Summer 2010 Reading List

[azbackpackr]

Yay, the semester is over, so I have time for reading whatever I want to!

I finally got The Greatest Show on Earth by Richard Dawkins, and The Grizzly in the Southwest by David Brown--both of which I had requested at the local library. So I have started reading them both--am switching back and forth. First impressions: Dawkins has an annoyingly gushy style, and in my case he is preachin' to the choir (pun intended). However, so far I have learned a thing or two about evolutionary biology and genetics. The Grizzly book is just going to be sad, I can already tell. It is a history of the bear and its habitat right exactly where I live, and its slow and painful extermination.

I just finished a fiction book as well: The Professor's House by Willa Cather, which is our library book discussion group's selection for June. It is quite odd. It takes place in the Midwest, with the exception of a detailed story about the discovery of a cliff dwelling on a mesa in New Mexico.

On my list for summer are the following books:
Annals of the Former World by John McPhee
House of Rain by Craig Childs
Coming Home to Eat by Gary Nabhan
and OF COURSE
The Marauders by our own Robert Gay!!!

I will also probably continue reading more of T. Jefferson Parker's detective murder mysteries, all of which take place around Laguna Beach, LA, general SoCal, etc. My old stompin' grounds. That guy really has a way with words, can write any California character you can think of, from cartel boss to hippie chick, from Vietnamese immigrant to rich yachtsman. My favorite book, so far, of his is California Girl.

[base871]

I couldnt afford it if i wanted too! Just saying the ones I have seen for sale were going from 1400 up to 3000 dollars.

[azbackpackr]

Oh, well, just thought I'd ask. I need someone to support my summer of loafing.

[base871]

[big_load]

Annals of the Former World by John McPhee

That's my all-time favorite book of any kind. There is a good AZ bit, which I read out loud to Mrs. big_load as we were driving through one of the areas it describes (Crown King).

[azbackpackr]

Yes, I recall discussing McPhee with you before, and you had mentioned that one. I have read a ton of McPhee books. I have wanted to take a geology class just to better understand his geology books. And when Katrina happened, I immediately recalled The Control of Nature. There is an ILL awaiting me at the library right now--it is either that one or Backpacking Arizona--a guidebook I have not actually read. Gotta love our ILL program--I can get anything I want, sent to our library from other libraries around the US--free to me! Thank you, taxpayers! And y'all have helped me by providing titles I was not familiar with as well.

[big_load]

The Control of Nature

I'd like to see satellite images that illustrate how the Mississippi/Atchafalaya nexus has evolved since that was written.

[BobP]

Echoes in the Canyons

Joel does it show location of this ruins in it?

[allanalxndr]

Not sure if this is something anybody would like to read, but it is a very good book. Lone Survivor: The Eyewitness Account of Operation Redwing and the Lost Heroes of SEAL Team 10. The first few chapters are slow, detailing SEAL training and how everything works, but after that you won't be able to put it down.
http://www.amazon.com/Lone-Survivor-Eye ... ikearizona
If you can't find it, don't want to buy it, etc. I will loan my copy to anyone who wants to read it, BUT there is awaiting list, it is currently loaned out of a friend, who loaned it to his brother(the 5th person to read it).

[Al_HikesAZ]

Just read it. It was awesome. Mine is currently loaned out also. There is also a book on Lt Michael P. Murphy ( dead link removed ) that I plan on reading. http://www.amazon.com/Seal-Honor-Operat ... ikearizona
Did you hear about the situation with the punks killing Luttrell's dog?

My reading list is expanding faster than my reading time. Also just discovered this one and definitely MUST read
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/produc ... ikearizona
God Is Not One: The Eight Rival Religions That Run the World--and Why Their Differences Matter (Hardcover)
~ Stephen Prothero (Author)

Product Description
At the dawn of the twenty-first century, dizzying scientific and technological advancements, interconnected globalized economies, and even the so-called New Atheists have done nothing to change one thing: our world remains furiously religious. For good and for evil, religion is the single greatest influence in the world. We accept as self-evident that competing economic systems (capitalist or communist) or clashing political parties (Republican or Democratic) propose very different solutions to our planet's problems. So why do we pretend that the world's religious traditions are different paths to the same God? We blur the sharp distinctions between religions at our own peril, argues religion scholar Stephen Prothero, and it is time to replace naÏve hopes of interreligious unity with deeper knowledge of religious differences.

In Religious Literacy, Prothero demonstrated how little Americans know about their own religious traditions and why the world's religions should be taught in public schools. Now, in God Is Not One, Prothero provides readers with this much-needed content about each of the eight great religions. To claim that all religions are the same is to misunderstand that each attempts to solve a different human problem. For example:

–Islam: the problem is pride / the solution is submission
–Christianity: the problem is sin / the solution is salvation
–Confucianism: the problem is chaos / the solution is social order
–Buddhism: the problem is suffering / the solution is awakening
–Judaism: the problem is exile / the solution is to return to God

Prothero reveals each of these traditions on its own terms to create an indispensable guide for anyone who wants to better understand the big questions human beings have asked for millennia—and the disparate paths we are taking to answer them today. A bold polemical response to a generation of misguided scholarship, God Is Not One creates a new context for understanding religion in the twenty-first century and disproves the assumptions most of us make about the way the world's religions work.

[azbackpackr]

Reminds me of that amusing urban legend that most of you have no doubt seen before, since it was forwarded around for years (HAZ program will remove the "bad" words):

The following is a true story received from an English professor.
You know that book "Men are from Mars, Women from Venus"? (Which is pure BS, says azbackpackr) Well, here's a prime example of that. This assignment was actually turned in by two of my English students: Rebecca (last name deleted) and Gary (last name deleted).

First, the Assignment:

English 44A
SMU
Creative Writing
Prof. Miller

In-Class Assignment for Wednesday:
Today we will experiment with a new form called the tandem story. The process is simple. Each person will pair off with the person sitting to his or her immediate right. One of you will then write the first paragraph of a short story. The partner will read the first paragraph and then add another paragraph to the story. The first person will then add a third paragraph, and so on back and forth.

Remember to re-read what has been written each time in order to keep the story coherent. The story is over when both agree a conclusion has been reached.

And now, the Assignment as submitted by Rebecca & Gary:

Rebecca starts:

At first, Laurie couldn't decide which kind of tea she wanted. The camomile, which used to be her favorite for lazy evenings at home, now reminded her too much of Carl, who once said, in happier times, that he liked camomile. But she felt she must now, at all costs, keep her mind off Carl. His possessiveness was suffocating, and if she thought about him too much her asthma started acting up again. So camomile was out of the question.

Gary:

Meanwhile, Advance Sergeant Carl Harris, leader of the attack squadron now in orbit over Skylon 4, had more important things to think about than the neuroses of an air-headed asthmatic bimbo named Laurie with whom he had spent one sweaty night over a year ago. "A.S. Harris to Geostation 17," he said into his transgalactic communicator. "Polar orbit established. No sign of resistance so far...". But before he could sign off a bluish particle beam flashed out of nowhere and blasted a hole through his ship's cargo bay. The jolt from the direct hit sent him flying out of his seat and across the cockpit.

Rebecca:

He bumped his head and died almost immediately, but not before he felt one last pang of regret for psychically brutalizing the one woman who had ever had feelings for him. Soon afterwards, Earth stopped its pointless hostilities towards the peaceful farmers of Skylon 4. "Congress Passes Law Permanently Abolishing War and Space Travel." Laurie read in her newspaper one morning. The news simultaneously excited her and bored her. She stared out the window, dreaming of her youth -- when the days had passed unhurriedly and carefree, with no newspapers to read, no television to distract her from her sense of innocent wonder at all the beautiful things around her. "Why must one lose one's innocence to become a woman?" she pondered wistfully.

Gary:

Little did she know, but she had less than 10 seconds to live. Thousands of miles above the city, the Anu'udrian mothership launched the first of its lithium fusion missiles. The dim-witted wimpy peaceniks who pushed the Unilateral Aerospace Disarmament Treaty through Congress had left earth a defenseless target for the hostile alien empires who were determined to destroy the human race. Within two hours after the passage of the treaty the Anu'udrian ships were on course for Earth, carrying enough firepower to pulverize the entire planet. With no one to stop them, they swiftly initiated their diabolical plan. The lithium fusion missile entered the atmosphere unimpeded. The President, in his top-secret mobile submarine headquarters on the ocean floor off the coast of Guam, felt the inconceivably massive explosion which vaporized Laurie and 85 million other Americans. The President slammed his fist on the conference table. "We can't allow this! I'm going to veto that treaty! Let's blow 'em out of the sky!"

Rebecca:

This is absurd. I refuse to continue this mockery of literature. My writing partner is a violent, chauvinistic, semi-literate adolescent.

Gary:

Yeah? Well, you're a self-centered tedious neurotic whose attempts at writing are the literary equivalent of Valium.

Rebecca:

Asshole.

Gary:

Bitch.

[allanalxndr]

Did you hear about the situation with the punks killing Luttrell's dog?

I did... Some people man, I tell ya. He goes off and risks everything for our country, gives nearly his life, and then some kill his welcome home/recovery dog for "fun." Simply disgusting. I heard that the trial had been delayed because of a surgery of the judge or attorney?

I will have to check out that other book. I am currently reading Jawbreaker: The Attack on Bin Laden and Al Qaeda: A Personal Account by the CIA's Key Field Commander. Very interesting book if you like history and pay attention to the players in the middle east. Sometimes hard to follow because of the blanked out classified information. It is written by a retired Counter terrorism agent in the CIA. Only chapter 6, had it 2 days, but I think its recommendable.

[Al_HikesAZ]

I will have to check out that other book. I am currently reading Jawbreaker: The Attack on Bin Laden and Al Qaeda: A Personal Account by the CIA's Key Field Commander. Very interesting book if you like history and pay attention to the players in the middle east. Sometimes hard to follow because of the blanked out classified information. It is written by a retired Counter terrorism agent in the CIA. Only chapter 6, had it 2 days, but I think its recommendable.

Now you just added another one to my list. When you finish that one look at "The Only Thing Worth Dying For: How Eleven Green Berets Forged a New Afghanistan" by Eric Blehm. This will really help you understand where we are in AFG, how we got here and some foundation for understanding where we are headed. While the Northern Alliance was proceeding, it's success could have caused tribal problems with the southern Pashtun. A different perspective on Hamid Karzai than you will get from the Obama Administration and the liberal media.

Review
“A skillfully reported and masterfully written account of one of the most crucial moments of the War Against Terror. Blehm reminds us of the perils, the triumphs and the sacrifices made in the name of freedom.” (Bob Woodruff, ABC News correspondent )

“The Only Thing Worth Dying For is not only brilliant, it’s the one book you must read if you have any hope of understanding what our fine American soldiers are up against in Afghanistan.” (Former Congressman Charlie Wilson )

“Blehm provides powerful and unflinching insight into a real-life mission that ended in tragedy but left an indelible mark on history. From the comic moments to the bleakest hour, it’s a testament to how a small team of well-trained men can shape a nation’s destiny.” (Stephen Grey, award-winning author of Ghost Plane: The True Story of the CIA's Torture Program and Operation Snakebite: The Story of an Afghan Desert Siege )

“A captivating account of our heroic warriors-a remarkable U.S. Army Special Forces unit’s hard-fought success against incredible odds. It reads with the thrill of fiction-but this is the damned deadly real deal.” (W.E.B. Griffin & William E. Butterworth IV, best-selling authors of The Traffickers and The Honor of Spies )

“Through careful reporting and crisp narrative pacing, Eric Blehm has given us a thrilling, forgotten drama from the opening chapter of the war in Afghanistan. The Only Thing Worth Dying For will become an enduring classic of this extraordinary theater, where so much hangs in the balance.” (Hampton Sides, bestselling author of Ghost Soldiers and Blood and Thunder )

“Eric Blehm has written a literary masterpiece about modern war. The whole witches’ brew is here: valor, honor, heroism, cowardice, incompetence, stupidity, triumph, blood, death and despair. That America has soldiers like these should fill every American heart with pride. Read this book!” (Stephen Coonts, bestselling author of Flight of the Intruder and The Disciple )

“The greatest story of a small unit’s battle through an untamed land since Lawrence of Arabia.” (Adam Makos, editor of Valor Magazine )

“No other book has gone to such depths in research, nor been so descriptive in recounting this critical mission during the earliest days after 9/11 when the US Army Special Forces successfully waged unconventional warfare in Afghanistan.” (Sergeant Major Billy Waugh, author of Hunting The Jackal and Isaac Camacho, An American Hero )

[allanalxndr]

I know very little on Karzai so I don't have a complete picture painted so to say, but what I do know, from the bit I have researched and read, I wouldn't trust the guy. I will definitely have to pick up that book as well. I find my list doubling before knocking any off it. Keep the suggestions coming!
This is another one I have been considering for awhile. Not a Good Day to Die: The Untold Story of Operation Anaconda by Sean Naylor - http://www.amazon.com/Not-Good-Day-Die- ... ikearizona

[big_load]

"The Only Thing Worth Dying For: How Eleven Green Berets Forged a New Afghanistan" by Eric Blehm

Blehm posts at Backpacker sometimes and there's some discussion there on this one. I really enjoyed Blehm's "The Last Season". I'm sure that anybody interested in backpacking, ranger life, or SAR would find that one worthwhile.