Friday, October 05, 2012

I went there

  • Ascent of the A-Word: Assholism, The First Sixty Years by Geoffrey Nunberg
  •  Drift: The Unmooring of American Military Power by Rachel Maddow
Maddow's Drift was pretty interesting.

Tuesday, September 18, 2012

Mostly Spring and Summer 2012

  • Twilight of the Elites: America after Meritocracy by Christopher Hayes
  •  Again to Carthage by John L. Parker Jr.
  • Once a Runner by John L. Parker Jr.
  • The Wise Man's Fear by Patrick Rothfuss
  • The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss
  • That Used to Be US: How America Fell Behind in the World It Invented and How We Can Come Back by Thomas Friedman and Michael Mandelbaum
I also revisited some books I've read before like David Eddings's three book Tamuli series. The best book I revisited was Stewart Smith's The Complete Guide to Navy Seal Fitness. I first checked this book out nearly 13 years ago when I was trying to prepare for the Naval Academy's PFT.

Thursday, April 19, 2012

Rocky Mountain Reading: A Retrospective of 2011


I'll cut to the chase and list the books.
  •  Predictably Irrational: The Hidden Forces that Shape Our Decisions by Dan Ariely
  • The Upside of Irrationality: The Unexpected Benefits of Defying Logic at Work and at Home by Dan Ariely
  • Outliers: The Story of Success by Malcolm Gladwell
  • The Icarus Syndrome: A History of American Hubris by Peter Beinart
  • When you are engulfed in flames by David Sedaris
  • Squirrel seeks Chipmunk: A Modest Bestiary by David Sedaris
  • Reefer Madness: Sex, drugs, and cheap labor in the American black market by Eric Schlosser
  • The Perfection Point by John Brenkus
  • Super sad true love story: A novel by Gary Shteyngart
  • The Gun: The AK-47 and the Evolution of War by C.J. Chivers
  • The Heart and the Fist: The Education of a Humanitarian, the making of a Navy Seal by Eric Greitens
  • What it is like to go to war by Karl Marlantes
  • In the graveyard of Empires: America's War in Afghanistan by Seth Jones
  • The Savage Sword of Conan by Michael Fleisher (multiple volumes)
  • Reading of Judas: The Gospel of Judas and the Shaping of Christianity by Elaine Pagels
  • Do androids dream of electric sheep? by Philip K. Dick
I want to say that there a few books missing from the list. However, my reading had been sporadic throughout 2011 with brief sojourns into books I read already.

A few of the books on the list started some interesting conversations with the librarians. When I checked out the books by Marlantes and Grietens, the librarian asked if I was interested in joining the military. I actually would give any kid considering military service a copy of Marlantes and Dalton Trumbo's Johnny Got His Gun. Marlantes's book takes one into an exploration of uncomfortable and unsettling truths about war and the people fighting. I believe the book is one that civilians need to read.

When I was searching for some books by George Shannon, the children's librarian started giving me all sorts of recommendations of mind puzzle books for kids. If you haven't heard of George Shannon, then you check his books out. I could never remember the titles of his books (Stories to Solve and More Stories to Solve) or his name. His books are beautifully illustrated and a lot of fun to read.