Model Train Journal

All:

Since we have a Favorite Movies thread, I thought it might be fun to talk about some of our favorite books.

In the non-fiction (History) category, I would nominate this one. AMC has been running war movies for Veterans Day. I think I've seen the historically inaccurate Midway about 3 times. I lent this book, Shattered Sword, to a friend a few years ago, forgot about it, and just recently got it back. I am re-reading it and once again discovering what a nuanced, well-researched gem it truly is.

https://www.amazon.com/Shattered-Sword- ... 1574889249

George

"Shattered Sword" is an absolute must-read for anyone interested in the Battle of Midway and the larger Pacific War.

rex desilets wrote:"Shattered Sword" is an absolute must-read for anyone interested in the Battle of Midway and the larger Pacific War.

Agreed. You could cut yourself on the razor-sharp logic and insight contained in that book.

George

I'll suggest another book in the same genre. It's been a long time since I read it, but I also recommend Six Frigates.

https://www.amazon.com/Six-Frigates-Epi ... 039333032X

George

George-
re "Shattered Sword " and insights: Yes. The book illuminates how doomed the entire Japanese military enterprise was.
re "Six Frigates:" Shoot. Now I have to go buy that one and add it to my ever-expanding list.

Outside of technical reading and modeling stuff, I read very little non-fiction, but 2 that I enjoyed were:

The Last Shot: The Incredible Story of the C.S.S. Shenandoah and the True Conclusion of the American Civil War

and

Tall Ships Down : The Last Voyages of the Pamir, Albatross, Marques, Pride of Baltimore, and Maria Asumpta

OK. For real. This may surprise some of you.

First, there are so many I will be selective and pick several that I was absorbed enough by when they first made their way into my hands . Some, I read two-at-a-time over a week's time due to course requirements.

"Catcher in the Rye" (I'm not kidding. When my mother gifted it to me when I was an adolescent, I couldn't put it down and finished it by the next day.)
"Look Homeward, Angel", by Thomas Wolf
"The Great Gatsby", Sinclair Lewis.
"For Whom the Bell Tolls" by Ernest Hemingway
"To Kill a Mockingbird" by Harper Lee
Carl Sandburg's entire body of poetry.
Robert Frost (")
Paul Tillich's "Dynamics of Faith"
Joseph Campbell's "The Power of Myth," including the interviews w/ Bill Moyers.
"Journal of a Soul," by Johnxxiii.
Shakespeare's (did I really need to mention the author?!) : "Macbeth"; "Romeo and Juliet"; "Othello"; "Hamlet".

The Outermost House by Henry Beston...a year spent on the beach on Cape Cod, 1926 or so...

healey36 wrote:The Outermost House by Henry Beston...a year spent on the beach on Cape Cod, 1926 or so...

I'm intrigued. Can you tell us about it, if you please? Murph

Ok, fiction..............

Way too long a list to even do more than scratch the surface.....but here's a starting point:

Steven Erikson

Gardens of the Moon
Deadhouse Gates
Memories of Ice
House of Chains
Midnight Tides
The Bonehunters
Reaper's Gale
Toll the Hounds
Dust of Dreams
The Crippled God

Forge of Darkness
Fall of Light
tbd

A Tale of Bauchelain & Korbal Broach: Blood Follows
A Tale of Bauchelain & Korbal Broach: The Healthy Dead
A Tale of Bauchelain & Korbal Broach: The Lees of Laughter's End
A Tale of Bauchelain & Korbal Broach: Crack’d Pot Trail
A Tale of Bauchelain & Korbal Broach: Wurms of Blearmouth

Ian Cameron Esslemont

Night of Knives
Return of the Crimson Guard
Stonewielder
Orb, Scepter, Throne
Blood and Bone: A Novel of the Malazan Empire
Assail

Dancer’s Lament
tbd

Oh, and all of Shakespeare and Spencer's Fairie Queen and all of Poe, Dickens, Verne, Hugo, Dumas, and then just for dessert....Les Fleurs du mal by Charles Baudelaire

I musta missed class those days, Rufus.

MurphOnMillerAve wrote:I musta missed class those days, Rufus.

Really?????

There are more things in heaven and Earth, Murph, than are dreamt of in your philosophy. Quoth the Raven, Nevermore.

I also enjoy H P Lovecraft and August Derleth's works, too...

All of Brett Hart and Twain, too!

Rufus T. Firefly wrote:

MurphOnMillerAve wrote:I musta missed class those days, Rufus.

Really?????

There are more things in heaven and Earth, Murph, than are dreamt of in your philosophy. Quoth the Raven, Nevermore.

I also enjoy H P Lovecraft and August Derleth's works, too...

All of Brett Hart and Twain, too!

Apparently so. That explains sooooooooooooooooooooooo much. Yup.

The Pacific War by Saburo Ianaga (I may have missed the spelling on the name, he is/was Professor Emitus of History at the University of Tokyo. I read it years ago and it has stayed with me since.

MurphOnMillerAve wrote:

healey36 wrote:The Outermost House by Henry Beston...a year spent on the beach on Cape Cod, 1926 or so...

I'm intrigued. Can you tell us about it, if you please? Murph

I'll second that request. Rich