GONE FISHIN' (EASY RAWLINS #6)

GONE FISHIN'  (EASY RAWLINS #6)                           WALTER MOSLEY
Posted: Oct. 15, 2013

 In the beginning...there was Ezekiel "Easy" Rawlins and Raymond "Mouse" Alexander -- two young men setting out in life, hitting the road in a "borrowed" '36 Ford headed for Pariah, Texas. The volatile Mouse wants to retrieve money from his stepfather so he can marry his EttaMae. But on their steamy bayou excursion, Mouse will choose murder as a way out, while Easy's past liaison with EttaMae floats precariously in his memory. Easy and Mouse are coming of age -- and everything they ever knew about friendship and about themselves is coming apart at the seams....


HUBBY'S REVIEW:

In this book Easy and Mouse go back to his home town. This book goes back in time and catches you on these two and how their friendship came to be. This right before Mouse is going to get married and he believes his step dad owes him money from when his mother died. Easy doesn’t won’t to go but does. He starts to regret it on the drive there when they pick up two hitch hikers. From there for Easy it just goes downhill. He is able to figure some things out about his life but he knows Mouse is up to no good. Needless to say all of Easy fears or thoughts come true. Too many things happen to the point that it makes him sick. On the drive home Mouse tells him what happened and really Easy is too scared to do anything else but listen. He knows friends or not he could be next. The wedding comes and after that Easy leaves and then within the year he is in the army and once the war is over he moves to L.A. This is a good book to get you caught up on the early life of these two Easy and Mouse. A good and exciting story.

Glorious War: The Civil War Adventures of George Armstrong Custer

GLORIOUS WAR:THE CIVIL WAR ADVENTURE OF GEORGE ARMSTRONG CUSTER
THOM HATCH                                                                  Posted: Oct. 15, 2013


 Glorious War, the thrilling and definitive biography of George Armstrong Custer’s Civil War years, is nothing short of a heart-pounding cavalry charge through the battlefield heroics that thrust the gallant young officer into the national spotlight in the midst of the country’s darkest hours. From West Point to the daring actions that propelled him to the rank of general at age twenty-three to his unlikely romance with Libbie Bacon, Custer’s exploits are the stuff of legend.

Always leading his men from the front with a personal courage seldom seen before or since, he was a key part of nearly every major engagement in the east. Not only did Custer capture the first battle flag taken by the Union and receive the white flag of surrender at Appomattox, but his field generalship at Gettysburg against Confederate cavalry General Jeb Stuart had historic implications in changing the course of that pivotal battle.

For decades, historians have looked at Custer strictly through the lens of his death on the frontier, casting him as a failure. While some may say that the events that took place at the Little Big Horn are illustrative of America’s bloody westward expansion, they have in the process unjustly eclipsed Custer’s otherwise extraordinarily life and outstanding career and fall far short of encompassing his incredible service to his country. This biography of thundering cannons, pounding hooves, and stunning successes tells the true story of the origins of one of history’s most dynamic and misunderstood figures. Award-winning historian Thom Hatch reexamines Custer’s early career to rebalance the scales and show why Custer’s epic fall could never have happened without the spectacular rise that made him an American legend.

HUBBY'S REVIEW:

This is a much different story about Custer. You see a little bit of his early home life but then you move on to West Point. Where he may not have looked like his was a good student but he had to be for all of the demerits he got. Because those took off points of grade or marks but he still had enough to come back every year. He did make a name for himself there and for the most part he was looking at having a good time. It was said that he was an excellent horse rider. When he was going there it was a five year school but with war being a possibility they changed it to four years. He was looking at graduating in 1861. Before graduation was the beginnings of the. Some of the cadets came in and left before graduating to go fight for the south. One was his roommate and some of his closest friends. He tried to talk them out of leaving at least until after graduating. He could not see going so soon, but they all shook hands and knew that at some point they would see one another again. He then was sent to Washington and meet with General Scott, who gave him a choice to stay in Washington or go out “He said he wanted to go out to the action”. With that he was sent to the 2nd cavalry, it was the beginning of Bull Run. From this time forward he was involved in most every battle except the ones in the west He of course is known for Gettysburg. But his men would not have followed that day if there were not days before that one. Battles that looked hopeless he would somehow change. Not change the big picture but change it so his men could come out and fight another day. He really believed in not leaving anyone behind. In more than one instance he would ride in where a group of his men were surrounded and then look for a weak point. Then leading the way in a saber charge with his men following they would break free. A few times the enemy didn’t know what happened he turned around and attacked. Simply amazing. He destroyed supply lines and yes he even argued with people. But he was always fighting for with his men. The Michigan cavalry were given some of the tougher assignments and they always followed troughed. In one battle he had his cannons open up from one side and part of his troops there they started the attack to draw out the south. Once the South committed to the attack he had the rest of his troops attack from the other side. Once the Southern general knew what was happening it was too late to call retreat. It was battles like these that made a name for himself. He would stand and fight with his men and he led them into battle. As a general that impressive not everyone did that. It was also towards the end of the war that he runs into Major Reno, yes the same one who does not show up at Little Big Horn. Here you find out he was the first to capture an enemy flag and then accepted the surrender. And he stood and fought at Little Big Horn just like he did during the civil war. With his men thinking they were going to overcome. This time the Indians had Springfield rifles and the troopers had to reload after every shot. The tables were turn but he stood in and did his duty. That is what this book was trying to get people to see. That Armstrong was following orders and was doing his duty and for that he should be honored as the true soldier that he was and for the proud way he cared himself as an officer in the U.S. ARMY and with that I agree. A fantastic book and a different story about a man that we only see one side.

THE ASSASSINATION OF THE ARCHDUKE

THE ASSASSINATION OF THE ARCHDUKE     GREG KING & SUE WOOLMANS
Posted: Oct. 15, 2013

 Drawing on unpublished letters and rare primary sources, King and Woolmans tell the true story behind the tragic romance and brutal assassination that sparked World War I

In the summer of 1914, three great empires dominated Europe: Germany, Russia, and Austria-Hungary. Four years later all had vanished in the chaos of World War I. One event precipitated the conflict, and at its heart was a tragic love story. When Austrian heir Archduke Franz Ferdinand married for love against the wishes of the emperor, he and his wife Sophie were humiliated and shunned, yet they remained devoted to each other and to their children. The two bullets fired in Sarajevo not only ended their love story, but also led to war and a century of conflict.

Set against a backdrop of glittering privilege, The Assassination of the Archduke combines royal history, touching romance, and political murder in a moving portrait of the end of an era. One hundred years after the event, it offers the startling truth behind the Sarajevo assassinations, including Serbian complicity and examines rumors of conspiracy and official negligence. Events in Sarajevo also doomed the couple’s children to lives of loss, exile, and the horrors of Nazi concentration camps, their plight echoing the horrors unleashed by their parents’ deaths. Challenging a century of myth, The Assassination of the Archduke resonates as a very human story of love destroyed by murder, revolution, and war.

HUBBY'S REVIEW:

This book or story of the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife Sophie. Theirs is truly a love story. He the Duke and she not being of as same standing family wise were made to be out cast by his uncle Franz Josef. He made Ferdinand sign away part of his title and wealth. He did this saying that his wife was common. This coming from a man who had never been faithful to any of his wife’s. Once they had children they became different parents than any other royalty. They spent time with their children ate meals with them read with went on trips with them. These were things that royalty did not do they had someone else raise their children. Also as a couple they spent as much time together as they could. Even though she could not go to some of the functions and stand next to her husband. When they did go to other counties she was treated as an equal to her husband. Now came the time when he was order to go Bosnia to inspect the troops. This was something he did not want to do but was order to do. He also to make an appearance in Sarajevo. Here is another part of the story I never read about before. There was no security, that is the troops that he just came from were left out of town even though they wanted to provide security. Second the route he was traveling was posted months in advanced, third the day it was planned for June 28. St Vitus Day, is a Serb holiday from the battle of 1389 of Kosovo, when the Turkish army had reduced Serbia to the vassals of the Ottoman Empire. This was not the time to have them come to town. The city official in charge ordered no soldier in town his was Potiorek. In this book it is thought that he worked with the Black Hand and with a man named Dimitrijevic, he was a colonel in the Serbian Intelligence. He also led the coup in 1903 to assassinate King Alexander & Queen Draga.He also was part of two other plots in 1911 and 1914. Again nothing was done. When the car came through town first a bomb was thrown at them. The arch duke deflected it away and then he and his wife went to the hospital to check on the injured people. They went back out only to have the driver take a wrong turn. That is when they were both shot and killed. Now because she was not of stature the Prince had both bodies brought home in ordinary train cars, but the people in different towns found out and lined the way. The palace did move even though the people were now for the couple. Now the story goes through WWI and what happened to the children. It then picks up in the 1930’s in Germany, Hitler is in power and he puts the two oldest sons who are men now in prison. They end up in Dachau from 1938 to almost 1940. One gets out the other one is transferred to a work camp in Berlin for other few months before he is released. The makes it through the war a few deaths when one of the sons dies in the 50’s many of the survivors walk behind his casket in honor of him. A fascinating book about a story that you only get one side. This is for everyone who likes history or a good love story. Changes my way of thinking about World War 1, too many people were involved can’t be because of one man. Great book.

WHEN MOUNTAINS MOVE (INTO THE FREE #2)

WHEN MOUNTAINS MOVE                      JULIE CANTRELL
Posted: Oct. 15, 2013

 It is the spring of 1943. With a wedding and a cross-country move, Millie’s world is about to change forever. If only her past could change with it. Soon after the break of day, Bump will become Millie’s husband. And then, if all goes as planned, they will leave the rain-soaked fields of Mississippi and head for the wilds of the Colorado Rockies. As Millie tries to forget a dark secret, she hasn’t yet realized how drastically those past experiences will impact the coming days.For most of Millie’s life, being free felt about as unlikely as the mountains moving. But she’s about to discover that sometimes in life, we are given second chances, and that the only thing bigger than her past … is her future.

HUBBY'S REVIEW:

This was a story about a young couple during World War 2, getting married in Louisiana and moving that same day to Colorado. The young couple were going to take over a ranch for a man who bought it. After so many years if it became profitable they could take it over or get so much in cash and start a new somewhere else. The young man not knowing that his bride was raped before they had gotten married. This caused for some added drama because after they were in Colorado for a few months he brought her grandmother to live with them. She knew at once that she was with child and then she told her grandmother what had happen. Her grandmother told her that the child was wanted regardless of how she felt and she needed to tell her husband. She did not but she did have the baby and knew her grandmother was right. While this was all going on the husband who had gone to school to be a vet, was working more around the ranch with a hand they hired and a neighbor lady who lost her husband during the war was trying to come between them. He had to go on a cattle drive and when he got back things were worse between him and his wife. Still no one would talk, but he loved the little they had. Then one day out of the blue the man who rapped her shows up at their ranch he ends up confronting her with the child out on the trail and is taken care by nature. When her husband gets there they finally talk and she tells him everything. He hugs her and says I wish you would have told me sooner. The ranch is making money and they stay there. A very good story about real life.

THE BEST AMERICAN SPORTS WRITING

THE BEST AMERICAN SPORTS WRITING       J.R.MOEHRINGER
Posted: Oct. 15, 2013

 J. R. Moehringer, a Pulitzer Prize–winning feature writer and the author of The Tender Bar, has selected the best in sports writing from the past year. Chosen from more than 350 national, regional, and specialty publications and, increasingly, the top sports blogs, this collection showcases those journalists who are at the top of their game.

HUBBY'S REVIEW:

This book is filled with different stories, sports stories, but each one has a human touch to it. The first one is about a bull fighter and though I am not into that. This man was gouged by the bull on the left side of his face. It severed a nerve on the left side of his face so he could not talk or eat. Almost like a stroke. His wife and children trying to keep his spirits up but nothing would help. Finally she found a doctor who was willing to try to fix the nerve. He had the surgery and as he started to get better he decided that he wanted to get into the ring one more time. Like so many don’t won’t to stop until they sat it is time. He did and then he stopped. There is other stories about a young high school athlete who collapses on the basketball court. The electric paddles they had at the school was not charged. Don’t know if they would have worked because they found a problem with his heart. I did see this story on TV but the book story went into more detail. You got to meet the people who knew him and now miss him. There are many different type of stories. Some about running, there’s one about the friend of the Angel pitcher who died in a car crash and then he loses two more friends in a car crash. They had all grown up together and played baseball in a small town now he must continue on. The last story for me was the one that I could relate with. It is about football players but the part that no one talks about joint problems and pain medication. Though I did not play pro football I am dealing with joint pain in both knees loss of cartilage where it is bone on bone. So when he was doing this story I could relate. Then you have the teams who medicate to put the player back out there. Like any job when you start to complain you are feeling like you are going to get fired or in this case cut. So you either don’t say anything or you could end up hooked on some type of pain medication. Sad but true this does happen more than is reported and I hope more stories like this come out. Overall this was a great book.