Jet Age: The Comet, the 707, and the Race to Shrink the World by Sam Howe Verhovek Avery, 2010 [Challenge # 25: A book in which airplanes figure prominently.] Hubris and aviation have a long, intertwined history together. Overconfidence in a flight control system most likely caused the recent crashes of a Boeing 737 Max …
In Pharaoh’s Army by Tobias Wolff Vintage Books, 1995 [Challenge # 24: A book about war, on the lines or the home front, fiction or nonfiction.] For my War is Hell selection I originally chose A Delicate Truth by John le Carré, and was stoked to read it because I had recently enjoyed the 2016 …
The Worm Ouroboros by E. R. Eddison Ballantine Books, New York, 1967 [Challenge # 48: A high fantasy] The Worm Ouroboros is one of the great granddaddies of fantasy, sandwiched between Lord Dunsany, who was an influence, and J.R.R. Tolkien, who received its influence. As such, it’s a kind of a bridge, but one that …
Who I Am by Peter Townsend Harper Collins Publishers, Kindle edition, 2012 [For extra credit: A biography or autobiography about someone still alive.] I had planned to finish up my 2017 Reading Challenge with Moon Shot: The Inside Story of America’s Race to the Moon, by Alan Shepard and Deke Slayton, but it was stolen, along …
A Wrinkle in Time by Madelene L’Engle Farrar, Straus, and Giroux, 2010 (Originally published in 1962) [Challenge # 3: A book you loved as a child.] Like many children of a certain generation, I read Madeleine L’Engle’s classic SF novel A Wrinkle in Time in fifth or sixth grade and fell in love with it. …
Some “lively” music always makes work go more quickly, don’t you agree? Rockabilly fun with The Creature from the Black Lagoon, who also moonlights as a record juggler. The title is a pun on “instrumentals.” Swedish lady sings some early rock and roll. The picture is cool and shows she’s not afraid to …