Kawasaki Concours Forum
Mish mash => Open Forum => Topic started by: Strawboss on August 24, 2017, 06:59:23 PM
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I read, a lot, more so in the winter obviously, but year round though. Almost always paperback. I like the physical, tactile feeling of a book in my hands, I looked at those computer books, never, not me. Almost always fictional novels loosely based or centered around historical events or characters usually with some sort of military theme. Clancy, Vince Flynn, Brad Thor, John LeCarre, Robert Ludlum, Frederick Forsythe, Steven Coonts, Dale Brown, Schaara, Greg Iles. In between those, maybe a Clive Cussler, Harry Turtledove, a Steven King. I have some special books that I have to be in the right mood to read, Sparticus, a Ken Follett, Mark Twain, James Fennimore Cooper, the Stieg Larsson trilogy etc... I read a textbook last year about the Battle of Britain, weird. I'm now reading an author named Ted Bell whose fictional character Lord Alexander Hawk is part Jack Reacher, Mitch Rapp, Scot Harvath, James Bond, Steven Segal, Sean Connery, and Jack Ryan, all rolled into one man who works covertly for MI6 dispatching terrorists. Its a bit hokey sometimes but reads fast and makes you think about all the stuff that happens behind the scenes that we never hear about in the war on terror. Who is reading what here? Books, just books. I like books.
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I have an extensive collection of SF paperbacks (1000+) that haven't been read in years. Just finished Marion Zimmer Bradley's The Endless Universe. Not really a great fan of hers but that one was pretty good.
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Just finished 'Beyond Band of Brothers' by Dick Winters. A decent read but honestly, not all that much there beyond what Ambrose already wrote IMO.
Before that, 'Commander in Chief'. About the relationship between FDR and Churchill between the time of Operation Torch (the Allied invasion of North Africa) and D-day. Excellent read, mostly told through diary accounts of the many people surrounding both men, some well known, some not so much but all having a first- hand view. What made it good IMO, was that it was just like real life: messy, full of turmoil, in- fighting, one gazillion changes to several plans, none of which were actually used, at least not as initially intended. And the fine balance that made it all work, or at least work as well as it did.
Brian
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I'm rereading The Dark Tower series, kinda
Starting with Eyes of The Dragon, then The Talisman, Black House, and on to the Dark Tower series.
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I'm going to do that as well. You started me on them aeons ago.
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I'm rereading The Dark Tower series, kinda
Starting with Eyes of The Dragon, then The Talisman, Black House, and on to the Dark Tower series.
I'm going to do that as well. You started me on them aeons ago.
:thumbs:
I suppose that The Stand should be included as well.
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Just finished "The Green Mile" by King, good, the movie closely followed the book with one exception in the plot, I won't say what it was, but, it was expedient and necessary in the movie.
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Just finished 'Captain Fantastic' (Elton John) and now starting to read George Best autobiography
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Not sure which one you have or what is in print now but if possible, get the earlier, edited version. The version King likes is about 300 pages longer (and the short version is a long book) and they are not only unnecessary to the plot, they are a long series of spokes that go nowhere. I believe he was trying to add depth to the idea of how bleak things were but got a bit carried away IMO.
Not throwing rocks at it, it is a great book IMO but the longer version is not an improvement and actually detracts from the book. Again, IMO.
Brian
:thumbs:
I suppose that The Stand should be included as well.
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I think that I'm going to have to order this one.
The President Is Missing
by James Patterson, Bill Clinton
The President Is Missing confronts a threat so huge that it jeopardizes not just Pennsylvania Avenue and Wall Street, but all of America. Uncertainty and fear grip the nation. There are whispers of cyberterror and espionage and a traitor in the Cabinet. Even the President himself becomes a suspect, and then he disappears from public view . . .
Set over the course of three days, The President Is Missing sheds a stunning light upon the inner workings and vulnerabilities of our nation. Filled with information that only a former commander in chief could know, this is the most authentic, terrifying novel to come along in many years.
Total fiction, right? Or is it?
https://smile.amazon.com/President-Missing-Novel-James-Patterson/dp/1538713837/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=The+President+Is+Missing&qid=1605270878&sr=8-1
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Have a good read. ;D
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"Role of Honor" by John Gardner, A retired James Bond goes after a computer genius. I started it just after Sean Connery died and can't help thinking of his voice as I read his lines in the book.
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Medicare enrollment.
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BORING Jim. ;D You need some fiction..........oh, yeah, no really. ;D
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You're right. I've read that Medicare book a couple of times and still don't understand it.
Last fiction book I read was Elric of Melnibone (book 1) by Michael Moorcock. I've got the rest of the series but it's buried in the basement. Maybe I'll try to find the other books this weekend.
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Between retirement, Covid control measures and a long recovery from an accident I have read more this year than I usually read in two year's time.
Killing England (American Revolution)
Killing Crazy Horse (America's treatment of Native Americans)
Mexico by Motorcycle (starting in 1971 the author extensively toured Mexico on motorcycles)
Pandemic 1918 - Eyewitness Accounts from the greatest medical holocaust in Modern History (40K of America's 100K WWI deaths from Spanish Flu_
The Impossible Rescue - The True Story of an Arctic Adventure (1,000+ miles by dogsleds and Reindeer to rescue trapped whalers)
Dead Mountain - The untold story of the Dyatlov Pass Incident (mysterious deaths of entire hiking party 1960 Ural Mtns)
Island of the Lost - An Extraordinary Story of Survival at the Edge of the World (2 shipwrecked crews in Auckland Islands -unaware of the other. One group is industrious and survives - the other group - not so much)
Buried In the Sky - Story of Sherpa Climbers on K-2's Deadliest Day (Himalayan climbing industry's effect on Sherpas)
Midnight at Chernobyl (Communism's illustrative colossal failure)
White Hurricane - America's Deadliest Marine Disaster (250 people killed, 19 ships sunk, 19 others stranded)
Angels - Billy Graham
Run the Storm - (El Faro story - some of the crew were from Maine)
The Rape of Nanking - (why isn't this atrocity not better known? A precursor to Japanese WWII aggression)
Ten Hours Until Dawn - (1978 Massachusetts blizzard - a daring citizen rescue attempt of stranded tanker crew that could have/should have ridden out the storm, and the Coast Guard's rescue recovery )
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I read differing types of books. Generally my wife finds something she likes and I get interested.
To name a few;
Currently reading a series by CJ Box. It's about a game Warden in Wyoming that get's involved in chasing all kinds of bad guys. Has a lot of description of the outdoors in the Mountains.
Before that we read a collection of books that were written by Holocaust survivors.
(It's amazing that any of them survived)
Being Military type, I sometimes get into war novels or documentaries.
Ride safe, Ted
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I've got basically a library on military books surrounding me in my office. Typically WWII, Korea, Vietnam. Lots AF books. I just dug out an elementary school book on President Washington. I'm going to read that next. One of my favorite Navy books is the one about Taffy 3 in WWII. I get goosebumps saying Taffy 3. The bravery of that task force is amazing to say the least. And we (US) let many of the survivors drown after the battle due to incompetence in the higher ranks.
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I need to look into a Taffy III book. A book about that battle is being read by someone on the other Forum.
Ride safe, Ted
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The Last Stand of the Tin Can Sailors by James D. Hornfischer.
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They turned around an entire Japanese battle group..
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I have an extensive collection of SF paperbacks (1000+) that haven't been read in years. Just finished Marion Zimmer Bradley's The Endless Universe. Not really a great fan of hers but that one was pretty good.
I did enjoy the Mists of Avalon years back but not nearly as much as The Once and Future King by T H White. It's been many years since I read fiction though.
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I read differing types of books. Generally my wife finds something she likes and I get interested.
To name a few;
Currently reading a series by CJ Box. It's about a game Warden in Wyoming that get's involved in chasing all kinds of bad guys. Has a lot of description of the outdoors in the Mountains.
Before that we read a collection of books that were written by Holocaust survivors.
(It's amazing that any of them survived)
Being Military type, I sometimes get into war novels or documentaries.
Ride safe, Ted
The Hiding Place by Corrie ten Boom was a true story and she was an amazing survivor!
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I started a thriller by John Connolly, "The Wolf in Winter", about 80 pages and it's dumb/weird, sometimes the book wins. Found an old WWII book at work, "Up Periscope" written by Robb White in 1956, WWII frogmen go to a Pacific island in a sub to steal a code.
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That reminded me of an old movie. So, I checked.
The Movie Up Periscope came out in 1959 with James Gardner.
Here is the trailer.
https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=movie+Up+Pariscope&docid=608044078221692625&mid=A894032EA6A9D68CEB2AA894032EA6A9D68CEB2A&view=detail&FORM=VIREHT (https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=movie+Up+Pariscope&docid=608044078221692625&mid=A894032EA6A9D68CEB2AA894032EA6A9D68CEB2A&view=detail&FORM=VIREHT)
Ride safe, Ted
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Yes, I remember the film now that you mentioned it, I didn't think it was the same, I watched it in the 80's. I request it from the library, thanks.
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https://ok.ru/video/2988439374336
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Just finished Brad Taylor's "Daughter of War" and started Bill O'Rielly's "Killing The Empire of The Rising Sin", so far, its decent, some things I didn't know about, interesting. I've held off reading his "killing" series but everyone I know who has read them says they are ok, we'll see.
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I guess I am the oddball, (nothing new!). Magicians of the Gods, Fingerprints of the Gods, now on Underworld. Pre-history theories would be the best description. Supernatural, Dark Matter and the Dinosaurs and When the sky fell are on deck for the winter ponderances.
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No, you are like the rest of us because we read for pleasure when the majority of others do not, no oddball in that.
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Due to several disappointments with new books, I have gone back to my library and re-read these:
Spider Robinson - Callahan series (funny, thought provoking)
David Gemmell - Jerusalem Man trilogy (awesome! western/fantasy/sci-fi)
Larry Niven - Ringworld series and A World Out of Time.
I am currently part way through Harry Harrisons The Stainless Steel Rat books for the n-th time.
Once I have finished with Slippery Jim DiGriz, I have all of E.E. Doc Smiths books, and 60+ Anne McCaffrey books to go through.
I like my Kindle, but I'd forgotten how it feels to read real books. ;D :thumbs:
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Just read "The boy who followed his father into Auschwitz" by Jeremy Dronfield (a true story) and very sobering
Now reading "The Hard Way - Mark 'Billy" Billingham" 'Adapt, Survive and Win'
Both excellent books
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Due to several disappointments with new books, I have gone back to my library and re-read these:
Spider Robinson - Callahan series (funny, thought provoking)
David Gemmell - Jerusalem Man trilogy (awesome! western/fantasy/sci-fi)
Larry Niven - Ringworld series and A World Out of Time.
I am currently part way through Harry Harrisons The Stainless Steel Rat books for the n-th time.
Once I have finished with Slippery Jim DiGriz, I have all of E.E. Doc Smiths books, and 60+ Anne McCaffrey books to go through.
I like my Kindle, but I'd forgotten how it feels to read real books. ;D :thumbs:
I've got quite an extensive collection of older SciFi authors. Larry Niven and Harry Harrison amongst the favorites.
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I've got quite an extensive collection of older SciFi authors. Larry Niven and Harry Harrison amongst the favorites.
:thumbs:
After posting my comment I went into the attic and went through the rest of the collection.
I now have 30+ Heinleins to re-read, a stack of Clarke and Asimov, about 10 AE Van Vogt, and assorted others including Edmund Cooper (and his many aliases).
Currently re-reading Edmund Cooper's Kronk which is funny, sad, and very relatable right now as it's about a disease that affects the whole world.
I especially like the moment when the Gabriel believes that the statue of Sir Michael Jagger has thrown a bra at him. :rotflmao:
[Edit] Having read this I counted and realised I have read 11 books in 7 days ::). I seem to be resorting to escapism as we approach Lockdown 3.0 which starts tomorrow. <sigh>
I did get out for a ride on Otto this weekend of a whole 65 miles, in the rain, and nearly crashed due a dangerous pothole, which has been reported.
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I've read a boatload of books this year - a combination of retirement, an accident, and Covid restrictions has created a perfect storm for me to have lots of time and not a lot of places to go has made books my # 1 activity.
I just started The First American Industrial Revolution - The Dawn of Innovation (Charles R. Morris) - a book I've had for a while but never started. The book starts, Boomer, with the War of 1812 and American vs. British war boats on Lake Ontario. Imagine a ship so large it carries 800 crewmen and the top mast was 200 feet above the waterline. It promises to be good.
I'm not nearly as fussy as I used to be - I've finished every book I've started.
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I just started The First American Industrial Revolution - The Dawn of Innovation (Charles R. Morris) - a book I've had for a while but never started. The book starts, Boomer, with the War of 1812 and American vs. British war boats on Lake Ontario. Imagine a ship so large it carries 800 crewmen and the top mast was 200 feet above the waterline. It promises to be good.
I assume you are referring to HMS St Lawrence? We were taught about the 1812-1815 war at school. :D
It was a time of great innovation worldwide. Enjoy! ;D
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Ah yes, the HMS St. Lawrence, alas had very little if any to do with the war of 1812.. It was launched and then within weeks the war ended. It saw no action. A marvel of ship building to be sure but was of no consequence to the war effort. It was sold in 1832 for 25 pounds.
The US had knowledge of this ship and was building two ships to take care of it in Sackets Harbor. Those ships were the USS New Orleans and the USS Chippewa with 130 guns each. Neither ship were ever launched.
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I read commando, seldom put a book down before finishing it. War and Peace the exception, it's HUGE ;)
Last reads were "Doorknob Five Two" and "The Next Five Minutes".
Rick
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"It was a time of great innovation worldwide. Enjoy!"
Much of the innovation came from England. Crucible steel was world class - England was able to first produce a cannon that was predictable. French sailors "feared the guns they were serving more than those of the enemy". Thomas Newcomen invented the basis for the steam which Scot James Watt improved upon. Crop rotation, textile production, mine work and general industrialization was centered in England by a government that allowed freedom to innovate.
Navigation was improved upon by England finding a manner to determine longitude. Latitude was already mastered but longitude remained evasive. British technology vastly improved the ability to accurately fix a location.
Like most others I learned general history (names and dates) in school but there's much more to learn and know.
One of the very few silver linings to Covid (maybe the only) is having the time and fewer distractions to read.
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"Enemy of Mine" by Brad Taylor. Just finished "Under the Ice" by Hendrik, written in 1989 it was interesting to read old cold war stories.
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I'm reading "White Trash the 400 Year Untold History of Class in America" by Nancy Isenberg.
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I started "Grant Comes East" by Newt Gingrich.......sigh, dang, the book won again. It's an alternative history novel where Lee has won Gettysburg and is poised to take Washington DC and Grant is put in charge of all armed forces in 1863. Well written but it's purely a strategy book with some dialogue and pages long rich descriptions of battles and troop movements. I tossed it and tried "Sanvannah" by John Jakes, a heartwarming story of Sherman's victory and time spent in that city during Christmas of 1864, not what I thought but a decent read.
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I like John Jakes. Only 1 novel of his that I can remember and it's "Mention my name in Atlantis". Great author!
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Look for "On Secret Service" and of course the "North and South" trilogy.
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I've been reading the 'Killing' series by Bill O'Reilly. I like History. Get lots of civil war here where I live, and revolutionary times when I visit the in-laws in Williamsburg, VA
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"A Column of Fire" by Ken Follett set in 1558 and the third book of the "Kingsbridge" trilogy that follows 2 families on opposite sides of the Protestant reformation sweeping England, France and Spain where people were killed and tortured for even thinking about or possessing items counter to Catholicism. Powerful stuff.