For me right now, Elizabeth: The Struggle for the Throne, by David Starkey. About England's Elizabeth I. Just finished Pickett's Charge: A Microhistory of the Final Attack at Gettysburg, July 3, 1863, by George Stewart, a detailed and highly engaging discussion of three hours that changed the tide of the Civil War.
@Woodsman -- Have you read the Nevins/Pournelle collaboration "The Mote in God's Eye?" I think it's Pournelle's best -- and he's written a few good ones -- and it's one of my Top Five Sci-Fi novels. (I've found it impossible to get it down to Top Three....)
Yes, it's a very good one. I met up with Nevin at EerieCon a few years back. Have you read any of Robert Sawyer's books? He reminds me of L Sprague De Camp and Michael Crichton, two other authors that really researched their subject before writing.
While I can't reduce my top five SF novels to three, I do have a number one: Dune.
Fantasy is another story: My number one: For many years it was Tolkien's LOTR, then it was Donaldson's Lord Foul's Bane (first in the Thomas Covenant series), but now it's Rothfuss' The Name of the Wind (The Kingkiller chronicles first book.) If you have not encountered it, do so.
Right now I'm reading HUE 1968 by Mark Bowden.one of the bloodiest battles during the Tet offensive in 1968. Marinesand Army units had to do house to house fighting which really hadn't been done since the Korea War.It was pretty much OJT. Mark Bowden does a great job telling not only the stories of the American soldiers but also the North Vietnamese soldiers.He also goes into the civilians caught in the middle.The book is over 600 pages and that's Ok with me.
Always have four or five books in process of reading, Selected Essays, Lectures, and Poems by Ralph Waldo Emerson, rereading Thomas Paine's Collected Works, and just began reading Leon Trotsky's History of the Russian Revolution. Just dug out Benjamin Thomas' Abraham Lincoln, was a regular read for many years. I have yet to not find a book that is not compatible with pipe smoking.
Usually several at a time. Now: Abraham Lincoln: A Life (Burlingame) Black Hawk: The Battle for the Heart of America (Trask) Confessions of a Pipeman(Schrier) The Perfect Smoke: Gourmet Pipe Smoking for Relaxation and Reflection (Hanna)
Also, re-reading "Into the Out Of" by the same author. You'll never look at the shredded Truck Tire pieces on the side of the highway the same way again.
@buflosab Thanks for the review. I'd been considering that one. Bowden usually does an excellent job of talking to both sides. One of the most chilling lines I remember from Black Hawk Down is from one of the local Somalis, they concluded that Americans weren't willing to die for the cause, and they (the Somalis) were.
I am currently working my way through Fyodor Dostoyevsky's: Brothers Karamazov. Dostoyevsky has become one of my favorite writers, he is arguably one of the greatest of all time. I would recommend all of his works. Once I am done with that I plan on working my way through Oscar Wilde's: A Picture of Dorian Grey.
You guys are just too damn intelligent for your own good. I was reading a Victoria Secret's Catalog. Well, not actually reading it ... but looking at the pictures. Does that count?
Last month we found a show on Netflix named "The Last Kingdom". It's historical fiction about the founding of England and includes a lot of Vikings and fighting, etc. Takes place starting around 860 AD. It's based on a book written by Bernard Cornwell. So, of course, I decided I had to look for the book and found there are 10 in the series. While visiting one antique store 3 books in the series - 1st, 3rd and 6th (all first editions) - and bought them. I've read the first one, bought a paperback copy of the 2nd book and read it and am now working on the 3rd.
I read the first 2 books of Games of Thrones and stopped there. I like The Last Kingdom Series better. Interestingly, the tv series "Vikings" which started airing on the History Channel in 2013, shares a lot of character names and some events with the first two books which were written in 2004 and 2006.
Comments
Abraham Lincoln: A Life (Burlingame)
Black Hawk: The Battle for the Heart of America (Trask)
Confessions of a Pipeman(Schrier)
The Perfect Smoke: Gourmet Pipe Smoking for Relaxation and Reflection (Hanna)
Thanks for the review. I'd been considering that one. Bowden usually does an excellent job of talking to both sides. One of the most chilling lines I remember from Black Hawk Down is from one of the local Somalis, they concluded that Americans weren't willing to die for the cause, and they (the Somalis) were.
Once I am done with that I plan on working my way through Oscar Wilde's: A Picture of Dorian Grey.
I read the first 2 books of Games of Thrones and stopped there. I like The Last Kingdom Series better.
Interestingly, the tv series "Vikings" which started airing on the History Channel in 2013, shares a lot of character names and some events with the first two books which were written in 2004 and 2006.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jUCK-Febp4I