What Are You Reading Now?

[happyone]

...
I remember as a kid hearing heroic stories about Custer's last stand. Custer had been involved in a horrible massacre on an indian village. Then he was engaged in an unprovoked attack on another camp when he was killed (he didn't realize how many Indians were there). These Indians had done nothing wrong but they were living in the Black Hills (which was Indian land by treaty) when gold was discovered. There is nothing at all heroic about Custer.

My thoughts on Custer have evolved over the years - from an incompetent idiot to one of a good soldier and basically what you wanted in a Cav Commander. The Washita was not Sand Creek - there were braves who had been raiding living in Black Kettles village. Custer even gave orders not to fire on woman and children - not that that helped.

As far as the Little Big Horn is conserned - Custer's original plan was to lay up and attack in the morning. However he thought he had been discovered and there was one over riding tactical concern in fighting Indians - DON'T LET THEM SCATTER. He felt he had to attack right then or they would get away. His plan was flawed, but the Plains Indians had never stood and fought before, so it was good in theory. The results as they say are history.

On a side note, having walked the battlefield - IMO there is no way Reno and Benteen could have come to his rescue.

[HuskyFreeNorthwest]

You won't say that to his face.

Yeah I would, what's he going to do punch me? I know he's got a lot of American Sniper money now.

[thesaint258]

I just finished Station Eleven, and it was really good. Without giving anything away, I liked how the author moved between the future and the past, discussing things that didn't seem really related. I thought she things together pretty well, and I enjoyed the ending. Good writing, pretty good character development for all of the movement between story lines, too. Easy to see why this was a finalist for the National Book Award.

[LA Ute]

I'm reading "Gray Mountain," by John Grisham. It's my annual dive into escape literature. This one is actually a decent yarn, more believable than Grisham's others. (It might just be that he world of this novel -- Appalachian coal mining country -- is so foreign to me that I don't see the howlers, but still I'm having some guilty fun reading it.)

[happyone]

I'm currently reading S.C. Gwynne's new biography of Stonewall Jackson

Rebel Yell

http://www.amazon.com/Rebel-Yell-Vio...rds=rebel+yell

So far it has been a really good read

I forgot to add I am also reading Andrew Roberts new biography of Napoleon. Since it is on my Nook, it isn't going very fast

http://www.amazon.com/Napoleon-Life-...poleon+roberts

[SteelBlue]

The American Library Association's "Notable Books List" for 2015 has been released (this list is always a summary of the previous year's best, so if a 2015 list seems ridiculously early, that's why).

The 2015 selections are:

Fiction

“All My Puny Sorrows” by Miriam Toews, McSweeneys
How much sacrifice does the love of a sister require?

“All the Light We Cannot See” by Anthony Doerr, Scribner
Navigating the dark of World War II a German boy and a French girl survive using senses other than sight.

“The Bone Clocks: A Novel” by David Mitchell, Random House
The human condition: bleak but not without moments of redemption.

“The Children Act” by Ian McEwan, Nan A Talese
A deceptively simple story reveals complexities of life choices.

“The Crane Wife” by Patrick Ness, Penguin
A thoughtful exposition of love, in all its endless varieties.

“The Enchanted: A Novel” by Rene Denfeld, Harper
Death row inmates await escape through execution in this weirdly gorgeous tale.

“Narrow Road to the Deep North: A Novel” by Richard Flanagan, Alfred A. Knopf
Australian beaches, Burmese jungles, love and death permeate a story of World War II POWs.

“On Such a Full Sea” by Chang-Rae Lee, Riverhead
From fish farm to big pharma, 100 years later it’s all the same.

“Orfeo: A Novel” by Richard Powers, W.W. Norton
On the run from Homeland Security, Peter Els reflects on a life of attempted creation and immortality through music and chemistry.

“Something Rich and Strange: Selected Stories” by Ron Rash, Ecco
A brutal and beautiful collection of human tales set in the Carolinas.

“Station Eleven: A Novel” by Emily St. John Mandel, Alfred A. Knopf
Love, music, and Shakespeare sustain survivors of a global pandemic.

“Tigerman” by Nick Harkaway, Alfred A. Knopf
Funny, strange, and dangerous, the island of Mancreu may be beyond saving, but perhaps a superhero can bring redemption. “Full of win.”

[cowboy]

In the middle of Lone Survivor. He's just lost all of his buddies and is alone and injured. I know he is said to have exaggerated the size of the force against him, but I imagine 20 feels like 200 when you are being blasted by RPGS and your best friends are dying in your arms. I was particularly struck by the bravery of his dying friends who took repeated rounds and suffered mortal wounds, but kept fighting until they physically could not fire another shot.

This is one of those books that everyone should read once. My heart was breaking as he recounted his friends dying, and it's the reason I've taken so long to read it, but I knew I had to. With the saddest part over, I'm looking forward to the rest of the book, particularly the humanity portrayed by the Pashtun people. One thing I love about the book is his repeatedly professed Christian beliefs, and how he believes God kept placing his rifle right beside him, juxtaposed against his sailor language.

I've been on a military kick this winter, and my reading reinforces my frustration with war. Some of the brightest, bravest, and most talented people this world has die in war. Imagine what they could accomplish if they had lived. My brother, a Type 1 diabetic, put it best when he told me once that he wonders if the guy who could have cured his disease died on Normandy, in Bastogne, or in Khe Sanh.

[clackamascoug]

In the middle of Lone Survivor. He's just lost all of his buddies and is alone and injured. I know he is said to have exaggerated the size of the force against him, but I imagine 20 feels like 200 when you are being blasted by RPGS and your best friends are dying in your arms. I was particularly struck by the bravery of his dying friends who took repeated rounds and suffered mortal wounds, but kept fighting until they physically could not fire another shot.

This is one of those books that everyone should read once. My heart was breaking as he recounted his friends dying, and it's the reason I've taken so long to read it, but I knew I had to. With the saddest part over, I'm looking forward to the rest of the book, particularly the humanity portrayed by the Pashtun people. One thing I love about the book is his repeatedly professed Christian beliefs, and how he believes God kept placing his rifle right beside him, juxtaposed against his sailor language.

I've been on a military kick this winter, and my reading reinforces my frustration with war. Some of the brightest, bravest, and most talented people this world has die in war. Imagine what they could accomplish if they had lived. My brother, a Type 1 diabetic, put it best when he told me once that he wonders if the guy who could have cured his disease died on Normandy, in Bastogne, or in Khe Sanh.

I just finished Lone Survivor as well. I've also just finished "Where Ideas Come From" by Steven Johnson. In his book Johnson traces the genesis of ideas and technology, and likens technology advancement like walking into a room with several doors. You came from Room A, into Room B, but you can only get to Room C through Room B, you can't get there from Room A. Breakthroughs lead to breakthroughs, and it's very rare to have a breakthrough technology without an "adjacent possible." Johnson goes on to say that technological advancements comes in waves, and more often than not, the same thing is being invented at the same time all around the world. The light bulb was being worked on for 40 years by 30 different people until Edison found the right combination of carbon and vacuum. Willis Carrier was cited as the only modern inventor who invented something out of nothing when he introduced air conditioning.

The point is... medicines and cures are not people centric, they are industry centric, and once a new adjacent possibility room is created, someone/anyone will eventually open the right door to a new room of possibilities. Didn't they announce a couple of weeks ago that they isolated the cause of the common cold, and can knock it out?

[UVACoug]

I've been on an English history kick lately (a topic I knew little about six months ago). Just started "reading" (i.e., listening on Audible in my car) The Wars of the Roses by Dan Jones:

http://www.amazon.com/Wars-Roses-Fal...e+hollow+crown

I'm enjoying it a lot. Jones has a nice writing style. Plan on going back and listening to his book on The Plantagenets when I'm done with this one. If anyone has any other recommendations on books about this period in English history, I would be interested.

[happyone]

I've been on an English history kick lately (a topic I knew little about six months ago). Just started "reading" (i.e., listening on Audible in my car) The Wars of the Roses by Dan Jones:

http://www.amazon.com/Wars-Roses-Fal...e+hollow+crown

I'm enjoying it a lot. Jones has a nice writing style. Plan on going back and listening to his book on The Plantagenets when I'm done with this one. If anyone has any other recommendations on books about this period in English history, I would be interested.

I just started this one last night.

I'm sure you'll enjoy The Plantagents, I know I did, very imformative. He does end their story at Richard II though

I finished Rebel Yell - great read. If you are at all interested in the ACW, I highly recommed it.

[Armenag]

Lucky Jim by Kingsley Amis - About a sardonic British university lecturer grappling with his distaste for his job and boss, apathy toward his pseudo-girlfriend, and enthusiasm for his boss's son's girlfriend. Doesn't look appealing when I write it out like that, but it's very funny. I had never read any Amis, but I think I'll pick up some of his other stuff after this one.

[thesaint258]

Atlantis Gene, Atlantis Plague, and Atlantis World by A.G. Riddle. Pretty good books that the author self-published. I found it on a list on Amazon, and was looking for something easy but interesting to read. These books fit the bill. The series described as a techno-thriller. To me it started off with a little bit of science fiction, but by the end of the series, it was completely science fiction. It kind of reminded me a bit of Dan Brown in that the author uses science as a basis to drive the plot kind of like Dan Brown used history. Like Dan Brown, though, the science gets stretched as the series goes on. Overall, I thought they were enjoyable books. They are pretty well-written (despite a few typos) and have some interesting turns in the plot. I'd recommend them for someone looking for a quick but interesting read.

[Flystripper]

Atlantis Gene, Atlantis Plague, and Atlantis World by A.G. Riddle. Pretty good books that the author self-published. I found it on a list on Amazon, and was looking for something easy but interesting to read. These books fit the bill. The series described as a techno-thriller. To me it started off with a little bit of science fiction, but by the end of the series, it was completely science fiction. It kind of reminded me a bit of Dan Brown in that the author uses science as a basis to drive the plot kind of like Dan Brown used history. Like Dan Brown, though, the science gets stretched as the series goes on. Overall, I thought they were enjoyable books. They are pretty well-written (despite a few typos) and have some interesting turns in the plot. I'd recommend them for someone looking for a quick but interesting read.

I read the first two installments of this series and generally I agree with your review. I thought one was better than two but I will probably eventually get around to reading the last book.

[clackamascoug]

I just finished Station Eleven, and it was really good. Without giving anything away, I liked how the author moved between the future and the past, discussing things that didn't seem really related. I thought she things together pretty well, and I enjoyed the ending. Good writing, pretty good character development for all of the movement between story lines, too. Easy to see why this was a finalist for the National Book Award.

Based upon your post I downloaded Station 11 and listened to it over the last three days. The way the story wove in and out, forward and backwards, and how the little puzzle pieces came together at the end made it enjoyable. The story line also makes you wonder how you would manage in similar circumstances. My favorite part was the talk about multiple-dimensions, and how the authors take seemed to be in line with my theory.

[Pelado]

I certainly did not intend for a review of this book:

the-last-gospel-243x366.jpg

http://lareviewofbooks.org/review/gronking-jesus

to lead me to this book:

51zS7GDwSqL._BO2,204,203,200_PIsitb-sticker-v3-big,TopRight,0,-55_SX278_SY278_PIkin4,BottomRight.jpg

Now normally-sheepish Leigh can’t stop thinking about it. She’d never given a second thought to football, but now the primal power of the Gronk Spike, and this raw monster of a man, Rob Gronkowski, is all that she wants, and she’ll stop at nothing until the romance of a lifetime is hers!

Find out the lengths people will go to fulfill their fantasies in this super-sexy, sex-filled story of wanton lust with a super-sexy, sex-filled happy ending.

http://www.amazon.com/Gronking-Remem.../dp/B00RN7TNHE