Summer Reading + 2 Other Items

When movies end and computers crash, there’s always books.

1) Read “Parachute Infantry” by David K. Webster. Memoir of a former member of the acclaimed Easy Company. A pretty good read. What’s best about this book is Webster never claims to be an objective outsider to either the war or the men he served with. He clearly presents his opinions and his reasons for them while at the same time giving a whirlwind of detail about life on the front line in WWII. Very enjoyable.

2) Currently reading “American Gods” by Neil Gaiman. Man, this is weird. I mean, it’s a good weird but yikes. The stories about how all the old gods ended up in America are so horrifyingly wistful and shockingly morbid. Neil Gaiman shares with Terry Pratchett the uncomparable ability to be simultaneously funny, profane, reverent and cynically optimistic while still telling a fantastic story. One of the most disturbing, entertaining, mind-bending reads in a long while. And I’m only a third into it.

3) Received my summer reading order from Amazon. Check it out.
The Buried Book by David Damrosch
1634: The Baltic War by David Weber & Eric Flint
Saving Capitalism from the Capitalists by Raghuram G. Rajan & Luigi Zingales
An Army of Davids by Glenn Reynolds (aka Instapundit)

"2 Other Items"
1) The latest Pirates of the Caribbean movie may have been onto something with the whole green flash thing. Check it out. (via NASA’s Astronomy Picture of the Day)

2) “Transformers”: Wow! Seriously, this is the best movie I’ve seen all summer. It never tries to be anything more than a popcorn action movie BUT it’s a very, very well done popcorn action movie. It was also extremely funny. There were several scenes where everyone in my (packed) theater just lost it. Sam’s parents especially knocked it out of the park. Completely wild and wonderful ride.