What are you reading currently?

I just finished a book called Angels in the Sky by Robert Gandt. It's about the volunteers who went to fly for the new Israeli air force in 1948 when the various arab countries invaded the newly created Israel. It's a rather interesting story though the author was a bit too detail oriented. Still, this was a group of mostly WW2 vets who came to Israel to help them survive. Some were Jews who believed in the cause, some were just chasing adventure, some were soldiers of fortune -- but they became the start of the Israeli air force. Ironically, their first set of fighters were Messerschmidts they bought from Czechoslovakia. So you have Jews from what would become one of America's main allies flying German airplanes bought from a communist country.

Just finished Lewis’s Space Trilogy. Superior to Narnia in every way…and I like Narnia.

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Originally Posted by johnnylightnin

Just finished Lewis’s Space Trilogy. Superior to Narnia in every way…and I like Narnia.

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I wish That Hideous Strength weren't non-fiction :laugh:

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Originally Posted by johnnylightnin

Just finished Lewis’s Space Trilogy. Superior to Narnia in every way…and I like Narnia.

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I like the Space Trilogy, but it's no Narnia.

You might enjoy this.

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Originally Posted by johnnylightnin

Just finished Lewis’s Space Trilogy. Superior to Narnia in every way…and I like Narnia.

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I wouldn't go that far, but I think Perelandra's understanding of temptation may actually be greater than Screwtape's.

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Originally Posted by TechDawgMc

I wouldn't go that far, but I think Perelandra's understanding of temptation may actually be greater than Screwtape's.

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Whoa -- that's a high bar.

I may have to check this out now.

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Originally Posted by Champ967

Whoa -- that's a high bar.

I may have to check this out now.

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They start a little slow, but there's a big payoff.

Thrawn Ascendancy- Lesser Evil. Its the final book in the latest trilogy by Timothy Zahn

i had a long solo road trip last weekend and decided to listen to stephen king's the stand. well, i started it anyway. i'm about halfway through it now. it's my first stephen king book and i have a few observations:
1) apparently this is the extended edition and it's 47 hours long. my road trip wasn't quite that long. i could have done with the original shorter version.
2) i was going to complain about all of the out-of-date talking styles for 1990 until i realized it was written in 1978. if you're going to give cool people dialogue 12 years in the future, make up some new phrases -- don't use whatever the hip cats are saying today.
3) king is a really good storyteller.
4) it's a little annoying when he puts maine colloquialisms in the mouths of people from arkansas and nebraska, like "towny" and "dooryard".
5) a lot of authors write their own personalities in to certain characters. in this case, i'm pretty sure harrold is the author.
6) it's interesting how he nailed the government's tendency to aggressively control the information available to the public in a pandemic and cover any signs of their own potential culpability. also the tendency to just try anything to show that you're doing something, and then stick with that plan even after it's proven not to work.

Just listened to Nathaniel Philbrick's In the Hurricane's Eye: The Genius of George Washington and the Victory at Yorktown. Philbrick is a really good story-teller. I knew most of the story here, but still found the book hard to stop. He did a nice job of addressing the last year or two of the war, how the southern campaign flowed, Washington's frustrations, and the relationship of the French and Americans and how all that interplayed to set the stage for Yorktown. He clearly respects Washington, but despite the title, it's not hero worship. He gives a picture of Washington's errors in thinking and planning along with the "genius".

I think the best book I've read this year (that wasn't a re-read), that I have been recommending left and right is Everything Sad is Untrue by Daniel Nayeri. Picked it up for the tween (who also ended up liking it a lot) but I thought it was fantastic.

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A sprawling, evocative, and groundbreaking autobiographical novel told in the unforgettable and hilarious voice of a young Iranian refugee. It is a powerfully layered novel that poses the questions: Who owns the truth? Who speaks it? Who believes it?

“A patchwork story is the shame of the refugee,” Nayeri writes early in the novel. In an Oklahoman middle school, Khosrou (whom everyone calls Daniel) stands in front of a skeptical audience of classmates, telling the tales of his family’s history, stretching back years, decades, and centuries. At the core is Daniel’s story of how they became refugees—starting with his mother’s vocal embrace of Christianity in a country that made such a thing a capital offense, and continuing through their midnight flight from the secret police, bribing their way onto a plane-to-anywhere. Anywhere becomes the sad, cement refugee camps of Italy, and then finally asylum in the U.S.

Implementing a distinct literary style and challenging western narrative structures, Nayeri deftly weaves through stories of the long and beautiful history of his family in Iran, adding a richness of ancient tales and Persian folklore. Like Scheherazade of One Thousand and One Nights, Daniel spins a tale to save his own life: to stake his claim to the truth.

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I've also recently knocked out a few Discworlds, re-read Slaughterhouse Five, started Midnight's Children (checked it out just days before the recent attack), and I'm working on All That's Good (which I've had for a while).

After a summer "bedtimes are too late/unpredictable" hiatus, we also resumed reading Wingfeather book 2, the awesomely named North! or be Eaten. TV series is scheduled to come out soon, so we want to get through the books.

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Originally Posted by inudesu

I think the best book I've read this year (that wasn't a re-read), that I have been recommending left and right is Everything Sad is Untrue by Daniel Nayeri. Picked it up for the tween (who also ended up liking it a lot) but I thought it was fantastic.

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You three in particular (and maybe your kids, if old enough) need to look for this and see what you think.

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Originally Posted by Champ967

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Originally Posted by johnnylightnin

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Originally Posted by arkansasbob

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Took a break from The Godfather because some guys wanted to start reading the Bible cover to cover. Almost thru the Bible and I did finish The Godfather.

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Originally Posted by inudesu

I think the best book I've read this year (that wasn't a re-read), that I have been recommending left and right is Everything Sad is Untrue by Daniel Nayeri. Picked it up for the tween (who also ended up liking it a lot) but I thought it was fantastic.

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we'll give it a look