What's on the nightstand?

 

                    So, I have found that, lately, I have had time to catch up on some reading.

I have long wanted to get back to reading some historical fiction, and the Hornblower series is something I had started many times over the years. Well thanks to Kindle, I have been able to leap back into the books! I recently downloaded the entire Hornblower collection onto my Kindle with the idea to eventually get to them, well I did! I have been reading them in published order rather than narrative order, and this has helped me immensely. For some reason, Mr Midshipman Hornblower just does not draw me in. On the other hand The Happy Return book had me tapping my way through the story at a breakneck pace! The first three published books, The Happy Return, A Ship of the Line, and Flying Colours, are essentially one long continuous story, each picking up where the previous book ended. 

So I whipped through these books in no time, but, I halted at the end of Flying Colours, deciding that it was now time to go back to his early career, now that I had a good grasp on his character. It has worked and has been a pleasure to read these books. (despite Hornblower's misogyny, various prejudices, and , character flaws)

The worst thing to have come out of reading these books, is a new found interest in naval actions. I already have some (unpainted) Napoleonic French and British, mariners, but no boats or ships,                                                                                yet.

The other big read was Tank! by Ken Tout. Now this was a hard book to locate. His other book Tanks Advance! that covers the time before and after the time covered in Tank! is more readily available (I already have a copy)  It took a dedicated friend to locate a copy of the book for me. It was another compelling read. It captured (accurately I assume) the mix of tedium and excitement that can happen it battle. It also gave me some insight into what a tank commander can see, and how troops react in combat. The random moments of destruction that happen around Ken, and the matter of fact reports that get fed back to him as various tank crews are knocked out, are chilling.

I found it to be a compelling read!