it for a bit, then tosses it down an elevator shaft, and destroys it. Why? so the rest of the humans can't look at it, it was too nice for the masses. Gail has the same thing, an art gallery that he lets no one into, just the care taker and now Dominique. They are cut from the same cloth. But why is he running such a trash newspaper.....I think I know, Dominique is figuring it out.
After getting married these two are figuring out they are the same, but can't admit it to themselves. Dominique just tried to warn Gail about that slug Toohey, but Gail dismissed it out of hand as no threat. I think he will learn a hard lesson. I thought Dominique would sell out Peter, her last husband and give Gails housing project to Roark, but nope, it went to Peter, Gail "bought" Dominique from him for 200,000 (remember 1930's money) and Peter got the comission for the housing project.
It is really a sideways book, but I think Atlas is better so far.
I am really interested in seeing what is going to happen to them all, I hope Toohey bites the big one.
