What's Currently on Your Reading List?

[MITCH RAPP]

I'm with you Jerry! I have read all 16 of the Reacher books and he is one of my all time favorite Characters! Having Tom Fuze play him on the Big Screen is a Terrible let down for me. I don't think I will even go, when the Movie comes Out. Here are some of the scenes they have put out in a Trailer.

http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/168901 ... enes.jhtml

[jerryd6818]

"Reacher's beloved 1970 Chevelle SS, surprisingly, gets almost as much screen time as its famous driver,"


Where did this come from? I've read all the books and what I remember is Reacher walking, hitchhiking or taking a bus when he moves. No car. No possessions. (well, he had a house for a minute) Just a bank account in Virginia and a folding toothbrush in the pocket of his most recent set of clothes.

[RobesonsRme.com]

Sarah gave me The Complete Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, for Father's Day. I'm reading through that.

Wish I had read them years ago.

Very good.

Charlie Noyes

[carrmillus]

i am currently reading "neptune's inferno"- by james d. hornfischer-great book about the naval battle for guadalcanal-this stuff fascinates me, especially since my uncle was on the uss washington the night they sank the kirishima -the only one on one battleship duel of ww2!!!....................

[Unk]

...just finished reading Audie Murphy's bio "To Hell and Back".....had seen the movie several times, but never read the book.

[biglmbass]

I just finished Unbroken, by Laura Hillenbrand. (Author of Seabiscuit) Excellent read.

http://www.amazon.com/Unbroken-World-Su ... ds=unbroke

[jerryd6818]

I'm currently plodding through "Harbor Nocturne" by Joseph Wambaugh. I haven't read any Wambaugh in many years and it's probably because his novels are just okay.

[Bacon Lover]

I'm a big fan of Vince Flynn and am reading his latest "Kill Shot". Mitch Rapp is the balls. LOL

[jerryd6818]

I've read them up through "Memorial Day" (#6) and I have a note in my reading list beside that one, "Getting' kinda tired of Mitch Rapp the invincable."

Recommendations:
Michael Connelly (Harry Bosch can wear on you after about 20 or so books. )
Robert Crais (Elvis Cole and Joe Pike)
Barry Eisler (John Rain)
William Lashner (Vic Carl)
John Sandford (Prey series & Virgil Flowers)
Daniel Silva (Gabriel Allon)
Les Standiford (John Deal)
Robert K. Tanenbaum (Butch Karp and Marlene Ciampi. Marlene needs to get her head out of her rectum and stay out of trouble.)
William G. Tapply (Brady Coyne & J.W. Jackson These guys fish a lot.)
Randy Wayne White (Doc Ford)

[Bacon Lover]

You should try Ben Coes and Joseph Finder. Local NE guys.

[treefarmer]

My school teacher daughter most always gives dear ol' Dad a book as a gift rather than a pocket knife. Fathers Day gift was a little late gettin' here but it is a great read, especially for old Marines. "Flags of Our Fathers" by James Bradley, is an in depth story of the lives of the men in the famous Iwo Jima flag raising picture. If you love your country and its' freedom you will be touched by the men in this book. Treefarmer

[rangerbluedog]

That's a great book Treefarmer.

I've been buying a lot of books lately. More than I can read right now actually. But I will work through them:

The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin (a re-read, but I bought it cheap at a yard sale last week)

This Hallowed Ground, by Bruce Catton

Ringed in Steel: Armored Cavalry, Vietnam 1967-68, by Michael D. Mahler

Collapse: How Societies Choose to Succeed or Fail, by Jared Diamond

United States Rifle, Model of 1917, by C.S. Ferris (I'm reading this one right now. If you want to know about America's forgotten WW1 rifle, the M1917, this is your first resource)

The M1903 Springfield Rifle and Its Variations, by Joe Poyer (got this one from coffeecup - THANKS Jim!)

The Battle For Spain: The Spanish Civil War 1936-1939, by Antony Beevor

Diamonds, Gold, and War: The British, The Boers, and the Making of South Africa, by Martin Meredith

[jerryd6818]

My school teacher daughter most always gives dear ol' Dad a book as a gift rather than a pocket knife. Fathers Day gift was a little late gettin' here but it is a great read, especially for old Marines. "Flags of Our Fathers" by James Bradley, is an in depth story of the lives of the men in the famous Iwo Jima flag raising picture. If you love your country and its' freedom you will be touched by the men in this book. Treefarmer

Read it. Very good. Have you read Matterhorn?

[treefarmer]

No, Jerry I haven't read "Matterhorn" but just looked it up and I'm sure it will be a good read. The author seems to have the right credentials to write such a book, probably names and units were changed to protect the innocent! More fact than fiction probably. Treefarmer

[jerryd6818]

Sarah gave me The Complete Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, for Father's Day. I'm reading through that.

Wish I had read them years ago.

Very good.

Charlie Noyes

Now see what you've gone and done, Charlie. I checked that out on Amazon, decided to read a little of the free preview, read the entire preview, got hooked and ordered the book(s) a few minutes ago. (Isn't the Internet great?)

I was surprised at how easy it is to read and how interesting. I read (struggled through) "Great Expectations" about 15 years ago and that kind of soured me on the classics. It wasn't a bad book, just 'blah'. I loved all the "Oliver Twist" movies I've seen and many times have considered reading the book but after "Great Expectations" I just can't generate any enthusiasm.

[Cowboy7130]

I've read through several Steven King novels in the last couple of weeks. Not necessarily a horror fan, and I don't find his writing particularly horror-ific ... just some good stories.

I am re-reading Lonesome Dove for the ka-billionth time. We are going to teach it this fall in our English classes!

[jerryd6818]

I am re-reading Lonesome Dove for the ka-billionth time. We are going to teach it this fall in our English classes!

Now why couldn't we have read something like in Junior English class instead of "House of Seven Gables".

You must be an awesome teacher.

[Cowboy7130]

Well, now you're making me blush!

I can't take credit for the idea. It came from the lady down the hall, and we just kind of ran with it. We have been looking for some more current literature to teach, and more relevant. Even though Lonesome Dove is almost thirty years old, it is still quite current, by literary education standards. And, by golly, it won the Pulitzer, and they don't just GIVE those things away!

[coffeecup]

I'm still hoping to hear what Rangerbluedog though of Unrepentant Sinner. I ran into Askins a few times over the years and spent an afternoon with him once, I'm curious what someone who hadn't met him would think from what he wrote.

I just started Landes' The Wealth and Poverty of Nations. I'm not quite over the head injury yet (2 years ago next week) but am beginning to work on more challenging reading. So far, Landes definitely meets that criteria! Slow going though.

[rangerbluedog]

Honestly Jim, I didn't care much for it.
I bought UNREPENTANT SINNER based on a recommendation by Massad Ayoob.
The thought was that it is a good idea to get into the mindset of people who have fought - and won - many gun battles.
Askins' book was poorly written. This I can overlook because he wasn't necessarily a writer.
It was poorly edited. I can probably let that go too, because I think the publisher was on the fringes when this book was originally published.
There were two things that REALLY bothered me.
1) No fact checking. Many things Askins stated as fact, that are just not true. He related a well known, well worn joke as if it had happened to a friend of his.
2) I think he enjoyed killing too much. He put U.S. soldiers at risk at the end of WW2, just so he could say he had killed a German soldier. If his own tales can be believed, he killed unarmed men crossing the US/Mexico border without even a warning or command to surrender.

[rangerbluedog]

Mitch all that Vampire stuff is a little far out there for me. But then again, I would like to see this movie and that desire makes me wonder about myself.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ul4CZrnEFxU[/youtube]

I just watched this one on netflix.
Couldn't decide wether to laugh, cheer, or cry....

[coffeecup]

Blue-
Violence has a way of changing people, they often aren't the same afterwards, even if no one (including themselves) can quite explain the exact changes. Some people come out better, some worse, some just "different." And then there are people like Askins. . . .

I wanted to like the guy, but something about him just bothered me. After a while I realized I was getting the impression that he was a controlled, functioning, psychopath. I found out later that he'd suggested this to some other people, so I guess it wasn't just me considering the idea. From what he said, what I've read of his work, and things I've heard from others, I don't think the violence and war changed him--I think he just discovered that he liked it. I really should get around to reading the book someday.

Given your reason for reading it, you might want to look at some of the stuff written by and about Jim Cirillo. (If you're really a glutton for punishment, you might take a look at Grossman's On Combat and On Killing, Holmes' Acts of War, and Scaer's The Trauma Spectrum.)

Jim

[jerryd6818]

I just watched this one on netflix.
Couldn't decide wether to laugh, cheer, or cry....

Does that mean you liked it or didn't like it or just weren't sure?

[rangerbluedog]

Jim, I tend to agree. He relates a story of how he shot one of his "friends" in the leg when he was around 14 years old.
His friend had borrowed Askins horse to go riding and the horse got injured. No permanent damage to the horse, but Charles got angry because he wanted to ride it in a race the next day. Askins seemed to enjoy the power of pointing the gun at his friend while he begged for his life.
So I think in this particular situation, the man made the violence, not the violence made the man.

I've read Cirillo's book and while it suffers from some of the same editing issues, he presents himself in a more professional manner.

I'll have to add the others you mentioned to my list. Thanks!

<edit> I would send you my copy, but I got angry and threw it in the garbage. (after I finished it of course)

[rangerbluedog]

haha - all of the above Jerry.

I liked it, because the basic concept was, this guy found out he had a brain tumor so he set out across the country killing "mean" people.
On the surface, it was pretty funny.

Didn't like it, because it too closely resembles the way people really are in America nowadays. Don't want to give away too much, but at the end of the movie the guy has a monologue that explains how we in America celebrate the evil, trashy, nasty, and rude, while throwing away common decency.

The irony is that his solution for the "mean" people problem is to kill them.

I was a little taken aback and quite saddened by the fact that there were a few scenes of murders in movie theaters. Hits way to close to home right now. Also didn't like the way the movie ended. Quite sad.

Produced and directed by Bobcat Goldthwait, so I was expecting dark humor.