1. Eyes of the Dragon by Stephen King
2. Misery by Stephen King
3. Such Men As These by David Sears

1. The Two Towers by J.R.R. Tolkien
2. The Return of the King by J.R.R. Tolkien
3. The Gunslinger: I The Dark Tower by Stephen King
4. Different Seasons by Stephen King
5. The Black Widows by Alex Taylor
6. The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich by William L. Shirer
7. The Invisible Man by H.G. Wells
8. Starship Troopers by Robert A. Heinlein
9. American Government: Roots and Reform by O’Connor, Sabato, and Yanus
10. American Government 2e by Krutz, Glen
11. Profiles in Courage by John F. Kennedy
12. All The Presidents Men by Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward
13. The Island of Dr. Moreau by H. G. Wells
14. Rage by Stephen King
15. Christine by Stephen King
16. 1776 by David McCullough
17. Truman by David McCullough
18. Cycle of the Werewolf by Stephen King
19. John Adams by David McCullough

2020 is a year for the history books that those of us who lived through it will not soon forget.  Will it be remembered in the long run?  Do many people remember the events of 1918 or even how bad 1969 was?  Only those that were alive during those events remember.  For the rest of us, it’s through books that we learn these events.  When we open those books and devour their information to create our knowledge, the one aspect that is lost is the human element.  We’ll forever remember 2020.  Future generations will read about it and learn; however, will they will never feel its real impact as we will always remember.   

              For the readers of this blog, the few who follow it, I fell very short of my reading goal.  Like many, I had many life-altering events in 2020.  Many were beautiful, and some not as good.  I retired from the profession that I enjoyed for over 22 years.  We moved from Europe and back to the United States.  Also, still working on finishing that Graduate degree.  This doesn’t mean that I quit reading, far from it.  For many months, my priorities had changed as we made our life-altering maneuvers. Like many choices, reading had to take a backbench to other preferences.

              This year, I’ve changed my personal challenges instead of finishing a set number of books.  My goal is to read an hour every day.  This doesn’t include anything on the internet or e-mail.  I’ve kept to that goal.  I’ve discovered that it feels good knowing that I’ve at least accomplished 1 hour in a book a day.  I don’t feel bad anymore if I look at a book that I’m reading and knowing that I haven’t picked it up in a few days.  I’m hoping to turn this tasking from a goal to a good habit. 

              I hope that everyone had a wonderful holiday and enjoy many good stories this year!    

Lopaka

Man the State and War: A Theoretical Analysis by Kenneth N. Waltz
1954/264pgs

Man the State and War is an analysis of three images and how they relate to warfare. First, man and conflict of human nature. Could we ever have peace in the world with our natural instinct to want what someone else has?

When looking at State, if one takes a state and use man in that model. Each State then is asked from a more Macro level, can the need of many or minority cause or prevent warfare. Finally, war and how it relates with politics. Marxism versus Capitalism. Finally concluding with the question, can warfare ever be eliminated?

Naturally, there is more in the book as this is the book that attempts to lay the foundation of International Relations with the “Three Images”. This is a required reading for my degree, although, I did find the book very interesting and like just and unjust wars, I couldn’t put it down. However, unless you are interested in the International Relations discipline, which means you have or will have to read this book, I don’t think is a reading for everyone.

Lopaka

How Democracies Die by Steven Levitsky & Daniel Ziblatt
2018 312 pgs (231 reading)

First, a fair warning, if someone is a die-hard Republican and/or Trump lover, they should not read this book.  Their blood will boil, head spin around, and quite possibly implode.

Good news for me, I’m Independent, so I didn’t dance as I devoured its contents or get upset at what was said.  As a person that has written history and is an ardent student of it, I enjoyed the lessons.

Both authors are experts/teachers of the subject of democracies from around the world and what has caused them to fall.  One is a specialist in Europe and the other in South America.  Using lessons of infamous authoritarian governments like Chile’s Pinochet and Venezuela’s, Chávez.  Also, Hitler’s rise to power in 1930’s to current situations like Putin’s Russia and Ukraine.   They compare our current administration’s actions in the last year, plus what was said before the elections, to what happened in other nations and consummate the path our nation is currently heading.

They explain how our nation has been working politically since the forming of our constitution to where it is today.  Also, why we also never had a political picture like we do now and what prevented it.  Finally, we how could possibly heal the current political situation and become the democratic giant that other nations follow.

I know that was vague, however, I don’t want to give up to much in the book.  I really enjoyed it.  I started and finished it in about a day and I’m a very slow reader.

Although like any book that deals with the world of politics, your view will determine your take on the book.

Enjoy your reading!

Lopaka

Welcome to 2018!

First, I don’t believe in New Year’s resolutions as many people try to start the year in a better direction.  I honestly believe that we should always be trying to improve or make ourselves better throughout our lifetime.  So, I don’t need a specific day in a year to start that.

Now, one challenge that I want to make is reading.  I honestly believe that we should never stop reading.  However, we shouldn’t always just read what we enjoy reading.  We should challenge ourselves.  Sometimes, you might be surprised at what you would read that normally you wouldn’t pick up.

So, this year, my personal challenge is to read 15 books in the year.

5 History Books
5 Classic Books
5 Modern Books (Within the last 5 years)

Will I finish this challenge, I don’t know.  It will be fun trying.

How to start this challenge?

Finish the current book that I’m in…

The Stand by Stephen King.  On page 465 of 1,176…only 36% of the book complete.

Lopaka

Update: 25 Oct 18, As of today, I’ve finished 13 books in my 15 book challenge. They are not in the categories that I listed. However, I’m very happy that we are almost to November and I’m only 2 books away from completing 15 this year.

Update: 26 Nov 18, Challenge complete. 15 books in 11 months. I’m excited to see how many more I might be able to complete before the end of the year.

The last Ian Fleming bond novel.  Was not a polished or full as his previous books.  However, Fleming died before the book was edited by him.

Overall, the story is not back.  Better than the movie, in my opinion.  The book is very short, only 160 pages.  Considering that all the rest were 220+ pages, really make this one small.  Also, the story goes very fast.  However, in the end, I prefer this story over the one that was created for the movie.   I wouldn’t recommend it for someone to read as a first Ian Fleming novel.  If I have to suggest, the books that I would suggest are Dr No., From Russia With Love, and Casino Royal.

Now, Octopussy and the Living Daylights to complete.

Lopaka 

Book seven in the James Bond series.  Unlike the previous books, this is a collection of short stories that Ian Fleming wrote.  Three of the bond movies are titled after the stories in the books.  A View to a Kill, For Your Eyes Only, and Quantum of Solace.  For Your Eyes Only and Risico have characters and a few plot elements for the movie For Your Eye’s Only.  The other two stories only contribute the titles and none of the story elements.  The interesting story to read was Quantum of Solace which was written in a different perspective for a Bond story.

Overall, this book was an easy read and enjoyable collection of stories.