What are we reading?

[Bismarck]

Just ordered it and got the Osprey book on the armies involved for my Kindle.

[Gusington]

^Post your impressions when you can. I just finished the chapter on Italian Askari troops and it was great reading...for a grog, anyway.

[W8taminute]

Just finished reading Legion by Dan Abnett, the 7th book in the Horus Heresy series.  This book introduces us to the Alpha Legion, one of the most secretive of all the Astartes legions.  It is set 2 years before the Horus Heresy.  In my opinion it starts off kind of slow but starts to pick up steam around the 200 page mark.  After that the story begins to develop at a rapid pace and when the reader realizes where it is heading the book can't be put down.

I was left speechless after reading the final 3 or 4 chapters.  Where on earth is mankind heading and why did Horus have to betray the galaxy?  Legion does a great job describing how damning the whole Heresy really is. 

[Jack Nastyface]

Just finished "The Junior Officers Reading Club" which is a brilliant account of one British officer's experience at Sandhurst, Iraq and Afghanistan.  Intellectual, witty, irreverant, insightful, harrowing, and hip - this is what going to war looks like for the iPod generation.

Also working through Sieze the Fire, a good but admittedly jingoist (and adoringly, embarrasingly Nelson-ophillic) account of the Battle of Trafalgar.  FWIW, I don't necessarily agree that Nelson was "...the greatest naval commander, ever" (considering he only fought two battles in the open sea) but the author's research more than makes up for the bias.

Jack Nastyface

[Greybriar]

I am currently reading Saint Camber by Katherine Kurtz. It is the second book in The Legends of Camber of Culdi trilogy.

[Gusington]

I am reading The Pale Blue Eye by Louis Bayard. It is a murder mystery set at West Point in 1830, featuring Edgar Allan Poe as a main character.

[besilarius]

Wet Grave, by Barbara Hambly.
Murder mystery set in 1830s New Orleans.  Can highly recommend anything by Hambly.  She is a superb writer of many genres.
If you like fantasy, try her Dragon's Bane.  Considering the dreck that most fantasy movies have for a plot, someone should adapt this for the screen, or for a multinight television show.

[Toonces]

I finished two books today.

First was Red Army, which I mentioned in the WW3 thread.  The other is The Lions of Al-Rassan by Guy Gavriel Kay.  It was very, very good- two thumbs up, and I highly recommend it.  It's kind of a fantasy historical fantasy- the world is not real but it is essentially based on medieval Spain (Iberia?) and the holy wars that took place there. 

I have three other books queued up right now: Musashi, which I read about half of a couple of years ago so I'll need to start anew (and it's a very very long book); Fire in the East, book one of the Warriors of Rome series; and Under Heaven by Guy Gavriel Kay, set in 9th century China.  I'm leaning towards the Rome book I think.

Honestly, though, I don't think I can go wrong with any of those choices.  Just like my gaming, I need more time to read!

[eyebiter]

Sniper Ace: From the Eastern Front to Siberia
Lithuanian is drafted into the Wehrmacht in 1943, sent to the Russian Front.  After the war gets sent to a forced labor camp in Siberia.  Ends up trapped in the Soviet Union gulag for over fifty years.


The Arnheiter Affair  - The USS Vance (DE-387) gets a new Captain in Dec 1965, right before the ship deploys to the coast of Vietnam.  During the voyage the crew compiles a long list of complaints about the Captain's behavior and judgement.  After a three month patrol the vessel returns to the Philippines for refit, Arnheiter is removed from command.

Notice the USS Vance crew have a reunion later this year in New Orleans.  Would be interesting to ask around to find out the real story.  Still wondering how much of this account was Vietnam era anti-war BS or if this guy was a real life Captain Queeg.

[Gusington]

I read Fire in the East and loved it.

[Bismarck]

Battle by John Lynn (about war and culture)
The Line on the Wind: Royal Navy 1793 to 1815
Fuentes des Orono Portugal 1811

[Windigo]

Steel Fist - Tank Warfare 1939 - 1945
by Nigel Cawthorne

[Arctic Blast]

Iron Kingdom : The Rise and Downfall of Prussia 1600-1947 by Christopher Clark

[Bison]

No Easy Day.

[Staggerwing]

Ravenor Omnibus, Steve Jobs bio (someone gave it to me, actually quite interesting), Myst Reader (you in the back, do I make fun of your books?!) and I just finished a bunch of John Scalzi stories on my ancient but still working Kindle 2. I have some Tank books on order (one overdue >:() and I'm going to try to peruse the L&L v3 rulebook (thank you Barthheart!).