I never new the CA got his job back at NWA. I had heard the FE on that trip was subsequently hired by American after going through the ringer. I only heard the story from the perspective of the FE but the captain was not painted in a positive light

Fear by Bob Woodward

took your suggestion and listened to it on audio book driving around. Just finished it.

at first I thought this is going to be very monotonous.... then it got going. What a ride.

and when you realize all they did and to have it undercut by John Walker.

great book... or listen. Very intense.

Not sure if this has been mentioned yet:

Who’s Boat Is This Boat?

Donald J. Trump

Quick and really simple read but sophisticated at the same time. A very detailed look into the presidency. I think it’s out as an audiobook, in case you don’t have time to read it.

Bit of a thread bump (because the rest of it is too damn depressing)

Any recs on something that is just damned funny? Need a pick me up. (see above.)

Used to read PJ O'rourke before he became married, sober, and dull. Hunter Thompson before the same (and a suicide, erk..NOT FUNNY :<( ). Is Dave Barry still alive?

All the non-stop screaming about how this time, THIS TIME, we're going to change the world is tiresome. Hit me with some damned funny literature. Could care less if it's PC. Excuse me, "woke"...wait ..."Woke (!!!)" for the pre-40 crowd. WOKE, DAMN IT!!!! for the under 30 crowd.

I'd personally recommend anything from the "Flashman"* series by George MacDonald Fraiser, but it's REALLY not woke. Best in audiobook because of the British/Welsh/Cockney/Scottish/Irish/Hindu/Pashtun/Chinese accents.

OMG. Did I say "recommend"? I meant start a woke campaign and end this stuff that is so non-woke I can't believe it's still available. Funny, and when you get into it, probably the most ironically anti-Imperialism series of books ever written.


(you won't see the Flashman books in print for cheap anymore, although the kindle versions are available. For now. Better if you have a basic grasp of the past 200 years of Western Civ history..the official version and the less kind "woke" version. The audio books...my god. :) )


*In the mold of P.G. Wodehouse, only from a fictitious British officer point of view.

Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams

John Dies at the End - David Wong

Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal - Christopher Moore

The Nix - Nathan Hill

The Corrections - Jonathan Franzen

Bonk - Mary Roach

“Not Taco Bell Material”. Adam Carolla

“We Few, US Special Forces in Vietnam”. Nick Brokhausen. Seriously, this book had some hilarious writing. Written by a SOG Green Beret.

Edit: I see you wanted actual literature.

Fantastic! And thanks. I've read about 2/3 rds of these already; unread ones are now on the list, and the audio book for Nick Brokhausen looks especially promising.

I'd forgotten about Christopher Moore. Out there stuff, but funny as hell.

"There I Was" by Bob Stevens. Stevens was a combat pilot in WW2, ending up as a SAC bird colonel in the 60s. He was also an amazing cartoonist who captured military aviation perfectly and hilariously. One of my favorite reads of all time.

Or, for a non-aviation belly laugh, "Hardship Posting: Expats in Asia". There are three volumes, all of them genius. Basically a collection of true and maybe-true tall tales of Western expat life in Asia during the 80s, 90s, and 00s. If you've ever woken up in a Wan Chai flophouse with no wallet, cellphone, or clue who you are, then this book is for you. Or if you've ever stumbled down Soi Nana at 0530, bleary-eyed,with the dawning realization that your show time at Suvarnabhumi is 0600 and you haven't a clue in which direction your hotel might be, then this book is for you. :)

Catch-22

filler

I always enjoyed Christopher Moore (A Dirty Job is great too) as well as his like-minded compatriot, Carl Hiaasen (Skinny Dip).

I'll second the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy trilogy...all 5 books. (that should give you an idea of the humor. Easy reads, too)

Not light reading but I highly reco the series starting with The Last Jihad by Joel Rosenberg. Similar to the Mitch Rapp series (also highly recommended). The first book came out just before 9/11 and it covers a Jihad war against western targets with recurring characters over 4 books. The plot sorta follows biblical writing and end of the world Revelations stuff. Fascinating. Hannity has had the author in many times. I may have to reread the series.

A Walk in the Woods, Bill Bryson.

$2.99 kindle Special through August 4 for the first two of a series. Third book comes out on the 4th.

Rumor is the author is an quasi-decent Pilot.

fast boats, women, and rum.

https://www.amazon.com/-/es/Brian-Bo.../dp/B07FLNLJVF

I just went on amazon to order a couple of books, these two and the recommendations from CogF16. I discovered that one of my kids must have been on the site under my sign in and changed the language preference to Spanish. I was able to order the books because of your link, but now I have to figure out how to change it back to English. I thought I knew a little Spanish until right now.

Disregard, I figured it out. I spent 10 minutes searching language settings but there is a little flag to the right of the search bar that has English or Spanish selections.

dude, it may be my fault. I’m in Central America right now, so I may have inadvertently linked the page in Spanish.... muchas gracias for grabbing the books. I hope you enjoy both, I had a blast writing them. The names are changed to protect the guilty....

Not a book recommendation, per se, but a link to a very slick presentation about the Battle for Warsaw in 1920 and what it meant for fighting Bolshevism. Interesting bit of European history.

https://bitwa1920.gov.pl/en/the-grea...ges-the-world/

I just finished the first book and am a few chapters into the second book. I feel guilty for paying so little. Absolutely fantastic writing. Was this your first book? It was like reading Nelson Demille. I couldn’t put it down.

Great job, and I highly recommend to anyone else looking to get consumed by a great read!

Herkguy, you’re my new favorite author!

dude! Thanks so much. Caribbean’s Keeper is my first book, Graves in the Sand is #2. Signal on the Hill just came out in August. Characters and places are real, I just twisted the plot to spice up the narrative. Thanks for reading them!

I’ve read Signal on the Hill now, too. That was also a great book! I hope you continue writing about Cole’s adventures. I couldn’t put the books down. So there is some actual experiences underlying the story? Man I’d love to hear more.

I knew Caribbean’s Keeper was the first book in the series but I can’t believe that’s the first book you ever wrote. Well done, sir! And Thank you for your service.

king’s best work= the dark tower series. A must read.

Richard sharpe series, from private to to officer in the British infantry. Amazing series. I’d probably pay about 10k to wipe my brain and start fresh

Don’t know if it’s been mentioned, but Indestructible by John Bruning. About Pappy Gunn in WW2.

https://www.historynet.com/book-revi...-r-bruning.htm

I just bought the first two in the series. Thanks for the recommendation.

PBS (yuck) is currently running a 3 episode series about Ernest Hemingway produced by Ken Burns.

Good stuff. Lots of politics that haven't aged well with this guy, but he sure lived an interesting life, and knew how to write about it.

Good primer for those of us who always meant to get around to reading E.H. but needed the extra push.

Ask not for whom your DVR records this, it records for thee.

I just finished book 16. Man, they get better and better! I can’t thank you enough for recommending this series. My wife on the other hand, wants to kick you in the face, because she’s had to pay the bills, cut the grass, and take out the garbage for the last few months....oh and cook dinner too. You’re dead to her. 😅

Two books that will change the way you eat and shop for food for the better:

Big Fat Surprise - A great book very well written and easy to read. Tells the story of how the U.S. got it so wrong regarding food and nutrition.

Deep Nutrition- Very educational and a bit more technical but lots of important information.

I enjoyed both and wish I would have known this information 30 years ago.

Scoop

I'm intrigued about this series. However I noticed the publication dates don't necessarily follow the timeline of the stories. Would you suggest reading the series in order of the storyline or date of publication?

You'll love it either way. Read it one way and watch his career and the war progress in a linear fashion. Read it the other and you'll see how Cornwell's writing evolved.

Or just in order of what's at the library.

They can all be enjoyed as standalone books.

Black Earth, The Holocaust as History and Warning, by Timothy D. Snyder. Very depressing but excellent.

or,


American Nations: A History of the Eleven Rival Regional Cultures of North America by Colin Woodard. Great synopsis of American immigration since the 1600s, American regional subcultures, and some of the reasons why we fight.

I'll second the American Nations book. Even pre-1965 Immigration reform, the amount of extremely diverse cultures that were/still are in the US are distinct and interesting. Definitely "why we fight", indeed.

(It's like Albion's Seed, only you don't have to take a year off to read it. )

For the depressing: "The Uninhabitable Earth: Life After Warming" David Wallace-Wells. Want to know why a whole generation of kids feels like all hope is lost, read this book.

May have already been said...

Make Your Bed by ADM William McRaven...quick read and extremely motivational. It changed some habits and got rid of some bad ones for me...

War by Sebastian Junger was good too

a big fan of all the Bill O’Reilly books too, just finished Killing the SS

About halfway through Deep Nutrition, fascinating and scary! That chick sure hates the vegetable oil!

"Empire of Pain: The Secret History of the Sackler Dynasty" - Patrick Radden Keefe.

Watch in horror as a very philanthropic family (the Sacklers...aka "Purdue Pharmaceuticals") donate untold millions to medical facilities (Sackler Faculty of Medicine Tel Aviv, + many others), art museums (Sackler wing at MOMA Temple of Darfur, NYC; the Louve, etc.), and 1st tier universities (Harvard, and many more) all over the world from profits garnered selling:

Valium
Morphine-in-a-pill (MS Contin)
Synthetic Heroin (!) as "OxyContin"

Killing/addicting hundreds of thousands, if not millions, while pocketing BILLIONS on the profits. And successfully bamboozling the FDA and manipulating family doctors for well over 5 decades and over multiple generations of the Sackler family. "Luminaries" such as Comey, Eric Holder, Rudy Guillani all in it up to their necks. (Probably 100% "ethically", however)

Fascinating book, meticulously researched from a well respected author. Highly recommended and a great read. Get it from the local library or wait until the price comes down a bit.


Pablo Escobar looks like a piker compared to this dynasty.

https://www.bookdepository.com/Empir...0826769&sr=1-2

"Quartered Safe Out Here: A Harrowing Tale of World War II" - George MacDonald Fraser. (*)

Get the Audiobook, because, my god, the British wit shines through with the narrator's correct pronunciation/dialect of all the accents (British, Welsh, Scottish, Nepalese, Indian, many more) and sayings.

This is one of the best war novels I've ever listened to; a personal memoir of a British soldier in the Pacific theatre of WWII (Burma). Funny as heck; will appeal to any man born in the US under 40, doubly so to the military guys.

https://www.amazon.com/Quartered-Saf...=UTF8&qid=&sr=

I quote: [British accent] "Tsk, tsk. Clummmmsy clummmsy" - from a British captain who pulled out a mortar round of a tube that was inserted improperly and would've killed the fire team if he hadn't jumped on it immediately...then immediately continued the sneak attack on river boats with a weapon designed to take out tanks, not patrol boats.

Made me want to enlist. For WWII. With the Brits. Limey Bastards. :)

(*) - G. MacDonald Fraser is famous/infamous for his "Flashman" pulp fiction novels. Those are darkly humorous, describing a very fictional character of a ner-do-well British officer when the sun never set on the British Empire. Very, very problematic to the woke, and satire, for those who can't grasp a pointed critique. Start with the biography.

For good reason - that stuff is nasty and marketed as Heart Healty which is totally bogus. The drug makers ( see post 195 above) got nothing on the food industry when it comes to putting profits over health.

Just released a couple of months ago is: Metabolical by Robert Lustig. If you want to become knowledgeable about nutrition related health issues check it out:


Scoop



Metabolical

Why We Sleep by Matthew Walker

I myself am not a huge book reader but found this book quite informative and made me think differently about how sleep is important to our health and wellbeing. After reading this it makes me feel great about not picking an airline where I would always be on the back of the clock. I can't recommend it enough!

Another good informative book

The Obesity Code by Jason Fung

Great book and one I read right as rona started while I was still on a WB. It's part of the reason I passed up reinstatement. I'm not saying I won't go back, but I'm in no hurry until I can have some good seniority to pick and choose my trips.




A Woman of No Importance by Sonia Purnell

Amazing story of a ridiculously brave American woman who spied for the SOE and later OSS in France during WW2. Amazing story made even more amazing by the fact she did all this with a prosthetic leg. Great piece of history.

My wife got me A Woman of No Importance for my birthday last month. I’m only about 50 pages in but it’s good so far. Looking forward to finishing it!