What are we reading?

Started by Martok, March 05, 2012, 01:13:59 PM

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Toonces

I really don't know anything about the North Africa campaign...which is actually a good reason to read the book, but I don't know.  Everytime I start I just get bored and put it back down.  It took me 3 tries to finish The Day of Battle.  In fact, I only bought the third book to be completist.  I'm not a fan of his writing style to be honest.

It might have more to do with the subject matter than anything else.  I dunno.  I'm not really familiar with the ETO, certainly prior to D-Day.  I enjoyed his book Crusade much more (about Desert Storm).
"If you had a chance, right now, to go back in time and stop Hitler, wouldn't you do it?  I mean, I personally wouldn't stop him because I think he's awesome." - Eric Cartman

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Toonces

I just started a book called The Red Knight last night.  Sounds like a poor-man's Game of Thrones.

Too early to tell how it is yet.

And I'm about 1/3 through a book called Phase Line Green, about the Marines in the battle for Hue in Vietnam.  Pretty quick, easy, first person account read.
"If you had a chance, right now, to go back in time and stop Hitler, wouldn't you do it?  I mean, I personally wouldn't stop him because I think he's awesome." - Eric Cartman

"Does a watch list mean you are being watched or is it a come on to Toonces?" - Biggs

republic

Quote from: mirth on August 04, 2013, 12:56:14 PM
Damn, those are some crazy passes!

What's the book you're reading?

http://www.amazon.com/Tupolev-TU-22-Russias-Pioneering-Supersonic/dp/1844152413/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1375650447&sr=8-1&keywords=TU-22+Blinder

It is very detailed and has some great anecdotes in it.  The more I read about Soviet era technology the more I wonder how we would have fared if the cold war went hot...  While we had the technological upper hand, I wonder how much we could offset their sheer numbers.  Especially when we beat the Germans using the 'more quantity less quality' method...  Of course...maybe if the Germans hadn't been preoccupied in the east their technological advancements would have beaten us...hmmm.

mirth

Thanks for the link. Looks like an excellent book. I'll add it to my list.
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undercovergeek

just received the first Space Wolves omnibus - i couldnt see anything but 5 stars in the amazon reviews and ive enjoyed the Blood Angels and Ultramarines

republic

Quote from: mirth on August 05, 2013, 11:13:47 AM
Thanks for the link. Looks like an excellent book. I'll add it to my list.

It is fantastic the more I read...  If you have a Half Price Books near you go check for it there.  I picked it up for $20 I think.

I'm thinking of clearing out some of my collection, I think I'll post them here first before I sell on Amazon.  There are some things if I just got shipping + $1 I'd be happy lol


BanzaiCat

Quote from: Bison on August 05, 2013, 05:48:34 PM
Undaunted Courage

http://www.amazon.com/Undaunted-Courage-Meriwether-Jefferson-American/dp/0684826976/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1375742883&sr=8-1&keywords=undaunted+courage

Good deal - I saw that last night for 1.99 and bought it myself. Soon as I'm done with Life in the French Foreign Legion, I'm going to get into that one.

Although this one has my attention for the next purchase - Stalin's Hammer
http://www.amazon.com/Stalins-Hammer-Rome-Novella-ebook/dp/B00AP2VRNW/ref=pd_sim_kstore_22

Haven't bought it yet. I like the Axis of Time Trilogy to an extent, and this one has me curious.

W8taminute

Speaking of good reads I have a question.

Does anyone know what the exact quote was when Robert E. Lee was being questioned about some general?  It's the one where his answer was something like "You asked me what I thought of his skills, not what I thought of him personally."  Or something like that.

My google fu is weak for some reason on this topic.  Any help appreciated.
"You and I are of a kind. In a different reality, I could have called you friend."

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Gusington

Just finished Inquis Exterminatus - Images from the Dark Millenium, a WH40K art book. Took one night to peruse. Next is Baneblade by Guy Haley and after that perhaps Priests of Mars by Graham McNeil. Prepping for the release of the new Space Hulk :)


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Greybriar

Quote from: W8taminute on August 06, 2013, 08:14:05 AM
Speaking of good reads I have a question.

Does anyone know what the exact quote was when Robert E. Lee was being questioned about some general?  It's the one where his answer was something like "You asked me what I thought of his skills, not what I thought of him personally."  Or something like that.

My google fu is weak for some reason on this topic.  Any help appreciated.

I found this quote:

A visitor once asked Robert E. Lee what he thought of a certain individual.  "He's a very fine gentleman," Lee replied.

"He says some very uncomplimentary things about you.  What do you think about that?"

"You didn't ask me what he thought of me.  You asked me what I thought of him."


It is contained in Faith Prints: Youth Devotions for Every Day of the Year by Steve Swanson.
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Toonces

Quote from: Toonces on August 04, 2013, 04:02:09 PM
I just started a book called The Red Knight last night.  Sounds like a poor-man's Game of Thrones.

Too early to tell how it is yet.

I'm very much enjoying The Red Knighthttp://www.amazon.com/Red-Knight-Traitor-Cycle-ebook/dp/B007ZFPUL2/ref=sr_1_1_title_1_kin?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1376025607&sr=1-1&keywords=the+red+knight+by+miles+cameron

It is sort of like a light Game of Thrones (very light), but with way more monsters.  The writing is pretty tight and the pace is solid.  I'm about 35% through and I foresee me finishing this book and going right for book 2 if it's in the library.  Two thumbs up (so far) and solidly recommended for fantasy fans.

I just put in a BFAO* today that frustrates me because I already have about 2 months worth of backlog of reading to get through.  I picked up:

The Stewart Trilogy by Nigel Tranter:  http://www.amazon.com/Stewart-Trilogy-Misrule-Princes-Captive/dp/0340391154/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1376025759&sr=1-3&keywords=the+stewart+trilogy
But I actually bought it as 3 very good condition hardcovers rather than the exceptionally high priced softback 3-novels-in-1 version.  I totally enjoyed The Bruce Trilogy and Stewart picks up where Bruce leaves off.  Another very highly recommended book (The Bruce Trilogy that is).

I also ordered The History of the Art of War, Volume II and Volume III by Hans Delbruck.  http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0803265859/ref=oh_details_o03_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I skipped Volume I for some reason.  These look like good books on the periods of conflict in which I'm most interested, and at 600 pages each there appears to be a lot of meat.  I went bargain hunting in the used section so I think I got them for about $3 each. 

Man alive, when am I ever going to get around to finishing these books?

*Big Freaking Amazon Order
"If you had a chance, right now, to go back in time and stop Hitler, wouldn't you do it?  I mean, I personally wouldn't stop him because I think he's awesome." - Eric Cartman

"Does a watch list mean you are being watched or is it a come on to Toonces?" - Biggs

W8taminute

Quote from: Greybriar on August 08, 2013, 06:58:17 PM
Quote from: W8taminute on August 06, 2013, 08:14:05 AM
Speaking of good reads I have a question.

Does anyone know what the exact quote was when Robert E. Lee was being questioned about some general?  It's the one where his answer was something like "You asked me what I thought of his skills, not what I thought of him personally."  Or something like that.

My google fu is weak for some reason on this topic.  Any help appreciated.

I found this quote:

A visitor once asked Robert E. Lee what he thought of a certain individual.  "He's a very fine gentleman," Lee replied.

"He says some very uncomplimentary things about you.  What do you think about that?"

"You didn't ask me what he thought of me.  You asked me what I thought of him."


It is contained in Faith Prints: Youth Devotions for Every Day of the Year by Steve Swanson.

Perfect!  Thanks Greybriar.  That is the quote I was thinking of and that book you provided the link to is a bonus. 
"You and I are of a kind. In a different reality, I could have called you friend."

Romulan Commander to Kirk

Greybriar

Regardless of how good a PC game may be it will always have its detractors and no matter how bad a PC game may be it will always have its fans.

JasonPratt

Well, right on schedule I finished Winter's Heart (Book 9 of The Wheel of Time), halfway through the worst of the slog by all accounts. Or more than halfway. 2/3 of the way. Feels like only halfway though I guess. ;)

But oddly, the same thing has happened this time that happened with me from Books 6 up until now: varying levels of disappointment, increasing from 6 on, after finishing them on my first reads, and yet during rereads for the new releases I wasn't nearly as disappointed with the books. Probably that's due to going in with low expectations, but I can think of another couple of reasons, too: I'm not repeatedly waiting for years between books for only one new entry; and I know for sure now where the end is, and I can be reasonably sure a significant portion of the end (four whole books worth) will be worth my time and effort.

So yeah, WH this time, not so bad. Not great, but not bad. Middling but bearable. The big three problems of the book still hurt, sure: the wretched Faile subplot spends a boring amount of time going precisely nowhere and accomplishing nothing; a lot of time is spent on what is literally a useless Rand subplot (as Rand himself eventually comes to acknowledge toward the end of it); and the final battle is constituted by random little snippets of nothing much spread out over most of a day booktime with occasional special effects flashiness substituting for actual story design, with the end result being that the villains are routed offscreen aside from one minor Forse being killed (again) toward the end of it without anyone even realizing what was really accomplished by doing so.

Also, while I get the basic idea of pitting one kind of evil against another kind of evil and letting them destroy each other, how the good guys go about actually doing it seems very vague and even counter-intuitive in several way with what Jordan seemed to have spent a lot of effort establishing over the past nine books (including this one). Maybe RJ had this generally in mind from the beginning and thought by the time he got here he would have invented something suitable for how to represent it properly -- and then when the time came to write it he, well, had a deadline crashing in on him and was feeling sicker than usual from the ailment that eventually killed him (God rest his soul). I don't know, I just know that it's a lot of puffery (even somewhat literally).

Also-also, I swear RJ's habit of having to describe EVERY SINGLE MINOR AND TERTIARY AND QUATERNARY CHARACTER IN EVERY SCENE IS GOING TO DRIVE ME ABSOLUTELY CRAZY BEFORE THE END OF THE SERIES IF HE (or Sanderson) KEEPS AT IT!! Crystal Dragon Jesus Christ. It's like having to suck the taint to get to what good stuff is there, and sometimes nothing is there but a mouthful of taint. (...that sounds... look it's in the books, okay? It doesn't mean what it sounds like it means...)

Also-also-also, I had forgotten RJ's bizarre habit of making his first chapter in each book a "prologue" when there's nothing specially prologuish to distinguish them from the official "first" chapters, enters a level of near self-parody in this book. I seriously thought someone had messed up the Kindle formatting when I saw this huge block on the progress bar without chapter jumps. But nope, the so-called prologue really was 10% of the book's total length. Total length, mind you, including the long glossaries and other non-narrative pages. Counting only the narrative pages, the percentage was higher.

And then, prepping Book 10, I saw the same ridiculous block again. Now at 13%. That's insane. But then while thinking "What the hell RJ, really, this isn't a novella, you know", I suddenly put some pieces together and the reasoning became clear. Back around Book 7 (at least, maybe earlier) TOR had started to release final (or near-final) drafts of the "Prologues" for marketing purposes several months before the books' release. Eventually they started selling the Prologues instead of releasing them into the wild for free. Not sure when that started, maybe as early as Book 7, I don't recall clearly, but I'm fairly sure this was already in play by the time of Book 9's release.

So that, I expect, is the explanation: TOR sold the prologues separately so the prologues had to get physically larger to be perceived as worth (in effect) buying twice.

(This was also around the time that TOR made RJ write out an actual prequel novella he had provided years previously for some famous fantasy author compilation, expanding it out into a whole relatively-half-sized novel called The New Spring. I started reading that a book or two ago, just to see if I would care, and got several chapters in before I said to hell with it and flung it off my Kindle.)


Ah well, 2/3 of the worst of the slog done, and to my amazement I'm actually looking forward to Crossroads of Twilight, generally regarded as the worst WOT novel of the series, simply because to me it will be entirely new material! WH almost was, because I had only read it once, back during its initial release ten years ago or so and I had forgotten a lot of the details (except for the few important things that actually got accomplished of course). Plus at the rate I've been steadily chewing through the books for the past couple of months, I know it won't take more than ten days or so, and then I'll be past the slog uphill and skiing down the golden slope. PRAY! -- PRAY THAT MY SPIRIT SHALL NOT BE CRUSHED AND THAT I SHALL EMERGE TRIUMPHANT FROM THE GAPING HIND END OF THis, um, wait I need to rethink this metaphor...
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