Read any good books lately?
We're sure you or your spouse have come across some books that were really worth the read, and we're thinking other Prep '58 guys and family members might like them too. Cos suggested that we set some space aside to share info on these books, and ask the gang for a brief review of the books they recommend.
The response has been excellent, and we decided to provide a separate page for the recommendations, and keep them all on line as a Prep '58 Reading List. If you have a book that you think the gang would like, send in a review and we will feature it in the Blog, and make it part of the Reading List on this page.
This section of the Library holds reviews from 2023 to the present.
Feb 2025 - Bob Filoramo sent in this addition to our Library...
Sea Stories by Admiral William McRaven
"Just spent a half hour cruising through the Blog's book reviews. Very impressive! Wide ranging. Challenging.
With that in mind, I would recommend a book I read on our recent So. Caribbean cruise.
The book, Sea Stories, by Admiral William Mc Raven is his story of becoming a Navy Seal and the wild adventures that followed. His life as a Seal led him and his men through raid after raid, rescue after rescue, not without severe injuries and loss of life.
After a serious parachuting accident essentially grounded him, he became one of the high- level planners of top secret raids throughout the world. One of these was the deeply detailed planning of the successful raid on Osama bin Laden's compound in Pakistan. McRaven orchestrated the entire attack, having received the approval of the Pentagon, FBI, CIA and another set of acronyms leading to the final GO from President Obama.
William McRaven is fearless, innovative, a leader of men, one of the best of the best.
Peace, Bob
Feb. 2025 - Bill Wittman sent in this review
Bill's Review
It was good fortune that recently brought Herman Melville’s Moby Dick to my reading. I was too young at the Prep. Too busy later-on. Now was the opportune time.
The book was published in 1851, and not well received. Critics and friends said it was too long - too much information. In appearance they seem to be correct. My tome has 626 pages, including text and maps.
But success prevailed. Today Moby Dick is recognized as a seminal book on human experiences and consequences of unbridled power and willfulness.
I found rich insights concerning our nature, prejudices, and responses. There is an abundant respect for the environment and the creatures who inhabit it. Unfortunately, I feel the hubris identified by Melville continues in our contemporary story.
I feel it is an easy read, with occasional challenges because of less familiar terms. Sometimes I would look up words - but mostly I just read through. While the heft seems daunting, the 135 chapters are mostly 5-10 pages long - making it quite digestible. I choose to read a couple of chapters at a time - 15 minutes a bite. Feasting for two months. Some readers would be more efficient.
If you feel it might be fun to read Moby Dick with others, there is an annual opportunity. Every year in New Bedford, hundreds of people gather for a Moby Dick Marathon. It is suitably held at the New Bedford Whaling Museum in Massachusetts. During a weekend, individuals take turns to complete a 25-hour read.
Check it out - WCVB Channel 5 Boston for a brief coverage.
Bill's Review in Verse
Bill's Review in Verse
Did you ever meet Ishmael?
I have
It was mid-November
There were several at the bar
A wizened guy
Was in the shadows
Nursing a stale beer.
I thought I would
Be his company
He would be mine
Brighten the night.
I asked to sit
The eyes gave
A perceptible nod
My name is Bill
‘Call me Ishmael’.
From there flowed
A fantastic story
A torturous saga
Seemingly about whaling
While masking a parable
of our tangled humanity.
Starting in New Bedford
A collection of random men
Sign aboard the Pequod
Without regard
Dreaming of possibilities
Resisting thought.
No questions about
The rumors concerning
Their experienced captain
His missing a leg
How his shattering event
Had twisted his mind.
Captain Ahab’s determination
To exact mortal revenge
On the infamous whale
Moby Dick
Would shape the destiny
Of everyone’s life.
During the tale
Ishmael described
Relationships and conflicts
Dreams and courage
Killing and slaughters
The fanatical pursuit of revenge
In an unforgiving environment
A home for hubris.
OCT 2024 - Bob Filoramo sent in this addition to our Library...
5 Novels by Dean Koontz
"Next is a series of books by Dean Koontz centered on the efforts of rogue FBI agent Jane Hawk to destroy a network of would-be world controllers using nano-tech brain implants to control and/or eliminate people. Their targets are people who would be genuine leaders who might block the plans of the "Arcadian" tech world rulers.
Jane's husband, a decorated military hero, has been "inoculated" with a nano-implant and told to kill himself, which he does by cutting his own throat with his K-Bar knife.
Jane goes rogue and begins a personal search and destroy mission to eliminate the Arcadian New World Order. She is tough, resilient, resourceful, at times merciless, and utterly driven to avenge her husband's death and protect her 5 year old son whom the ARCADIANS have threatened with rape and other forms of brutality at the hands of groups like ISIS and Boko-Haram. Jane has sheltered him with friends living mostly off the grid.
The five novels are filled with episode after episode of Jane besting and destroying some of the most evil, sinister characters one can imagine.
The five novels are " The Silent Corner'; "The Whispering Room"; "The Forbidden Door"; "The Crooked Staircase"; and "The Night Window".
The books can be read separately or in sequence., starting with "The Silent Corner".
Dean Koontz is a gifted writer with a sometimes flamboyant imagination and occasional flourishes of pure poetry woven into the narrative.
I am currently rereading the series.
Bob"
OCT 2024 - Bob Filoramo sent in this addition to our Library...
Joan of Arc
BY Mark Twain
"This summer I reread Mark Twain's "Joan of Arc'.
Twain considers it his best book. It took him 12 years to research and write it. Most people know the basic story: Joan hears several saints leading her to leave her small rural town to take command of the desultory French army, defeat the British and have the Dauphin crowned king at Reims.
Twain tells Joan's story based on existing documents and histories. The book is quite readable. Twain's description of Joan's last days in prison, the incredible abuse she experienced at the hands of Bishop Cauchon and her ultimate death by fire at the stake are very compelling. Joan died branded as a heretic.
A recent book, "The Retrial of Joan of Arc" sets the record straight. Joan is a saint. One can only imagine where Cauchon landed.
Bob"
MAR 2024 - Bill Wittman sent in this addition to our Library...
POINTS OF VIEW
BY Bill Wittman
"I was looking at posting some fresh images on the Prep Blog and saw it as an opportunity to show some recent black and white film photography.
A "few pictures" grew to 80 images. It got to be so much fun, that I decided to turn the Blog submission into a book. I got a bit of help from Vince, who had the software to finalize the cover design concept.
I am very pleased with the result. It's worth a bit more than just a glance.
The book will be available soon thru Blurb." Bill
Vince adds...
"I had the opportunity to see this amazing collection of images as I was putting the website together, and I think you will be just as impressed with them as I am."
JAN 2024 - Bill Wittman sent in this addition to our Library...
THE FIRST... I was present at the creation
BY Bill Wittman
"Over the past while, I have been gathering pieces of science and spiritual inspiration about the beginning of the universe, our being, and the birth of Wisdom. I have just put them into a publication: ‘The First, I was present at creation’.
‘The First’ looks at some of the present understandings of the ‘How’ and ‘Why’ of existence and connects them with current space science, Old Testament insights, and the potential advent of Wisdom. It includes photography and poetry. In all, an assembling of some rich elements to explore age old questions.
The primary resources that went into the project include recent space information and theories from the James Webb Space Telescope, Old Testament inspiration and interpretation of the ancient Hebrew writers - (Proverbs and Genesis), plus personal experiences.
The book is in soft cover magazine format and was made with Blurb’s self-publishing software. Blurb also provides a distribution platform for purchasing the publication and can fulfill orders one at a time. If you go to the Blurb site and click on the book cover, you can sample the first several pages.
The purchase price is $38.50, plus shipping. Blurb has special promotions from time to time.
Dec 2023 - Bob Filoramo sent in this review...
THE DAY THE WORLD CAME TO TOWN
BY JIM DEFEDE
"This is the story about 38 of the multitude of planes in the air when the World Trade Center towers went down. The 38 were headed all over the world, but the mandate to land at the nearest airport meant land or be shot out of the air. They landed in the town of Gander, Newfoundland which had an international airport.
The story is about the extraordinary welcome and on-going care given by the people of Gander and surrounding towns to all passengers of all planes for several days. The townspeople took folks into their homes or found them other places to stay, fed and entertained them.
Passengers were sheltered in the elementary school where they were able to fax letters to loved ones. Members of a local animal protection agency crawled into the cargo holds of the jets to feed and care for all the animals on the flights. After 6 unbelievable days, pilots were given the permission to begin leaving Gander and head for their original destinations.
This is the remarkable, refreshing story of the innate goodness and generosity of ordinary people. So different from our daily news. "
June 2023 - Vince sent in this review...
My brother Joe, '67 gave me this book as a Christmas gift some time ago, and I refer to it often, when something I am looking into reveals some connection to past events in history. Here is Joe's review, penned on the Christmas card he sent with the gift. The book is available at Amazon.
"Vince,
As I lay in bed last winter, I watched this marvelous show on PBS on which this man argued with great wit that history and events aren't as linear, reasonable and secure as we have been urged to believe.
Here was an historian telling us that in order to be able to deal with the present, the future and technology and it's impact, we must look at the past for what is has truly been.
Since I've often thought of your idea that we are all, in fact, "winging it", we hope you will enjoy this book which very much agrees with you.
Merry Christmas, Joe "
May 2023 - Bob Filoramo sent in this review...
"I just finished reading John Glenn's autobiography. John Glenn rose from a happy kid in a small town in Ohio to becoming the first American astronaut to orbit the earth and, later, the oldest astronaut to spend 9 days in the orbiting Space Station at age 77.
Along the way, he married his elementary school, hometown sweetheart after recently joining the Marines, then becoming a pilot in the war in the Pacific in WWII and later, fighting Russians Migs in the Korean war.
His love of flying led him to his next adventure, working as a test pilot. However, living on his $15,000 a year Marine salary with a young family no longer worked, so he entered the business world, became a huge success and used that as a springboard to run successfully for the Senate.
I lost count of the number of places he and his family moved to throughout his varied careers. His wife, Annie, supported him unconditionally through their many moves and extraordinary challenges.
John Glenn was a man dedicated to his family and his country, willing to endure intense demands of his physical and emotional endurance throughout the varied chapters of his life. His detailed descriptions of the brutal types of tests and medical examinations he was subjected to are worth a read by themselves. He, one of the first 7 astronauts, endured far more than those who later followed them. They were tough, manly men. This was a very inspiring book."
May 2023 - Vince Grillo sent in this review...
Close to Shore tells the story of the summer of 1916, when a rogue Great White shark attacked swimmers along the New Jersey shore, triggering mass hysteria and launching the most extensive shark hunt in history.
In July 1916, a lone Great White left its usual deep-ocean habitat and headed in the direction of the New Jersey shoreline. There, near the towns of Beach Haven and Spring Lake--and, incredibly, a farming community eleven miles inland--the most ferocious and unpredictable of predators began a deadly rampage: the first shark attacks on swimmers in U.S. history.
A great read... Once you are into it, it is difficult to put down. Enjoy
Vince
March 2023 - Vince Grillo sent in this review...
I just finished reading THE LAST PIRATE OF NEW YORK, by Rich Cohen.
The story focuses on a horrific multiple murder, the capture of the culprit by a star detective, and the trial, but it reveals a lot about the state of the nation, and particularly New York City, around the time of the Civil War.
At the center of this book is Albert Hicks (circa 1820-1860), the supposed founding father of the New York underworld, and his journey from a troubled childhood to his eventual demise.
I couldn't put it down. It was the perfect book to take on vacation.
Vince