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  • #706
    Finished King of Kings - Pretty good historical fiction. It covers the period between 256 and 260. The main character from the first book, the Romanized barbarian Bastilla, is still the focal point of the series. This volume explores the Empire wide persucution of the Christians by the Emperor Valerian, Impirial court politics, and the war between the Romans and the Sassinids. It ends with Valarians defeat by Shapur at Edessa and his becoming the only Roman Emperor to be captured alive by barbarians.

    currently reading the first book of a series by Tana French mentioned by BigPiney

    [ame="http://www.amazon.com/Woods-Tana-French/dp/0143113496/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1303998413&sr=1-2"]Amazon.com: In the Woods (9780143113492): Tana French: Books@@AMEPARAM@@http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51VBtIu7KEL.@@AMEPARAM@@51VBtIu7KEL[/ame]
    Last edited by happyone; 04-28-2011, 07:11 AM.

    I may be small, but I'm slow.

    A veteran - whether active duty, retired, or national guard or reserve is someone who, at one point in his life, wrote a blank check made payable to, "The United States of America ", for an amount of "up to and including my life - it's an honor."

    Comment

    • #707
      finished In the Woods - pretty good thriller/mystery - I will read the rest of the books in the series when the to read pile gets lower.

      Currently reading the 3rd book in Ben Kane's Forgotten Legion trilogy

      [ame="http://www.amazon.com/Road-Rome-Novel-Forgotten-Legion/dp/0312536739/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1304480397&sr=1-1"]Amazon.com: The Road to Rome: A Novel of the Forgotten Legion (9780312536732): Ben Kane: Books@@AMEPARAM@@http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51eBUuofG%2BL.@@AMEPARAM@@51eBUuofG%2BL[/ame]

      This one has to do with Ceasar and his assassination on the Ides of March
      Last edited by happyone; 05-04-2011, 08:30 AM.

      I may be small, but I'm slow.

      A veteran - whether active duty, retired, or national guard or reserve is someone who, at one point in his life, wrote a blank check made payable to, "The United States of America ", for an amount of "up to and including my life - it's an honor."

      Comment

      • #708
        Somehow I managed to get to this point in my life without reading Moby Dick. I'm reading it now, and it's become an unexpected pleasure.
        “There is a great deal of difference in believing something still, and believing it again.”
        ― W.H. Auden

        "God made the angels to show His splendour - as He made animals for innocence and plants for their simplicity. But men and women He made to serve Him wittily, in the tangle of their minds."
        -- Robert Bolt, A Man for All Seasons

        "It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye."
        --Antoine de Saint-Exupery

        Comment

        • #709
          Originally posted by LA Ute View Post
          Somehow I managed to get to this point in my life without reading Moby Dick. I'm reading it now, and it's become an unexpected pleasure.
          I had to read Billy Budd in High school. Was a horrible experience. I was in no way ready to read at that level. I think that has soured me from ever reading any more Melville.

          Comment

          • #710
            Originally posted by BigPiney View Post
            I had to read Billy Budd in High school. Was a horrible experience. I was in no way ready to read at that level. I think that has soured me from ever reading any more Melville.
            I tried Moby Dick once a long time ago and couldn't stay with it. Now it seems wonderful. Melville's a heck of a storyteller. Maybe it's just age, and you should try again.
            “There is a great deal of difference in believing something still, and believing it again.”
            ― W.H. Auden

            "God made the angels to show His splendour - as He made animals for innocence and plants for their simplicity. But men and women He made to serve Him wittily, in the tangle of their minds."
            -- Robert Bolt, A Man for All Seasons

            "It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye."
            --Antoine de Saint-Exupery

            Comment

            • #711
              I finished The Road to Rome. I think it is the weakest of the three books in the trilogy, but I still enjoyed it. It covers the ground from Ceasar's escape from Alexandria to his death in the Senate House in Rome. It has some pretty good battle scenes and wraps up the story pretty well.

              currently reading

              [ame="http://www.amazon.com/Matterhorn-Novel-Vietnam-Karl-Marlantes/dp/0802145310/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1304953074&sr=1-1"]Amazon.com: Matterhorn: A Novel of the Vietnam War (9780802145314): Karl Marlantes: Books@@AMEPARAM@@http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41H5GQacmoL.@@AMEPARAM@@41H5GQacmoL[/ame]

              that eldiente mentioned. The author is another one of those that I saw interviewed on BookTV. He was a Marine Platoon Leader in the later stages of the Viet Nam War. It was a good interview.

              I may be small, but I'm slow.

              A veteran - whether active duty, retired, or national guard or reserve is someone who, at one point in his life, wrote a blank check made payable to, "The United States of America ", for an amount of "up to and including my life - it's an honor."

              Comment

              • #712
                I am reading chuck klosterman's "Sex, Drugs and cocoa puffs" and am completely entertained. Recommended for Gen Xers. There is a part in the book where he gives 23 questions he would need answered before he could say he loved someone. One of them hit home

                8. You meet the perfect person. Romantically, this person is ideal: You find them physically attractive, intellectually stimulating, consistently funny, and deeply compassionate. However, they have one quirk: This individual is obsessed with Jim Henson's gothic puppet fantasy The Dark Crystal. Beyond watching it on DVD at least once a month, he/she peppers casual conversation with Dark Crystal references, uses Dark Crystal analogies to explain everyday events, and occasionally likes to talk intensely about the film's "deeper philosophy."

                Would this be enough to stop you from marrying this individual?
                My wife isnt obsessed with the dark crystal but it was on our wedding registry
                "Be a philosopher. A man can compromise to gain a point. It has become apparent that a man can, within limits, follow his inclinations within the arms of the Church if he does so discreetly." - The Walking Drum

                "And here’s what life comes down to—not how many years you live, but how many of those years are filled with bullshit that doesn’t amount to anything to satisfy the requirements of some dickhead you’ll never get the pleasure of punching in the face." – Adam Carolla

                Comment

                • #713
                  Originally posted by MarkGrace View Post
                  The devil in the white city.
                  This was a hidden gem--I liked this one a lot. Great story at the intersection of a whole lot of Chicago figures. Fun read, especially if you've spent any time in Chicago.
                  At least the Big Ten went after a big-time addition in Nebraska; the Pac-10 wanted a game so badly, it added Utah
                  -Berry Trammel, 12/3/10

                  Comment

                  • #714
                    [ame="http://www.amazon.com/Desert-Solitaire-Wilderness-Edward-Abbey/dp/0345326490"]Amazon.com: Desert Solitaire: A Season in the Wilderness (9780345326492): Edward Abbey: Books@@AMEPARAM@@http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51tCiFFSnOL.@@AMEPARAM@@51tCiFFSnOL[/ame]

                    I read most of this last year, and then got sidetracked and forgot I hadn't finished it. Sort of a Walden of the Desert Southwest. Even if you don't agree with everything he says (and you probably won't), you have to admire his passion. He's a great writer and reminds me why I love where I live.

                    And in a somewhat similar vein,
                    [ame="http://www.amazon.com/127-Hours-Between-Rock-Place/dp/1451617704"]Amazon.com: 127 Hours: Between a Rock and a Hard Place (9781451617702): Aron Ralston: Books@@AMEPARAM@@http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51hfpqcYtqL.@@AMEPARAM@@51hfpqcYtqL[/ame]

                    Ralston is really quite a talented writer. A lot of these autobiographical novels without a ghost writer tend to rely far too much on the story, but this one gets by on his writing style as well. Probably much like the movie, it must be a challenge to stretch out one scene into a 400 page book, but Ralston does a nice job of it and I wasn't at all bored.
                    At least the Big Ten went after a big-time addition in Nebraska; the Pac-10 wanted a game so badly, it added Utah
                    -Berry Trammel, 12/3/10

                    Comment

                    • #715
                      Originally posted by MarkGrace View Post
                      The devil in the white city.
                      Yeah, that was a good one. Erik Larson's latest just came out today:

                      [ame="http://www.amazon.com/Garden-Beasts-Terror-American-Hitlers/dp/0307408841"]Amazon.com: In the Garden of Beasts: Love, Terror, and an American Family in Hitler's Berlin (9780307408846): Erik Larson: Books@@AMEPARAM@@http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51pou06j0nL.@@AMEPARAM@@51pou06j0nL[/ame]

                      Comment

                      • #716
                        Originally posted by ERCougar View Post
                        This was a hidden gem--I liked this one a lot. Great story at the intersection of a whole lot of Chicago figures. Fun read, especially if you've spent any time in Chicago.
                        Terrific book.
                        "There is no creature more arrogant than a self-righteous libertarian on the web, am I right? Those folks are just intolerable."
                        "It's no secret that the great American pastime is no longer baseball. Now it's sanctimony." -- Guy Periwinkle, The Nix.
                        "Juilliardk N I ibuprofen Hyu I U unhurt u" - creekster

                        Comment

                        • #717
                          Originally posted by Mormon Red Death View Post
                          I am reading chuck klosterman's "Sex, Drugs and cocoa puffs" and am completely entertained. Recommended for Gen Xers. There is a part in the book where he gives 23 questions he would need answered before he could say he loved someone. One of them hit home



                          My wife isnt obsessed with the dark crystal but it was on our wedding registry
                          I have lent this book out to people more than any other I own.
                          Kids in general these days seem more socially retarded...

                          None of them date. They hang out. They text. They sit in the same car or room and don't say a word...they text. Then, they go home and whack off to internet porn.

                          I think that's the sad truth about why these kids are retards.

                          --Portland Ute

                          Comment

                          • #718
                            New book by David McCullough due later this month:

                            [ame="http://www.amazon.com/Greater-Journey-Americans-Paris/dp/1416571760/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1305127566&sr=1-1"]Amazon.com: The Greater Journey: Americans in Paris (9781416571766): David McCullough: Books@@AMEPARAM@@http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51OV4dpgbRL.@@AMEPARAM@@51OV4dpgbRL[/ame]

                            Can't wait.
                            "There is no creature more arrogant than a self-righteous libertarian on the web, am I right? Those folks are just intolerable."
                            "It's no secret that the great American pastime is no longer baseball. Now it's sanctimony." -- Guy Periwinkle, The Nix.
                            "Juilliardk N I ibuprofen Hyu I U unhurt u" - creekster

                            Comment

                            • #719
                              The Second World War, Vol. 1: The Gathering Storm by Winston S. Churchill.

                              Part history, part memoir, simply brilliant and fantastic.

                              The first half of the book looks at the period between the First and Second World Wars. The disarmament terms of the Versailles Treaty should have preserved the peace if strictly enforced against Germany until at least 1934. As it was, in 1935 France alone could have invaded and reoccupied Germany almost without serious fighting. In 1936 there should still have been no doubt of France's overwhelmingly superior strength. In 1938, with the knowledge of their weakness, the German high command did their utmost to restrain Hitler from his invading Austria and Czechoslovakia. In the year after the appeasement at Munich, the German Army, though still weaker in trained reserves that the French Army, approached its full efficiency. Thus Britain and France passed on the best chances to stop Hitler only to accept more difficult circumstances in 1939 over the question of Poland.

                              The second half of the book covers the period from the German invasion of Poland to the conclusion of the battles in Norway and the fall of the Neville Chamberlain government. During this period, Churchill returned to the government and served as the First Lord of the Admiralty. Britain and France could do little to defend Poland -- and that little was made miniscule by the lack of effort on the Western Front while the majority of German forces were in the east. So the fight moved to the seas as the Battle of the Atlantic began, as the Royal Navy pursued a German pocket battleship, and the Germans launched a seaborne invasion of Norway. At the Admiralty, Churchill argued for a major campaign at Narvik in northern Norway, which had the ironic affect of making him the next prime minister of Great Britain.

                              During the 1930s, Churchill argued long and hard the unpopular truth that Britain needed to prepare for war, and this kept him out of the Conservative government headed first by Stanley Baldwin and then Neville Chamberlain. This proved to be a blessing well disguised, for it saved Churchill from any taint which would have prevented his becoming prime minister when the great crisis came.
                              Col. Klink: "Staff officers are so clever."
                              Gen. Burkhalter: "Klink, I am a staff officer."
                              Col. Klink: "I didn't mean you sir, you're not clever."

                              Comment

                              • #720
                                Originally posted by Flattop View Post
                                The Second World War, Vol. 1: The Gathering Storm by Winston S. Churchill.

                                Part history, part memoir, simply brilliant and fantastic.
                                Simply one of the best accounts of WW II by a major figure involved in the war. WSC was a true renaissance man. That said some recent books that have come out going over WWII strategy claim that WSC was less then candid in his accounts of his motives

                                I may be small, but I'm slow.

                                A veteran - whether active duty, retired, or national guard or reserve is someone who, at one point in his life, wrote a blank check made payable to, "The United States of America ", for an amount of "up to and including my life - it's an honor."

                                Comment

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