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Reading by the cargo light or A Ranger owner's guide to great literature


97RangerXLT

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yeah, I like the feel of a physical book in my hands as well. but I prefer the hard cover over the paperback. If I like a series well enough, I will search out the hardcover versions if possible.

I loved the Admiral Thrawn trilogy that Zahn did about 20 some years ago for the Star Wars series. (Heir to the Empire, Last command, and cant remember the third... got them all in hard cover tho)

Nice star wars collection :) I have several star wars books in paper back and hardcover, but it has been a while since I have read them.

No Ford/ New Holland tractors to go with those John Deeres?

AJ
 


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Atlas Shrugged by Ian Rand. I'm almost done reading it for the second time. Some of the stuff is a little dated and there are a few minor points I disagree with, but it is kind of a scary read when you sit down and think about it and draw some similarities to where it seems this country is headed...
 

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yeah, I like the feel of a physical book in my hands as well. but I prefer the hard cover over the paperback. If I like a series well enough, I will search out the hardcover versions if possible.

I loved the Admiral Thrawn trilogy that Zahn did about 20 some years ago for the Star Wars series. (Heir to the Empire, Last command, and cant remember the third... got them all in hard cover tho)

Nice star wars collection :) I have several star wars books in paper back and hardcover, but it has been a while since I have read them.

No Ford/ New Holland tractors to go with those John Deeres?

AJ
I have no patience for searching, if it supposed to be a good book and I catch the timing right so I can get a hardcover I do it. Otherwise if it is an older book... I don't really care.

He has written a few more books since the Thrawn Trilogy, he didn't slack off on them either.

Mainly A-C>JD but anything not red or green is kinda hard to find. I do have a WD-45 and a C to go with the fullsize counterparts that I own. Dad is a big JD fan so I have a soft spot for them, the two bangers are flat out cool and the new generation is ubber nice to operate. The parts guy at the dealer he used to work at gave me the flat front A for my first birthday. I wish they made a longhood two stick B to go with the fullsize B that I have. My goal is to collect the row crop two cylinders.

Kinda odd I have never really thought about it before but I have nothing FNH. :D
 
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97RangerXLT

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A few more good reads for you all:

If you like computer gaming and the 80's era, or even just one or the other, you have *got* to read Ready Player One by Ernest Cline

Awesome book, Set about 30 years into a bleak future, and a kind of scary reality that I can see happening, with people tuning into a virtual reality because real life is so horrible.

From Amazon:n the year 2044, reality is an ugly place. The only time teenage Wade Watts really feels alive is when he's jacked into the virtual utopia known as the OASIS. Wade's devoted his life to studying the puzzles hidden within this world's digital confines—puzzles that are based on their creator's obsession with the pop culture of decades past and that promise massive power and fortune to whoever can unlock them.
But when Wade stumbles upon the first clue, he finds himself beset by players willing to kill to take this ultimate prize. The race is on, and if Wade's going to survive, he'll have to win—and confront the real world he's always been so desperate to escape.

Next on the list of must reads:

The Roswell Conspiracy by Boyd Morrison. Kind of like a Clive Cussler book, there are 4 in the series. Got this one cheap off of Amazon and really liked it. I am now going to read the other three in the series.

From Amazon:After the 1908 Tunguska blast levels a Siberian forest the size of London, a Russian scientist makes an amazing discovery amongst the debris.

In 1947, ten-year-old Fay Allen of Roswell, New Mexico, witnesses the fiery crash of an extraordinary craft unlike anything she's ever seen.

More than sixty years later, former Army combat engineer Tyler Locke rescues Fay from gunmen who are after a piece of wreckage she claims is from the Roswell incident. Incredulous of her tale, Tyler believes the attack on Fay is nothing more than a burglary gone wrong. But when he finds himself locked in the back of a truck carrying a hundred tons of explosives and heading for a top secret American base, Tyler knows that he has stumbled onto the opening gambit of something more sinister than he ever imagined.

Because disgraced Russian spy Vladimir Colchev is after an Air Force prototype code-named Killswitch, an electromagnetic pulse weapon of unprecedented power. Although Tyler is able to avert catastrophe at the US facility, Colchev gets away with the bomb and plans to turn it on America itself. To complete his mission, he needs only one other key component, a mysterious object recovered from the Roswell crash.

In a desperate race against time, Tyler must unmask a conspiracy a century in the making to rescue the United States from electronic Armageddon.

Enjoy.

AJ
 

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I've recently read a few by Dan Brown...and I liked them all...mostly because of the historical facts about Christianity and other religioins that he laces the books with but also because they were free.

Also bought the last two of the Jack Reacher series and they were as good as usual.

But if anybody wants a good interesting love story that you will cry yourself to sleep with try "The Christmas Box Collection" by Richard Paul Evans...it is actually three stories placed at different times of the characters and nicely pieced together...

And along that line "The Christmas Train" by David Baldacci...not a love story but about a man taking on a story about life on the rails and the interactions of one specific group spending Christmas on a train from Chicago to LA...or somewhere west.

Currently reading "Cider House Rules" by John Irving...if you liked "A Prayer for Owen Meany" then you'd enjoy this one...

Guess I've gotten away from the action/thriller line and mellowed a bit...
 
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Mark_88

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I just finished "Outlaw" by Ted Dekker...published in 2013...excellent book...and there is an Outlaw series published in 2014 with three books...this appears to be based on the earlier book but I would have to find one or read an overview on it...

I am starting on Mitch Albom's "First Phone Call From Heaven" that my sister left for me...I'm sure I will love it...
 
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97RangerXLT

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Bringing this thread back to life,

can't believe it ihas been 9 years lol. Anyways,If you like the Jack Reacher books, check out Nick Petrie's Peter Ash novels. it is about a former US Marine with PTSD that come sup as "white noise" if he is in a closed in environment. So basically he lives in the mountains/ woods/ outdoors, and does construction work to make a living. He has lovingly restored a 60s' Chevy truck and a custom mahogany box that he uses as a camper and to store his tools. he travels to different places, for themost part he is a loner, but has a girlfriend ( you meet her in book two, and boy is that one interesting) and a former Milwaukee crime kingpin that has gone *straight* that is one of his best friends, and is able to provide back up and weapons as needed for the situations that he gets into. Check him out.

https://nickpetrie.com/books/ The Drifter is the first novel.

Ok here is a guilty pleasure of mine for books... You all have probably seen the movies, which are pretty good but not near ass descriptive and well put together as the books, but check out J. K. Rowling's Harry Potter series (reading it again for the 3rd time). Extremely well written and I see exactly why they have such a following. The Sorcerer's stone (1st book) starts out when Harry is 11 years old and finds out he is a wizzard. the book is written to an audience of similar age. each subsequent book takes place a year later as each of them goes through his years at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry and the books mature with the audience as they get older as well. when you get to the 7th book, Harry is 18 and the themes are much more "grown up" so it was nice that Rowlingdid the series which grew with her audience. Do check it out. for the most part everything is well written and developed She also ties everything up at the end, and as an epilogue she fills in what happened to all the major characters 10 years after they are out of school which was a nice touch. one of the funnier quotes in the third book was in the Divination class where they were studying the planets and how they affect your lives and one of the female student asked the teacher which planet she was seeing. the teacher replies, "Thats Uranus, my dear" as she was looking at the chart. Ron (Harry's best friend) says "Can I have a look at Uranus too, Lavendar?" which is exactly the type of humor a 13 year old boy would come up with lol. Throughout the series Ron has a few good innuendo's that aren't outright dirty, but you get the idea of what he was meaning/ saying

I had mentioned starting the Walt Longmire series and Jim Butcher's Dresden Files series in the previous page. will update my thoughts on that now that I have had 9 years to read all of the books in both series. Short answer, both are great series, Longmire was even made into a show that patterned after the books. (Note, show is not the books, it has some elements of the books and is not a bad show, but definitely *not* the books)

AJ
 

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Longmire got kind of weird when Netflix took over I though. The weird 5D chess thing going on was a bit over the top. I really didn't care for how they ended it, it felt very rushed. However someday I would love to make it out to Longmire Days in Buffalo Wyoming.


Zahn has been back at writing Thrawn books for a couple years and they are as good as ever, I have been feverishly brushing up on them in anticipation of the new Ashoka series where he actually makes it into live action for the first time ever.

He was brought back into canon during "Rebels" cartoon series. It was hilarious the first new book had the same exact intro of how Thrawn got into the empire as the old series.

And to kind of bring it all together for those that don't know, the actress that plays Vic in Longmire voiced Bo Katan in Star Wars Clone Wars and Rebels and plays her in live action in Mandolorian... and maybe in Ashoka as well.
 

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Ok here is a guilty pleasure of mine for books... You all have probably seen the movies, which are pretty good but not near ass descriptive and well put together as the books, but check out J. K. Rowling's Harry Potter series (reading it again for the 3rd time).
I had mentioned starting the Walt Longmire series and Jim Butcher's Dresden Files series in the previous page. will update my thoughts on that now that I have had 9 years to read all of the books in both series. Short answer, both are great series, Longmire was even made into a show that patterned after the books. (Note, show is not the books, it has some elements of the books and is not a bad show, but definitely *not* the books)

AJ
Nothing wrong with a little pot... ter.

My sister was real into the series back when it came out. We were both around the age it was targeted at, I was 12 and she would have been 7. We were a little advanced on reading for our respective ages. Since they were around the house I of course read them. Watched the movies too. The books were well written for their target audience and were definitely better than the movies. The movies weren't bad either. IMO they messed up the movies by "cleaning" things up too much, then of course by the end all of the PC culture crap. The biggest issue with the series since the original movies released has been more political and ideological views of people involved, than the quality of the books or movies. I was even looking forward to the Grendelwald (sp?) stuff until they treated Depp the way they did. It might have been long enough now that I could read them again.

The Dresden files was a good series, they made a show based on it too. Couldn't tell how faithful to the books the show was, did t read and watch near the same time, but I liked both. Need to see if there are any new ones out, last I read was number 15 according to my kindle.

Never read Longmire, but if it is anything like the series, it was probably good. I know not the same, almost never is, but if similar.


And to kind of bring it all together for those that don't know, the actress that plays Vic in Longmire voiced Bo Katan in Star Wars Clone Wars and Rebels and plays her in live action in Mandolorian... and maybe in Ashoka as well.
Katee Sackhoff has a very good resume, was glad to see her in the live action role. Hope that they can keep her character around for a long time.


I'm not sure that I've read any Cussler series written after his passing. I have picked.up a few new series. To name a few:

Larry Correla's Monster Hunters Inc
Craig Alanson's Expeditionary Force series and it's offshoots
James Rollins' Sigma Force
Most recent J. Robert Kennedy's James Acton series
 

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My reading is all over the place. U fortunately, it has fallen off a bit in recent years. I need to get out of YouTube and Facebook. I don't read much sci-fi. No romance novels. I hate equipment manuals unless I need to get specific info out of them.

Clive Cussler is a favorite, as is Clancy. I like Michener. I enjoy history, especially military., which is a complete opposite of how I was in school. I really enjoy mysteries. I even enjoy light "junk" mysteries, the stuff that you can see right through the plot and the whole book only takes 2 or 3 days to read. One of my favorite junk series was entitled "The Cat Who...." each book centered a round a guy whose two cats helped him solve mysteries.

I currently have 3 or 4 books started that, for some reason got stalled. One is Jimmy Doolittle's autobiography. I'm actually distantly related to him on my mom's side if the family. Another is a book called "Killing Patton". And the third is Clancy's "SSN".
 

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Almost exclusively read historical fiction and mysteries.

Big fan of Nelson DeMill, The Charm School was my favorite. About a POW camp outside Moscow full of American pilots shot down over Vietnam. Used to train Russian spy on how to be American.

Agatha Christie is great, big fan of the Poirot stories.

The “Fletch” books a good, can’t remember the author. About “loose cannon” reporter that manages to solve mysteries and expose corruption.

I really enjoyed the “Millennium” series.

Recently read a book called “The Alienist” it’s about some people using psychological profiling to find a serial killer in NYC during the 1800s while Theodore Roosevelt was the police commissioner. The main characters were friends with Roosevelt and he contracted them to find the murderer because he didn’t think he could be found through conventional detective work.

One book I really enjoyed that was NonFiction was called The First Conspiracy, about a plot by the governor of NY and the British government to kill George Washington while he was leading the Continental Army in the early stages of the revolutionary war. It’s written as a Novel, but completely true story. It ends up being very compelling instead of dry.
 

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Oh boy you guys have hit on some good ones…

To be candid though, Harry Potter was ruined for me as a child. By the time it first came out I was reading books way beyond my grade level. The first book put out of Harry Potter was atrocious. It was worse than reading the ramblings of Mein Kampf. Spelling and grammar errors everywhere. I couldn’t stand to read that crap and never took any interest in it after that. Also, as a Christian from a young age, the sorcery, witchcraft and such was another turn off.

@JoshT , I found the James Acton series pretty good. Also enjoyed the Dylan Kane series and Delta Force Unleashed related series books from J. Robert Kennedy. The Templar Detective series is also a fun read.

@ericbphoto , that’s pretty cool you are distantly related to Doolittle, haven’t read the autobiography yet though. Killing Patton was a worthy read I think but not exactly a conclusive work. I’ve read SSN a few times, curious as to your opinion of it.

@Roert42 , I have a copy of “The First Conspiracy” but have not read it yet. It was a fairly recent addition to my collection.

I really enjoyed some stuff from Matt Rogers, he did a few related series, kinda started with I think it was the Black Force series and the initial main character was Jason King who was a one-man wrecking ball and later expanded to include Will Slater in another series, plus a few side stories. Pretty intense stuff.

Currently I’m chewing through a series by Rick Jones, The Vatican Knights. I was a little skeptical of it at first but it’s proven to be kind of addictive to read.

For the more history minded folks, check out the stuff on Kindle from Robert Jackson. The TV show “Desert Rats” seems to be loosely based on some of his books.
 

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