Without TV we have had much more time to read.  We do follow the news attentively, as we always have, on Sirius/XM satellite radio, mostly MSNBC, CNN. CSPAN on Sunday with the weekly network news shows on Sunday, and sometimes NPR when we can receive it on FM.  Fox is banned from Sophia.    Here is the list of books:

2021 Reading List

Early in 2021, I re-read Rick Atkinson’s WWII trilogy which focused on Europe interwoven with Ian Toll’s WWII trilogy centered on the Pacific.

Pacific Cruicible – War at Sea in the Pacific, 1941-1942 by Ian Toll (Feb 2021)

An Army at Dawn – The War in North Africa 1942-1943 by Rick Atkinson (Feb 2021)

The Day of Battle: The War in Sicily and Italy, 1943-1944 by Rick Atkinson (Feb 2021)

The Conquering Tide: War in the Pacific Islands, 1942–1944 by Ian Toll (March 2021)

The Guns at Last Light: The War in Western Europe, 1944-1945 by Rick Atkinson (March 2021)

Twilight of the Gods: War in the Western Pacific, 1944-1945 by Ian Toll (April 2021)

The Day of Battle: The War in Sicily and Italy, 1943-1944 by Rick Atkinson (Feb 2021)

Other World War II Histories:

Neptune’s Inferno: The U.S. Navy at Guadalcanal – by James D. Hornfischer (June 2021)

The Quiet Warrior: A  Biography of Admiral Raymond A. Spruance by Thomas Buell.  Great American hero.  The best naval combat commander of WWII. (April 2021)

Rising Sun, Falling Skies: The Disasterous Java Sea Campaign of World War II – by Jeffery Cox (April 2021)

Pete Charlie – the Cruise of the PC477 by Art Bell.  First person account of service in the Solomons during World War II on a 173 foot patrol boat designed for submarine warfare (April 2021)

For some reason I got interested in the coastwatchers of the Solomon Islands, the men who escaped Corrigdor and the Bataan Death March,  and then to the guerilla fighters in the Philipines.  Most were short books and easy reads.  All of these are highly recommended as contemporary narratives.

Lonely Vigil – Coastwatchers of the Solomons by Walter Lord (April 2021)

They Fought Alone – by John Keats.  American guerillas in the Philipines (June 2021)

Guerilla Wife  – One Woman’s Story of Survival After the Japanese Invasion of the Phillipines in World War II – by Louise Reid Spencer (June 2021)

South from Corregidor by Lieutenant Commander John Morrill, USN and Pete Martin.  The crew of the minesweeper Quail escape to Australia.   A tale of courage and seamanship second only to Captain Bligh’s voyage from the Bounty to Jakarta

Voyage into the Wind by William L. Osbourne.  Daring escape from Bataan by two men in a 22 foot boat, a voyage of over 3200 miles. (June 2021)

My father served during World War II in New Guinea with the First Calvary Division.  I found two historical treatises on the campaign:

Victory in Papau – The U.S. Army in the War in the Pacific by Samual Milner. (July 2021)

The Admiralites – Operations of the 1st Cavalry Division 29 February – 18 May 1944 by the Center of Military History, U.S. Army.  My father came back to the States in 1944 due to medical reasons.  He seldom spoke of the war and as near as I can figure out, this was representatitve of his experience during the war. (August 2021)

Other good reads:

The British are Coming by Rick Atkinson.  First of his Revolutionary War trilogy (June 2021)

Travels with Charlie by John Steinbeck.  My second favorite Steinbeck book right behind Grapes of Wrath.  I read this as a teenager and still have fantasies of copying his journey around the United States. (June 2021)

Vietnam- An Epic Tragedy 1945-1975 by Max Hastings.  Detailed history and analysis of the Vietnam War (May 2021)

The Guns of August – The Outbreak of World War I by Barbara Tuchman.  An historical classic (May 2021)

On the House – by John Beohner.  His memoirs from his days as Speaker of the House (May 2021)

A Promised Land – Barrack Obama (Feb 2021)

2019-2020 Reading List

Alexander Hamilton by Ron Chernow.  Another classic.  “Must read” for me because grandaughters Zoe and Ellie had gotten into the musical. (Aug 2020)

Sons of Kolchak by Micahel Wikan.  First hand account of combat in Vietnam (Aug 2020)

It Was All a Lie: How the Republican Paty Became Donald Trump by Stuart Stevens.  A tell all by a former Republican consultant.  (Aug 2020)

American Character:  A Hisory of the Epic Struggle Between Individual Liberty and the Common Good – by Colin Woodard (July 2020)

The Republic of Pirates – Being the True and Surprising Story of the Caribbean Pirates and the Man Who Brought Them Down – by Colin Woodard (July 2020)

American Nations:  A History of the Eleven Rival Regional Cultures of North America by Colin Woodard (July 2020)

Harvest the Vote:  How Democrats Can Win Again in Rural America by Jane Kleeb (Feb 2020)

The Conservative Sensibility – by George Will.  An indepth treatise on the principls of Conservative doctrine.  According to Mr. Will, I am a conservative.  He removes the “culture issues” and establishes the bedrock principles that I can thoroughly agree with. (Jun 2019)

2016-2018 Reading List

Chesapeake by James Michener.  Read while in the Chesapeake.  Enjoyable, typical Michener story

Washington, A Life by Ron Chernow.   Great book.  Explains the greatness of Washington in so many ways.

August 1914 by Alexander Solzhenitsyn.  A book I had on my reading list since the 1990’s.  Tried three of four times to get through it in those days,  Still had a valid Virginia Rail Express card from my days of commuting on the train.  A hard read, but we got through it finally.

The Triumph of William McKinley: Why the Election of 1896 Still Matters by Karl Rove.  Overrated.  A bit of a bore.

South of Broad by Pat Conroy.  Conroy, of “Great Santini” fame, is a great writer, although I’m not sure if I like the ending very well,  I need a dictionary to understand all the vocabulary he uses,

Hero of the Empire: The Boer War, A Daring Escape, and the Making of Winston Churchill by Candice Millard.  Excellent read.

In the Heart of the Sea-The Tragedy of the Whaleship Essex by Nathaniel Philbrik.  The true story upon which “Moby Dick” is based.

The Generals – Patton, MacArthur, Marshall and the Winning of World War II by Winston Groom

Ernest Hemmingway by Anthony Burgess.  Read in one night.  More of critique of Hemmingway’s style than a biographical text.

The Sun Also Rises by Earnest Hemingway.   A re-read from the Sophia Hemingway Library

Everyone Behaves Badly-The True Story Behind Hemingway’s Masterpiece The Sun Also Rises by Leslie M. M. Blume.  Very interesting after reading the novel.  Makes Hemingway look not so good.

Washington Immortals-The Untold Story of an Elite Regiment Who Changed the Course of the Revolution by Patrick O’Donnell.  Pat was a colleague of mine back in Coopers and Lybrand in the mid-nineties,  He got out of consulting to pursue his dream of writing and has been very successful including a book on the Battle of Fallujah in which he was embedded with the Marines.  Pat’s book, his first I think, “Beyond Valor” was referenced in the next book.

An Army at Dawn – The War in North Africa 1942-1943 by Rick Atkinson.  I read it twice, back to back, because has so much detail.  An excellent book, easy to read, it is filled with characters, all true, some heroic and some flawed.  Covers the defeats of Kasserine Pass and the victories at El Guettar and the conquest of Tunisia clearly and fairly,  This is the first of a trilogy by Atkinson and I expect to read the other two,

Don’t Stop the Carnival  by Herman Wouk. Wouk is one of my favorite authors (Caine Mutiny, Winds of War).  He wrote this funny farce based on his experience in the Virgin Islands in the 60’s.  Jimmy Buffet and Wouk wrote a musical based on the book, which intrigue me enough to buy the book.  A pleasant read.

Robinson Crusoe  by Daniel Defoe.  Pick the book up in used book store for a pittance.  Rounding out my classical reading list.  Too much preaching on religion for my taste.

The Long Gray Line:  The American Journey of West Point Class of 1966  by Rick Atkinson.  One of Atkinson’s early books, it is gripping and personal story of the West Point class that suffered the most in the Vietnam War.   Real people caught in between “Duty, Honor, Country” and death itself. Highly recommended.

The Day of Battle:  The War in Sicily and Italy 1943-1944 by Rick Atkinson.  Second of the trilogy.   Just as good as the first.  Finished 588 pages in three days.

Grant by Ron Chernow.   Good read on a complex man who led a interesting life in challenging times.

Hacks by Donna Brazile.  An insightful perspective on the 2016 election.