#1 Blink by Malcolm Gladwell
This is a re-read for me, but I always enjoy Gladwell's books because he puts so much thought and solid research into them. This one concerns the sudden decisions all of us make in life - the psych term is "thin-slicing" - with very little information, whether they turn out to be right or wrong. He points out the surprising advantages of snap decisions vs. being buried by information, but he also shows how our snap decisions can sometimes be as far from correct as the Earth is from Neptune. Thumbs-up.
#2 Winds of Wrath by Taylor Anderson
The fifteenth and final novel in a series, this wraps up the conflict the USS Walker (a WW2 destroyer) was dropped into after being sucked out of the Java Sea in January 1942 and deposited in the middle of a shooting war in another world. The series is heavy on combat, but there is a lot of character development also. Anderson managed to keep up the tension through all fifteen installments by showing a victory for the good guys and a lingering mortal threat they'd have to confront before they were ready. Good read if you like syfy combat fiction.
#3 Old Black Magic by Ace Atkins
This is also a re-read. After Robert B. Parker's death several of his characters were continued by other authors. This series is about Spenser, a gritty private detective with both military combat experience and time on the Boston PD. He's witty, erudite, impossible to frighten off a case, and nearly always wins the day. The few times he does not haunt him. Murder and art theft and gangsters and double-dealing abound.
#4 With Wings Like Eagles by Michael Korda
Korda tells the story of the Battle of Britain not just from the cockpits of the aircraft, but from the command centers on the ground, the backroom deals that were made by both sides, the mistakes and the successes, and I learned a lot by reading this. I especially liked his description of the "Beauty Chorus," the young Brit women who plotted German air raids, even when the bombs fell outside their workrooms - and occasionally on them. There are many good histories of this period of WW2, but my impression is that this is one of the most even-handed accounts of the battle.
#5 Gods At Play by Tom Callahan
This is a collection of memories from a lifetime of writing about all kinds of sports and sporting events, with a strong emphasis on the people involved. It includes Mickey Mantle's lament at age 64 or so: "If I'd known I was gonna live this long, I would've taken better care of myself." It's both funny and touching. You don't need to be any kind of sports fan to enjoy this volume.
#6 Night of the Assassins by Howard Blum
An account of the Nazi attempt to assassinate Franklin Roosevelt, Winston Churchill, and Josef Stalin at the 1945 summit in the Middle East. Blum cites multiple sources from all three countries, points out where they agree along with the many points where they disagree, and even entertains other theories as to what was actually planned and what happened. This kind of history must be told with a little wiggle room in the truth, because no one person or source has the whole story. Blum has done his best, though, and this is a very interesting read. Probably true, too. At least mostly.
#7 South Pacific Destroyer by Russell Sydnor Crenshaw Jr.
I expected this to contain more battle descriptions, given that the USS Maury participated in sea combat off Guadalcanal and the author was her gunnery officer and then skipper. It was packed with anecdotes of the men who served and died aboard the destroyer, and contained a lot of information on the ordnance (weapons) the ship carried. It just felt dry and impersonal to me. But it wasn't a waste of time, either.
