Recent Books you have enjoyed

[mu03eng]

Some books I've enjoyed in the last couple of years

-Goodwin's Team of Rivals
-Candice Millard's Destiny of the Republic
-McCullogh's The Great Bridge
-Sebastian Junger's War
-James Kyle's first person account of the Iranian rescue attempt:  The Guts To Try (I'm biased, I knew a lot of the guys on this and I re-read it every couple of years)
-Erik Larson's The Devil in the White City
-Anything Clive Cussler Dirk Pitt series(that he is the sole author, like Clancy anything he did Clive Cussler AND sucks)

[MU Fan in Connecticut]

I thought this was a very good book, though pretty technical from an anthropological and historical perspective so not a "light read".  I found the discussion of the America's as some untamed nature perhaps being a myth pretty compelling.  Have the follow-up to this book on my dresser to read but have to get through grad school before I take up anything else too serious 

I enjoyed Charles Mann's 1491 also.  1493 is compelling also.  He goes into detail on the Spanish silver trade between South America and Manila, Phillipines and how this ties into China. 

[mu03eng]

I enjoyed Charles Mann's 1491 also.  1493 is compelling also.  He goes into detail on the Spanish silver trade between South America and Manila, Phillipines and how this ties into China. 

Spoiler alert!!!!   

[mu03eng]

Walter Isaacson's Steve Jobs biography was great, love or hate the man there was a lot of stuff from a business, product, and innovation standpoint you could take away from that book.

[MU Fan in Connecticut]

Some books I've enjoyed in the last couple of years

he is the sole author, like Clancy anything he did Clive Cussler AND sucks)

Just like you, I think I read every Dirk Pitt - Clive Cussler solo written books.  I haven't read any in the last several years as everything seems to be co-written and I've moved on.  If you like the Dirk Pitt novels, you might like author Steve Berry.  My brother introduced to me the books.  The main character, Cotton Malone, gets involved with history mysteries.  He has a few other books in the same mold.

[ZiggysFryBoy]

I enjoyed Charles Mann's 1491 also.  1493 is compelling also.  He goes into detail on the Spanish silver trade between South America and Manila, Phillipines and how this ties into China. 

Mann's 1491 was good.

I also read the Brendan Voyage, by Tim Severin.  He actually took 6th century technology and built a boat and sailed from Ireland to America, based on the writings of Brendan the Navigator.

Other recent reads:

Failure is not a option-Gene Kranz, about the Mercury & Apollo programs
Condoleeza Rice's autobiography
A Country of Vast Designs, about James K Polk.
The Fifties, based on CBB's recommendation


Daniel Silva's series about Israeli spy Gabriel Allon is entertaining.

[4everwarriors]

How did you like Touchdown Johnny?

[ATWizJr]

Not a Dan Brown fan.

  Philosophical differences or just don't care for his style?  I felt Inferno read more like a travelogue and stretched the bounds of credulity.

[brandx]

They don't make men like Truman anymore.  In today's day and age, you couldn't pull off dropping a nuke, let alone two (nor the bombing of Tokyo).  The press and the anti-war crowd wouldn't allow for it, even if it mean shortening the war, winning the war and ultimately saving lives.  The world is upside down, and we don't fight to win.   My wife and I socialize with some older vets, have lunch with them or breakfast, etc, and it drives these guys crazy.  I don't blame them.  They just shake their heads.  Of course, this is some of the same group that says life was a lot better back in the day so I should probably ignore what the greatest generation has to say.

I think maybe part of the difference is that in WWII - we were attacked as opposed to us attacking a country that posed no threat. People will almost always defend their own, but will question the deaths of friends and loved ones whose lives are wasted over political (Iraq) or proxy (Vietnam) wars.
And since we have participated in 16 wars since WWII, some people see an immorality in constantly having such little regard for human life that isn't American.

And yes, some people think life was much better back when women and minorities knew their place. (I am not among them). I was born in the 50's and it is very easy for me to understand why it was the sons and daughters of this Greatest Generation that rebelled and decided they needed to change the world

[swoopem]

I'm sure this was already mentioned somewhere in the thread, but I thought "The Lone Survivor" was an awesome book and with the movie coming out soon it'll be worth reading.

It's a true story about Navy SEALS in Afghanistan if you're into that.

[brandx]

Read Downfall probably 10 years ago ....I'm curious to how you like it.

[Lennys Tap]

  Philosophical differences or just don't care for his style?  I felt Inferno read more like a travelogue and stretched the bounds of credulity.

I think he's an average at best writer who plays fast and loose with the "facts" that he bases his novels on.

[brandx]

Read Downfall probably 10 years ago ....I'm curious to how you like it.

Sounds like something I will pick up. I'd be interested as to what the thinking was at the time. Especially the days between the two bombings. Japan knew the war was lost and was already negotiating to save as much face as possible - and in the interim, Russia attacked them in Manchuria - so the story behind the 2nd strike would seem the more fascinating.

[Pakuni]

Just got my copy of Chuck Palahniuk's latest, "Doomed." So far, so good.
Though Chuck's prose isn't for everyone.

[PBRme]

PJ O'Rourke - Parliament of Whores and Give War a Chance are both tears streaming down your face funny.  His description of his experience in the Peace Corps is hysterical.

[mu03eng]

Anything Malcolm Gladwell....haven't read the new one yet though

[mu03eng]

One other thought for the Clancy fans out there.  At some point I'm planning to go back and re-read the Jack Ryan Clancy books, what order would you read them in?  Order of publishing or in chronological order based on the Ryan Universe?

[keefe]

Marathon...check
Jump out of airplane...check

I enjoy Tom Clancy's stuff....I wasn't asking for a look down your nose to validate it's prose worthiness.  Sometimes, just reading something for fun is a pleasure. 

I don't think Lenny was taking the piss out of you on Clancy, Chico. And there is nothing wrong with Clancy - it's great escapism fare which everyone needs. I remember I brought a couple Clancy and Grisham books on a holiday to Thailand and my beloved started giving me crap about it. I noticed what she was reading and gently pointed out that she was likely the only person in the history of Phuket beach history to read Dostoevsky while lazing on the white sand. There is a time and place for everything and Clancy, Gilligan's Island, or Scoop help flush the brain in order that we can re-engage effectively in what is truly important.

[ZiggysFryBoy]

I don't think Lenny was taking the piss out of you on Clancy, Chico. And there is nothing wrong with Clancy - it's great escapism fare which everyone needs. I remember I brought a couple Clancy and Grisham books on a holiday to Thailand and my beloved started giving me crap about it. I noticed what she was reading and gently pointed out that she was likely the only person in the history of Phuket beach history to read Dostoevsky while lazing on the white sand. There is a time and place for everything and Clancy, Gilligan's Island, or Scoop help flush the brain in order that we can re-engage effectively in what is truly important.

Scoop proves the Buffalo theory perfectly.

[MU Fan in Connecticut]

One other thought for the Clancy fans out there.  At some point I'm planning to go back and re-read the Jack Ryan Clancy books, what order would you read them in?  Order of publishing or in chronological order based on the Ryan Universe?

Isn't the order of publishing pretty much the same as chronological order other than the Mr. Clarke origin book?

[ATL MU Warrior]

Isn't the order of publishing pretty much the same as chronological order other than the Mr. Clarke origin book?

That's what I thought as well.

[mu03eng]

Isn't the order of publishing pretty much the same as chronological order other than the Mr. Clarke origin book?

As an example Red Rabbit(Pope JPII assassination plot) takes place right after Patriot Games but was published 20 years later.  And Red October was published before Patriot Games but Patriot Games takes place before Red October.

[Eldon]

Scoop proves the Buffalo theory perfectly.

Buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo.

[MU Fan in Connecticut]

As an example Red Rabbit(Pope JPII assassination plot) takes place right after Patriot Games but was published 20 years later.  And Red October was published before Patriot Games but Patriot Games takes place before Red October.

Now that you mention the JPII assaniation atempt, I recall Red Rabbit as "the Foley's" origin story.

[brewcity77]

Not recent, but finally got around to reading Ender's Game recently. Brilliant bit of writing. Also enjoyed the new Dan Brown book, Inferno. The first 2/3 of it felt exactly like his other Robert Langdon books (Da Vinci, Angels & Demons, etc), though was still enjoyable despite being formulaic. He had one big diversion from his usual formula that really made the last bit more enjoyable for me. Well worth the read, if you are a fan of Brown's.