So many great books today… The Conquest of Mexico was published in 1934, but unfortunately it is the abridge edition. Still very neat to find. This is abridged from two or three books…
A View From Abroad • With my familiarity in pre-Great War Europe becoming more detailed, this book (recent as well, from 2021!) looks very interesting.
Into the Rising Sun / Forgotten Victory / South Pacific Destroyer • First-hand accounts, my favorite.
The Great Terror • It’s shocking how young people who poo-poo Communism brush away The Great Terror as a sort of learning error in said ideals.
Pacific Payback / Tin Can Titans • I saw these last week, but they were full price, so I had to show up early today… they were still there! They are newer books, and in great shape!
Flying Forts / Tank Aces / Boot • I usually don’t go for these small paperbacks, but at the same time, I used to read these little books all the time back in the day. I read Iron Coffins a few years ago, and it was a good book, and reminded me that these little paperbacks are still a great format! The Flying Forts book is in bad shape, and there is a hardback version, but hey. I’ll see what I can do to fix it up, like I did with the Iron Coffins book.
The Book of the American West • I have been restraining myself from buying these, as I have a lot of great big books on the topic, and not much room. But I liked the way this was laid out, and all of the topics it covered, which appears to be everything!
All of these are just for watching, and at a buck-fifty apiece, that’s a lot of value when compared to an on-line rental, or streaming subscription. Plus, no time limits, forced commercials, no disappearing from a service, and I can keep them if I want to. Sunny is a keeper, as is Kick-Ass and The Rock. The other four are new to me.
The Anne-Sophie Mutter four-disc set was a great deal, and I found it at a thrift that usually doesn’t have much. I had to wait for one guy who was taking forever, looking at every disc that there was, as if each one could be possibly worth a fortune. Just forever, in thrift-store time. Boy, did I want to give him a harsh stare! That would have make him think twice before being so self-absorbed!
Anyway, when I recovered from that trauma, we went to a different ARC, and I found a batch of discs that aren’t common to find anymore, discs from the early 2000’s. One was still in it’s wrapper… I have to wonder if these are the leftovers of a big haul of discs, but in any case, I was lucky to find these, and have been listening to most of them all week.
This Lincoln book, a re-print, I paid full price for because there is no way that it would have lasted a week. Fortunately, the price tag, which was applied to the spine in the worst place, didn’t ruin the book title when peeled off, which has happened before.
This book on Tanks was a great find, too!
All of these are just things to watch, except Enemy at the Gates, which will replace my DVD. All were under two bucks!
Most of these are just something to watch, and if I don’t like one, it’s not a big deal, it can go to the charity thrift (Global Thrift). Much cheaper than renting, or having a streaming subscription. It really gets old to go to my massive amount of choices on Comcast, that I pay a lot for, and find that most of what they have is on a service I don’t have, or it is crippled with commercials or limits to how much I can jump around. It’s a joke.
The rest of these are Blu-ray replacements for DVDs that I already own.
The big finds though, were Season 1 of House, something I’d purchased all (except Season 8) of for a buck-fifty apiece, so now all I have to find is that last season. I have seen so many clips of this on YouTube Shorts that I’m sold. Same thing for Suits and Peaky Blinders, both of which I’ll have to buy new at some point off of Amazon. I’ve got plenty to watch, so that can wait.
Then, there is The Rookie, something I’ve been waiting a very long time to find. The last copy of this that I have owned was VHS, and it is a favorite of mine. I saw it in the theatre back in the day. Like Black Rain, for some reason, it just never makes it to the thrifts.
Also taking a long time to find is the Blu-ray of Kill Bill: Volume 2. I’ve had Volume 1 on Blu-ray for a while, and the DVD of this is everywhere, so finding this was a good thing.
All of these were either a buck ninety-nine, or two dollars!
I left three of these books at the ARC last week because they didn’t have the half-price color… they were still there this week! It’s always nice when that happens!
Das Reich: The March of the 2nd SS Panzer Division Through France, June 1944 • Anything by Max Hastings is gold… but the topic of this book is one of my favorites. Interesting, is the retreat of the Germans late in the war.
A Question of Honor: Forgotten Heroes of World War II • First-hand accounts, another of my favorite topics.
Bitter Glory: Poland and It’s Fate 1918-1939 • It’s no surprise why Poland is currently on it’s way to having the biggest military in Europe, and is one of the biggest backers of Ukraine against the Russian Federation.
Of Arms and Men: A History of War, Weapons and Aggression • As I always say to those people who are perplexed as to why I read so much about military history; there are so many ways to look at it, and this is the logistical side. There’s the personal, empathecial, political, humanitarian, what-if, etc.
One Square Mile of Hell: The Battle for Tarawa • I read about this in the books that The Pacific were based on. It will be nice to have another take on it.
Who Financed Hitler: The Secret Funding of Hitler’s Rise to Power 1919-1933 • One of the often overlooked topics regarding Hitler.
Clues to America’s Past / The Vikings / The Wild Shores America’s Beginnings • These are three of the National Geographic books that I have a lot of already, but they are so good, and cheap! Also interesting in that they were published around the time I was born.
I never get this many DVDs or Blu-rays, but that’s the way it goes. And if the ones I puchased to simply try out don’t work out, they can go back without an issue since I didn’t pay more than a buck-fifty for any of these! No subscriptions, nothing that disappears from a service, and all for the price of one month of any given streaming service!
Also: Over the past few years, there are more and more movies that I would usually watch, just because of the franchise, character, or actor. But now, with the way things are goign in the movie industry, I have learned to only see movies that I know are going to be good. That don’t ruin classic characters, overuse Member-Berries, etc. So, I’ll never see the new Indiana Jones, most of the newer Marvel movies, etc.
Also, this is because I’ve seen enough movies by now to just naturally have a lower tolerance for bad stories as I’ve seen so many. It’s way past time to start being more selective. Even Action Jackson below is a better watch than something like The Last Jedi or the Harley Quinn: Birds of Prey, Predators, The Eternals, etc. A comprehensive list would be long and not worth putting together, but you get the idea.
Action Jackson • I haven’t seen this since it first hit video in… the late 1980s? I don’t think it was that good, but I want to see Carl Weathers in what would have been his franchise character.
052223 • Just tried to watch this. Not a good movie, which is too bad, because I like Carl Weathers. This DVD actually sells pretty high online, and the Blu-ray is far more expensive. Which is now, not an issue because it isn’t worth having.
Fargo • They’ve done such a great job with the series, I need to see the original again, and I didn’t own it.
Good Will Hunting • Always hear about how good this one is… I watched this when I got home, and it I really is well-written. It is even better when you consider the level of quality stories that aren’t told these days. It actually deserves the awards that it won, and it’s neat to see these actors in their prime.
Creed / Rocky Balboa • I almost have all the Rocky movies on Blu-ray now.
The Jackal • Like Action Jackson, something to watch, but not a top-quality movie. Interesting to see Bruce Willis when he was so young, and Richard Gere try to pull off an Irish accent. Or Scottish. Same thing. Also, one of Jack Black’s early roles. He was also in some Will Smith movie around this time as some minor character.
The Greater Glory • Just a risk that it is any good, it was like brand-new, and I like the actors in it.
The Manchurian Candidate • I have always read about how great this movie is, and since it was like-new, I’m going to give it a try.
Amazing War Machines / Legends of Air Combat: Jets Over Vietnam • War Machines was still in it’s wrapper… these things are hit-or-miss (no pun intended), either cheaply put together, or well-done.
Mad Men: Season One • I re-watched this show a year or two ago, it holds up well. By the creators of The Sopranos. I have Season Two on Blu-ray, but the rest are on DVD still.
House: Seasons Two through Seven • Thanks to clips off of YouTube, I bought Good Will Hunting, and now House (Suits is next, but I doubt I’ll see that at a thrift). It’s a shame that the first and last seasons were missing, I really looked for them but they weren’t there. No matter, the rest of them were only a buck-fifty, so I can deal with it. Most series can still be enjoyed even if one doesn’t start at the beginning. I remember getting into 24 in season four, it was still great, and it was neat going back to the earlier seasons… like actual, well-done prequels when watched this way.
The Vivaldi Album • I have a lot of Cecilia Bartoli, and I had to check my list several times to make sure I didn’t have this one. I’d be more familiar with this if I didn’t listen to Magdalena Kozená as my primary female vocalist.
J.S. Bach: 3 Concerti After • I have been listening to a lot of organ music over the past few years, and I listened to this one right away; although I have a lot of albums like this, this one was really easy to get into.
Denon: New releases: Classical Sampler 1995-1996 • I left this one last week, because the line was so long. Still there! I like mixes like this and don’t see them that often.
On To Berlin • Turns out, I already have this one. Forgot to check my list.
The Other Victions / The Unforgiving Minute • Two books with first-hand accounts, my favorite!
The Legacy of Conquest • What I read of this before purchasing, the author was making examples of perspectives in history, such as the Indians vs settlers, and why they each thought the way they did. This makes the argument of simple conquest much more difficult to explain. So many details to simple assumptions about controversial historical events.
Post War: A History of Europe Since 1945 • A topic that is under recognized; what happened within Europe after the war ended; a big book, and from the short amount I read before purchasing impressed on me, a bargain.
Battles That Changed History • One of those big, well-illustrated books that I used to buy at Barnes & Noble or Waldenbooks, when they had discount sections of great books. They don’t do that anymore.
Beethoven: String Quartets – Takács Quartet • All three of these multi-disc sets were in perfect condition, the best deal of the day!
The Air War: 1939-1945 • This is one of those thinner hardbacks that is three or four decades old, maybe from a book club. I like finding these, and the fact that I haven’t seen it before makes it an easy choice to buy.
Rise of the Fighter Aircraft: 1914-1918 • I read a book on this topic in elementary school, and it was really interesting back then, and even more so now. Just trying to understand what it was like to fly this kind of plane in the kind of situations they had to deal with, is just amazing stuff. One of the planes only had ninety horsepower, that is the same horsepower as my parent’s 1989 Ford Escort, back in the day. In just four short years, planes went from a short-distance novelty, to being able to cross the Atlantic Ocean. They went from trying to hit each other with handguns, and hand-dropped bombs, to double-machine guns that were timed to shoot through the propeller. Tactics improved, too, of course, and so many of them were re-learned in later wars.
Men O’War: Stories from the Glory Days of Sail • I wish there was a modern re-print of some quality of the Horatio Hornblower series, as I really enjoyed the A&E Networks’ rendition of it, and would like to read the books. Barnes & Noble Collectors Editions would be great for these. Until then, I can go with this book, which I left at the store last week because it wasn’t half-off. It is like new, and was a great buy.
One of my favorite topics is first-hand accounts, especially regarding The Great War. To go into a thrift and find a book like this, a book I was totally unaware of, and in great shape and on sale? it is comparable to the Gulag book I bought last week! And, it turns out that I have the same authors’ book on World War II already!
Surviving Hitler • Amazing that I didn’t have this book already.
To the Shores of Tripoli • Again, amazing how I didn’t have this book already.
The Life of Andrew Jackson • I like older books, in both good shape, and bad. This one is in great shape, but I really don’t like the way thrift stores just slap their super-sticky price stickers on old books. I was able to get the sticker off with no problem this time, luckily.
Ultimate Visual History of the World • This was published only two years ago, and doesn’t sell for less than twenty-five dollars on Amazon! It is a big, thick book, and a great deal.
History: The Definitive Visual Guide • I would guess this belonged to the same person who gave the Ultimate Visual History of the World to the ARC, as it is the same size. Both of them together were really heavy to hold with one arm while in the long check-out line!
Beethoven: Triple Concerto • I started listening to this concerto a year or two ago, so this was a good find. And the only disc of the day that was worth buying!
The Walking Dead: Season Four • I found season three on Blu-ray a week or two ago, so now I have the first four on Blu-ray. I stopped watching the show a few years ago as it lost its groove, but it was really good for a long time. Negan was the only plot-line that was worth anything by the time I stopped watching.
Dancing in the Dark • I haven’t read much on the Great Depression, but I mean to.
The Second World Wars • I’ve heard Victor Davis Hanson a lot here and there, and I really like his take on things. This is a very recent book, 2017, I think, so that also makes it a good find.
Big Week: The Biggest Air Battle of World War Two • This is a great topic to read about, also a recently published book.
Poland, 1946: The Photographs and Letters of John Vachon • First-hand accounts are something I really like to read, and the photos are extremely professional and come from one of the more tragic locations of the war. There’s no shortage of tragic locations in World War II, of course, but Poland is definitely one of them.
Ray Donovan: Season One • I watched all of these online a few years ago, it’s something along the lines of The Sopranos. I doubt I’ll find the rest of them at a thrift, but this is a start.
randyrydberg.org 