<p>Anyone read some good books and/or enjoyed some good wine this summer?</p>
<p>Two best books of the summer for me -- One Bullet Away by Nathaniel Fick -- recommendation of LFWB and Stinky Cheese Man -- recommendation of LFWB's 4 year old sister. </p>
<p>I had a Colgin Syrah Napa Valley IX Estate 2003 that was truly outstanding.</p>
<p>"Dink Gadink".... (John Scanlon)...a must read for plebe parents! </p>
<p><a href="from%20Amazon.com">quote</a>:</p>
<p>Editorial Reviews</p>
<p>Book Description</p>
<p>Based on real events and personal experiences - yet presented as comical military fiction - Dink-Gadink depicts a week in the life of seven Plebes at the U.S. Naval Academy. Struggling to survive in an institution that overwhelms them on a daily basis, these seven Plebes are unique in their personalities and goals. Told from a humorous perspective in vivid detail, Dink-Gadink boldly takes the reader inside the hallowed walls of the U.S. Naval Academy. It depicts the hilarious and mischievous escapades of Homecoming week, leading up to a climactic football game against Air Force on Saturday. Finally, on a lazy Sunday morning, it reveals a priceless lesson about the true meaning of real world friendships that are formed in a crucible like the U.S. Naval Academy. Dink-Gadink is as close as a reader will ever become to actually being a Midshipman at the U.S. Naval Academy.
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</p>
<p>As for the wine thing, Cheraz is the big thing here this summer...along with all the free winery tours! LI wines are really coming along!</p>
<p>ABSOLUTELY AMERICAN by David Lipsky. My Cadet gave it to me before he left, it's very good but doesn't accuratly portray the intensity and difficulty of Beast (so i'm told :) ). But it does give you some idea of what there going through. Check it out!</p>
<p>I'm only reading books for work and can't wait to get back to some real literature. However, this past weekend I saw one of the movies from the military movies thread and it was fabulous. I can now highly recommend "The Great Raid". What an absolutely amazing heroic story. And it seems to have been made by a director and producers who have tremendous respect for the military.</p>
<p>An amazing read!! Could not put it down.
<a href="http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearch/isbnInquiry.asp?z=y&isbn=0375508589&itm=10%5B/url%5D">http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearch/isbnInquiry.asp?z=y&isbn=0375508589&itm=10</a>
My cousin sent me this book. Said she did a dive with some of the guys & they are NUTS.</p>
<p>Dang LFWBDad, you're drinking the good stuff. Was that before or after reading "Stinky Cheese Man". LOL No good wines lately. Baked some excellent boxed brownies yesterday though. :) I've gotten lazyyyyyyy.</p>
<p>momoftwins, if you want some truely amazing literary works try ALL THE KING'S MEN by Robert Penn Warren and get ready for the flick! (one of my favorites!!!! i'm estatic about the film coming out), MAGICAL THINKING by Augusten Borroughs (a very good laugh, not for everyone though), ON THE ROAD by Jack Kerouac, or some classics like SIDDHARTHA by Herman Hesse. Depends on what you're into, there are plenty more ideas if you want them!</p>
<p>LFWB,
I heard Nathanial Fick interviewed on NPR when One Bullet Away was originally published. It's supposed to be a great book about the war in Iraq.
I just finished Tim O'Brien's work on Vietnam, The Things They Carried. It is beautifully written but painful to read. Now I'm interested in reading some of his other books. D's AP English class read the book in high school and then Plebe English read excerpts from the book during her first semester at USNA.</p>
<p>I'm looking for my copy of My Dog Skip by Willie Morris so I can reread it. One of my favorite books ever written.</p>
<p>When my mid comes home I'm dragging her to see "Prarie Home Companion." Has anybody seen the movie?</p>
<p>How about a nice Australian red like "Kanga rouge.?" Tastes awful but what a name!! ;)</p>
<p>In California we have a wide array of excellent California wines as well as wines from other states and an infinite selection of imported wines. I consider myself to have a reasonably sophisticated palate. I like full-bodied well-aged cabernets, and would probably enjoy the wine LBFW mentioned. Typically I'll pick up a BV Alexander Valley cabernet for around $25 a bottle. A few weeks ago I was in the wine section at the local Costco and I noticed an attractively packaged box wine. (I have never had wine from a box and imagine that it is inferior wine.) On the side of this small box of wine, a drawing illustrated that it contained the equivalent of four, 750ml bottles of wine. That intrigued me because I kept thinking how small the box was compared to four bottles of wine. Okay, I bought this Black Box 2004 Paso Robles Cabernet Sauvignon for $14.99 (with tax that comes out to less than $4.00 per bottle). It is excellent wine--comparable to very expensive wines. Should last me the whole summer...;) My friend who lives in Seattle says Black Box Label white wines are sold in the Pacific Northwest for higher prices, but still excellent wines (she knows wine/food trained at Cordon Bleu in Paris).</p>
<p>The perfect job: D's high school friend and recent Princeton grad is an associate editor for Wine Spectator! I love to listen to her describe the wine tastings she attends in NYC...</p>
<p>Yea I saw PHC w/ my 15 yr old.... she was the youngest in the theatre and I was the second youngest!!</p>
<p>MY kids grew up listening to GK tapes in the car and PHC when we could get it... the movie was a lot of fun. If you are familiar with the radio show you should enjoy it.............</p>
<p>I have been reading Guns, Germs and Steel with my kids who have it for summer reading for their AP World History class.... really really interesting....</p>
<p>:The Things They Carried" was difficult for me to get through...</p>
<p>Husband and I tore through all the Jeff Shaara Civil War/ Mexican War books this summer. Got started on Michael Shaara's Killer Angels and liked it so much that we went into Last Full Measure, Gods and Generals, and Gone For Soldiers. We are now starting his ones on the American Revolution.</p>
<p>Re-read Fried Green Tomatoes and Under the Tuscan Sun. This is part of my annual summer ritual. Re-read the last Harry Potter for the upteenth time, trolling for clues to support my "Dumbledore is not dead" thesis. </p>
<p>Best beach reading candy: the Janet Evanovich series about detective Stephanie Plum. What a hoot! This balanced all the professional reading I did about strategies for remedial learners, Oh, wait. I'm not a professional. I guess I'll just call it "worker drone" reading. ;)</p>
<p>I LOVED Fried Green Tomatoes!! Great book ideas folks!
~Ray's Station Merlot. Trust me. This one is smoooooth & only 12 bucks a bottle. Good afternoon wine. I have to sample alot of wine (yea, my workplace sucks...) but that Ray's Station was such a surprise for such an easy price.</p>
<p>I agree The Things They Carried is a great book!</p>
<p>Starship Troopers by Robert A. Heinlein (USNA '29)</p>
<p>One dog talking to another:</p>
<p>There they were, sitting around the dinner table, knocking off a bottle of Côtes-du-Rhône and blathering about the Middle Eastyouve never heard such shallow, simplistic reasoning in your lifeand one of them turns to me and says, And what do you think, Barney? What do you think we should do? and all I could come up with was Woof. I felt like such an ass.</p>
<p>If you have ties to USNA please be sure to read "The Return of Philo T. McGiffin", The comic novel of Annapolis, by David Poyer.</p>
<p>I picked it up at USNA on I-Day at someone's suggestion and it is wonderful!!! Anyone who knows a Plebe or has been a Plebe is sure to enjoy this fabulous book filled with both humor and warmth.</p>
<p>As for wine... I still like a good Chardonnay in the Summer! (Whew, it's been hot in Los Angeles... need a chilled beverage!)</p>
<p>Okay,I finally finished the "The Return of Philo T. McGiffin", The comic novel of Annapolis, by David Poyer.</p>
<p>All I can say is PHENOMENAL!!!! I laughed, I cried, I thoroughly enjoyed! If you have a plebe at USNA please read!</p>
<p>-gypsycl</p>