Good books

[Free Vulcan]

Ghost Wars: The Secret History of the CIA, Afghanistan and Bin Laden, from the Soviet Invasion to September 10, 2001, by Steve Coll. The authoritative work in my book.

C O D E: The Hidden Language of Computer Hardware and Software by Charles Petzold. Shows you how computers work, from the most basic circuitry on up. Starts with a simple telegraph switch and a light bulb and builds from there. Fascinating read for any science geek.

[Joe Wooten]

Larry Niven - Ringworld, A Gift from Earth, The Long Arm of Gil Hamilton
Larry Niven/ Jerry Pournelle - Footfall, The Mote in God's Eye, Lucifer's Hammer
John Ringo - The Last Centurion, Under A Graveyard Sky, Into the Looking Glass, Ghost
Robert Conroy - 1901, 1862
Taylor Anderson - Into The Storm
Robert Heinlein - Time Enough for Love, The Moon is a Harsh Mistress, Starship Troopers, Stranger in a Strange Land
H. Beam Piper - Little Fuzzy, Space Viking,

[Gefn]

I just started reading Churchill's six volume set of WW II.

My dad left it to me. I feel honored (or should I write "honoured") to read it.

[Bigun]

[musiclady]

Just started reading Undaunted Courage by Stephen Ambrose, a story of Lewis and Clark, in preparation for my husband's and my trip up the Lewis and Clark Trail next summer (NOT in canoes!).

He's reading  The Journals of Lewis and Clark, edited by Bernard DeVoto.

It's remarkable to read of the courage and intrepid nature of those who forged this great nation.

@Idaho_Cowboy  @Smokin Joe

[Smokin Joe]

Just started reading Undaunted Courage by Stephen Ambrose, a story of Lewis and Clark, in preparation for my husband's and my trip up the Oregon Trail next summer (NOT in canoes!).

He's reading  The Journals of Lewis and Clark, edited by Bernard DeVoto.

It's remarkable to read of the courage and intrepid nature of those who forged this great nation.

@Idaho_Cowboy  @Smokin Joe

Tremendous and intrepid souls, indeed! Another book I'd recommend: Endurance: Shackleton's Incredible Voyage by Alfred Lansing and Nathaniel Philbrick--another incredible story, but I'd think twice before following in their footsteps!!

[Smokin Joe]

I really enjoyed Wool by Hugh Howey.  There's an omnibus edition through Amazon and I think now a "graphic novel" which I have not seen.  This is the sci-fi/fantasy genre.  The premise being that some kind of destruction has happened on the earth's surface and people now live in a big underground facility.  People are assigned jobs to keep the place running.  There is a camera system to the outside with a big monitor in the top story of the facility so people inside can see how horrible the outside is.  The punishment for committing a crime is to be suited up and sent outside with a ball of wool to clean the lens of the camera; the suit will protect them only temporarily from the outside elements and they end up dying.  Someone that gets sent outside finds out that things aren't what they've been told they are.

I also like Kingkiller Chronicle by Patrick Rothfuss.  Another fantasy genre.  It's the story, told by the man, of his youth, growing up in a traveling troupe of musicians/actors, being made an orphan by some mysterious creatures who killed everyone in his troupe except him and his life's mission to get revenge on the killers.

And my third recommendation is The Remaining series by DJ Molles.  Another fantasy/end of the world type novel.  A flu/vaccine combination is mutating people.  The lead character is a man who was contracted by the US gov't to help re-establish civilization in the event of some extinction event.  He has counterparts in each state with the same mission.  After losing complete contact with his gov't contacts after receiving the alert to bunker-down, he makes the mistake of leaving his bunker a few days earlier than the protocol and, although carrying out his original mission, is considered to have gone rogue by whatever gov't is left.

Please don't judge the books based on my pathetic description of them! :)

Wool sounds interesting to me. But then I have been a fan of dystopian futures since I read The Time Machine in grade school.

[Smokin Joe]

The author is a composer, so there's a lot of musical analysis.  If you know the works, it's clear.  If not, skim.  ^-^

But the personal information, the letters and notes Beethoven wrote, the Heilegenstat Testament, his anguish, his multiple physical maladies, his deeply emotional personality, his "raptus"....where he went into almost a trance and composed, the tremendous resolve in spite of his deafness....... it's just remarkable.

He's been a hero of mine since I was 13 years old, and in spite of the warts, he's one of the most amazing and admirable people who ever walked the face of the earth.

Well, when you put it that way, it sounds a lot more interesting.

It is odd that we live in a time when everyone not already considered "normal" is counseled, medicated, browbeaten (or worse) for being different, even as "diversity" is allegedly "celebrated".
Yet almost no one who achieved tremendous advances in art, science, music, or any field requiring passion or dedication to truly excel has ever been what we would consider 'normal', whether they are able to function in the 'normal' world or not. Almost all have their drives, their passions, their moments of torment, and their obsessions, or they would never achieve the things they do.

[Smokin Joe]

Here's a list of some pretty amazing people from just one short period in our history: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Medal_of_Honor_recipients_for_the_Vietnam_War

Most people know very little to nothing at all about most of them!  Why is that?

Most people don't know who Eddie Rickenbacker was, either. Audie Murphy, some do, some don't, but few under 40.

We used to celebrate our heroes from wartime, those who demonstrated courage, honor, valor, and above and beyond the call of duty an often self sacrificing love for their brothers (and sisters) at arms.

Now someone is called courageous if they say they are a homosexual
A 'Hero' for bouncing a ball,
or profoundly honored for a few lines of bad poetry,
and valor is a concept left on the sidelines in all but a very few lines of work, where it is practiced routinely.

It's hard to use terms like "courage", 'Heroism", and "honor" to describe the mundane if there are real heroes around. Those accolades, lightly applied, pale in comparison to those earned in combat, burning buildings, enforcing the law, or other situations which can, and too often do, cost the person the life they lay on the line for others.

[Smokin Joe]

The biggest FRAUD ever perpetuated is the idea that one can only become educated by sitting in a classroom somewhere!  Knowledge is free to anyone who seeks it and WANTS to know!  Especially so today!

Anymore, the fraud is becoming that one can become educated by sitting in a classroom.

[Smokin Joe]

Picked up a Kindle version of a good old fashioned Sci Fi/Zombie Apocalypse book. A Time To Die by Mark Wandrey. Runner up for the 2016 Dragon Award (best Sci Fi book).
https://www.amazon.com/Time-Die-Mark-Wandrey-ebook/dp/B01GGHJ1VY/ref=asap_bc?ie=UTF8

For a zombie book, so far, the attention to detail is really good, plus a fun read. Kind of a cross between Bracken's EFAD and Maximum Overdrive (you'll get it when you read it).

That sounds good. I'll have to read it when I get another kindle. (One of my granddaughters borrowed mine and it never made it home).

[Polly Ticks]

That sounds good. I'll have to read it when I get another kindle. (One of my granddaughters borrowed mine and it never made it home).

It's a good investment in your granddaughter.   ^-^

[Bigun]

Anymore, the fraud is becoming that one can become educated by sitting in a classroom.

This is VERY true! 

[musiclady]

Well, when you put it that way, it sounds a lot more interesting.

It is odd that we live in a time when everyone not already considered "normal" is counseled, medicated, browbeaten (or worse) for being different, even as "diversity" is allegedly "celebrated".
Yet almost no one who achieved tremendous advances in art, science, music, or any field requiring passion or dedication to truly excel has ever been what we would consider 'normal', whether they are able to function in the 'normal' world or not. Almost all have their drives, their passions, their moments of torment, and their obsessions, or they would never achieve the things they do.

Many people in Vienna thought Beethoven was a mad man, looking homeless and disheveled, walking around beating the air and humming.  He was a social misfit, who most certainly would be medicated now to 'calm him down.'  (Perhaps that's why there haven't been any musical geniuses for awhile...).

But let's back up a bit.  If you know about Beethoven's parents and his background, it's just as likely now days that he would have been aborted.  Disease, alcoholism, not much hope for the future......

And I wonder how many in this generation who would have made a positive difference in this world have never had the chance to breathe their first breath because they weren't going to live a 'happy' life?

[Smokin Joe]

And I wonder how many in this generation who would have made a positive difference in this world have never had the chance to breathe their first breath because they weren't going to live a 'happy' life?

@musiclady
This is what happens when a culture trusts its own sanctimony more than Almighty God. When humans make predictions predicated on what they think creates happiness, they often eliminate or reject the very persons and things which The Almighty, in His Wisdom, put here to teach us, to enlighten us, and to bring us joy. Who knows what miseries might have been alleviated but for the slaughter?

[musiclady]

@musiclady
This is what happens when a culture trusts its own sanctimony more than Almighty God. When humans make predictions predicated on what they think creates happiness, they often eliminate or reject the very persons and things which The Almighty, in His Wisdom, put here to teach us, to enlighten us, and to bring us joy. Who knows what miseries might have been alleviated but for the slaughter?

Amen!

[Idaho_Cowboy]

Most people don't know who Eddie Rickenbacker was, either. Audie Murphy, some do, some don't, but few under 40.

We used to celebrate our heroes from wartime, those who demonstrated courage, honor, valor, and above and beyond the call of duty an often self sacrificing love for their brothers (and sisters) at arms.

Now someone is called courageous if they say they are a homosexual
A 'Hero' for bouncing a ball,
or profoundly honored for a few lines of bad poetry,
and valor is a concept left on the sidelines in all but a very few lines of work, where it is practiced routinely.

It's hard to use terms like "courage", 'Heroism", and "honor" to describe the mundane if there are real heroes around. Those accolades, lightly applied, pale in comparison to those earned in combat, burning buildings, enforcing the law, or other situations which can, and too often do, cost the person the life they lay on the line for others.

Eddie Rickenbacker was one of my heroes since I was a kid, so was Bud Anderson. I have a copy of Unbroken and after seeing the movie I haven't worked up the heart to read it just yet, but it's on my list.

If your looking for stories of true Heroism. Fight On is a great collection of short stories that will put hair on your chest. I like to read one a day with my Bible devotions. 
https://www.amazon.com/Fight-Collection-Stories-Persevered-Hardship/dp/1942603312

[Smokin Joe]

Eddie Rickenbacker was one of my heroes since I was a kid, so was Bud Anderson. I have a copy of Unbroken and after seeing the movie I haven't worked up the heart to read it just yet, but it's on my list.

If your looking for stories of true Heroism. Fight On is a great collection of short stories that will put hair on your chest. I like to read one a day with my Bible devotions. 
https://www.amazon.com/Fight-Collection-Stories-Persevered-Hardship/dp/1942603312

Thanks for the link, I'll check it out.
I am gradually rebuilding my library.
Rickenbacker remains one of my heroes, not just for his flying, but during the time in the Pacific they were adrift in life rafts, and his survival after a (civilian) plane crash later in life.

Others can be found at http://homeofheroes.com/hallofheroes/index4.html
and another favorite from the era:
http://homeofheroes.com/wings/part1/2_luke.html
http://acepilots.com/wwi/us_luke.html

[EasyAce]

Most people don't know who Eddie Rickenbacker was, either.

The day Rickenbacker left for good in 1963 (his only mistake: underestimating the appeal and success of jets at first)
was the day Eastern Air Lines' death warrant was signed, even if it took almost thirty years to put the corpse in its grave . . .

[musiclady]

Eddie Rickenbacker was one of my heroes since I was a kid, so was Bud Anderson. I have a copy of Unbroken and after seeing the movie I haven't worked up the heart to read it just yet, but it's on my list.

If your looking for stories of true Heroism. Fight On is a great collection of short stories that will put hair on your chest. I like to read one a day with my Bible devotions. 
https://www.amazon.com/Fight-Collection-Stories-Persevered-Hardship/dp/1942603312

Wasn't Bud Anderson the kid in Father Knows Best?   

[corbe]

  Just finished this:



Next up:

[Bigun]

[corbe]

Here is another essential read for anyone interested in knowing the truth about what has happened to our country.

https://www.amazon.com/Dupes-Americas-Adversaries-Manipulated-Progressives/dp/1935191756/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1470849177&sr=8-1&keywords=dupes

   Just ordered it, Thanks @Bigun

[Bigun]

   Just ordered it, Thanks @Bigun

@corbe

You are very welcome and I assure you that you will not be disappointed!

[corbe]

   I've read Prof. Kengor before, God and Ronald Reagan, but it's been years and apparently I gave the book to someone cause I can't find it now.

   Thanks again @Bigun.

   Were you the one that recommended this to the forum months ago, another great, but to short, read?