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Naturalhoosier

Book Thread

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Finished a couple books by an author I recently discovered -- and he's from my commonwealth (or should I say, the commonwealth in which I live now; I'm originally a Hoosier). His name is Charles Tabb.

The first was "Floating Twigs." It's branded as a coming-of-age story about a boy and his dog. Even though it's not so much about the boy and his dog, I thought it was a damn good read. It's about a boy growing up in Florida in the late 60s. He meets a couple of older folks who essentially, become his parents -- his real mother and father are deadbeats. But he crosses the wrong people who put those relationships in jeopardy. Read it in 2-3 days. Already have my eyes on the sequel -- "Finding Twigs." 

The second was "Hell is Empty." It's a thriller and the first of 2 (maybe there will be more?) in the Detective Tony Pantera series. It reminded me a bit of the movie "Kiss The Girls" -- based on a novel by James Patterson (I didn't read the book). It wasn't bad -- a page-turner, and engaged me enough to want to read the second book about Tony Pantera. 

For both books, I'd read for a while, and say "OK. I have stuff to do -- just one more chapter." Then, about 6-7 chapters later, I'd finally have to put them down and get to work. 

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Just finished an outstanding book called "Red Platoon" by Medal of Honor recipient, Clint Romesha. It is his firsthand account of the Battle for COP Keating on October 3, 2009. 300 Taliban fighters attacked Keating which was defended by 53 Soldiers of the 3rd Squadron of the 61st Cavalry Regiment.

SSG Romesha wasn't the only Medal Of Honor Recipient for this battle. Specialist Ty Carter also earned the Medal.

There is a movie called Outpost about this battle and Netflix's Medal of Honor series has an episode about Romesha

 

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15 hours ago, woodenshoemanHoosierfan said:

Finished a really good book last week called Full Dress Gray by Lucian Truscott IV. It is a Thriller set at West Point and was written in the late 90s.

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I really enjoyed his books. Dress Gray was his first one. I spent 2 years at The Citadel from 80-82 before transferring to IU so I could relate a bit to plebe year.

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I really enjoyed his books. Dress Gray was his first one. I spent 2 years at The Citadel from 80-82 before transferring to IU so I could relate a bit to plebe year.
I found this book at a thrift store. I figured for 2 dollars, I'd give it shot. Glad I wasn't wrong

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I read the Children's Blizzard by Melanie Benjamin. It is a Historical Fiction novel set during the Blizzard known as the Children's Blizzard on January 12, 1888 in the Dakotas and Nebraska. The characters are fictional of course, but the Author follows the timeline concisely. It started slow, but it didn't take long to really enjoy it. I highly recommend it if you enjoy Historical Fiction.
There is a nonfiction book by the same name.

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On 8/18/2022 at 3:09 AM, woodenshoemanHoosierfan said:

I read the Children's Blizzard by Melanie Benjamin. It is a Historical Fiction novel set during the Blizzard known as the Children's Blizzard on January 12, 1888 in the Dakotas and Nebraska. The characters are fictional of course, but the Author follows the timeline concisely. It started slow, but it didn't take long to really enjoy it. I highly recommend it if you enjoy Historical Fiction.
There is a nonfiction book by the same name.

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I have that on my list to read!  Thanks for that review.

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Been working my way thru Peter Ziehans books. He writes on Geopolitics.  He’s got a pretty intriguing theory on why the US has been so powerful for so long and while instead of receding as we are being led to believe we will see American power increasing.  He actually predicted a lot of what’s going on in the world the situation with China and Russia for example.  Good reads if you want to understand why the world worked the way it did after wwii. 

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Red Heart by James Alexander Thom is my next book I will starting in the next day or 2. I found it interesting that when this book was published in the mid 90s, he was living in Bloomington, Indiana and was a professor at the journalism school.
His books are historical fiction based in the west or Colonial times. He has been praised for the accuracy of his books. Red Heart is about a quaker girl who was kidnapped by the Miami tribe and lives with them until late in life. I also have Panther in the Sky on my to read list. It is about the life of Tecumseh. I believe the author is still living in the Bloomington area.



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Just finished a book called "The Extraordinary Life of Sam Hell." It came out a few years ago, but I had not heard of it. It's one of the best books I've ever read. 

I suppose it touched a chord with me because I lost my mom a week before Christmas, but man -- the eyes are moist. Never heard of the author until now -- Robert Dugoni. It's safe to say I'll be reading more of him.
 

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2 hours ago, LamarCheeks said:

Just finished a book called "The Extraordinary Life of Sam Hell." It came out a few years ago, but I had not heard of it. It's one of the best books I've ever read. 

I suppose it touched a chord with me because I lost my mom a week before Christmas, but man -- the eyes are moist. Never heard of the author until now -- Robert Dugoni. It's safe to say I'll be reading more of him.
 

Added to my list. Thx for recommendation. 

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On 12/13/2022 at 6:08 PM, woodenshoemanHoosierfan said:

Red Heart by James Alexander Thom is my next book I will starting in the next day or 2. I found it interesting that when this book was published in the mid 90s, he was living in Bloomington, Indiana and was a professor at the journalism school.
His books are historical fiction based in the west or Colonial times. He has been praised for the accuracy of his books. Red Heart is about a quaker girl who was kidnapped by the Miami tribe and lives with them until late in life. I also have Panther in the Sky on my to read list. It is about the life of Tecumseh. I believe the author is still living in the Bloomington area.



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If you're into historical fiction and haven't read it (you probably have based on your reading but in case  you haven't), Killer Angels by Michael Shaara is an excellent read, battle of Gettysburg, won a Pulitzer, it puts you on the ground, follows the actual people involved and what actually happened, really compelling.

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8 minutes ago, HoosierHoopster said:

If you're into historical fiction and haven't read it (you probably have based on your reading but in case  you haven't), Killer Angels by Michael Shaara is an excellent read, battle of Gettysburg, won a Pulitzer, it puts you on the ground, follows the actual people involved and what actually happened, really compelling.

His books are really good. Not my cup of tea but we’ll written for sure. 
 

I reread Red Storm Rising recently all the talk of Russia over the last year made me want to read it. That book is fascinating. A little snapshot of a warfare in age where we didn’t have major conflict   

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As a lawyer I read and write lots of 'heavy' stuff for a living every day often all day long, so when I read for fun and interest, I tend to go for 'lighter' stuff.

Discovered a great series by Martha Wells, the "Murderbot Diaries," it's about a self-hacking kind of sulky construct (kind of like a cyborg but not) -- the humor / dark humor is fantastic, and they're really well written, in a can't put this down kind of way -- basically science fiction (not fantasy) with a mystery side.

The first book, All Systems Red, got the Hugo, Nebula and Locus Awards, and is a NYT best seller -- highly recommend the full series (last book, #7, comes out this spring).

https://www.goodreads.com/series/191900-the-murderbot-diaries

And Wells is here in Texas where I am, out of Fort Worth, so there's that

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For more (often) dark humor, in the mystery - crime drama world, I am big on Martin Cruz Smith's Arkady Renko books  -- The first is Gorky Park (the movie is based on it) written in '81, it's so far a 9-book series with the last written in 2019, but the 10th, set in Ukraine, is due this spring. 

These books are as well written as anything out there, if you guys like crime/mystery drama they can't be beat -- with a Russian-area bent. Renko is a homicide detective in Moscow.

https://www.goodreads.com/series/41080-arkady-renko

 

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Just finished a book called "The Extraordinary Life of Sam Hell." It came out a few years ago, but I had not heard of it. It's one of the best books I've ever read. 

I suppose it touched a chord with me because I lost my mom a week before Christmas, but man -- the eyes are moist. Never heard of the author until now -- Robert Dugoni. It's safe to say I'll be reading more of him.
 

I've read 1 Dugoni book,"Wrongful Death, about 6 years ago. It was very good. I will put this one on my to read list. Thanks

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If you're into historical fiction and haven't read it (you probably have based on your reading but in case  you haven't), Killer Angels by Michael Shaara is an excellent read, battle of Gettysburg, won a Pulitzer, it puts you on the ground, follows the actual people involved and what actually happened, really compelling.
Great read, as is his son, Jeff's books.

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On 12/9/2023 at 7:04 PM, Brass Cannon said:

They indeed turned this into a movie.  Coming out on Christmas 

only took 3 years lol

I had to go back and refresh my memory. That was a lot of sleeps between then and now. :)

 

Boys in the Boat. In case anyone else cares. 

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