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Another book about WW II that might interest you is The Wartime Journals of Charles A. Lindbergh.
I read it almost 50 years ago but think my impressions are fairly clear; I thought at times it could be boring and tedious but it's also the journals of a man who was involved in everything from Ford building B-24 bombers in one of its plants to flying combat missions in the South Pacific as a civilian, something that could have led to his execution had he been captured. Might be worth checking with your local library and I did see some used copies on Amazon for as little as $5.98 with free shipping. Amazon FWIW can be a source of some real bargains on used books, many of which can appear almost new for very little $$$.
Thanks, will keep it mind. I use Amazon used books and also thriftbooks.com....most there are $3.79 or so. Have a good WWII library built up from there.
There's a thread on D-Day June 6 remembrance under History category thread.
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Originally Posted by greatblueheron
Thanks, will keep it mind. I use Amazon used books and also thriftbooks.com....most there are $3.79 or so. Have a good WWII library built up from there.
There's a thread on D-Day June 6 remembrance under History category thread.
Thanks, I'll have to take a look. It wasn't 'til fairly recently I saw an aerial photo of Pointe du Hoc which made it crystal clear what a commanding view and field of fire the Germans had from that position. Another one of those operations whose scale is difficult to fully understand.
Thanks, I'll have to take a look. It wasn't 'til fairly recently I saw an aerial photo of Pointe du Hoc which made it crystal clear what a commanding view and field of fire the Germans had from that position. Another one of those operations whose scale is difficult to fully understand.
I'm getting off topic but I know.....some of those operations were mind boggling, what little I know.
I still can't get over how the Germans missed the buildup of ships, planes, infantry prior to the big day. They were expecting it elsewhere and in better weather but still....someone really missed it!
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Nickel and Dimed, by Barbara Ehrenreich.
Written in 2001, nonfiction, the author takes time from her lucrative writing career to stay in 3 places in the US, to see if she can "make it" on minimum wage in those communities.
If you liked Hand to Mouth, you'll like this one, although it's a little dated.
She works as a waitress, as a housekeeper, and for Walmart. She thinly disguises the identities of her coworkers and employers in the first two cases, but she pulls no punches and gives it to Walmart right between the eyes. Since this was a bestseller, I'm sure Walmart is very aware of her commentary, and with any luck, they've changed some of their more demeaning employee policies
I have a renewed respect for people trying to get by on minimum wage, and appreciate her candor about how physically exhausting long shifts doing labor on your feet can be.
But I came away thinking she really didn't TRY hard enough to make it work out ok. She worked very hard at her jobs, but didn't attempt to find a small cheap apartment with a roommate, for example, she lived by herself in the cheapest things available, or get a crockpot or hot plate to cook her own meals and ended up eating only fast food.
She did acknowledge, in extremely lengthy and detailed descriptions of the harrowing injuries the family suffered, that there were different memories of exactly how the accident occurred or who was present at the time. And I believe - and don't think anyone really truly doesn't agree - that her brother "Shawn" was violent. And the Dad is a prepper and paranoid.
When I saw the pic of her father taken a year after the burning explosion, and he looks completely and totally normal, no scarring whatsoever, I really don't know what to think. All her descriptions of him in the years following the accident are of strangers gasping and looking away in shock, he couldn't make facial expressions, the bottom of his face was gone, the "hole where his mouth used to be", etc. It's just not true. And I don't know how to put that in the context of the book.
If you saw a picture of Gene Westover, you weren't looking at a picture of her father (even though that's the name she gave him in the book).
The Winds of War (The Henry Family #1), Herman Wouk (1971).
^ Put this down as I have a hardcover coming up due with no renewals.
So now I'm reading Lights Out: Sleep, Sugar, and Survival, T.S. Wiley, Bent Formby (2000). Another great book on sleep - the other one being Dr. Mathew Walker's Why We Sleep (2017). Lights Out is great - a page turner.
Written in 2001, nonfiction, the author takes time from her lucrative writing career to stay in 3 places in the US, to see if she can "make it" on minimum wage in those communities.
If you liked Hand to Mouth, you'll like this one, although it's a little dated.
She works as a waitress, as a housekeeper, and for Walmart. She thinly disguises the identities of her coworkers and employers in the first two cases, but she pulls no punches and gives it to Walmart right between the eyes. Since this was a bestseller, I'm sure Walmart is very aware of her commentary, and with any luck, they've changed some of their more demeaning employee policies
I have a renewed respect for people trying to get by on minimum wage, and appreciate her candor about how physically exhausting long shifts doing labor on your feet can be.
But I came away thinking she really didn't TRY hard enough to make it work out ok. She worked very hard at her jobs, but didn't attempt to find a small cheap apartment with a roommate, for example, she lived by herself in the cheapest things available, or get a crockpot or hot plate to cook her own meals and ended up eating only fast food.
Worth the read.
Read this when it came out. Made me really glad I went to college instead of staying a waitress!
Living hand to mouth is what many do....makes you think when you come upon minimum wage workers. Many have children too....
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but think my impressions are fairly clear; I thought at times it could be boring and tedious but it's also the journals of a man who was involved in everything from Ford building B-24 bombers in one of its plants to flying combat missions in the South Pacific as a civilian, something that could have led to his execution had he been captured. Might be worth checking with your local library and I did see some used copies on Amazon for as little as $5.98 with free shipping. Amazon FWIW can be a source of some real bargains on used books, many of which can appear almost new for very little $$$.
