What book are you reading now?

[dangerboy]

Is it as good as people say it is?

Yes, it is nothing like the movie.

 

[vonGarvin]

Lingua Latina per se Illustrata; Pars I "Familia Romana" by Hans H. Orberg.

Why?  Because "irrumabo vos" that's why  >

 

[brihard]

Is it as good as people say it is?

You've seriously never read it? Remedy that, and forget the movie ever existed.

 

[NavyShooter]

Unintended Consequences.

 

[BernDawg]

Is it as good as people say it is?

Better! You will not be disapointed reading Starship Troopers.

Consider the movie a completely different story...

 

[The Bread Guy]

Is it as good as people say it is?

Yes it is - read bits of it to the troops during recruit courses (OK, I was a bit more.... intense oh so many years ago).

Seriously, take the movie(s) as parody/satire, not a reflection of the book.

 

[brihard]

Yes it is - read bits of it to the troops during recruit courses (OK, I was a bit more.... intense oh so many years ago).

Seriously, take the movie(s) as parody/satire, not a reflection of the book.

"There are a dozen different ways of delivering destruction in impersonal wholesale, via ships or missiles of one sort or another, catastrophes so widespread, so unselective, that the war is over because that nation or planet has ceased to exist. What we do is entirely different. We make war as personal as a punch in the nose. We can be selective, applying precisely the required amount of pressure at a specified point at a designated time. We've never been told to go down and kill or capture all left-handed redheads in a particular area, but if they tell us to we can. We will.

We are the boys who will go to a particular place, at h-hour, stand on it, dig the enemy out of their holes, force them then and there to surrender or die. We are the bloody infantry. The doughboy, the duckfoot, the foot soldier who goes where the enemy is and takes them on in person. We've been doing it with changes in weapons but very little change in our trade at least since the time four thousand years ago when the foot sloggers of Sargon the Great forced the Sumerians to cry uncle."

I'm probably off on a few minor bits - that passage is from memory - but if there's a book out there that better speaks (through its own lens) to what the infantry is, I've yet to find it. And yeah, I'm nerdy as hell for this book, and I'm just fine with that.

 

[Jarnhamar]

You've seriously never read it? Remedy that, and forget the movie ever existed.

Lend me you're book!

Currently reading;
Architect of Fate
The Emperors Gift &
Tales of Heresy

 

[brihard]

Lend me you're book!

Currently reading;
Architect of Fate
The Emperors Gift &
Tales of Heresy

I'm in Gage right now. When I'm back in Ottawa if you're passing through I'll happily hook you up with my copy. Worst case I may be in Pet for the latter half of Aug.

I've got a digital copy on my e-reader now, so if I part with my hard copy for a time it doesn't bother me a bit.

 

[dangerboy]

Reading "The Mitrokhin Archive - The KGB in Europe and the West" by Christopher Andrew and Vasili Mitrokhin.  Vasil Mitrokhin was a former senior officer of the Soviet Foreign Intelligence Service from 1948 to 1984.  In 1992 he defected to the United Kingdom bringing with him copies of classified files which he had smuggled out of work and hid at his house.  The information in these files is the basis of this book.  I have only started reading it (page 30 out of 995) but so far it is interesting.  Of course with this type of book you will never know how much of the information is true and what still has not been revealed.

 

[Danjanou]

Almost finished Gone For Soldiers by Jeff Shaara ,  a historical novel on the Mexican American War.

 

[cupper]

Recently finished reading two books on Military Working Dogs.

"Soldier Dogs" by Maria Goodavage

"Sergent Rex" by Mike Dowling

Left some comments in another topic if you are interested.

http://forums.army.ca/forums/index.php?action=post;quote=1151781;topic=105494.0;last_msg=1151781

 

[Exarch]

Is it as good as people say it is?

I haven't read a lot of books, but it is my favourite. Probably going to go through it for a fifth time sometime soon.

Does anyone know of any books similar in style to Starship Troopers? I've read two others by Heinlein and, while not bad, they are very different.

 

[Sythen]

Starship Troopers.. Definitely an amazing book.. Actually only read it cause when I was overseas it was in a pile of books left by the previous roto, and I thought it would be funny like the movie.. So glad I read it! Right now, reading Gates of Fire again. Such an incredible book as well.

 

[Westlander]

I'm reading Outliers: The Story of Success. So far its really interesting, I would recommend it.

 

[mariomike]

"The Downwind Walk: A USAR Paramedic's Experiences after the Terrorist Attacks on September 11, 2001"
The author was a member of FDNY EMS Battalion 55 in the Bronx who deployed with the USAR team at Ground Zero.

The lessons learned lead to the establishment of Heavy Urban Search and Rescue ( HUSAR ) teams in Toronto, Halifax and Calgary.

 

[a_majoor]

A comprehensive reading list. Sadly, I've only read a fraction of this, but there is still time....

http://www.amnation.com/vfr/archives/006256.html

 

[LineJumper]

How to catch a pig, by Dennis Boyles.

Now I know.

 

[brihard]

Yup, Gates of Fire was awesome too. Pressfield writes a damned good book. In terms of 'like Starship Troopers'? Can't really say anything is 'like' it. But if you enjoyed it, I would also say that worth reading are:

Ender's Game, by Orson Scott Card
Armor, by Jon Steakley
The Forever War, by Joe Haldeman

Each is its own distinctly different book; all are worth reading if you're at all into military sci fi.

 

[estoguy]

Didn't have much time to read over the spring, so I'm still on Shake Hands With The Devil and Under the Dome... I also have The Road on the go and an audiobook in the car... 11/22/63 by King.  I've really enjoyed that!  On the last section now.