Whatcha reading redux.

Everything cultural, pop or otherwise. Books, movies, music, comics, poetry, random cultural geekery.
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308Mike
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Re: Whatcha reading redux.

Post by 308Mike »

arctictom wrote:
CByrneIV wrote:
arctictom wrote:WEB Griffins the Corps series

I re-read it in its entirety last year, followed by brotherhood of war. That was a good month.
I like the guys writing, makes history very real.
And for many people, that's what it takes for them to understand history as being relevant to their own existence. When you make a subject LIVE, it catches their attention and helps keep them invigorated in the subject.

I wish my old History teachers in High School did as much to keep me engaged as many of the books I've read - LONG after leaving high school.
POLITICIANS & DIAPERS NEED TO BE CHANGED OFTEN AND FOR THE SAME REASON

A person properly schooled in right and wrong is safe with any weapon. A person with no idea of good and evil is unsafe with a knitting needle, or the cap from a ballpoint pen.

I remain pessimistic given the way BATF and the anti gun crowd have become tape worms in the guts of the Republic. - toad
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SeekHer
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Re: Whatcha reading redux.

Post by SeekHer »

I've restarted the 1632 series by Eric Flint including all the readers.

Found a new series that I'm only into the third book called the Destroyer Men by Taylor Anderson--very well written and researched--Destroyers swept up into an alternate universe.
There is a certain type of mentality that thinks if you make certain inanimate objects illegal their criminal misuse will disappear!

Damn the TSA and Down with the BATF(u)E!
Support the J P F O to "Give them the Boot"!!
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Rich
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Re: Whatcha reading redux.

Post by Rich »

Remember Fast Eddie? Ed Rasimus was a Thud and Phantom driver who wrote a few good books about his experiences, and better yet, was a member of Kim's forum. I think he left just before we got started here.

I wonder if he checks in under a new handle, as Fast Eddie doesn't appear in the member list.
A weak government usually remains a servant of citizens, while a strong government usually becomes the master of its subjects.
- paraphrased from several sources

A choice, not an echo. - Goldwater campaign, 1964
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Aegis
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Re: Whatcha reading redux.

Post by Aegis »

SeekHer wrote:Found a new series that I'm only into the third book called the Destroyer Men by Taylor Anderson--very well written and researched--Destroyers swept up into an alternate universe.
Great series. Only 5 books published so far, though.
Chicks dig fixed bayonets
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Jered
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Re: Whatcha reading redux.

Post by Jered »

SeekHer wrote:I've restarted the 1632 series by Eric Flint including all the readers.

Found a new series that I'm only into the third book called the Destroyer Men by Taylor Anderson--very well written and researched--Destroyers swept up into an alternate universe.
Actually, it was a WWI US destroyer, and a Japanese battlecruiser.
The avalanche has already started. It is too late for the pebbles to vote.
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Rod
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Re: Whatcha reading redux.

Post by Rod »

I got Colonel Roosevelt last week, the third volume of the TR biography. Going to quote some of the things he says about Muslims in another post. Edmund Morris admires TR but talks about him, warts and all.
Tonight, UPS delivered my copy of The Original Argument, written by Joshua Charles and preempted by Glenn Beck. I say that because the kid's name (he's only 23) isn't even on the cover. It's a common man's translation of The Federalist Papers. Debating whether to reread them or read the two side by side.
one can be a Democrat, or one can choose to be an American.
Good acting requires an imagination; reality requires a person not getting lost in their imagination.
"It's better to have a gun if you need it". Felix's opthamologist
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308Mike
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Re: Whatcha reading redux.

Post by 308Mike »

After finishing my previous book, and then completing Charlie Mike:

Image

I am now currently reading The Hill (part of the review from Publishers Weekly says:
This taut tale of two stepbrothers stretches from the "baking dust" of rural Oklahoma to the steamy heat of Vietnamese jungles. After a sadistic coach costs him his football scholarship, tall, blond Jason Johnson winds up a lieutenant in a Ranger paratroop division in Vietnam. Meanwhile, stepbrother Ty Nance's half-Kiowa Indian ancestry brings its own problems, and Ty, too, becomes a paratrooperlike his father and uncle, both of whom died in combat. Scott ( the author of Charlie Mike ) elicits sympathy for the two heroes while shocking with grim, realistic battle scenes, and introduces two characters who are North Vietnamese, a general and a private. The paths of the four men concenter on Hill 875, in "the single most costly battle" of the Vietnam War. The portrayal of the North Vietnamese offers unsettling insights into the nature of an all-too-human enemy, and underscores the pointlessness of the war as "an aberration of logic." The anti-war message here is no less forceful for emanating from an action-adventure novel at that genre's best.
Image

I'm looking for references to some good books on the combat in the Afghanistan/Iraq wars. I've read some good ones, including some by Apache pilots - but I'm always on the look-out for more good books.

YMMV

Actually, something I have NOT read anything of is the Israeli wars against the terrorists, actions of their snipers, combat including their tankers. I'd LOVE to read about some Israeli snipers 'smoke-checking' some shithead terrorist before he's able to do any harm to innocent people. Recommendations???
POLITICIANS & DIAPERS NEED TO BE CHANGED OFTEN AND FOR THE SAME REASON

A person properly schooled in right and wrong is safe with any weapon. A person with no idea of good and evil is unsafe with a knitting needle, or the cap from a ballpoint pen.

I remain pessimistic given the way BATF and the anti gun crowd have become tape worms in the guts of the Republic. - toad
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SeekHer
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Re: Whatcha reading redux.

Post by SeekHer »

Afghan
Max Benitz
Six Months Without Sundays: The Scots Guards in Afghanistan
Gol Gómez
War on Terror: A Deep Review About Islamic and Other Terrorist Ways

Just ordered both up from Casemate Publishers and they just delivered my contest prize Notes of a Russian Sniper by Vassili Zaitsev...They have a monthly military knowledge contest on Twitter and I won...They've got some great titles and their prices aren't bad but you can get them cheaper on Amazon.
I'd ordered the following of theirs:
WW1
Martin Pegler
Sniping in the Great War -- Has quite a few books on snipers and sniping
WW2
German
Bruno Sutkus
Sniper Ace
Russian
Joseph Pilyushin
Red Sniper on the Eastern Front: The Memoirs of Joseph Pilyushin
US & British
Martin Pegler
Sniper Anthology:Snipers of the Second World War -- Still back ordered...The others are quite well done memoires.

http://www.quikmaneuvers.com/index.html has a bunch of E-books…I’ve read a few and they’re not the greatest books out there but they aren’t bad...He's got some Israeli titles.

There aren't many books written by IDF personnel, from any branch even in Hebrew (that hadn't been translated yet)...There are a fair number of books written by outsiders over the operations of the various branches, battles etc.

An interesting read is by Claire Hoy and Victor Ostrovsky called By Way of Deception: A Devastating Insider's Portrait of the Mossad...Story of a Mossad agent from training to when he gets kicked out for writing the book...It's my car book--for when I have to wait for someone, I'll read for the few minutes...Started doing it, twelve years ago when I gave up smoking as I'd usually light one up and this helped curb the cravings.
There is a certain type of mentality that thinks if you make certain inanimate objects illegal their criminal misuse will disappear!

Damn the TSA and Down with the BATF(u)E!
Support the J P F O to "Give them the Boot"!!
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308Mike
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Joined: Wed Aug 13, 2008 3:47 pm

Re: Whatcha reading redux.

Post by 308Mike »

SeekHer wrote:An interesting read is by Claire Hoy and Victor Ostrovsky called By Way of Deception: A Devastating Insider's Portrait of the Mossad...Story of a Mossad agent from training to when he gets kicked out for writing the book...It's my car book--for when I have to wait for someone, I'll read for the few minutes...Started doing it, twelve years ago when I gave up smoking as I'd usually light one up and this helped curb the cravings.
But you never found it engaging enough to want to bring it into the house and continue reading?? That's not much to go on (and I realize you made no recommendation one way or the other). I WOULD love to read some of the Israeli accounts of various battles/conflicts/skirmishes if they'll let anyone write them. They could sway a LOT of people to their side if they just opened up a bit. However, I also understand the need for operational security, security of your personnel, security of tactics and training, etc., etc. In NO WAY would I ever want to compromise Israel's security, but I would LOVE to read about some of their operations from first-hand sources, even if they're couched as 'fictional stories'.

Come on SeekHer, we know you have some tales for telling. How about some stuff for around the campfire? :D :) ;) ;) ;) :P :P
POLITICIANS & DIAPERS NEED TO BE CHANGED OFTEN AND FOR THE SAME REASON

A person properly schooled in right and wrong is safe with any weapon. A person with no idea of good and evil is unsafe with a knitting needle, or the cap from a ballpoint pen.

I remain pessimistic given the way BATF and the anti gun crowd have become tape worms in the guts of the Republic. - toad
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SeekHer
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Joined: Fri Aug 15, 2008 9:27 am

Re: Whatcha reading redux.

Post by SeekHer »

308Mike wrote:
SeekHer wrote:An interesting read is by Claire Hoy and Victor Ostrovsky called By Way of Deception: A Devastating Insider's Portrait of the Mossad...Story of a Mossad agent from training to when he gets kicked out for writing the book...It's my car book--for when I have to wait for someone, I'll read for the few minutes...Started doing it, twelve years ago when I gave up smoking as I'd usually light one up and this helped curb the cravings.
But you never found it engaging enough to want to bring it into the house and continue reading?? That's not much to go on (and I realize you made no recommendation one way or the other). I WOULD love to read some of the Israeli accounts of various battles/conflicts/skirmishes if they'll let anyone write them. They could sway a LOT of people to their side if they just opened up a bit. However, I also understand the need for operational security, security of your personnel, security of tactics and training, etc., etc. In NO WAY would I ever want to compromise Israel's security, but I would LOVE to read about some of their operations from first-hand sources, even if they're couched as 'fictional stories'.

Come on SeekHer, we know you have some tales for telling. How about some stuff for around the campfire? :D :) ;) ;) ;) :P :P
The car book is 396 pages and I'm on page 251 and its only been in the car for about a week or so...It is an extremely enjoyable read which is why I'm reading it for the second time...The first book burnt in the fire and luckily I found this copy at a used book store...Its especially interesting when you've been to a lot of the places that are discussed in the book.

I really don't know why there aren't more IDF memoirs or battle descriptions, then again, except for [frequent] terrorist attacks the only wars we've been involved in 1948 Independence, 1956 Sinai, 1967 Six Day, 1973 Yom Kippur, 1982 to 1985 1st Lebanon and 2006 2nd Lebanon or Hezbollah Wars have all been over in weeks--excluding 1st Lebanon which has been compared to Russia in Afghanistan.

Short durations doesn't make for lots of after action reports.

As to my exploits, most that I'd want to share have already been done so, some I can't because of security (even after 38 yrs) and others I don't want to remember...After all the training the year and a half in the army and two in the Border Police I was mostly second gun at every single terrorist event during that period except Ma'alot where I was recuperating from a bullet wound to the left shoulder--was spotter but not shooter...Two weeks before, we caught a few "sneeks" at an abandoned blown out two story building; after refusing to negotiate we went in to search the bodies when from the second floor this guy stands up and shoots me in the shoulder--bad aim as he was hit in the stomach...His angle would have taken a direct path to the heart had it not been a .22 LR fired from about 5m which took a little chunk out of the spatula and ended up lodged against the clavicle and hurt like Hell--the pain meds disallowed me gun status but I was walking around the day after surgery...I'll tel you about the camel train of hashish another time.

Wanting to read:
Six Days of War by Michael B. Oren -- Damn good book
Lessons of the 2006 Israeli-Hezbollah War by Anthony H. Cordesman
The 2006 Lebanon Campaign and the Future of Warfare: Implications for Army and Defense Policy by Dr. Stephen D. Biddle -- Dull but lots of good research and insight
We Were Caught Unprepared: The 2006 Hezbollah-Israeli War by Matt Matthews -- Want to read it and library has it on order for me.
Pity the Nation: The Abduction of Lebanon by Robert Fisk -- Supposed to be very good but I think it favours the other guys more.
Israel's Lebanon War by Ze'ev Schiff -- Just found it this morning at the used book store.

Also try:
Atlas for the Arab-Israel War (West Point Military History Series) by Thomas E. Greiss
Israel's Wars: A History since 1947 by Ahron Bregman
Right to Exist: A Moral Defense of Israel's Wars by Yaacov Lozowick b- Must read
Origins of the Second Arab-Israel War by Michael Oren -- Good reviews
Israel's War of Independence: War and Conflict in the Middle East by Chris Hayhurst -- Ditto
33-day War: Israel's War on Hezbollah in Lebanon and It's Consequences by Gilbert Achcar and Michel Warschawski
Israel's Wars: A History since 1947 by Ahron Bregman -- Excellent author/researcher
History of Israel's War of Independence - Volumes I, II, III and IV by Uri Milstein w/Alan Sacks as editor and translator from the Hebrew with extensive, dry, reviews of the battle orders, communications, after action reports etc. of the war.

Additional titles are available at Tower Books -- search "Israel" shown.

Anxiously awaiting a copy:
Gaza in Crisis: Reflections on Israel's War Against the Palestinians by Noam Chomsky and Ilan Pappe -- Must read
Related by same authors:
Hopes and Prospects by Noam Chomsky
Media Control by Noam Chomsky -- Fascinating manipulation of media!!!
The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine by Ilan Pappe

Son of Hamas by Mosab Hassan Yousef and journalist Ron Brackin -- Radical Islam to "peacenik"--inside the minds of Hamas -- Wait listed at the library where I get most books on the political/military side of Israeli and world policy.

They've been culling their bookshelves of seldom read titles every other month and offer them for sale to the public--1st week hardcover $2.00, trade edition $1.50 and pocket $1.00...each week after the price is decreased by 40% or so until the 4th week when they sell them for $2.00 a plastic grocery bag--six to fifteen volumes--full...So some of the "boring" titles get shipped to the clearance table after just six months to a year in service...Last year I had borrowed a new release from the library--wait listed as the third reader of it and bought it recently as I was the last reader of it.

EDIT
Sorry forgot these:
Beyond Chutzpah: On the Misuse of Anti-Semitism and the Abuse of History by Norman G. Finkelstein
The Holocaust Industry: Reflections on the Exploitation of Jewish Suffering by Norman G. Finkelstein
Both are a must in any pro-Israel, Goy's (non Jewish), library...Nu, it kudn't hoit in even a Yid's (Jew's) library!
Last edited by SeekHer on Fri Jun 24, 2011 1:54 am, edited 1 time in total.
There is a certain type of mentality that thinks if you make certain inanimate objects illegal their criminal misuse will disappear!

Damn the TSA and Down with the BATF(u)E!
Support the J P F O to "Give them the Boot"!!
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