Book recommendations

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Catt57

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Just got this today. It was on backorder for 4 months.

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SoonerP226

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I'm currently in the middle of Damn Lucky, the story of John "Lucky" Luckadoo, a B-17 copilot in the Bloody 100th Bomb Group during WWII, as written by Kevin Maurer (Mark Owen's co-writer on No Easy Day). Luckadoo is still alive and kicking (he's 104, IIRC), and was recently on Jack Carr's Danger Close podcast (which was how I heard about the book).

Here's Maurer and Luckadoo (mostly Luckadoo):

and here's Maurer:

Following up on this, if you get the Audible version of the book, you also get an Afterword read by Lucky Luckadoo, as well as an interview between Luckadoo and Maurer. There's also a short blurb from the historian of the 100th Bombardment Group and the 8th Air Force, which leads to the 100th's Web site:
Home - 100th Bomb Group (Heavy) Foundation

I should also add that the part of the book where he describes aerial combat over Europe is terrific, and it includes the stories of other pilots and aircrews, including B-17 crews that had to bail out, some that barely made it home, and even a Luftwaffe fighter pilot who rammed a B-17, destroying both aircraft in the process (he was blown clear of the aircraft, albeit badly burned).
 
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Catt57

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Naughty you, reading banned books. :wink2:
I'm about 1/2 way through. It's actually quite good and gives a perspective on the Holocaust you don't normally see. It really shows more of the survivors mental and emotional struggles after the war was over and how it affected them and their children.
 

SoonerP226

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I downloaded the Audible version yesterday. I was going to order the hardback through Carr's Web site (which sends the business to local book stores) to get the Carr-shot book plate, but I fooled around and didn't get it done before the plates were gone. I'm in the middle of Ric Prado's Black Ops, but I might have to pause it for In The Blood, which is ironic, given that I first heard Prado on Carr's podcast...
 

kroberts2131

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I downloaded the Audible version yesterday. I was going to order the hardback through Carr's Web site (which sends the business to local book stores) to get the Carr-shot book plate, but I fooled around and didn't get it done before the plates were gone. I'm in the middle of Ric Prado's Black Ops, but I might have to pause it for In The Blood, which is ironic, given that I first heard Prado on Carr's podcast...
I tried to do the same thing but was too late. I’ve got 2 books going right now so it’s gonna sit for a week or so but excited to read it.
I have come to realize that I 100% prefer E books now but wanted to get the hardcover on this.
 

SoonerP226

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I tried to do the same thing but was too late. I’ve got 2 books going right now so it’s gonna sit for a week or so but excited to read it.
I have come to realize that I 100% prefer E books now but wanted to get the hardcover on this.
I ordered the hardback, too. I’ve also done that with Hornfischer’s books except for Ghost Ship. There’s just something about Pacific Theater POW stores that I don’t like (mostly because the Japs were so much more barbaric towards POWs than the Nazis were), so I haven’t gotten to that one yet.
 

SoonerP226

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I just finished Tim Kennedy's memoir, Scars and Stripes, co-written with Nick Palmisciano (co-founder of Ranger Up). It's kind of a raw, no-holds-barred look at his life, up to and including his time on the ground rescuing (or attempting to rescue) US citizens in Afghanistan during Biden's Bungle. Some of it, like the time he was working with DeliverFund to bust a bunch of human traffickers in Houston, only to have the rug pulled out at the eleventh hour by higher-ups in Houston city gov't because "there's no human trafficking in Houston," is hard to read, but it's a heck of a story.

I'm currently working on The Coddling Of the American Mind by Jonathan Haidt and Greg Lukianoff. Lukianoff is a founder of FIRE, the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (formerly the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education). Here's the summary from the Audible version:
A timely investigation into the new "safety culture" on campus and the dangers it poses to free speech, mental health, education, and ultimately democracy

The generation now coming of age has been taught three Great Untruths: their feelings are always right; they should avoid pain and discomfort; and they should look for faults in others and not themselves. These three Great Untruths are part of a larger philosophy that sees young people as fragile creatures who must be protected and supervised by adults. But despite the good intentions of the adults who impart them, the Great Untruths are harming kids by teaching them the opposite of ancient wisdom and the opposite of modern psychological findings on grit, growth, and antifragility.
The result is rising rates of depression and anxiety, along with endless stories of college campuses torn apart by moralistic divisions and mutual recriminations.

This is a book about how we got here. First Amendment expert Greg Lukianoff and social psychologist Jonathan Haidt take us on a tour of the social trends stretching back to the 1980s that have produced the confusion and conflict on campus today, including the loss of unsupervised play time and the birth of social media, all during a time of rising political polarization.

This is a book about how to fix the mess. The culture of "safety" and its intolerance of opposing viewpoints has left many young people anxious and unprepared for adult life, with devastating consequences for them, for their parents, for the companies that will soon hire them, and for a democracy that is already pushed to the brink of violence over its growing political divisions. Lukianoff
and Haidt offer a comprehensive set of reforms that will strengthen young people and institutions, allowing us all to reap the benefits of diversity, including viewpoint diversity.

This is a book for anyone who is confused by what's happening on college campuses today, or has children, or is concerned about the growing inability of Americans to live and work and cooperate across party lines.

It's a fascinating book, and it really does a great job of explaining a lot of what's happening today with cancel culture (from both the left and right).
 

SimsonSuhl7x65R

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Any western by Elmer Kelton. His books are fantastic and “real”. His characters are complex and nobody gets shot ten times with a .44-40 and lives. He said something like this when comparing his characters to L’Amour’s “L’Amour’s characters are all ten feet tall and bulletproof, mine are all 5’ 8” and nervous”.

A Terrible Glory: Custer and the Little Bighorn by James Donovan. A great read.
 

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