What Are You Reading?

Do audio books count?
Just finished https://librivox.org/captains-courageous-by-rudyard-kipling/
Currently listening to https://librivox.org/poison-island-by-sir-arthur-thomas-quiller-couch/ (not as well done, but still interesting)
https://librivox.org/souls-of-black-folks-by-web-du-bois/ starts off kinda artsy-fartsy but gets better.
https://librivox.org/planet-of-the-damned-by-harry-harrison-2/ if you like older sci-fy

Blue Tooth headphones / earphones while doing yard work, working in the shop, or just walking...
 
Colson Whitehead's The Underground Railroad.

deserved the Pulitzer, but one of the most disturbing books I've ever read.
 
Half Fast said:
Not yet. Any good?
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I have read a number of biographies of the Wright Brothers and this was my favorite overall in terms of giving a sense of what their lives must have been like when they were working on the problem of flight. It is less well known than others, but I preferred it.
 
PeterNSteinmetz said:
I have read a number of biographies of the Wright Brothers and this was my favorite overall in terms of giving a sense of what their lives must have been like when they were working on the problem of flight. It is less well known than others, but I preferred it.
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Cool! I'll have to check it out.
 
The Mike Bowditch series by Paul Doiron - Game warden mysteries set in Maine.
 
Halfway through, it's fascinating, scary, and timely. Recommended!
Cyber Weapons .jpg
 
I just finished _Uncompromising Honor_, by David Weber. It has the mother of all space battles in it. Anymore, Honor is spending most of her time dirt-side.

I just started _Lost Moon_. It's the book Jim Lovell co-wrote about Apollo 13. I bought it from Amazon as "Used - Good". Except for a little shelf wear, and a little bit of writing, it's like new. The little bit of writing though, adds value. It's Jim Lovell's autograph. I'd say I scored.
 
If I bought all the books I wanted, my collection would rival the Library of Congress. I just read an excerpt of a book that just made me want it all the more: "Top Gun" by Dan Pederson. It's about he and 8 other officers started the Top Gun school that took the American kill ratio in Vietnam from 2:1 to 24:1.
 
The Roots of the Federal Reserve, Instrument Flying Handbook
 
Black Thursday, by Martin Caidin, the story of the Schweinfurt raid, October 1943. I'm about halfway through and it's quite gripping, made even more so in the knowledge that it's non-fiction. Included are detailed insights in B-17 operations, but that's a mere sideline to the graphic depiction of daily life (and death) in the air war over Europe.
 
Allan Cobb said:
Black Thursday, by Martin Caidin, the story of the Schweinfurt raid, October 1943. I'm about halfway through and it's quite gripping, made even more so in the knowledge that it's non-fiction. Included are detailed insights in B-17 operations, but that's a mere sideline to the graphic depiction of daily life (and death) in the air war over Europe.
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I'll give it a go! Only $0.99 on Kindle. ;)
https://www.amazon.com/Black-Thursd...x=black+thursday+martin+caidin,aps,619&sr=8-2
 
Journey to the Center of the Earth.
Preceded that with 20,00 Leagues Under the Sea.
 
Allan Cobb said:
Black Thursday, by Martin Caidin, the story of the Schweinfurt raid, October 1943. I'm about halfway through and it's quite gripping, made even more so in the knowledge that it's non-fiction. Included are detailed insights in B-17 operations, but that's a mere sideline to the graphic depiction of daily life (and death) in the air war over Europe.
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Caidin is a great writer. I probably have 50 of his books. But don't confuse his "non-fiction" books as historically accurate. His style was more about writing a good story than getting the facts correct.
 
Flying Solo: Memoirs of an Air Force Pilot. Easy read. No extraneous family / personal stuff. Just the experiences of an A-7 pilot in Vietnam. Short, good read of what it was like.
 
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Just finished audible versions of Wool and Shift by Hugh Howey. The reader is great as well. I overall story line is quite well thought out. First time an author has come up with a credible way for the idea of being frozen over long periods of time actually being feasible. I see "Shift" will be on AppleTV so maybe they will do it justice. Hope so any way.

Can't Hurt Me by David Goggins was pretty good.

The David Wolf series by Jeff Carson have all been pretty good reads.

The last few Jack Reacher books have been pretty hard to read so aborted.
 
Recently finished first two books of the Master and Commander series by Patrick O’Brien.
Taking a break from that series to read Don Quixote. About half way through. Bit slower of a read but quite entertaining.
 
benyflyguy said:
Recently finished first two books of the Master and Commander series by Patrick O’Brien.
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I read that series after I finished the Hornblower series. Both were quite good. The Hornblower books give a lot of interesting insight into the British navy of the 18th century.
 
Sinistar said:
I see "Shift" will be on AppleTV so maybe they will do it justice. Hope so any way.
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I'm with you on most of Howey's stuff. I preferred the beginning of the Silo Series (Wool) to the middle and end ('Shift', 'Dust') but I enjoyed them all. Some recent streaming versions of other stuff I really like has survived the jump and been very good (The Leftovers, The Last of Us) so I'll at least give Shift a try.

Nauga,
and the first rule of holes
 
nauga said:
I'm with you on most of Howey's stuff. I preferred the beginning of the Silo Series (Wool) to the middle and end ('Shift', 'Dust') but I enjoyed them all. Some recent streaming versions of other stuff I really like has survived the jump and been very good (The Leftovers, The Last of Us) so I'll at least give Shift a try.

Nauga,
and the first rule of holes
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My bad on the new TV series coming out, its called Silo and looks to be for Wool, not Shift. My favorite of the books as well. Hope its good. I like the main actress selection for Jules (played by Rebecca Ferguson of Mission Impossible)

I did really like this authors version of the world's downfall. And thought the mechanism behind cryo or hypersleep or whatever it is called was pretty original and well thought out.
 
GaryM said:
I started Atlas Shrugged last week. I’m enjoying it, but at 1800 pages or so it’s going to take me awhile to finish.
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Ooh, there's some polarizing fiction. :) If you like it, try the Fountainhead after -- I liked it more than Atlas.

Lately I've wanted something "light" and stumbled into the Pip and Flinx series by Alan Dean Foster -- had never heard of them (or him) before. Apparently he did writing for star wars, and this light sci-fi series has touches of the same world-building. They seem perpetually available for e-loan at my library, and I can chew through them in a few evenings.

Can recommend for an enjoyable brain cooler. Plus I want an Alaspian mini-dragon now.
 
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A Fortunate Life an Australian classic; an autobiography by Albert Facey. Chronicles his life from childhood, where he is sent to live and work away from his family at age 8. He ends up fighting and surviving the battle of Gallipoli, then returns home to start a family.
 
A “new” dragon riders of Pern book. I don’t remember the title, but I found one I didn’t have in the used bookstore. Down to finding the last Anne wrote, then some from Todd.
 
Presently reading Trout Bum by John Gierach.

Recently re-read A Higher Call. I'm surprised no one has made a movie of it yet.

I also read Black Thursday, based on the suggestion from @Allan Cobb upthread. Pretty good, though a little tedious in a few spots when it got too heavy in numbers and stats. Quite an astonishing effort, as were many things during WWII.

Soon I'll be looking for a little light summer reading. Maybe I'll re-read one of Lawrence Block's "Bernie Rhodenbarr" books.
 
Just read The Bomber Mafia. Interesting history of how strategic bombing became the US WW II strategy. And how it ended.

Side note on the Schweinfurt/Rengesburg raids in Black Thursday: according to Gladwell, the reason there was a two+ hour delay between bomb groups was Curtis LeMay had drilled his bomb group in 0-0 takeoffs and they left on time in heavy fog while the second group was delayed by it and gave the Germans time to l as no and rearm.
 
I have a log of books I've read with how much I enjoyed them. My top rating is rare but the most recent are: Devoted, Where the Crawdads Sing, The Tattooist of Auschwitz, The Reckoning and This Is How It Always Is.
 
Some great aviation related books I have recently read:
Flight of Passage: A Memoir - Rinker Buck
Bazooka Charlie - James Busha
The Last Bush Pilots - Eric Auxier
Ferry Pilot - McCauley
 
James Salter, Burning the Days.

Salter was one of the best American writers of the 20th Century. In his books The Hunters, Cassada, and Gods of Tin, you will find some of the finest prose ever devoted to aviation and aerial warfare.

While he worked constantly to improve his craft, my opinion is that none of his later novels (all excellent) are as insightful and compelling as these.

For an aviation-focused introduction to his work, I recommend Gods of Tin, a compilation of excerpts from works mentioned above.
 
ScottM said:
Just finished reading Nietzsche's Beyond Good and Evil, about to finish Dawkin's The G-d Delusion and then next up will be either The Host by Stephanie Meyers or John McPhee Basin and Range. Then of course their are the many technical papers I have to read each day.
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I’m listening to the God Delusion as well. If you like it try “the Four Horsemen” though I would guess The Four Horsemen would be a better listen than read- it’s the nickname that was given to Dawkins, Christopher Hitchens, Sam Higgins and Daniel Dennet.
It was a recording of a conversation the four had over cocktails recorded. So academic yet fun to listen to.
 
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