Becker Book Club

spikebot587 said:
I started hatchet but never finished it

Some of my favorite book are by Leonard Scott, Charlie Mike, the last run and the hill. They are about soldiers in the 75th serrira rangers in Vietnam

The Star Wars republic commando series by Karen Travis's is also really good
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I recall....in my teens, when I was really into military history, I must have ready every single Vietnam War era book in print....all about these guys; LRRPs and Special Operations, yada yada yada, that did all these super amazing things and barely made it out alive, which......now that I think about it, were probably all fiction. I can say with absolute certainty though that I never read any Vietnam War book written by a Truck driver or a Laundry Specialist, which is probably what most of those writers were. After about 15 or so books, I left the genre.....forever, LOL.

Of course, I also read, "Rotary Winged Flight" and "Common Soldier Tasks" by the US Army in that same time frame. Which would later help me out when I jlined the Army a few years later. LOL

One of the first "serious" books I ever read in my teens was "Gorky Park". I still recall early in the novel how the protagonist described his wife to the reader, as she walked around naked in the house....holy moly, LOL.
 
During my little walk in the woods today I got to thinking about how astonishing it is that the earliest humans managed to survive winter....without Gore-Tex and fleece; that they not only survived but apparently thrived (hey, we the descendants had to invent fabrics made out of recycled soda bottles to survive). I'm going to suggest Shaman: A Novel of the Ice Age by Kim Stanley Robinson. It is a book about a young man coming of age and becoming a shaman. The author did a lot of research (as well as using his imagination) and one of the best things about the book, IMO, is that KSR paints a picture of what life might have been like 10,000 years ago that is quite vivid and believable. The opening of the book is the survival story of the protagonist as he enters the wilderness naked and without tools on his rite of passage to manhood. If you aren't hooked after that......then maybe this book isn't your cup of tea.
 
granitestateofmind said:
During my little walk in the woods today I got to thinking about how astonishing it is that the earliest humans managed to survive winter....without Gore-Tex and fleece; that they not only survived but apparently thrived (hey, we the descendants had to invent fabrics made out of recycled soda bottles to survive). I'm going to suggest Shaman: A Novel of the Ice Age by Kim Stanley Robinson. It is a book about a young man coming of age and becoming a shaman. The author did a lot of research (as well as using his imagination) and one of the best things about the book, IMO, is that KSR paints a picture of what life might have been like 10,000 years ago that is quite vivid and believable. The opening of the book is the survival story of the protagonist as he enters the wilderness naked and without tools on his rite of passage to manhood. If you aren't hooked after that......then maybe this book isn't your cup of tea.
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Otherwise know as, "Neanderthal, Naked and Afraid"

j/k sounds like a good read.
 
Tdhurl1103 said:
oh, i see...you're one of those people.:D
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Yes. One of those people that doesn't like everyone pushing something on them they have no interest in. It's just not my thing but that's not good enough for most folks(not anyone in this thread, just in general). You tell them you're not interested and they say "Oh but you have to see it! Just give it a shot. You have to watch this movie/read this book/experience this thing!" Nobody likes it when other people do that and I push back rather than give in. So now rather than being simply uninterested in LOTR and some other stuff, I'm practically opposed to it.


And I forgot to mention it before but I also recommend Dave Ramesy's series of books, specifically Financial Peace and Total Money Makeover. If you're interested in getting out of debt so you can actually have money you might want to give them a look.
 
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bigghoss said:
Yes. One of those people that doesn't like everyone pushing something on them they have no interest in. It's just not my thing but that's not good enough for most folks(not anyone in this thread, just in general). You tell them you're not interested and they say "Oh but you have to see it! Just give it a shot. You have to watch this movie/read this book/experience this thing!" Nobody likes it when other people do that and I push back rather than give in. So now rather than being simply uninterested in LOTR and some other stuff, I'm practically opposed to it.


And I forgot to mention it before but I also recommend Dave Ramesy's series of books, specifically Financial Peace and Total Money Makeover. If you're interested in getting out of debt so you can actually have money you might want to give them a look.
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Na, I totally get it. Case in point: I have a friend and coworker I respect greatly who has never seen any of the Star Wars or Indiana Jones movies, and refuses to see them, just on principal. I grew up seeing them all in the theater, he's younger than me by about 10 years and did not "grow up" in that time. He really digs the B movie horror genre though which I can't stand. We totally scoff and eye-roll each others taste's in movies, books, sports, music and pop culture. I called him padawan learner one time, and he didn't get the joke. I just called him "rook" after that. LOL. Given our difference in taste's and likes though, we work well together, and there is no one I'd rather have backing me up.
 
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Tdhurl1103 said:
Na, I totally get it. Case in point: I have a friend and coworker I respect greatly who has never seen any of the Star Wars or Indiana Jones movies, and refuses to see them, just on principal. I grew up seeing them all in the theater, he's younger than me by about 10 years and did not "grow up" in that time. He really digs the B movie horror genre though which I
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yes, I have this situation with someone I work very closely with (and well) at work. It's funny though, because my other close co-worker of the same age totally gets it. I think a movie exchange weekend will be necessary. I might finally have to watch Titanic, for instance. :foot:

Nevermind all everything else I've read over the years.
Recently I've been reading the Phryne Fisher Mysteries on my Kindle while at sea. They are good escapist stories with a thoroughly modern protagonist in a 1920's setting. Much fun, but I'm pretty much a sucker for strong female characters regardless. Dog save me from real life Bond Girls. Much hurt. *sigh*
 
Picked this up in a thrift shop the other day. Published in 1961 and the author is Leonard Miracle. Is that a great name or what?

Oh...and it's the handy "pocket size". They had bigger pockets then.


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It's actually a great book and I've really enjoyed it. Especially the car camping chapter.

Looks like Gus's car top rig has been around a while and was a good idea 50 years ago. :thumbup:


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I know this is an older thread but I just thought I'd make a statement about a series by an author that had made an honorable mention a few times already. Bernard Cornwell.

I have read the Starbuck Chronicles numerous times and intend on doing so whilst I still have eyesight. This is a series set during the American Civil War about a young Northerner from Boston called Nathaniel Starbuck who fights for the confederates in the Faulconer Brigade.

It follows Starbuck as he rises through the ranks from a despised and jittery Yale theology undergraduate who gets given the rank of second lieutenant to the fierce unforgiving major who ends up commanding the Brigade and procedes to go through not only the build up to the war but the very graphic details and descriptions (and quite historically true) events of a lot of the major battles throughout the war.

The sheer visceral depictions of the cacophany of the battle scenes is unrelenting and I often found myself closing my eyes and picturing the horror of such brutal clandestine conflict which not only heightened the reality of the barbarity but deeply saddened me to think of what the men of both sides went through.

Not only did these magnificent books give me a very deep respect for the savagery and ferocity of which those men fought with but it stirred within me an intrinsic need to research further the facts behind the battles, the war in whole and the politics behind it all. I am by no means going to offer any opinions on this controversial part of American history as it is not my history to offer this upon, all I am saying is that it is a very stirring read that brought about me a profound respect for your countries beginnings.

I urge my American brethren that have not read these books to read them. I found them truly fascinating. I honestly can't recommend them enough.

The books in order are:
Rebel
Copperhead
Battleflag
The Bloody Ground

That is all. Proceed..
 
Also of mention, as it was Patriot's Day in neighboring MA: Look to the Mountain, by Legrand Cannon. Published in 1942, it's a story about colonial New England (more specifically, the province of New Hampshire) and follows a young couple making a go of pioneering around 1760 and on. Just an amazing amount of everyday detail about what life was like during that time period. I resisted reading it for years, but am glad I finally did.
 
Some all time favorites....
The Walking Drum - Louis L'Amour
Sackett Series - L'Amour
Bourne Series - Ludlum
Without Remorse - Clancy
Extreme Denial - David Morrell

A good summer read....
Pirate Latitudes - Michael Crichton

New to the scene, this guy. i will be looking for his next book. great character development....
The Marauders - Tom Cooper
 
zuluninja said:
+1 on Mr. Cornwell. Finished the archer series and lost track for a while only to find out I haven't read the last 2 on the Saxon series. If you like historical fiction, Conn Iggulden's books on Julius Caesar and Genghis Khan are top notch stuff too. I also enjoy Wilbur Smith and for fun fantasy Piers Anthony.
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I enjoyed Cornwell's Archer series and think IIggulden's has to be one of the best tellings of Julius Caesar's story I've ever read.

I would highly recommend Jack Whyte's Camulod Chronicles Series, a very interesting version of the King Arthur story (minus all the magic angles), as well as Steven Pressfield's Gates of Fire, about the events at Thermopylae.
 
Surprised Cornwell's Sharpe series hasn't gotten that much mention. I could provide a few recommendations, but I'd prefer to custom tailor.

I have a few books; here's half the library:

11134006_10153317862588854_4894488396570134519_o.jpg
 
crimsonfalcon07 said:
Surprised Cornwell's Sharpe series hasn't gotten that much mention. I could provide a few recommendations, but I'd prefer to custom tailor.

I have a few books; here's half the library:

11134006_10153317862588854_4894488396570134519_o.jpg
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Half? Seriously? You may have more books than me. And I've thought for years I had a problem. Dang, I'm kinda jealous.
 
Yup, that's just the sci-fi/fantasy section. You can see some of the military/historical stuff on the floor. I'm looking at about 17 bookshelves all told to shelve em all.
 
crimsonfalcon07 said:
Yup, that's just the sci-fi/fantasy section. You can see some of the military/historical stuff on the floor. I'm looking at about 17 bookshelves all told to shelve em all.
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AND you're having to drag them all down from Colorado to Texas, too. :D

Just finished a compilation of short stories and urban legends called

"Homicidal Humor" by Brian Foster.

Brian is a 34 year lawman (retired), 24 years spent on the Houston PD, most of it on the Homicide Squad. I met Brian at the Saxet Gun Show in Dripping Springs this past weekend. Spend a couple of hours jawing with him about a variety of topics.

The book is a collection of reminiscences/legends/real tales (with names and info changed to protect the innocent, the guilty and everyone in between) about stuff that he witnessed, was made privy to, heard about during his LE career. Most of the tales are about Houston, but stuff from south Texas and LEOs from other states is included.

When he wrote book 1, he was still working, so his nom de plume was Vonn Auld Kopp, aka One Old Cop. :D The latest printing of book 1 has his real name on it.

Book 2 is "More Homicidal Humor".
Book 3 is "The Clot Thickens".
Book 4 is in the publisher's hands and the final title hasn't been picked yet.

He was selling his books, an N-frame S&W and several old swords and bayonets that he had picked up in the Loire Valley while he was in the army in the early 70s. I picked up a sweet WW1 C&F Horster "butcher" bayonet (no sheath) and what he said he was "told" by the guy he bought it from is a late 1700s or early 1800s French Boarding Cutlass with scabbard. Need to get pictures posted in the sword forum to get a better idea about it.
 
zzyzzogeton said:
AND you're having to drag them all down from Colorado to Texas, too. :D

Just finished a compilation of short stories and urban legends called

"Homicidal Humor" by Brian Foster.

Brian is a 34 year lawman (retired), 24 years spent on the Houston PD, most of it on the Homicide Squad. I met Brian at the Saxet Gun Show in Dripping Springs this past weekend. Spend a couple of hours jawing with him about a variety of topics.

The book is a collection of reminiscences/legends/real tales (with names and info changed to protect the innocent, the guilty and everyone in between) about stuff that he witnessed, was made privy to, heard about during his LE career. Most of the tales are about Houston, but stuff from south Texas and LEOs from other states is included.

When he wrote book 1, he was still working, so his nom de plume was Vonn Auld Kopp, aka One Old Cop. :D The latest printing of book 1 has his real name on it.

Book 2 is "More Homicidal Humor".
Book 3 is "The Clot Thickens".
Book 4 is in the publisher's hands and the final title hasn't been picked yet.

He was selling his books, an N-frame S&W and several old swords and bayonets that he had picked up in the Loire Valley while he was in the army in the early 70s. I picked up a sweet WW1 C&F Horster "butcher" bayonet (no sheath) and what he said he was "told" by the guy he bought it from is a late 1700s or early 1800s French Boarding Cutlass with scabbard. Need to get pictures posted in the sword forum to get a better idea about it.
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Hey Zzyzz any idea where you can buy these books? They sound like a fantastic read. I'd only be able to get them online cos I live in Aus but I'd love to get them.
 
If you google

brian foster homicidal humor ebook

the first 2 results are for Barnes & Noble and Amazon - $2.99
 
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