War in the Pacific: From the Fall of Singapore to Japanese Surrender: The text is bigger than I’d like in this book, which hints at it being more of an overview of the war, however it has great photos and from my preview of it, the information in this looks to be okay, so another good buy!

Selected Chaff: A collection of newspaper columns written during World War II.

Nicholas II: The Interrupted Transition: Also in that same time period is the end of the Romanov Dynasty, also fascinating. Earlier last year, I finished a book on Russia’s experience in the Great War which was a great read.

Brad Thor: Near Dark: After reading all thirteen of his books in (apoximately) 2013, I plan on reading them all again soon, and then continuing with the five or so he’s published since then, of which this is the latest, from 2020. I only need his 2017 book to have all of them. This copy is something I haven’t seen in a thrift, so it was a great buy and only two bucks!

The Personal Memoirs of Ulysses S. Grant: I have access to all of my Dad’s Civil War books, and it’s just amazing how there is no book there dedicated to Grant. After watching the special on Grant on the History channel, I became very interested in him and now I’ve finally found a thrift store copy, although I didn’t pay half-price like I usually do by going on Saturdays. And to top it off, this is his memoirs, specifically what I’d been looking for. Six bucks well spent!

The Order of Terror: Everything I said about Men of Steel goes for this book, too. This copy is an old, beat-up water-damaged library copy. I’m a big fan of brand-new books, antique books, well-read books, faded books, pristine books… I like them all.

History of the 305th Field Artillery: This was a great find! this book is one-hundred and one years old, and is actually a readable first-hand account of a soldier in the Great War, written, apparently, during and/or after the experience. I’m actually going to read this, I’ve read some old books before and they are a very nice change of pace and still relevant reading.

We only went to one thrift store, the ARC on Colfax. I left behind three times as much due to already owning, or of opera or other kinds I wasn’t interested in. Usually this store has most of their discs at three dollars before the half-off, but this time it was a mix. I don’t think we’d been to this ARC since March, when the Chinese Flu started up.

I’m particularly happy about the Prokofiev since one of the biggest musical experiences I’ve had was in gaining an appreciation of Anna Vinnitskaya’s Prokofiev/Ravel album, some eight or ten years ago.

His cello works recorded by Han-Na Chang had the same effect on me at about the same time:

Saturday, November 28, 2020

This is what I call my ‘South-Side Bookshelf’, or, ‘The Shelf’ built by my dad in 1982 or so.

Currently it holds my best war sets, although my Vietnam and Civil War sets had to go somewhere else as there’s only so much space even on this fine shelf.

There are the Life Magazine bound volumes, which cover World War II and the years leading up to it. Military Heritage Quarterly’s bound volumes make up the colorful bindings on the top-left.

Every set here has a story as to how it was acquired, and fortunately (?) I don’t see a lot of sets out there that I’m interested in to add to my library as it seems that nobody publishes books like this anymore.

There are a few Civil War sets that I need to finish collecting, but other than that…

Bitter Ocean: The Battle of the Atlantic, 1939-1945: I read a lot about the Atlantic War last year, so this was an easy decision. At first glance, the word count doesn’t seem to be too high, it’s generously-spaced and larger type. Not used to that!

Bury My Heart At Wounded Knee: I bought the movie last year, and have had my eye out for this. Didn’t know it was a fifty-year-old book, though.

Vince Flynn: Lethal Agent: Okay, this is weird. This is the third week in a row that I’ve found one of the four Vince Flynn/Brad Thor books I’ve needed to be up-to-date… this means the final book, the 2017 Brad Thor should be waiting for me to buy next week!

Jurassic Park & Jurassic Park: The Lost World: These movies are a lot of fun. I re-watched them all last year on DVD, and to complete the Blu-ray set I only need III and Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom.

Yuri Bashmet: Schubert, Schumann, Bruch and Enesco: I have nothing by this violinist, so this was a nice find.

Mitsuko Uchida / Jeffrey Tate: Mozart Piano Concertos: Uchida is one of those pianists that I have a lot of but never listen to because there are so many great pianists to listen to. Couldn’t pass it up for a buck-fifty, though.

Patrick Gallois / Orpheus Chamber Orchestra: Vivaldi: Six Flute Concertos: I used to pass on flute works until I heard John Williams’ theme for Rey in The Force Awakens. That changed everything. Too bad that new trilogy wasn’t worthy of his efforts.

Neville Marriner / The Academy of St. Martin-In-The-Fields: Vivaldi Concertos: “Vivaldi” and “Concerto” was all I needed. Have been listening to Neville Marriner and The Academy since the 1980s.

Pinchas Zukerman: Haydn Violin Concertos: I cross-checked this quite a bit before purchasing as the cover is so similar to other albums I’ve got. Looks like the risk was worth it!

Musica Amphion: Corelli: Concerti Grossi: Have never failed to enjoy Corelli’s works.

And finally, something that always irks me; why do people leave big thumb-prints on the reading side of a disc? There’s no good reason to and it’s totally not in one’s self-interest to do so! This print, I don’t know what is so special about it, but it’s just the outline of the thumb, and it doesn’t come out! Neanderthals!

Napoleon: The Last Campaigns: I buy Napoleon books as it is interesting, although I haven’t fully committed to reading one yet.

The Great War: A newer book in perfect shape, and very readable.

Vince Flynn: Total Power: After reading all thirteen of his books in (apoximately) 2013, I plan on reading them all again soon, and then continuing with the five or so he’s published since then, of which this is the latest, from 2020. I only need one more book to have all of them. This copy is something I haven’t seen in a thrift, so it was a great buy even at full-price at four bucks!

Clear and Present Danger: I must have missed this one last week, all of the Jack Ryan movies were there at Arvada ARC.

Edward Sissorhands: It has been decades since I’ve seen this, so it will get watched soon.

Mr. & Mrs. Smith: A silly, but fun movie. Pitt and Jolie are great in it, and this copy was still shrink-wrapped!

The Sentinel: I usually pass on this one as I didn’t have a strong feeling about it when I saw it in the theatre years ago. I’d gone to see it because Michael Douglas, Kiefer Sutherland and David Rasche were in it, along with Kim Bassinger. Not bad, but not much of an impact on me at the time. Sutherland was barely in it, and because I’d just been introduced to 24, I didn’t like that he wasn’t in it much. But I really like Michael Douglas, and one has to understand that it’s a Michael Douglas movie. It’s basically The Fugitive, and Air Force One combined, which is good.

Boardwalk Empire: Season 4: I have season 1 already, but I think it’ll be a while before I actually run across seasons 2-3. I like this time period and it was a decent show.

Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan: Season 1: I really liked this and John Krasinski was of course great in it. Surprised I found it at an ARC, and for only a buck-and-a-half!