'Heart of Gold’ put me in the middle of the road. Traveling there soon became a bore, so I headed for the ditch.” – Neil Young, comments written for the liner notes of his 1977 compilation, Decade.
I enjoyed this one. I knew that the drawdown of American forces after World War II was extreme but not this extreme. Also; what was MacArthur thinking in allowing forces to go up to the Yalu?!
I just finished the final book of The Expanse, Leviathan Falls—what an incredible series!
Now onto The Storyteller by Dave Grohl. This isn’t my usual genre, but why not give it a shot?
Just finished Tiamat’s Wrath by James S. A. Corey.
On to Leviathan Falls and the end of the series.
Here’s the list of books that I have read as part of my goal to read 52 books in a year.
My goal is to read 52 books this year. I have a nice head start because of my vacation (see list here). Some of these are fast reads others…not so much. Regardless I have a goal!
Also; the links below are to Amazon but they are not affiliate links so you can’t make me rich this way.
A nice list from Ryan Holiday (the list is from the newsletter but posted here). Sign up of the newsletter here.
A few of these I have read, a few of these are not my ‘style’ but.. that’s the point. Get out of your comfort zone.
Here is the list + my additions:
Naturally, I’ll read other books but this is a good starting point.
I went on vacation from 12/30 to 1/14/2025. I read a few books. They are listed below. I set a goal of reading 52 books for 2025 and I think I got a good head start on that goal. I don’t have a affiliate relationship with Amazon but did link to the books.
I’ve been on a Civil War kick of late (which started again with ‘Fighting for the Confederacy, The personal recollections of General Edward Porter Alexander and ‘Longstreet: The Confederate General Who defied the South), started the ‘Walt Longmire’ stories because of the TV Show and wanted to finish the ‘The Expanse’ series after finishing the TV show.
My wife and I went on vacation last week and I took a few books along (via my Kindle). One of them was ‘The World in a Grain: The Story of Sand and How It Transformed Civilization’. Quite good and a bit scary. I had no idea that the use of sand was so critical to so many things. Well, I knew about concrete, asphalt and silicone but damn…
This is from Ethan Hawke’s Rules for a Knight:
One time, on a sweltering August night, Grandfather and I made camp down by the ocean. He said, “While I teach you about the ways of war, I want you to know that the real struggle is between the two wolves that live inside each of us.”
“Two wolves?” I asked, seated on an old log near the fire. My eyes were transfixed by the flames twisting uncomfortably in the night air.
“One wolf is evil,” he continued. “It is anger, envy, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, deceit, false pride.” He paused, poking at the embers of our fire with a long stick he’d been carving.
“The other is good. It is joy, love, hope, serenity, humility, loving-kindness, forgiveness, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion, faith.”
I considered that for a minute, then tentatively asked, “Which wolf will win?”
Sparks danced towards the stars as the old man stared into the glare of the flames and replied, “Whichever one you feed.”
If you like the quote hit this link (Kottke.org) and then the Amazon link in the first paragraph.
I read this book, ‘The Tiger‘, a while ago and was reminded of it today. Fantastic story. I did not know it was made in to a movie.
Cool idea.
See the post here.