Books - What Are You Reading / What Do You Recommend?

[Rucker61]

Jerry Pournelle's Falkenberg Legion series.

[Dave_L]

Did you see an extra foot of height on Tom that I missed?

Haha, right? Besides the physical part, I felt the mannerisms were pretty spot on.

[Bitter Clinger]

Was re-reading the wheel of time series before I read the last book. I got burned out so took A break and am now starting the new Jedi order series. Just started the 4th book and I am liking it, but is not your typical star wars fare, much darker, hell a main character bites it in the first book.

[Irving]

CStone recommended Ready Player One to me a few months ago. I just got around to reading it and finished it in about three days. If you were alive in the 1980's and/or grew up playing video games, this book is a MUST READ.
Thank you for the recommendation Chuck. I loved it.

[cstone]

Yeah, all that Rush trivia was pretty funny. I'm glad you enjoyed it.

Right now I am slowly making my way through a book I thought I had read as a kid, but I could be wrong:

Fighting the Flying Circus by Captain Eddie V. Rickenbacher
http://www.amazon.com/Fighting-Flyin.../dp/1409949044

If you love aviation and have any interest in the stories of a legend in the American pantheon of fighter pilots, this book is worth a read. Told firsthand, Cpt Rickenbacker shares his experiences learning to fly in combat and how many different things there are that could kill you before you are even aware that death has called.

This next one is a two book graphic novel. I'm normally not much of a fan of graphic novels (comic books) but this bit of history, The Boxer Rebellion, has always fascinated me. Yang and Pien do an excellent job of presenting the story from both the Chinese and Western perspectives. If you have kids that don't seem to have much interest in history, they might actually find books like these appealing. A bit shallow on the details but the two books read quickly and they give a good initial overview to what is arguably one of the most influential periods of late 19th century Chinese history.

Boxers and Saints by Gene Luen Yang and Lark Pien
http://www.amazon.com/Boxers-Saints-.../dp/1596433590

[Irving]

Going to jump back into Brandon Sanderson and start with Steelheart tonight. My friend lent me nearly all the books I need to get all caught up.

[roberth]

I'm concentrating on Charlie Wilson's War right now.

Books I'd recommend:

Economics in One Lesson - Hazlitt
Our Enemy, The State - Albert Jay Nock
Free to Choose - Milton & Rose Friedman

For those of you with children:

Your Teacher Said What?! - Joe and Blake Kernen

I just started "On Combat: The Psychology and Physiology of Deadly Conflict in War and Peace" - Dave Grossman. I have had this book for year now and have finally started "actually" reading it. It is hard for me to find time to read or the want but I do enjoy it when I do.

I have this one and On Killing too.

"Patriot Dawn" by Max Velocity
I'm about 60% through this book and it's OK at best IMHO. I just can't get into it that much. Lots of battle tactics which is cool, but the story seems lacking to me.

Contact! and Rapid Fire! are good but they are non-fiction.

[blacklabel]

Patriot Dawn was mildly interesting and also almost unbearable to read at some points.

[Mick-Boy]

After a conversation with a retired LEO turned firearm instructor a couple of months ago (you can see the thread on standards in the training forum for more on that), I decided to turn back the clock a little bit and read some of the writings of the older shooters who were also writers and thinkers.

I started with the stuff from Fairbairn and Applegate. I read "A Rifleman went to War" by McBride. Then moved to Bill Jordan, Elmer Keith and Col. Cooper's stuff. "Unrepentant Sinner" by Col. Askins was... disturbing in some ways. Jim Cirillo's books were interesting. Particularly the things he put emphasis on when selecting men for the stake out unit.

It's particularly interesting to me to look at the evolution of emphasis from the things men like Applegate focused on as important to the things people like Paul Howe or Pat McNamara. Some things have changed a good deal (like the use of sighted fire), some haven't.

If you geek out on training methodologies and gunfighting philosophy, I think knowing where things came from is important. Particularly when at a time when some things are presented as gospel by folks who've never actually walked the walk.

[wctriumph]

History:

Citizen Soldiers by Stephen E. Ambrose. I have just started it and so far its pretty good.