What are you reading out there?

Here is a list of some of the books I have read.

Following the Bibliographic entry I will consider inserting your comments and/or book report and give you credit for the entry.

—–

Beck, Glenn. The Overton Window. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2010.

A conspiratorial group of power brokers takes advantage of some right wing extremists to create a crisis suitable for establishing a take over of the United States. A So-So book. Useful and interesting background material in the “Afterword” – Lloyd

—–

Berent, Mark. Rolling Thunder, Steel Tiger, Phantom Leader, Eagle Station, Storm Flight, et. al.

Mark Berent was a fighter pilot in Vietnam. His historical novels shed realistic light on the war, the military, the politicians, and the politics. Mark’s books are a MUST READ for those who lived through the Vietnam years and for those who wish to understand the Vietnam war. – Lloyd

—–

Bew, Edward Bruce.. Hanging by a Thread: A month-by-month account of U.S. Naval action in the 1941-45 war in the Pacific Bew Publications, Port St. Lucie, FL

The subtitle tells it all. The book shows a month-by-month comparison of U.S. and Japanese aircraft carrier strengths during the war years. Interesting to me since my father served on several of those aircraft carriers during the war, and my Uncles served on various ships associated with these aircraft carriers during the war.

—–

Cammalleri, John & Cammalleri Salvatore. The Ibex Trophy iUniverse Books, 1663, Liberty Drive, Bloomington, IN 47403, 2011

Derived from John Cammalleri’s father’s manuscript of the Italian Army’s occupation of Corsica during WWII, John creates an historical novel containing impressions from the standpoint of an invading army under Mussolini and Hitler. Things really get interesting when Mussolini is deposed, the Corsicans and Italians join the Allied forces, and together they drive the Germans out of Corsica. Throw in a forbidden love story to add effect. Great! That said, the Ibex trophy, especially as it appears toward the end of the book is unbelievable and destroys the credibility of the novel. References to the Ibex trophy should have been left out of the novel and the novel given a different name. – Lloyd

—–

Clancy, Tom. The Hunt for Red October, et. al.

I can neither confirm nor deny the military equipment or political situations presented in his novels. I have read all of the genuine Clancy novels – They are Great!. – Lloyd
P.S. Stay away from the ghost writers, especially those who write about computer games. They are not worth the paper they are written on. – Lloyd

Clancy, Tom. Submarine: A Guided Tour Inside a Nuclear Warship, Berkley Books, New york.

Good technical stuff for us Submarine fans. But Clancy was wrong about the Emergency Blow system of Thresher. Find out what REALLY happened in my upcoming book. I’ll also tell you about a very near miss reactor accident that Clancy never mentioned. It is surprising that is was never mentioned because it would have made excellent reading and because it occurred during a Reactor Safeguards Exam with Naval Reactors aboard USS Flasher SSN-613, Roger F. Bacon commanding, when it happened. Admiral Bacon supplied data to Clancy and Gresham for this book – Lloyd

—–

Clark, Ronald W. Einstein – The Life and Times. New York: Avon Books, 1971, 1984.

A non-technical history of the Life and Times of Einstein. – Lloyd

—–

Drury, Bob and Clavin, Tom. Halsey’s Typhoon: The True Story of a Fighting Admiral, an Epic Storm, and an Untold Rescue. New York: Atlantic Monthly Press, 2007.

This book gives the account of the first of a series of “Divine Winds” that dogged the Allied fleet near the end of World War II. God used the United States to kick the butts of Hitler, Mussolini, and Emperor Tojo. Then God sent these typhoons to kick our butts. With very little loss of life, the United States lost more ships and military equipment from this series of Typhoons that from the entire war. I hope the authors pick up where they left off and tell the story of Halsey’s TYPHOONS and bring on the climax with the account of Buckner Bay and the account of Typhoon Louise.- Lloyd

—–

Dunham, Roger C. Spy Sub: A Top Secret Mission to the Bottom of the Pacific

Things I can neither confirm nor deny. Those who sail the ocean depths, and those who follow the capture of Spies and the damage that they can do to our security should read this. Read also Blind Man’s Bluff: The Untold Story of American Submarine Espionage P.S. Viperfish = Haddock – Lloyd

—–

Genero, Peter P.. Reminiscences of the Twentieth Century; Volume I Genero, Inc, 1904 York Court, Fort Pierce, FL 34982

An interesting life story of a New England boy and his service in the Army during World War II. Did you know about the air war over Los Angeles? The insight he gives from the Pentagon concerning Kennedy, the Bay of Pigs, the Cuban Missile Crisis, and UFOs is worth purchasing the book – Lloyd

—–

Grisham, John. The Firm et. al. New York: Doubleday,

I love Grisham books. I don’t want to list them all, there are too many. When I feel like a great recreational read, I pick up a Grisham. One of my favorites is Testament. – Lloyd

Grisham, John. The Last JurorNew York: Bantam Dell, Random House,

A Yankee playboy (Willie) drops out of college and soon finds himself the owner of The Ford County Times a weekly newspaper published in a small town in Mississippi. He soon finds himself reporting on a sensational murder performed by the son of a notorious crime family (the Padgitt) living on a large “island” nearby. The book deals with some of the issues of integration in the South during the 70′s. Willie forms a close friendship with Callie Ruffin, a black woman with a large family of well educated children. She was also a Juror in the murder trial. Danny Padgitt threatens to kill all the jurors is they convict him of murder. The Jury DID convict him and he goes to jail for life. He is released in about eight years and the Jurors of his trial start being executed. The book is filled with scoundrels, dirty politicians, owned law-men, and despicable lawyers. It was obvious to everyone that Danny Padgitt was the killer of the Jurors, but how to prove it? Read the book yourself to discover the surprise ending.

NOW, Will someone explain to me who killed “Miss Lydia Vince’s husband Malcom” who was executed shortly after the trial – Lloyd

—–

Huchthausen, Peter, Capt., USN, (Ret.) K-19, The Widowmaker. National Geographic Society, Washington D.C., 2002.

A couple years ago (2010) a family member asked me if truly safe nuclear power plants could be built. I said: “Do you mean can the Russians build a truly safe nuclear reactor, I don’t think so.” I was amazed at the information supplied in K-19 about Russian nuclear submarines and nuclear missiles. I found it hard to believe the number of broken reactor plants that have been dumped into the ocean. I find it more difficult to imagine the number of nuclear weapons scattered across the ocean floor. As far a I know, we only have two nuclear plants setting on the sea floor (Thresher and Scorpion). My submarine’s (Flasher SSN-613) reactor is setting in a huge trench about 40 miles from where I live. The reactor has been defueled (I need to verify this) and hermetically sealed into the reactor compartment and transferred to this pit on the Hanford Reservation in Washington State. I have no reason to worry about it.
Having operated a number of nuclear reactors in my day, I am shocked that Russian seamen would actually enter a reactor compartment to manually shut down a running reactor, or enter the reactor compartment to repair a leak in the primary coolant pipes. U.S. engineered nuclear power plants didn’t have problems with primary coolant pipes falling off or springing leaks. If such an event were to occur, we could not have done anything about it. We would surface and get towed to a ship yard and let the yard birds deal with it.
I was impressed with the courage of the Russian nuclear seamen. I was aghast at the Russian’s lack of nuclear quality control and safety.

OK you anti-nukes! Take some time off from bashing the U.S. nuclear program and figure out how you are going to help our socialist friends clean up their messes. — Lloyd

—–

Hosseini, Khalad. Kite Runner. Riverbend Books, 2003.
Hosseini, Khalad. A Thousand Splendid Suns. Riverbend Books, 2007.

Very interesting look into life of Muslims in Afghanistan under the Taliban and Shariah law. – Ron

—–

Hudson, Michael W. The Monster.

The monster is the sales script used by grass level mortgage and finance companies to entice poor people into purchasing a home they could not afford or to entice them to refinance. The mortgage and finance companies then sold the mortgages to Wall Street companies that bundled them and sold them as mortgage backed securities. To see the scam from the top down, read A Colossal Failure of Common Sense. – Lloyd

—–

Kaye, M.M. The Far Pavilions. New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1978.

The orphan nephew of a British Officer and son of a Professor of Linguistics is raised in India as a Hindu. In his late teens he is discovered and sent to London to be trained as a proper military Officer in the Guards in India. This is a wordy historical novel in two volumes. I liked reading the books, and appreciated learning about Hindu and Muslim culture and their strife with the British. Nevertheless; the movie is better than the books. – Lloyd

—–

McDonald, Lawrence G. A Colossal Failure of Common Sense.

The mortgage crisis as seen from within Lehman Brother’s. How toxic assets (mortgage based securities) brought down the major brokerage houses, and how Lehman Brother’s failed to get bailed out. See the mortgage securities scam from the top down. See the same scam from the bottom up in The Monster. – Lloyd

—–

Mashburn, Ron. Hazel. Denton, WA: A.K. Dunghill Publications, 1990.

A family of North Carolina hicks moves to Washington State and settles in the mountains in a little town called Hazel. An historical novel of a time not so long ago during the Great Depression and during Prohibition. – Lloyd

—–

Michener, James A. Alaska

A wonderful historical fiction about Alaska. A Great read in which the reader can feel the cold, see the enchanting beauty, discover gold, and experience the struggle for survival. – Lloyd

Also, read The Journey, an historical fiction about a team of Brits who aim for the Dawson Gold Fields by traveling over land through Canada. Michener originally included this story in Alaska, but his editors made him take it out, so he created a separate book that dovetails into Alaska – Lloyd

Michener, James A. Centennial. New York, Fawcett Books, 1974.

A fictitious cow town located on the South Platte river between Denver Colorado and Cheyenne Wyoming becomes the center of action for this novel. Though the book is a fiction, the events related could have happened in any number of cow towns throughout Wyoming, Nebraska, and Colorado. Since I was raised on a farm/ranch south of Gordon Nebraska and just a few miles from the South Dakota Indian reservations, I can identify with Michener’s descriptions of the Indians. A portion of my family is related to the Souix Indian Tribe. My brother was shot during the American Indian Movement (AIM) unrest. I went to Bible School in LaGrange, WY. Horse Creek runs on the edge of this small cow town. Horse Creek is featured in Michener’s depiction of the conflicts between cattlemen and sheep herders. My great, great maternal grandfather was a circuit riding preacher and frequently preached in Chugwater, WY. I have seen the detestation caused by storms on the prairies, the destruction of crops, the dust clouds. Even with the use of strip farming, serious damage to crops can still be caused by the winds. My Grandfather Henry and his family built and lived in a “soddy” out on Pole Creek (pronounced Krik) in Cherry County, Nebraska. The family was living in that “soddy” when the blizzard of 49 hit. I love the sand hills of Nebraska. The sugar-sand soil left in Nebraska by the Noaic floods is far different than the soil deposits left in Wyoming and Colorado. – Lloyd

Michener, James A. Legacy – A Novel. New York, Random House, 1987.

A Vietnam veteran finds himself in a compromising political situation. Telling the truth will result in his political destruction. He draws strength from the legacy of his forbears and chooses to do the right thing. – Lloyd

—–

Novak, Michael & Jana. Washington’s God: Religion, Liberty, and the Father of our Country. New York: Basic Books, 2006.

Using actual historical documents, we discover that George Washington was a quiet man of prayer and fasting. He was a very sincere Bible Believer who trusted God for his salvation and physical protection. A MUST READ and an easy read. – Lloyd

—–

Rand, Ayn. Atlas Shrugged. Signet, New American Library. 1957.

Raised under Communism, Ayn extols the virtues of Capitalism. Book Report. – Lloyd

Rand, Ayn. The Fountainhead. Signet, New American Library. .

A young architect designs buildings for their function, not for their adherence to the building norms of the day. Popular society does all it can to destroy him. Ayn seems to place herself into the novel, as she seems to do in Atlas shrugged, as the sadistic lover who sleeps around to demonstrate her freedom from her lover and hero of the book. – Lloyd

—–

Robinson, Patrick Kilo Class. Arrow Books, London. 1998.

Russia is building diesel powered Kilo Class submarines and selling them to anyone willing to pay the price. A completely believable tale and a look at the inland waterways of Russia. Great read! – Lloyd

—–

Ryrie, Charles Caldwell, Th.D., Ph.D. Ryrie Study Bible, Expanded Edition. Chicago: Moody Press, 1994.

A very useful study Bible from the Conservative Dispensational viewpoint. – Lloyd

Ryrie, Charles Caldwell, Th.D., Ph.D. A Survey of Bible Doctrine. Chicago: Moody Press.

What does the Bible actually teach? This Book will walk you through. Download my companion study guide so you will have all the referenced scripture with the ability to make your own notes. – Lloyd

—–

Sontag, Sherry & Drew, Christopher Blind Man’s Bluff: The Untold Story of American Submarine Espionage..

Fascinating reading. What was going on during the cold war? What really happened to the Scorpion? Why did the Navy try to cover it up? What really happened to the Thresher? I will tell “the rest of the story” when I publish my own book. Just let it be said that Tom Clancy was wrong about Thresher in Submarine.- Lloyd

—–

Uris, Leon, The Haj. Garden City, New York: Doubleday & Company, Inc., 1984

An historical fiction about an Arab boy, son of Ibrahim, Muktar of Tabah , a small village near Jerusalem, during the formation of the state of Israel. A powerful insight into Jewish and Islamic struggles. – Lloyd

Uris, Leon, Mitla Pass-A Novel. New York: Doubleday & Company, Inc., 1988

The moral and professional struggles of a writer who travels to Israel during the wars of 1956. Numerous flashbacks to his Jewish heritage. – Lloyd

Uris, Leon, QB VII. Garden City, New York: Doubleday & Company, Inc., 1970

At Queens Bench VII a notorious former Nazi war criminal is on trial and being compared to the compassionate missionary doctor he has become. – Lloyd

—–

Wallace, Robert and Melton, Keith H, Spycraft – The Secret History of the CIA’s Spytechs from Communism to Al-Qaeda. New York: Dutton, 2008.

Are you a geek? You must read this book! Are you paranoid that “Big Brother” may be watching you? Do NOT read this book. – Lloyd

—–

Wister, Owen, The Virginian. (currently) New York: Simon & Schuster

I picked this book up in an antique store (it was written over a hundred years ago). I thought this was a book about George Washington. Instead, it was about a boy from Virginia who drifted into the high plains of Wyoming and Colorado and became a cowboy. Identified as “The first great novel of Western Literature”. The book is a novel (fiction), but the characters are so real and the land so well identified that you can trace the events on a good map. If you want a Hollywood western shoot-em-up, this book is not it. But you will find drama, love, cattle, horses, chickens, churches, summer & winter storms, dry humor, practical jokes, a few Indians, cattle rustlers, a few killings, and a little gun play. If you read westerns, you have GOT to read this classic. It started the whole idea of Western literature. – Lloyd

—–

Wright, Peter, Former Assistant Director of MI5, Spy Catcher. New York: Viking, 1987

Assigned to Counter-Espionage following the exposure of the Cambridge Four (Philby, Burgess, Maclean, and Blunt). Wright is assigned to identify a mole thought to still exist in the highest echelons of the service. Wright believes the mole is the Director-General of MI5, Sir Roger Hollis. This book documents his ten year effort to uncover the mole. In the mean time he takes on some very interesting Counter-Espionage cases. – Lloyd