Book Reviews

'Nearly everyone felt the need to express their views on all wars to me, starting with mine. "I found myself thinking, I ate the shit sandwich, you didn't, so please don't tell me how it tastes." - CPT Cole, US Army This is a quote I live by, and feel is most appropriate for the age. But you can hear the “But”. But Vietnam was a commentary that I had since learning about it in High School, and well, gotta say how I feel about that war, even though it ended a year before I was

My mind is normally boggled at the incompetence of this administration, but what really boggles my mind is the support from military veterans who served, follow, and believe Trump is a patriot. I get it, nobody wants to die in combat, but that’s the break, my friend. Either you die, come back alive (and that’s where the real suffering happens), or you lose a limb or other things. A lot of veterans come back with their minds messed up (including me), or physically impaired, fr

I came out as trans in 2015, right before I had a mental health crisis. Overall, the fact that I had a mental health crisis has really little bearing on my coming out as trans. I was vocal about it, and a gamer who was on my Steam friends list asked if I was gay. The exact words are “Are you fag?” And I ignored it, and kept having a mental health crisis. I know more now since my father passed, and I had the financial means to transition. Money is important for trans folks, as

SO with the new document (name escapes me) that was put out as trans being domestic terrorists. Personally, as a trans person, I haven’t had the notion to blow up government buildings or conduct any armed movement against the populace. It’s galling to think that somehow the minority, `1% of the population, is trans, for ages 13 and up. Having been a recipient of insurgent attacks, I don’t worry that much about getting ambushed on an Uber ride (or Lyft, whatever you use) by “t

I had to break down and DNF this book. If the 8% I read is indicative of the style he wrote in, I don't think Iran issued a fatwa against Salman Rushdie. Frankly, I think the book makes no sense, and can be compared to the Bible, where things that don't make sense seem like a reality that never existed. I mean, there's no rhyme or reason, so I had to force myself to read it, and I found myself drifting off before deciding not to finish this book. It's maybe just not for me, I

So it’s the Memorial Day Weekend, and well, maybe this time I have emotions for it. Usually, when I served, I would just see it as another 4-day weekend to sit around until 2 am doing video games and other stuff, not giving a fuck about those who died and made the ultimate sacrifice. But this one? Yeah, I’m feeling the feels, I guess, and so want ot briefly share first about what our president said, and he “gets a kick” out of his critics complaining about the thirteen dead s

Okay, this might be a controversial take on Fascism in America. I’ve been thinking about this one for a long time, and frankly, I don’t know what to characterize it. What we have is to me, is Incompetent Fascism more or less. Trump and his cronies are trying to act like dictators, but their incompetence and stupidity don’t make it work as it should. That and the Founding Fathers did some good thinking, I guess. I mean, there are some issues that do follow fascist dictatorship

I think while I'm not an active participant in the BDSM community, I do read real authors to get some idea of what to do and what not to do. Overall, I think this book focuses on sex and not enough on the craft. I don't think Shoshanna is a bad author, but I didn't find myself too interested in this book. I have a thing, I guess, against chastity play, and that comes from a more dominant position than a submissive. As someone who has to go to the bathroom a lot for hydration,

As I read this book, it seemed like it wouldn't end, and that there would be a follow-up series. I need to check, though. Overall, the loose ends were tied up, and the series is over. Though it was clean in some ways, the language wasn't full of cursing, so it was a great scifi read, though as a military veteran, I'd have an F-bomb to keep me regular. Anyway, the book doesn't end on a noticeable cliffhanger, but I'll probably look up the author's bibliography to see if it con

One thing I realized about this series is the amount of life in the stories. There are things that fly, things that do things in the land and sea, and that's animals. In my books, I hardly mention those things, and frankly, as a former Soldier, I was basically told not to mess with the wildlife. I kinda realist that David Drake was apparently told the same thing, and therefore in his stories (except for like one) he hardly mentions populated planets with wildlife. Anyway, the

As a young Sergeant who deployed to Iraq in 2004, I really didn't know the scope of what occurred prior to, and during this time, as reflected in the book. I remember the country flaring up during the first Fallujah, and I spent a week kicking in the doors. But as an FO, I didn't see the ultimate bigger picture of what had occurred prior to and during my time in-country. It's interesting that my Squadron Commander was in this book, if not just a few lines of words. Anyway, th

What is different from the first book is the change in perspective, from first person to third person. It's fine, but overall shows a different outlook for the story in this book. I think the only "ding" is the dialogue's cleanliness. Somebody in at least Jaxon or Ford's mentality would curse more, but then again, of course, I don't decide what goes in that book, but that's my only critique of the story. Other than that, Louisa doesn't waste words and keeps it flowing nicely,

With the current conflict in Iran going, I thought to myself. "How about I learn some more about Iran", other than a book on the Iran-Contra Affair years ago. It was a good book, and shows what the methodology of the Iranian government, and how it came to be, up until I believe 2024, before Trump's second term. Overall it's a slow read, but informative. I skipped the nuclear deal stuff because well... I think I heard enough about it, and felt that while it's good to learn som

It's David Drake, and those who know, know. This is a compilation of his selected stories from Hammer's Slammers and another storyline that I'm not familiar with. Anyway, the book has a reference to his story of the Bolo super tank series, and probably the least liked of them, along with a couple others that I didn't read and like. As a military veteran who served in Iraq and Afghanistan, the Afterword is perhaps the best that I've read so far by him. He acknowledges the wars

Like all of Jeffrey Matucha's books, it takes you to the land of Punk that I could have at some point existed in. However, the book is about Skye, and frankly, she goes through a lot, and at the end, it isn't surprising. In a way, I expected it earlier, but it took its sweet time getting to the downfall. It's carried on into another book, which at some point I will read (another book I just bought is taking priority), but the book is good, and harkens to the punk life that as

I mean, yeah, it gets better towards the end, and frankly, it's a book to consider reading at least once. It's probably what the Trump Administration is shooting for, and the parallels are pretty interesting. While thankfully this story (to some degree) is fiction, the realities of what happens in Russia, China, and now, the USA, are what dictators hope for. It's a chilling tale and sure to raise some questions on what the Trump Administration wants. All dictators want what t

Unfortunately I'm having some technical issues reading this book. For those who finished it, I applaud you, but it seems Kindle just doesn't want me to read this book. From what I did read however, was a way to pick out who's who in the Christian Nationalist spectrum. It is a somewhat eye-opener, but also the methods of the Christian Nationalist movement is a little easier to understand, and deal with. The key to learning about your enemy is how they tick, and what they think

As Army FMs go this is an informative one, to say the least. The book is in itself in the boring vernacular of the manuals that the Army puts out. It takes no sides, and focuses on the manual content that it's supposed to. Some of this I had picked up elsewhere, so I skipped a few portions of the book, since it wasn't relevant to me needing just plain information. The interesting note is that it was taken from the original manual written years ago. More or less, it's a rehash

The only knock against this book is how it's formatted. It's done sometimes with some US Army books, but overall, it's tolerable, so I'd like to give it 4.5 stars. Other than that, it's a good read. As I learn more and get curious, I wanted to get an idea of feminism, so why not just buy a book on it? This isn't the last and only book on the subject, but as I peel away some layers of thought, I thought it would be interesting to read it. And it's good, real good, and descript

As an ending to the series, it's interesting how this all turned out with the series end. The book was good to read, and I frankly wish it would continue on. But, as I think about it, it was a good way to close up the series, too. JN Chaney made sure to make sure that the story had ended. Whether or not he'll pursue (there is a "prequel" series out now) the universe as it ended, but if it does, I'll be sure to read it. 5 out of 5 stars. https://amzn.to/40a6hNX