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  • #781
    Originally posted by CardiacCoug View Post
    That looks good. I'll read it because it will certainly reinforce the beliefs I already have.

    Here's what I have read the past few weeks:

    Amazon.com: Those Guys Have All the Fun: Inside the World of ESPN (9780316043007): James Andrew Miller, Tom Shales: Books
    ...

    [The ESPN book was a little bit long (700+ pages) but I have always been an ESPN and SportsCenter junkie so I liked it.
    I've requested the library to get this and look forward to reading it

    I finally finished Lost in Shangra-La - good summer read. It is the story of the rescue of 3 survivors of a crash in the New Guinea Mountains just before the end of WWII. The area the crash occured was about 150 miles from the Hollandia support bases in a "unexplored" valley high up in the mountains - about 5000 ft surrounded by 10-13000 ft mountains. The valley was some 100 miles long. Some airmen found this valley in late 1944 while looking for places for airstrips and as far as they knew no one of European decent had ever visited the valley. They were wrong, but that is a nother story. The military nicknamed it Shangra-La after the book "Lost Horizons", because it looked like an untouched paradise. Eventually they started flying sighting flights up there. They would drop into the valley and fly the length of it at 200 -300 ft, incidentally scaring the natives. One sunday in May 1945, a sightseeing C-47 flight with 23 people, including 9 WACs, aboard ended up flying into some clouds with rocks in them. 18 people were killed immediately. Of the 5 surviors two died shorty after the crash. Two of the three that were left, including the one WAC survior where injured. They were spotted from the air - a minor miracle in itself and a rescue team of Philipino EMs with a Cacuasion officer, including a couple of medics was parachuted in and when the surviors had healed sufficently they were extracted using a very unusual technique.

    In some ways this is the coming of age story of the commander of the rescue team. When the author was researching the book, he talked to some of the natives who were around at the time or the children of the tribal leaders and knew the stories. I found the contrast of their thoughts and memories of those events with those of the Americans was one of the better parts of the book.
    I would recommed it.

    currently reading

    [ame="http://www.amazon.com/Thereby-Hangs-Tale-Jeffrey-Archer/dp/0312539533/ref=tmm_hrd_title_0?ie=UTF8&qid=1311001051&sr=1-3"]Amazon.com: And Thereby Hangs a Tale (9780312539535): Jeffrey Archer: Books@@AMEPARAM@@http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51VWNBeh8YL.@@AMEPARAM@@51VWNBeh8YL[/ame]
    Last edited by happyone; 07-21-2011, 11:36 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

    • #782
      The last few weeks I read "The Big Rich" and "Hunger Games".

      I enjoyed the Big Rich, but mostly because: (a) I am involved with the oil and gas indsutry in Texas and (b) my family faithfully watched Dallas on Friday nights growing up. Interesting tale about the rise and fall of a handful of Texas oil and gas fortunes. I think the author is wrong, however when he states that there are no longer any Texas "Big Rich"; They may not be the wealthiest men in the world, but there are a fair number of Texans in the last 20 years who have made billions after starting nearly from scratch. At any rate, it's an interesting read for you Texans out there.

      I had heard a lot of good things about "Hunger Games." I think the movie has potential to be better than the book. Book was okay. Sort of like literary soft-core porn. It was enjoyable, but you feel a little bad that you spent so much time with it after you're done.
      Jesus wants me for a sunbeam.

      "Cog dis is a bitch." -James Patterson

      Comment

      • #783
        [ame="http://www.amazon.com/Take-Your-Eye-Off-Ball/dp/1600783910/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1311015258&sr=8-1"]Amazon.com: Take Your Eye Off the Ball: How to Watch Football by Knowing Where to Look (9781600783913): Pat Kirwan, David Seigerman: Books@@AMEPARAM@@http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51ObJ6UtyzL.@@AMEPARAM@@51ObJ6UtyzL[/ame]


        This is really interesting, so far.
        I intend to live forever.
        So far, so good.
        --Steven Wright

        Comment

        • #784
          Originally posted by Brian View Post
          Amazon.com: Take Your Eye Off the Ball: How to Watch Football by Knowing Where to Look (9781600783913): Pat Kirwan, David Seigerman: Books


          This is really interesting, so far.
          Prologue by Stuart Scott?
          Prepare to put mustard on those words, for you will soon be consuming them, along with this slice of humble pie that comes direct from the oven of shame set at gas mark “egg on your face”! -- Moss

          There are three rules that I live by: never get less than twelve hours sleep; never play cards with a guy who has the same first name as a city; and never get involved with a woman with a tattoo of a dagger on her body. Now you stick to that, and everything else is cream cheese. --Coach Finstock

          Comment

          • #785
            Originally posted by Brian View Post
            Amazon.com: Take Your Eye Off the Ball: How to Watch Football by Knowing Where to Look (9781600783913): Pat Kirwan, David Seigerman: Books


            This is really interesting, so far.
            This looks like something The Green Rake would enjoy.
            Fitter. Happier. More Productive.
            sigpic

            Comment

            • #786
              Finished And Thereby Hangs a Tale - good summer lite reading. Like most short story collections a little uneven, but I liked it. Of the 15 stories in the collection 10 were supposedly based on real events. I think the best stories were these. My favorite stories were "Members Only" and "Stuck on You". The story I liked the least was one of those just from Archer's imagination, "The Devil You Know". Although not mystery stories, the collection as a whole has an O'Henry feel.

              currently reading

              [ame="http://www.amazon.com/Berlin-1961-Frederick-Kempe/dp/0399157298/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1311258538&sr=1-1"]Amazon.com: Berlin 1961 (9780399157295): Frederick Kempe: Books@@AMEPARAM@@http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51pv3FrhoDL.@@AMEPARAM@@51pv3FrhoDL[/ame]

              This is yet another book that I saw the author interviewed on CSPAN 2's Booknotes.

              Kempe opines that Berlin was even more dangerous to world peace than Cuba a year later. It was the only time US tanks and Russian tanks stood muzzle to muzzle with the possiblity of squeezing off a round or two.

              On a personal note, this is how I became an Army Brat. My father was in the NG and was called up during the crisis and stayed on active duty until the drawdown after Viet Nam.
              Last edited by happyone; 07-21-2011, 07:41 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

              • #787
                The Second World War: A Complete History by Martin Gilbert.

                A monumental day by day account of World War II beginning on the day of Germany's invasion of Poland. John Keegan had this to say about the book:

                "In his transmission of the horror of the war, Martin Gilbert has achieved something no historian but he could. There is indeed a relentless force about chronology when it is used as a tool by an historian of the stature of Martin Gilbert."

                Fantastic, but very big. It has taken me three weeks just to get through 271 pages and to reach December 6, 1941. This seems like a good place to stop and read some other books before coming back to it.
                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

                • #788
                  True Grit by Charles Portis

                  After watching the original film, I am now reading the book. Mattie Ross narrates the story as she joins Rooster Cogburn in pursuing the man who killed her father. The book is well written, thoroughly engaging and gripping. Fantastic.
                  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

                  • #789
                    finally finished Berlin 1961-I found it fascinating, if a little dry in spots. Kempe tells the story from both the high levels of gov't and the pov of the ordinary Berliner/Soldier.

                    Interesting facts and opinions

                    The Berlin Crisis actually began in 1958 when Khrushchev demanded a renegoiation of the status of Berlin and Eisenhower blew him off.

                    Kennedy's series of mistakes in dealing with the Soviets during the first year of his presidency emboldened Khurshchev and led directly to the confrontation

                    I didn't realize just how much the 2 Gemanies and esp East Germany were driving the events

                    Kempe's concludes that the Cuban Missle Crisis of 1962 was a direct result of Kennedy's mishandling of Berlin, and I tend to agree with him.

                    Currently reading McCullough's new one

                    [ame="http://www.amazon.com/Greater-Journey-Americans-Paris/dp/1416571760/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1312233488&sr=1-1"]Amazon.com: The Greater Journey: Americans in Paris (9781416571766): David McCullough: Books@@AMEPARAM@@http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51JJHuTclXL.@@AMEPARAM@@51JJHuTclXL[/ame]
                    Last edited by happyone; 08-15-2011, 06:25 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

                    • #790
                      Originally posted by happyone View Post
                      Finished And Thereby Hangs a Tale - good summer lite reading. Like most short story collections a little uneven, but I liked it. Of the 15 stories in the collection 10 were supposedly based on real events. I think the best stories were these. My favorite stories were "Members Only" and "Stuck on You". The story I liked the least was one of those just from Archer's imagination, "The Devil You Know". Although not mystery stories, the collection as a whole has an O'Henry feel.

                      currently reading

                      Amazon.com: Berlin 1961 (9780399157295): Frederick Kempe: Books

                      This is yet another book that I saw the author interviewed on CSPAN 2's Booknotes.

                      Kempe opines that Berlin was even more dangerous to world peace than Cuba a year later. It was the only time US tanks and Russian tanks stood muzzle to muzzle with the possiblity of squeezing off a round or two.

                      On a personal note, this is how I became an Army Brat. My father was in the NG and was called up during the crisis and stayed on active duty until the drawdown after Viet Nam.
                      FWIW, Kempe is originally from Utah and is a U. of U. grad.
                      “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

                      • #791
                        Originally posted by LA Ute View Post
                        FWIW, Kempe is originally from Utah and is a U. of U. grad.
                        I learn something new everyday. He had a good interview on CSPAN 2 about the book.

                        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

                        • #792
                          Michael Connelly's latest

                          [ame="http://www.amazon.com/Fifth-Witness-Michael-Connelly/dp/0316069353/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1312258410&sr=8-1"]Amazon.com: The Fifth Witness (9780316069359): Michael Connelly: Books@@AMEPARAM@@http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51ZTjKrhn%2BL.@@AMEPARAM@@51ZTjKrhn%2BL[/ame]

                          engaging story with a formulaic ending. Enjoyable summer reading

                          Comment

                          • #793
                            Finished The Greater Journey: Americans in Paris - vintage McCullough, very well researched and a great read. It is the story of how Paris affected American culture in the 19th century through various Ex pats

                            The book is broken into three parts. The first covers 1830 to about 1845. The main characters in this part are Samuel Morse, James Fenimore Cooper and Oliver Wendle Holmes Sr. The middle section is about the 1870s and the main person McCullough follows is the US minister to France, Elihu Washburne. The final section covers the late 1880s through the early 1900s and is mainly the story of Augustus Saint-Gaudens and Mary Cassett.

                            One section I really liked was the chapter on Medical training in Paris in the 1830s. In this section McCullough uses Holmes to highlight the advanced training Drs got in Paris as compared to Med Schools in the US. McCullough states that in the early 19th century if a person could afford to, they went to Paris to continue schooling after graduating from an American Med School.

                            The names I mention are just of few of the many important people who come and go through out the book.

                            Some interesting facts

                            Samuel Morse was an accomplished portrait artist before he turned to inventing. He got the idea for the telegraph in France. He went to Paris in 1830 to study painting. One of his paintings recently sold for over $3,000,000. He later returned to Paris to try and secure patents for his telegraph.

                            Morse was a lifelong friend of James Fenimore Cooper who he met in Paris.

                            Mary Cassett stated early that she would never marry, because she was a serious artist. She never did.

                            Charles Sumner, the pre Civil War Senator from Mass who was beaten senseless on the Senate floor, studied art in Paris as a young man and returned frequently for health reasons after the beating.

                            EDIT

                            He also included a couple of paragraphs about the "art missionaries" the church called in the late 1800s to go to Paris and study so they could paint murals in the temples. It really suprised me that McCullough included that tidbit.

                            Currently reading

                            [ame="http://www.amazon.com/Storm-War-History-Second-World/dp/0061228591/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1312596020&sr=1-2"]Amazon.com: The Storm of War: A New History of the Second World War (9780061228599): Andrew Roberts: Books@@AMEPARAM@@http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51n946sSIHL.@@AMEPARAM@@51n946sSIHL[/ame]
                            Last edited by happyone; 08-24-2011, 09:53 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

                            • #794
                              finished A Storm of War - not bad, good solid history of WW II. One of Roberts themes in the book is that the Nazi idology made Germanys defeat in WW II certain. He points out several instances where idology caused Hitler to make choices that ran counter to running an effective war. Some of them include the final solution itself and all the resources devoted to it, the treatment of the conquered people of the Soviet Union, the decision to go into Russia in the first place with out having peace with Britian, his no retreat policy, etc

                              Roberts doesn't say Hitler would have won the war if his idology hadn't gotten in the way, but he thinks it would have been a close run thing. His points of emphisis are probably to be expected from someone writing from a British POV. He does a super job on the war in Europe and North Africa, but he sections on the Pacific War are weak. The execption to this is when he is writing about the Burma campaigns of William Slim. These are very well done.

                              All in all not a whole lot of new information, but one of the better one volume histories and well worth the read if interested in WW II.

                              I also read Kate Sedley's latest Roger Chapman mystery

                              [ame="http://www.amazon.com/Midsummer-Crown-Chapman-Mysteries-ebook/dp/B005C4O01O/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1313416535&sr=1-2"]Amazon.com: Midsummer Crown, The (Roger the Chapman Mysteries) eBook: Sedley Kate: Books@@AMEPARAM@@http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51yRtO%2B%2BW7L.@@AMEPARAM@@51yRtO%2B%2BW7L[/ame]

                              this is the latest in a series of mysteries set in the reigns of Edward IV and Richard III - light summer reading.

                              Currently reading Elizabeth Chadwick's novel about the mother of Heny II - the Emperess Matilda and the struggle for the English throne after the death of Henry I. Matilda was Henrys only legitmate surviving child, but the noblity didn't want anything to do with a ruling queen and chose her cousin Stephen to be the king.

                              [ame="http://www.amazon.com/Lady-English-Elizabeth-Chadwick/dp/1402250924/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1313416024&sr=1-3"]Amazon.com: Lady of the English (9781402250927): Elizabeth Chadwick: Books@@AMEPARAM@@http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51Ko64VlB8L.@@AMEPARAM@@51Ko64VlB8L[/ame]


                              This covers the same basic ground as Sharon Penman's When Christ and his Angels Slept and I am interested to see the differences in how they present the subject.
                              Last edited by happyone; 08-17-2011, 11:53 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

                              • #795
                                Finished this over the weekend

                                [ame="http://www.amazon.com/Unbroken-World-Survival-Resilience-Redemption/dp/1400064163/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1313452065&sr=8-1"]Amazon.com: Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption (9781400064168): Laura Hillenbrand: Books@@AMEPARAM@@http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51BsGJZ989L.@@AMEPARAM@@51BsGJZ989L[/ame]

                                Wow!!

                                I spent almost 6 months listening to this book along with browsing the text copy. I am embarrased that such a gripping story could take me so long..... the only reasonable excuse was my inability to endure the suffering described. What an incredible and heart-wrenching narrative this was.

                                I think the story told itself, and the author did a wonderful job of "staying out of the way" as the tale unfolded.

                                I also have taken some of the lessons learned by the individuals described to heart, and hope to be a better person thereby.

                                The story goes onto my top-10 of all time list and will certainly remain a part of my personal reflective meditations.

                                Comment

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