The Benefits of Retirement: The Return of the Book

 

2021 Reading and Listening List

When I retired at the end of 2020, one personal commitment was to get back to reading. Over the last several years as job demands became a 7-day/week burden, the joy of reading took a backseat. With a sudden windfall of free time at hand my hardcover, e-book, and audio book vociferous appetite and consumption returned. Why hardcover? In the case of military history, I study the maps depicting battles and I find the need to constantly reference the graphic description of the operations as the author describes the battle in detail. Audiobooks were a new experience and provided entertainment and education during daily walks and long drives. This year’s titles were dominated by nonfiction as I found myself reading and listening to multiple titles simultaneously. In the case of An Ordinary Man: An Autobiography and Do Not Disturb: The Story of a Political Murder and an African Regime Gone Bad these were chosen ahead of our visit to Rwanda to give me additional perspective on the country’s recent volatile history. The list below includes my personal ratings and the respective book format, in the case of Woke Up This Morning: The Definitive Oral History of the Sopranos, the audiobook is a must as the content is lifted straight from the authors’ podcast. Enjoy!

 

Audiobook

·        Rogue Heroes: The History of the SAS, Britain's Secret Special Forces Unit That Sabotaged the Nazis and Changed the Nature of War by Ben Macintyre. 3/5

·        Empire of the Summer Moon: Quanah Parker and the Rise and Fall of the Comanches, the Most Powerful Indian Tribe in American History by S.C. Gwynne. 4/5

·        The Republic of Pirates: Being the True and Surprising Story of the Caribbean Pirates and the Man Who Brought Them Down by Colin Woodard. 3/5

·        Hymns of the Republic: The Story of the Final Year of the American Civil War by S.C. Gwynne. 5/5

·        American Predator: The Hunt for the Most Meticulous Serial Killer of the 21st Century by Maureen Callahan. 4/5

·        An Ordinary Man: An Autobiography by Paul Rusesabagina and Tom Zoellner. 2/5

·        The Light of Days: The Untold Story of Women Resistance Fighters in Hitler’s Ghettos by Judy Batalion. 5/5

·        Do Not Disturb: The Story of a Political Murder and an African Regime Gone Bad by Michela Wrong. 5/5

·        The Bomber Mafia: A Dream, a Temptation, and the Longest Night of the Second World War by Malcolm Gladwell. 4/5

·        The Greatest Beer Run Ever: A Memoir of Friendship, Loyalty, and War by John “Chick” Donohue and J.T. Molloy. 2/5

·        Endurance: Shackleton’s Incredible Voyage by Alfred Lansing. 4/5

·        The Lost City of Z: A Tale of Deadly Obsession in the Amazon by David Gann. 3/5

·        Woke Up This Morning: The Definitive Oral History of the Sopranos by Michael Imperioli and Steve Schirripa. 4/5

·        We Own This City: A True Story of Crime, Cops, and Corruption by Justin Fenton. 5/5

·        White Hot Hate: A True Story of Domestic Terrorism in America’s Heartland by Dick Lehr. 4/5

 

Kindle

·        The Premonition: A Pandemic Story by Michael Lewis  4/5

·        Rock Me on the Water: 1974 – The Year Los Angeles Transformed Movies, Music, Television, and Politics by Ron Brownstein 3/5

·        Into the Abyss: An Extraordinary True Story by Carol Shaben. 3/5

·        Empire of Pain: The Secret History of the Sackler Dynasty by Patrick Radden Keefe. 5/5

·        Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI by David Grann. 4/5

 

Hardcover

·        Pacific Crucible: War at Sea in the Pacific 1941-1942 by Ian W. Toll. 4/5

·        The Conquering Tide: War in the Pacific Islands 1942-1944 by Ian W. Toll. 4/5

·        Twilight of the Gods: War in the Western Pacific 1944-1945 by Ian W. Toll. 4/5

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