What Are You Currently Reading?

Only book I’m currently reading is The Myth of the Modern Presidency by David K. Nichols. Reading it for my U.S. Presidency course. I’ve got a couple books in line to read next. Once my summer semester is over I’ll read The Pearl by John Steinbeck which should only take a day or two since it’s short. Then I’ll start reading American Ulysses by Ronald C. White.
 
Based off the recommendations from this site, I picked up Black Hearts and finished it in about a week. Excellent book, and I learned a ton that I wasnt expecting. I also just started Shogun and its hard to put down! Super interesting and Im less than a hundred pages in
 
Redbeard said:
Then I’ll start reading American Ulysses by Ronald C. White.
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It's a fantastic book, completely changed my viewpoint of Grant as President and as a person. Definitely one of the most misunderstood leaders in American history and it's a god damned shame.


In the middle of rereading one of my favorite books of all time Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy, still has one of the most memorable passages I've ever read

A legion of horribles, hundreds in number, half naked or clad in costumes attic or biblical or wardrobed out of a fevered dream with the skins of animals and silk finery and pieces of uniform still tracked with the blood of prior owners, coats of slain dragoons, frogged and braided cavalry jackets, one in a stovepipe hat and one with an umbrella and one in white stockings and a bloodstained weddingveil and some in headgear of cranefeathers or rawhide helmets that bore the horns of bull or buffalo and one in a pigeontailed coat worn backwards and otherwise naked and one in the armor of a spanish conquistador, the breastplate and pauldrons deeply dented with old blows of mace or saber done in another country by men whose very bones were dust and many with their braids spliced up with the hair of other beasts until they trailed upon the ground and their horses’ ears and tails worked with bits of brightly colored cloth and one whose horse’s whole head was painted crimson red and all the horsemen’s faces gaudy and grotesque with daubings like a company of mounted clowns, death hilarious, all howling in a barbarous tongue and riding down upon them like a horde from a hell more horrible yet than the brimstone land of Christian reckoning, screeching and yammering and clothed in smoke like those vaporous beings in regions beyond right knowing where the eye wanders and the lip jerks and drools.
 
SaintKP said:
It's a fantastic book, completely changed my viewpoint of Grant as President and as a person. Definitely one of the most misunderstood leaders in American history and it's a god damned shame.
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All I really know about Grant are the stereotypes in which he killed it as General but didn’t do as well in the Oval Office, so I’m looking forward to reading it!
 
I was going to do a review thread on The Young Lions by Irwin Shaw but I read it last winter and so my review would be subpar. I highly recommend it. Its a novel that covers the lives of three men from different walks of life who enter World War Two. A Jewish American, an affluent American, and a German (he may be Austrian, I can’t remember). It’s a thick book at about 700-800 pages if I remember correctly. The entire book is great, but the last quarter is absolutely amazing. Seriously.. read it.
 
Just finished Level Zero Heroes, about to start Dagger 22. LZH was a great read, really enjoyed it and highly recommended.

Have also started reading John le Carré's books, and have gotten through the first three (Call for the Dead, A Murder of Quality, and The Spy Who Came in from the Cold). Quick easy reads, but quite enjoyable.
 
If you like founding fathers history, 1776 by David McCullough is a phenomenal read and talks about how dire the American situation in the beginnings of the Revolution actually was. That and Nathaniel Greene was an awesome general.
 
Just ordered this book. I watched all the Walking Tall movies as a kid and since then I have always been fascinated by the myth vs. truths about Sheriff Buford Pusser.

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Dienekes said:
If you like founding fathers history, 1776 by David McCullough is a phenomenal read and talks about how dire the American situation in the beginnings of the Revolution actually was. That and Nathaniel Greene was an awesome general.
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Both Greene and Benedict Arnold were excellent generals except for the attempt to surrender West Point, Arnold would probably be more famous than Washington..I just finished Washington's Spies by Alexander Rose
 
I've included two titles w/ their authors description as well as my take on the books so far.

Ranger Games:
Alex Blum was a good kid with one goal in life: become a U.S. Army Ranger. Then, on the day before deployment to Iraq, Alex got into his car with two fellow soldiers and two strangers, drove to a local bank in Tacoma, and committed armed robbery. The question that haunted the entire Blum family was, Why?

Sons and Soldiers:
The story of young German Jews who escaped the Nazis, most often without their families, only to return a few years later to war-torn Europe as members of an elite secret U.S. Army unit.

The first book is a real head scratcher, it really delves into the culture and psychology of young soldiers juxtaposed with a very unfortunate incident. The second is a very intersting historical account. It really displays in great detail the utilitarian and resourceful prowess of our militarys fighting spirit. Namely a handpicked team that was instrumental in assisting with the destruction of the Nazi war effort.

I also have finished my 5th book on Kit Carson called Blood and Thunder.
 
Gunpowder said:
Both Greene and Benedict Arnold were excellent generals except for the attempt to surrender West Point, Arnold would probably be more famous than Washington..I just finished Washington's Spies by Alexander Rose
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A bit off the book topic, however if you're into watching network series at all check out TURN, it is excellent. Its about Washington's spies from early in the war to Valley Forte. Gen. Arnold is depicted in this series as and his troubles are brought to light. Fascinating stuff. I enjoy reading, but with period accurate characters, uniforms, gear and early covert activity, it really kept my interest.
 
The last of UBL's Abbotabad files...that I've been combing through off and on for the past six months. And I was particularly interested in finding either A) Porn--no go there, not even sheep--or B) any vague references to collusion with/or support from ISI or the Pak Army. Personally I think he had a deep contact in ISI that very few knew about, who, unfortunately for him, was left in the dark regarding US intentions when we clamped the lid on sharing with the porous Pakis.

Back to mainstream publications.
 
A Pillow for my Helmet by Robert Leckie, one of the books HBO's The Pacific was based upon. Now I want to read With the Old Breed, one of the other books it was based upon.
 
Ocoka said:
The last of UBL's Abbotabad files...that I've been combing through off and on for the past six months. And I was particularly interested in finding either A) Porn--no go there, not even sheep--or B) any vague references to collusion with/or support from ISI or the Pak Army. Personally I think he had a deep contact in ISI that very few knew about, who, unfortunately for him, was left in the dark regarding US intentions when we clamped the lid on sharing with the porous Pakis.

Back to mainstream publications.
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Read Directorate S and get back to us. Steve Coll is the author. I'll write a review tomorrow.
 

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