What are you reading right now? - Page 42

Sailor Steve · 04-17-10, 04:45 PM

Waiting for my new books to arrive, I've started rereading Moral Minority: Our Skeptical Founding Fathers, by Brooke Allen. I originally picked it up in the library, but not too long ago I saw it on a sale table at Barnes & Noble. It was in my storage, and when I took Seutonius back there today, there it was sitting right where I couldn't miss it.

Sailor Steve · 04-23-10, 12:21 PM

Completed Moral Minority again - great book. Anyone with the slightest curiosity about what the American founders thought about religion and the history of religious freedom in America should have this.

Am now starting The Sorrow Of War, by Bao Nihn, as recommended by OneToughHerring. So far it's pretty amazing.

More when I'm done.

04-24-10, 11:27 PM

The Boss just left for a three-week tropical cruise with her girlfriend and I got some new books to read between feeding Cat and taping her TV shows...

Crash Dive - In Action with HMS Safari 1942-43 by Arthur P. Dickison

and

Broken Arrow - America's First Lost Nuclear Weapon by Norman Leach

STEED · 04-30-10, 12:37 PM

Finished reading...

Ivan's War: The Red Army at War 1939-45: Inside The Red Army, 1939-45

By Catherine Merridale

I'm a third of the way in to my next book...

When Titans Clashed: How the Red Army Stopped Hitler

By David M. Glantz and Jonathan M. House

AirborneTD · 04-30-10, 02:01 PM

Just recently finished:

Lone Survivor

The Only Thing Worth Dying For

Both about spec ops in Afghanistan. Both really good. I believe the first is going to be made into a movie.

Sailor Steve · 04-30-10, 06:47 PM

Finished The Sorrow Of War. Outstanding book by a veteran of the North Vietnamese army. Shocking, enlightening, funny and tragic. I recommend it highly.

I'm now just starting Constructing a Life Philosophy, edited by Mark Ray Schmidt, Ph.D., Book Editor for The University of Arkansas at Monticello. It's part of the Opposing Viewpoints series, which looks at important issues and quotes full opinions by leading authorities on all sides. This particular one focuses on philosophy and religion.

It's one of four books I picked up very cheap at a library used-book sale.

Subnuts · 05-02-10, 11:21 AM

I just finished reading Stalking The Red Bear, and I'm shocked at how painfully average the whole thing was. It's mildly interesting, and is mercifully free of technical errors, but it doesn't deliver on it's promise of being a gripping thriller. There's little character development, a lot of historical exposition, but as Cold War submarine stories go, a lot of the material in Blind Man's Bluff is so much better. I never got the impression in Stalking The Red Bear that the Blackfin was in any danger, and most of the book consists of the boat going around the Barents Sea, spying on Russian exercises, and collecting intelligence.

I think the author's rather stale writing style hurts the book more than it's subject matter. I bought it for $10, but I'd only recommend it if you stumbled across a copy at Salvation Army.

05-02-10, 10:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Subnuts

I just finished reading Stalking The Red Bear, and I'm shocked at how painfully average the whole thing was. It's mildly interesting, and is mercifully free of technical errors, but it doesn't deliver on it's promise of being a gripping thriller. There's little character development, a lot of historical exposition, but as Cold War submarine stories go, a lot of the material in Blind Man's Bluff is so much better. I never got the impression in Stalking The Red Bear that the Blackfin was in any danger, and most of the book consists of the boat going around the Barents Sea, spying on Russian exercises, and collecting intelligence.

I think the author's rather stale writing style hurts the book more than it's subject matter. I bought it for $10, but I'd only recommend it if you stumbled across a copy at Salvation Army.

Whew! I thought it was just me that was totally underwhelmed by Stalking the Red Bear.

It sort of reminded me of a book version of a crap TV quasi-history doc like one sees sandwiched between the blowing things up show and monster-truck marathons, with the fancy CGI graphics, dramatic sound track and zero substantive content.

Kazuaki Shimazaki II · 05-05-10, 12:35 PM

Just read A. Terenov's Under Three Flags, The Saga of the Submarine Cruiser K-43/Chakra, English version.

(Don't bother looking it up in Amazon. It's just not there. www.books.ru has it, for around 1000 rubles - very roughly US$25, not counting shipping. The good news is that they ship overseas, the bad news is that the order screens are 100% Russian, with no English).

Most of the book is on the author's experiences as he prepares and trains for the job of teaching officers from another (India) and is very interesting. Frankly, I'll prefer more stories of Terenov's earlier career, but the book was originally intended for a Russian audience (written in Russian to boot!) and presumably talk of the standard Russian system would be a lot less interesting to them than to us. Nevertheless, it is one of a handful of views from Russian commanders that made it all the way to an English translation, and if you cut out those whose views have been irreversibly soured by having an accident happen on their boats, perhaps the only one.

The weak part is at the back, where the author tries to compare the Soviet and Indian naval systems. His points have some merit but are poorly argued in my opnion. For more details, see my fuller review here.

05-08-10, 06:18 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sailor Steve

Finished The Sorrow Of War. Outstanding book by a veteran of the North Vietnamese army. Shocking, enlightening, funny and tragic. I recommend it highly.

Glad you liked it.

I guess the model or inspiration for it was the classic of all modern war novels, "All quiet in the western front", or so I thought when I read it. But, it's good anyway.

Presently I'm sort of glancing through Sun Tzu's Art of War.

Dowly · 05-08-10, 06:34 AM

Art of War was a bit of an disappointment to me.

Started reading Generation Kill yesterday.

Raptor1 · 05-08-10, 12:32 PM

Just started reading Antony Beevor's Stalingrad, been a while since I read a good book on the Eastern Front and this one looks promising.

ivank · 05-08-10, 10:58 PM

Half way through Kingmaker, ADD kicked in, started my newly bought The Raider Kormoran by Captain Theodor Detmers.

red_scope · 05-09-10, 02:14 AM

Hitler`s U-Boat War 1939-1942 The Hunters Clay Blair

If ever you wanted to know what happened to a specific u-boat and the circumstances around it, you got it. This is highly recommended.
I`m currently in the opening moves of WW2. As you all know, those u-boat sailors knew what the term "suffering" meant.

All the tonnage stats, technology, and even the philosophy behind the u-boat war is in delicate detail. And after you are done with this mammoth study, another one awaits you - Hitler`s U-boat War 1942-1945 The Hunted. Gonna take me a while to get there.

STEED · 05-09-10, 07:52 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Raptor1

Just started reading Antony Beevor's Stalingrad, been a while since I read a good book on the Eastern Front and this one looks promising.

Don't forget his...Berlin the Downfall 1945.

Books by David M. Glantz are well worth reading, he's recognized as the leading expert on the Eastern Front.

04-17-10, 04:45 PM	#616
Sailor Steve Eternal Patrol Join Date: Nov 2002 Location: High in the mountains of Utah Posts: 50,369 Downloads: 745 Uploads: 249	Waiting for my new books to arrive, I've started rereading Moral Minority: Our Skeptical Founding Fathers, by Brooke Allen. I originally picked it up in the library, but not too long ago I saw it on a sale table at Barnes & Noble. It was in my storage, and when I took Seutonius back there today, there it was sitting right where I couldn't miss it. __________________ “Never do anything you can't take back.” —Rocky Russo

04-23-10, 12:21 PM	#617
Sailor Steve Eternal Patrol Join Date: Nov 2002 Location: High in the mountains of Utah Posts: 50,369 Downloads: 745 Uploads: 249	Completed Moral Minority again - great book. Anyone with the slightest curiosity about what the American founders thought about religion and the history of religious freedom in America should have this. Am now starting The Sorrow Of War, by Bao Nihn, as recommended by OneToughHerring. So far it's pretty amazing. More when I'm done. __________________ “Never do anything you can't take back.” —Rocky Russo

04-30-10, 12:37 PM	#619
STEED Lucky Jack Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Down Town UK Posts: 27,695 Downloads: 89 Uploads: 48	Finished reading... Ivan's War: The Red Army at War 1939-45: Inside The Red Army, 1939-45 By Catherine Merridale I'm a third of the way in to my next book... When Titans Clashed: How the Red Army Stopped Hitler By David M. Glantz and Jonathan M. House __________________ Dr Who rest in peace 1963-2017. To borrow Davros saying...I NAME YOU CHIBNALL THE DESTROYER OF DR WHO YOU KILLED IT!

04-30-10, 02:01 PM	#620
AirborneTD Engineer Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Pennsylvania, USA Posts: 204 Downloads: 23 Uploads: 0	Just recently finished: Lone Survivor The Only Thing Worth Dying For Both about spec ops in Afghanistan. Both really good. I believe the first is going to be made into a movie. __________________ "You know, you might get surrounded." "We're paratroopers, Lieutenant. We're supposed to be surrounded." --Band of Brothers

04-30-10, 06:47 PM	#621
Sailor Steve Eternal Patrol Join Date: Nov 2002 Location: High in the mountains of Utah Posts: 50,369 Downloads: 745 Uploads: 249	Finished The Sorrow Of War. Outstanding book by a veteran of the North Vietnamese army. Shocking, enlightening, funny and tragic. I recommend it highly. I'm now just starting Constructing a Life Philosophy, edited by Mark Ray Schmidt, Ph.D., Book Editor for The University of Arkansas at Monticello. It's part of the Opposing Viewpoints series, which looks at important issues and quotes full opinions by leading authorities on all sides. This particular one focuses on philosophy and religion. It's one of four books I picked up very cheap at a library used-book sale. __________________ “Never do anything you can't take back.” —Rocky Russo

04-24-10, 11:27 PM	#618
Randomizer Stowaway Posts: n/a Downloads: Uploads:	The Boss just left for a three-week tropical cruise with her girlfriend and I got some new books to read between feeding Cat and taping her TV shows... Crash Dive - In Action with HMS Safari 1942-43 by Arthur P. Dickison and Broken Arrow - America's First Lost Nuclear Weapon by Norman Leach

05-02-10, 11:21 AM	#622
Subnuts The Old Man Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: Connecticut Posts: 1,658 Downloads: 14 Uploads: 0	I just finished reading Stalking The Red Bear, and I'm shocked at how painfully average the whole thing was. It's mildly interesting, and is mercifully free of technical errors, but it doesn't deliver on it's promise of being a gripping thriller. There's little character development, a lot of historical exposition, but as Cold War submarine stories go, a lot of the material in Blind Man's Bluff is so much better. I never got the impression in Stalking The Red Bear that the Blackfin was in any danger, and most of the book consists of the boat going around the Barents Sea, spying on Russian exercises, and collecting intelligence. I think the author's rather stale writing style hurts the book more than it's subject matter. I bought it for $10, but I'd only recommend it if you stumbled across a copy at Salvation Army. __________________ My Amazon.com reviews

05-05-10, 12:35 PM	#624
Kazuaki Shimazaki II Ace of the Deep Join Date: Jan 2006 Posts: 1,140 Downloads: 5 Uploads: 0	Just read A. Terenov's Under Three Flags, The Saga of the Submarine Cruiser K-43/Chakra, English version. (Don't bother looking it up in Amazon. It's just not there. www.books.ru has it, for around 1000 rubles - very roughly US$25, not counting shipping. The good news is that they ship overseas, the bad news is that the order screens are 100% Russian, with no English). Most of the book is on the author's experiences as he prepares and trains for the job of teaching officers from another (India) and is very interesting. Frankly, I'll prefer more stories of Terenov's earlier career, but the book was originally intended for a Russian audience (written in Russian to boot!) and presumably talk of the standard Russian system would be a lot less interesting to them than to us. Nevertheless, it is one of a handful of views from Russian commanders that made it all the way to an English translation, and if you cut out those whose views have been irreversibly soured by having an accident happen on their boats, perhaps the only one. The weak part is at the back, where the author tries to compare the Soviet and Indian naval systems. His points have some merit but are poorly argued in my opnion. For more details, see my fuller review here.

05-08-10, 06:34 AM	#626
Dowly Lucky Jack Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: Finland Posts: 25,005 Downloads: 32 Uploads: 0	Art of War was a bit of an disappointment to me. Started reading Generation Kill yesterday.

05-08-10, 12:32 PM	#627
Raptor1 Navy Seal Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Stavka Posts: 8,211 Downloads: 13 Uploads: 0	Just started reading Antony Beevor's Stalingrad, been a while since I read a good book on the Eastern Front and this one looks promising. __________________ Current Eastern Front status: Probable Victory

05-08-10, 10:58 PM	#628
ivank The Old Man Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: Huntington, Long Island, New York Posts: 1,426 Downloads: 284 Uploads: 0	Half way through Kingmaker, ADD kicked in, started my newly bought The Raider Kormoran by Captain Theodor Detmers. __________________ Head of The Surface Warfare Super-Mod Team Leutnant z. S. David U. Ziegler U-105 IXB On Patrol 1

05-09-10, 02:14 AM	#629
red_scope Dive to drown. Join Date: Oct 2009 Location: N/A Posts: 14 Downloads: 139 Uploads: 0	Hitler`s U-Boat War 1939-1942 The Hunters Clay Blair If ever you wanted to know what happened to a specific u-boat and the circumstances around it, you got it. This is highly recommended. I`m currently in the opening moves of WW2. As you all know, those u-boat sailors knew what the term "suffering" meant. All the tonnage stats, technology, and even the philosophy behind the u-boat war is in delicate detail. And after you are done with this mammoth study, another one awaits you - Hitler`s U-boat War 1942-1945 The Hunted. Gonna take me a while to get there. __________________ Blood and Iron