What book are you reading?

[Centurion1]

the French essentially did everything wrong strategically and tactically regarding the set-up of their base there, and I find that baffling.

Why is that surprising to you? jk

And did you know that Ho Chi Minh was originally a capitalist favoring nationalist who liked America. God, instead we sided with someone who just lost a world war in like 10 days, a racist colonial power, and their leader was an obnoxious git (sorry to any de gaulle fans out there). Just chalk it up to idiocy. Of course as you said everything does look much easier in hindsight.

[CountArach]

New Spring by Robert Jordan. Once again I am attempting to finish the entire series.

[Furunculus]

My father got me hooked on those books. O'brien is an excellent period writer about the british navy.

agreed, i'm on my second run through of the first eight, intending to reach the sixteenth this time around.

[Martok]

New Spring by Robert Jordan. Once again I am attempting to finish the entire series.

You're aware that two more books remain? (The next one is apparently due out this fall.) Personally, I'm holding off until they're *both* released.

[Alexander the Pretty Good]

I got The Invisible Hook for my birthday so I'm probably going to put HIAVSP on hold until I finish it. It's an analysis of pirate cooperation and self-governance on the high seas - the title of course being a play on Adam Smith's invisible hand. So far excellent!

[||Lz3||]

Chronicles of an announced death. By literature Nobel winner Gabriel García Marquez.

[CountArach]

You're aware that two more books remain? (The next one is apparently due out this fall.) Personally, I'm holding off until they're *both* released.

Oh yeah I know that - though I believe they are going for 3 more books, one per year, starting this year. I have to read other stuff for Uni at the same time so I suspect that at least the first of the 3 books will be released. I remember the story well enough so that I could still enjoy the last two.

[Centurion1]

agreed, i'm on my second run through of the first eight, intending to reach the sixteenth this time around.

have you read the golden ocean yet, (its outside the master and commander series). Very good but i recommend reading after the entire series is finished

[Avicenna]

Chronicles of an announced death. By literature Nobel winner Gabriel García Marquez.

Are you enjoying it?

I recently read two of Senor Garcia's works: One Hundred Years of Solitude, and the General's Labyrinth.
I must admit that they both seemed quite peculiar to me.

[Zim]

On Killing, by Dave Grossman. I bought it earlier this summer to see why it was such a big deal in the law enforcement community. Kind of breezed through it so now I'm rereading it.

Some of the conclusions in the later chapters don't seem to have stood the test of time well, but all the research on how soldiers react to combat conditions is very interesting.

[Martok]

I just finished Fool by Christopher Moore. It's utterly frickin' HILARIOUS.

I'm not kidding -- I honestly either laughed just about every other page on average. The book is essentially King Lear written as a (extremely bawdy/lewd) comedy, with the Middle English replaced by modern English and most of the character's lines spoken with a Cockney accent. (Yeah, try and wrap your mind around *that* concept -- I dare you!)

I also love one of his other books Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal (which I own). For as much as I enjoy that one, however, I must confess Fool is even better. I checked out this copy from my local library, but I'd already realized about 10 pages in that I was going to have to purchase it for myself.

This book is an absolute stitch; I can't possibly recommend it enough!

[Decker]

Currently I'm reading Hell in a Very Small Place by Bernard Fall about Dien Bien Phu. A little dry but very thorough. I haven't gotten to the "why" part of it - the French essentially did everything wrong strategically and tactically regarding the set-up of their base there, and I find that baffling. But then again, Monday morning quarterbacking is easier than the actual endevour...

I personally enjoyed that book a lot. It's a good read for seeing the French version of Vietnam, something you do not hear very much about...

I just finished reading


A really good book imho. A good insight into the invasion of Iraq seen through the eyes of two ex-Marines who had fought in Vietnam and their commentary on the latest generation of Marines. The main author Bing West paints a rather frank picture of the invasion, all the miscommunitations between the combatants and the civilians (which is something in of itself )... the misconception of having on the spot information (like the popular use of whiteboards for instance). I'd recommend it for anyone trying to understand the war in Iraq from the perspective of those on the ground.

[CountArach]

Reading Sharpe's Triumph by Bernard Cornwell.

[Centurion1]

Bernard Cornwell *bows in supplication*. I have read every book he ever wrote and am waiting for the next one about his Alfred the Great series to come out.

[Marshal Murat]

I'm working on Starship Troopers right now, gearing me up for college.
While I do agree that the book is very utopic in it's overall view, it does do a good job illuminating the basics of civic duty, respect, basic human character, military life, and civic responsibility. I kinda wish Heinlein didn't have the later combat parts simply because it slowed it down too much for me while reading the message in the book.

I'm also breezing through a biography on Cochrane, but the author seems too laudatory than serious or in-depth.

[Martok]

Bernard Cornwell *bows in supplication*. I have read every book he ever wrote and am waiting for the next one about his Alfred the Great series to come out.

Ah yes, his "Saxon Tales" series. Definitely my favorite of all of Cornwell's works so far (not that the rest of his books are anything to sneer at either)! I too am eagerly looking forward to the next book.


By the by: I've been meaning to thank those of you who encouraged me to try out Cornwell. He's quickly become one of my favorite historical authors, right up there with Steven Pressfield. Many, many thanks for the recommendation.

I'm working on Starship Troopers right now, gearing me up for college.
While I do agree that the book is very utopic in it's overall view, it does do a good job illuminating the basics of civic duty, respect, basic human character, military life, and civic responsibility. I kinda wish Heinlein didn't have the later combat parts simply because it slowed it down too much for me while reading the message in the book.

I just finally got around to reading it myself earlier this year. I was pleasantly surprised by how insightful I found it to be. Not that I necessarily *agree* with everything Heinlein says, but he does offer some genuinely interesting perspectives.

[CountArach]

Got my University textbooks and it is times like these I love doing an Ancient History degree... I got 5 textbooks and they are:

• The Iliad
• The Odyssey
• The Aeneid
• The Civil War (Lucan)
• A Very Short History of the Spanish Civil War

The first 4 are all for one course in Ancient Epic and the last book is obviously for a Modern History course in the Spanish Civil War.

[Togakure]

Just finished The Gap into Conflict - The Real Story (by Stephen R. Donaldson, author of the Thomas Covenant Unbeliever series). About to start the second book, The Gap into Vision: Forbidden Knowledge. Quite different from Donaldson's fantasy-ish stuff. Liking it so far.

[Ser Clegane]

Just started the "Augustus" biography by Anthony Everitt

[Marshal Murat]

I just finished Carriers by Tom Clancy, just to brush up on Navy stuff (Doing NROTC in College) and I'm about to read Team Yankee by Harold Coyle.
I actually found the book in the local Goodwill, picked it up (read about it on Amazon), read the first chapter and I got hooked. It so succinctly encapsulates the emotions that lie in a company of soldiers, and then what that becomes in war and conflict. It's a great short read about WW3.

[Decker]

Nice find on Team Yankee, I've been keeping an eye out for it at local bookstores. Looks like I need to change where I look

[Martok]

The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett. I've had a couple people recommend him for historical fiction, so I figured I'd give this one a go.

[Centurion1]

Just started the "Augustus" biography by Anthony Everitt

i enjoyed it. It was actually a pretty fast read as compared to most books of that nature.

[Furunculus]

You're aware that two more books remain? (The next one is apparently due out this fall.) Personally, I'm holding off until they're *both* released.

three more.

the last book was split into three parts, as one story.

[Martok]

three more.

the last book was split into three parts, as one story.

Ah, so that's been confirmed then? I wasn't aware of that; thank you.

Although I suppose that means I'll have to wait at least *three* years now before the series is finished. Gah!

[drone]

Now I'm reading Imperium by Robert Harris. About halfway through it, I'm pleasantly surprised so far.

Liked Imperium enough to buy and start on Pompeii. Oddly enough, my water main line broke when I started the book, if I smell sulfur all Orgahs in the DC vicinity are advised to evacuate.

[edyzmedieval]

Teutonic Knights by Henryk Sienkiewicz.
Brilliant book, one of the best when it comes to medieval stories.

On my list:
- David Gibbins Templar Gold
- Clive Cussler Arctic Drift

But first, I'm reading and writing my own book.

[Beirut]

The Iliad. (The poetry, not the prose.) Found a nice little hardcover edition at the flea market for a buck. Sweet!

Also found Herodotus: The Histories. That cost $3.00.

I love good cheap books.

[CountArach]

The Iliad. (The poetry, not the prose.) Found a nice little hardcover edition at the flea market for a buck. Sweet!

I'm reading this too at the moment, though in prose because it is faster (Have to finish it in 3 weeks whilst doing my other Uni work) and my lecturers recommended the translation.

[Fragony]

I recommend wiki because that old crap is a pain to read. Fun if that happens to be fun to you I guess.