BillP's Book\Miniature\Wargame Blog

Pacific Crucible: War at Sea in the Pacific, 1941-1942: War at Sea in the Pacific, 1941-1942 and The Conquering Tide: War in the Pacific Islands, 1942-1944: War in the Pacific Islands, 1942-1944 by Ian W. Toll were very good. Toll did a nice job of highlighting individual stories of the participants but still providing the context of the “big picture”. The writing is good, the descriptions are lively and engaging. Toll is particularly strong on developments in Japan before the war, including the “treaty” and “fleet factions of the Imperial Navy and how the Japanese government became dominated by the “hawks” in the 1930s. My only qualm with the books is that they seemed to me to be something less than comprehensive, but that may be an effect of how they were organized. I recommend them, but not as the first thing you read on the War in the Pacific. You should start with something like Morison’s Two Ocean War , Spector’s Eagle Against the Sun , or Costello’s The Pacific War.

Having noticed the lack of comprehensiveness of Toll, I decided to re-read Ronald Spector’s Eagle Against the Sun an excellent one volume treatment of the entire war. It doesn’t have the detail of Toll, but at 624 pages its less than half as long. The book was very accessible, moved right along and I think its one of the better one volume histories out there. I recommend it highly.

Finally there was Parshall & Tully’s Shattered Sword: The Untold Story of the Battle of Midway which was just outstanding. For those of you who don’t know this book is revisionism in the best sense of the word. In it the authors examine all the evidence that is currently available and re-evaluate the last 70 years of English language scholarship on the battle. I was very impressed. Its even more impressive that they writing style is also engaging and enjoyable, not at all dry or boring. If you’re a fan of the Pacific War and you haven’t read this, run, don’t walk, to Amazon and get it.

88 for the year.

The book cracks right along and is very atmospheric of Boston and I quite enjoyed it. I did note one kind of weird thing. All the “good guy” characters seem to speak with the same laconic/sarcastic sort of voice. And all of the dialog from the “bad guys” mainly served to feed straight lines for the good guys.

I was also struck by how much the voice of Spenser seemed to emulate the voice of Parker’s Jesse Stone character as he’s portrayed by Tom Selleck in the CBS/Hallmark TV Movies.

Its my first Parker, and its toward the end of the series, in fact it was the last Spenser book written before Parker died in 2010, and its hard to be consistently good over 39 books, so maybe it’s an aberration. Anyway, I’ve got three more on reserve at the library so stay tuned.

84 for the year.

Since my last post I’ve finished 6 books, mostly on a five day cruise with indifferent weather.

Moscow Rules by Robert Moss is dated little thriller about a Soviet GRU officer with an axe to grind conducting a military coup and overthrowing the rule of the Communist party. The book was written in the 80s and I quit enjoyed it when I read it back then. Although it hasn’t aged very well, it was still a fun read.

Tales of the Jazz Age by F. Scott Fitzgerald I read because I was monumentally unimpressed with Gatsby and thought there had to be more him than I found in Gatsby. There isn’t. This is a collection of short stories and novellas that were just kind of so-so. I can’t for the life of me figure out why people think this guy is a great writer.

Go Set a Watchman by Harper Lee was a major disappointment. The book is a bit of a pastiche starting with Jean Louise Finch (Scout of Mockingbird) all grown up and visiting her childhood home of Maycomb, AL from her current home in NYC. This part, about 40% of the book, is ok even kind of charming. Then it kind of goes off the rails when Jean Louis follows her father Atticus and her boyfriend/fiancé Hank to a meeting of the local “Citizens Council” an organization formed to resist implementation of Brown v Topeka Board and the machinations of the NAACP. She confronts both men about their involvement and the next 40% of the book is a long argument on the need for and efficacy of white supremacy along with discursions on the sacredness of the 10th Amendment etc, etc, etc. At the end of the book there is an emotional epiphany and the characters are more or less reconciled albeit in a more adult way without the “hero-worship” Jean Louis had for her father. Anyway, I’m glad a read it, and if Ms Lee needs the money, I hope she gets it, but I think that publishing this will negatively impact her legacy.

The Ironclads by Frank R. Donovan is an excellent little one volume overview of armored ships during the American Civil War. It is an American Heritage book, geared for older children or young adults and its engaging and well written. This would be an excellent Christmas/Birthday gift for a kid interested in history.

Warspite by Iain Ballantyne is nice little history of the ships bearing this name in the Royal Navy between 1596 and the 1990s, with a heavy emphasis on the WWI/WWII Queen Elizabeth class battleship. It was very well written and accessible with a good blend of everyday life aboard ship and the momentous actions she engaged in. I quite enjoyed it.

Brother Astronomer: Adventures of a Vatican Scientist by Guy Consolmagno is an engaging book by the curator of meteorites at the Vatican Astronomy. In the book Br Guy (a Jesuit) covers a variety of topics including his work with meteorites, a history of the Church and Science, including a nice summation of Galileo’s issues with the Church and finally an interesting take on God and nature. I recommend it highly, and I can already see that’s it’s a book I will come back to in the future.

83 for the year.

The Martian by Andy Weir, well, what can I say about this? I read a year or two ago when it first came out, and was absolutely enthralled by it. I decided to re-read it after seeing the movie and enjoyed it just as much the second time through. If you’re at all a fan of science, science fiction, or NASA, run, don’t walk, and get this book. You’re in for a treat. By the way, even if you saw the movie, I think you’ll still enjoy the book, because it is a much richer and more detailed account of Watney’s trials and tribulations.

77 for the year

I was very impressed with the book’s scope. Starting with Assyrian partnerships in 3000 B.C. and winding up with Sarbanes-Oxley it provides an excellent overview of business organization. The only drawback to the book is that, being written in 2003, it doesn’t cover the global financial crisis of 2007-2008. Still, I can’t recommend it highly enough.

75 for the year.