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What are you reading?
- Thread starter Recovering LSO
- Start date
Matty Morocco
Well-Known Member
Gonna dump some books I've read in the last few months here, definitely recommend them all.
Matterhorn by Karl Marlantes: Great novel set in Vietnam, raw and brutal. For the helo guys there's a couple cool passages about how bad ass the phrog pilots were.
Bogeys and Bandits by Robert Gandt: Follows a class of freshly winged F/A-18 pilots in the the mid-nineties as they get through the FRS. The descriptions of the carrier trap quals were very cool. If you like jets, worth a read.
Newly Commissioned Naval Officer's Guide by CDR Fred Kacher, USN: Seems like required reading.
The Fleet at Flood Tide by James D. Hornfischer: At first I was intimidated by the tome-esque quality of the paperback but the writing is sharp and interesting. It is a popular history of the Navy as we tightened the belt around Japan, 1944-45. It doesn't feel too colloquial like some popular histories, definitely fleshed out and that is to the book's favor.
Matterhorn by Karl Marlantes: Great novel set in Vietnam, raw and brutal. For the helo guys there's a couple cool passages about how bad ass the phrog pilots were.
Bogeys and Bandits by Robert Gandt: Follows a class of freshly winged F/A-18 pilots in the the mid-nineties as they get through the FRS. The descriptions of the carrier trap quals were very cool. If you like jets, worth a read.
Newly Commissioned Naval Officer's Guide by CDR Fred Kacher, USN: Seems like required reading.
The Fleet at Flood Tide by James D. Hornfischer: At first I was intimidated by the tome-esque quality of the paperback but the writing is sharp and interesting. It is a popular history of the Navy as we tightened the belt around Japan, 1944-45. It doesn't feel too colloquial like some popular histories, definitely fleshed out and that is to the book's favor.
This New Ocean: The Story of the First Space Age
https://www.amazon.com/This-New-Ocean-Library-Paperbacks/dp/0375754857
Worth a read if you're interested in the background of the various space programs. Be warned, it's an easy read but extremely detailed.
https://www.amazon.com/This-New-Ocean-Library-Paperbacks/dp/0375754857
Worth a read if you're interested in the background of the various space programs. Be warned, it's an easy read but extremely detailed.
If you like Naval History you should read everything that Hornfischer and Toll write. Both are great authors and their works are very approachable and enjoyable.
My sister got me "The Daily Stoic" for Christmas. A good read to go along with the morning coffee.
Just ordered "Prisoners of Geography: Ten Maps That Explain Everything About the World" by Tim Marshall. NYT bestseller with a bunch of good reviews.
https://www.amazon.com/Prisoners-Ge...8059942&sr=8-1&keywords=prisoner+of+geography
Good review from The Financial Times.
https://www.ft.com/content/a3203b9e-3b54-11e5-8613-07d16aad2152
https://www.amazon.com/Prisoners-Ge...8059942&sr=8-1&keywords=prisoner+of+geography
Good review from The Financial Times.
https://www.ft.com/content/a3203b9e-3b54-11e5-8613-07d16aad2152
BarleyOatsRye
New Member
Currently going through The War Below: The Story of Three Submarines That Battled Japan by James Scott.
I'm only about half done, so I don't know if this is covered later or what, but I hope the author goes more deeply into the defective torpedo issue and how it was rectified/improved upon at some point.
I'm only about half done, so I don't know if this is covered later or what, but I hope the author goes more deeply into the defective torpedo issue and how it was rectified/improved upon at some point.
Just finished Fighter Pilot: The Memoirs of Legendary Ace Robin Olds. A fantastic read about the old days of combat aviation and what it was like to be a fighter pilot before BVR became the preferred method of air-to-air combat. This dude had an amazing life.
Hmm. I'll have to add that to the list, as I'm just finishing Kaigun: Strategy, Tactics, and Technology in the Imperial Japanese Navy, 1887-1941. Good read from the other side. It goes into how Japanese culture, the IJN's experiences in the Russo-Japanese War, their rivalry with the Japanese Army, and budgetary pressures in general shaped their preconceived notions about how they would fight us in the Pacific. And how those notions set them up for failure.
There's a chapter of it on the JPME Strategy and War reading list, but I was enough of a history geek to want to read the whole thing.
In the middle of West with the Night and really enjoying it. Great read about aviation and life in pre-war colonial Africa. Recommend the illustrated version if you can find it.
Just finished Lucky 666, a fascinating (and quick) read. The B-17 aircrew ended their historical mission as the single most decorated aircrew in US history (2 x MOH, everyone else got a DSC). Pretty impressive stuff. I found it interesting that Pacific bomber crews flew by the calendar rather than number of missions.
Matty Morocco
Well-Known Member
Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy was a chilling and unnerving read. Beautiful and engaging, but the book is evil nonetheless. Highly recommended if you can stomach it.
Not really reading, however, today marks the 50th Anniversary of My Lai massacres. I attended an Army led discussion on the topic in DC (at CSIS). Now that it is all coming back it is astounding to note that of the 28 people implicated in the investigation of charges ranging from murder to rape, only one (LT Calley) was tried. One thing I didn't know si that he was accused of 128 murders, convicted of 22 murders, and these were later lowered to manslaughter. Tragic times and the discussants made it clear this is one of the reasons we have JAGs all the way down to battalion/squadron level.