Sabbatical Reading List

[TheDouglas78]

If Chins Could Kill: Confessions of a B Movie Actor by Bruce Campbell

Hail to the Chin: Further Confessions of a B Movie Actor by Bruce Campbell

 

[Swamp Donkey]

https://www.mensjournal.com/gear/35-books-every-man-should-read-in-his-lifetime-mens-journal/

Out of that entire fuchsing list, the only thing I've heard a positive word about was Blue Highways. Otherwise, a whole bunch of woke, mostly women, books there. they are trying to help you get in touch with your feminine side, you Nazi bastards.

I always kind of like the survival stuff, even down to Hatchet level, but not the "we had to resort to cannabalism on day three" ones, probably because I had a weird ass professor who was fixated on that stuff.

Military history or leadership etc. Probably not for everyone.

 

[Swamp Donkey]

frankly I'd rather see Deets top 20. I had a list ince but lost it. Though I did read 12 Strong/ Horse Soldiers and a couple of things about Takur Gar, one from Delta and one from Air Force perspective. I guess I should read the dumbass SEAL's perspective too at some point.

 

[Gatordiddy]

Out of that entire fuchsing list, the only thing I've heard a positive word about was Blue Highways. Otherwise, a whole bunch of woke, mostly women, books there. they are trying to help you get in touch with your feminine side, you Nazi bastards.

I always kind of like the survival stuff, even down to Hatchet level, but not the "we had to resort to cannabalism on day three" ones, probably because I had a weird ass professor who was fixated on that stuff.

I figured... "Hey, it's Men's Journal, what could be bad about that list. I'll just basically blind copy the link".
Not remembering that they are probably more aptly named "We're not the toxic, man-splaining, privileged white male Men's Journal".

 

[BNAG8R]

I figured... "Hey, it's Men's Journal, what could be bad about that list. I'll just basically blind copy the link".
Not remembering that they are probably more aptly named "We're not the toxic, man-splaining, privileged white male Men's Journal".

This mea culpa doesn’t exonerate you though - consider yourself on probation.

 

[Gatordiddy]

This mea culpa doesn’t exonerate you though - consider yourself on probation.

 

[Detroitgator]

OK, here's my stab, in a pseudo-random order, but more just stream of conscience and I try to categorize...

1. "Trying to sound like an arrogant kvnt douchebag" books:
   1. All the classic dystopian future books, especially A Brave New World. It is CRAZY to think this is almost 100 years old, but hey, history repeats/rhymes. I think you've read it, but the short story Harrison Bergeron by Vonnegut is right there with A Brave New World in the "WTF, this isn't fiction!" category.
   2. The quick economics type reads that ADG has mentioned, especially Hayek, Bastiat, and, as an engineer, you might really enjoy "The Two Cultures" by Charles Percy Snow. It's about how dangerous it is when academics become the expert authorities on things with no consequence for being wrong (other than social destruction) vs say the engineer who designs a bridge that if he is wrong, collapses.
   3. That's it for douchebag books.
2. Easy reads that were recommended to me by my "weird, 15 past lives (seriously), ultimate lib, earth mother" from Bend, OR (per-Kommiefornia invasion, she was born there in like 1944). She was Abrams' secretary and all weirdness aside, she was like a witch in terms of me telling her of a life problem over the years, she would "ruminate" on it for a few days, then give me her take that would almost frighten me with insight. These two books have always stuck with me, shaped my thinking, and I've recommended them to others. Coach endorses at least the fist one, not sure he read the second one, both by Daniel Quinn, both are novels, not heavy reading:
   1. Ishmael. here's the wiki link. It sounds kookie, but I think people should read it, it makes you think. It's about a gorilla who "seeks a pupil," a dude responds and goes to the gorillas apartment, and through telepathy, the gorilla teaches the human about the planet. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ishmael_(Quinn_novel)
   2. The Story of B: Also makes you think. Expands on Ishmael, but in a very different way. It questions organized religion. It's told through the eyes of a Catholic Friar in the Laurentian Order. Laurentians have the duty to recognize the Antichrist. He goes to investigate a dude named "B" and his teachings.
   3. I'm not doing any kind of justice describing either of those books, but have read and recommended both several times over the last 30 years.
   4. Also, we've talked about Michener, and it took me TWO F'N YEARS to read this book, but "The Source" might be the best novel ever written about the history of man/religion covering the period from when man exited caves to 1964 (time of writing the book, but nothing has changed since 1964 relatively speaking). It is very cleverly told through the excavation of a tel down through "time" to the source of water/the well (thus, The Source so to speak) in Israel. I found this book when I asked an Israeli friend (yes, she was hot), "What is the one book you would recommend for giving an overview of the Jews?" She said she'd think about it then emailed a few days later and said, "My friends and I all agree 'The Source' by Michener. It's a history of man and religion, not just Jews."
3. Favorite "I don't want to think at ALL!" easy reads with great dialogue... :
   1. All the novels written by Elmore Leonard (we've talked about how many have been turned into movies). Technically, you don't have to read these in order, but from time to time, he does have recurring characters like Jack Foley and Raylan Givens (Justified TV show), so you might want to read in order.
   2. Nelson DeMille books. You should read the "John Corey" books in order (he's a great smart ass), and the one's with Paul Brenner (The General's Daughter), otherwise, they are stand alone books. For personal reasons, The Charm School might be my favorite book, period, of any. Also loved By The Rivers of Babylon. I find DeMille very interesting because he has a big "gap" in his timeline. He was an intel officer in Vietnam, then a well camouflaged "gap" after that. There is no way he wrote some of his books by just talking to people/researching.
4. Favorite "travel authors":
   1. Robert Kaplan. But mainly "Balkan Ghosts." It's a really good single "history" of the Balkans.
   2. Declan Walsh and "The Nine Lives of Pakistan." Declan is a personal friend of mine and permanently banned from Pakistan. When I lived in the WTF house in Kabul, he would stay there when in Afghanistan, and I would always visit him when I was in Pakistan. This is a VERY good book if you want to read ONE easy/interesting book to learn about the short and crazy history of Pakistan. He's also a member of the "NYT Cabal" I mention in 6.2.3 below.
5. Favorite war novels that are probably more "this was my personal experience," and all are Vietnam era:
   1. Fields of Fire by James Webb (yes, THAT James Webb). I bought this as a Bantam paperback the summer it came out when I was 11. I've probably read it 10 times, as recently as 2 years ago. I just love it. I had a revelation the last time I read it that I think explains Webb himself politically: he's actually TWO characters in the book - mainly 2LT Robert E. Lee Hodges (obviously), but also "Senator" Will Goodrich (Harvard student who volunteers).
   2. The 13th Valley. Very similar to Fields of Fire.
   3. The Five Fingers. Much more a "novel," but there has always been controversy about this book and it's author (a pseudonym). Regardless of how much if any of it is "true" (it doesn't claim to be, but many suspect it has a lot of truth), it's a good read.
   4. Another really good James Webb book (not Vietnam) is "The Emperor's General" and it's another novel that I suspect has a LOT of "truth" to it. It's about an Army Captain on MacArthur's staff who speaks fluent Japanese. He becomes the back channel conduit between MacArthur and Hirohito through Hirohito's Lord Privy and it's about how Hirohito actually manipulated MacArthur into getting everything he/Japan could out of the surrender, including the shielding of war criminals (a very real fact). Interesting read.
6. Espionage type schit:
   1. Obligatory ones: Mitch Rapp series when Vince Flynn was style alive. Good mindless action reads. Scott Harvath series by Brad Thor. I've read them, but met Brad a ton of times when working with the Eclipse Group, and he's a bit of a tool, but I read them. There is nothing special about either series to me, just read 'em because everyone did and because I knew Thor, who I think of as a leach (and an arrogant idiot). Yes, he was DHS for awhile, but a two week visit to drink and hang out in Afghanistan doesn't make you an expert, even if you try to portray yourself as one.
   2. The rest of these author's were either "just authors" or "journos" that wrote, but I think every single one of them have actual experience at least as "helpers," some I think much, much, more.
      1. All of Charles Cummings books. He's a Brit, but he writes really, really well and I love all his books, a lot, probably my favorite living author right now. No question in my mind that he was a "helper."
      2. A Very Private Gentleman (turned into the movie "The American" with George Clooney). I love the book (not about an American) and the movie. There is no question in my mind that the author relied heavily on someone for this book. It is also the singular book I have read that dissuades me from trying to write any of my own stories. I found myself rereading sentences over and over and thinking "I have ZERO shot at ever writing THAT descriptively"... he's a beautiful writer when it comes to description. Cummings (above) is similar in that way.
      3. Alex Berenson's books. You might recognize him now as the guy who wrote all the truth books about Covid that Amazon banned from sales even though he has been 100% accurate from day one. He wrote a series of Mitch Rapp type books that were fun reads, but there is no question in my mind that Alex was "plugged in" heavily at one time. There is a whole crew of NYT/former NYT writers that are like this and he was one of them (my good friend Chris Chivers is another, but he never did fiction, just straight journalism/writing of books).
      4. An Ordinary Spy by Joseph Weisberg. It's about a brand new CIA case officer that fails on his first assignment. I think the book is basically his actual story. It's a very different style of book because it's a novel, but he cleverly redacts big sections of the writing as if it's non-fiction. Interesting factoid: he created the TV show The Americans.
      5. Loose Lips and Lion Eyes by Claire Berlinski. I think Loose Lips is actually her story about failing at The Farm. She's a spoiled California lib in real life, but has the "crazy gene" in the living abroad sense and I like her personally, loved her two books that are way too "left field" for her to not be based on personal experience. I've known a lot of "Claire's" overseas, rich lib kids that I'll never agree with politically, but hands down some of the coolest chicks I've ever met and cherish the memories of drinking all night and having very intellectual conversations.
      6. The Contractor by Colin MacKinnon. It is not nearly as well written as most of the above, but I really liked this book for personal reasons... there are definitely a lot of "Rick Behringer's" out there in the world, and the author most definitely knew one of them.
      7. The whole "November Man" series.

That's enough, I'm done! ;)

EDIT: Oh, and all of Jeff Shaara's books about all American Wars. His dad wrote The Killer Angels, then died. He writes all of them in the same style as his dad wrote The Killer Angels. Harold Coyle has a similar style of books about the Revolution and Civil War that are good too.

 

[BNAG8R]

TLDR

 

[Detroitgator]

TLDR

Then DEFINITELY skip The Source! ;)

 

[CDGator]

TLDR

 

[Theologator]

I have the good fortune of taking a 6 week sabbatical starting June 1 in which I plan to disconnect from much of the world, drink boat drinks, smoke cigars, and read books.

While I might read a business book or two, I’d rather just disconnect completely.

Any fiction or nonfiction recommendations? I might re-read the Clancy series, and I don’t think I’ve read the Jack Reacher series, so that’s possible. Also, any good history books lately?

History: Alexander Hamilton by Ron Chernow

Historic fiction: An Officer and a Spy and Munich both by Eric Larson

To go with your boat drinks... Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson and On Stranger Tides by Tim Powers (loosely used as a basis for the 4th Pirates of the Caribbean movie. Book is way better.) Bad Monkey by Carl Hiassen is pretty good.

 

[Theologator]

And State of Fear by Michael Crichton. His stuff ranges from good to great.

 

[crosscreekcooter]

 

[Gator By Marriage]

Nelson DeMille books. You should read the "John Corey" books in order (he's a great smart ass), and the one's with Paul Brenner (The General's Daughter), otherwise, they are stand alone books. For personal reasons, The Charm School might be my favorite book, period, of any. Also loved By The Rivers of Babylon. I find DeMille very interesting because he has a big "gap" in his timeline. He was an intel officer in Vietnam, then a well camouflaged "gap" after that. There is no way he wrote some of his books by just talking to people/researching.

A fun read from DeMille is "Gold Coast." Actual LOL moments.

 

[Detroitgator]

A fun read from DeMille is "Gold Coast." Actual LOL moments.

It's a great book, the sequel is to, I think it's called "The Gate House."

 

[Gator By Marriage]

It's a great book, the sequel is to, I think it's called "The Gate House."

Did not know there was one. And given how "Gold Coast" ends, I would not have guessed there'd be a sequel. I'll look for it. Thanks.

 

[Detroitgator]

Did not know there was one. And given how "Gold Coast" ends, I would not have guessed there'd be a sequel. I'll look for it. Thanks.

Yup, it's good. It's all about "the after" and still told through the eyes of the husband/lawyer.

 

[Gator By Marriage]

Yup, it's good. It's all about "the after" and still told through the eyes of the husband/lawyer.

That was my point; I couldn't imagine there was much "after!"

 

[Detroitgator]

That was my point; I couldn't imagine there was much "after!"

Ya gotta read the book! ;)

 

[TheDouglas78]

Friday Night Lights