Churning through them now and should make a good dent in the books over the next few weeks.

This book is Spitfires, Thunderbolts & Warm Beer by Philip D Caine. A few weeks ago I reviewed a book I thought would be a bit better, well I got my wish? This is that book.

The book follows Leroy Gover who during WW2 was a fighter pilot in Europe. What is different with this book compared to others lately, well Gover flew with the famed Eagle Squadrons who defended England before the USA entered the war.

At the time it was technically illegal for US citizens to fight in Europe but it didn’t deter people from smuggling themselves out of the country via Canada to fight the air war in the RAF. Flying spitfires and hurricanes they fought alongside members of the commonwealth to protect Great Britain from the German Luftwaffe and take the fight back to them after the battle of Britain.

I loved this part of the book as it was probably the best tale of these pilots I have come across. The book continues on with Gover eventually moving over to the USAAF and transitioning eventually (he was one of the only people to fly the Spitfire for the RAF & the USAAF) to the P47 Thunderbolt. This is something I had been dying to read about. The Thunderbolt is one of the less heard of aircraft from WW2. You always hear about the Mustang or the Spitfire or the B17 but you hardly hear about “The Jug”. It was a formidible aircraft back then, strong, rugged and just huge! I have stood next to one at a few different museums and could not get over the size im comparison to some of its sleeker looking cousins.

I love the fact that this book follows most of his diary time during the war and it seemed that it was no holds barred back then. A lot of his time flying for the Eagle Squadrons he was out partying and jumping around between the clubs in London visiting all his different “Acquaintences” (aka his girls) and even then it was a totally different time compared to what would be happening now. This sort of thing just would not happen in modern times. It would be a totally different experience to be fighting the war for another country, in a foreign land, being one of the only people around and being treated so well. Totally envious.

Highly recommend this book, kept me enthralled for the short period of time I had been reading it…. just not long enough!

Rest and Relaxation, something I have been dying for since the start of December really. With campaign after campaign at work it seems like all I seem to do is work to no end. I feel like at times all I seem to do is constantly work, so it is good to finally have a rest. A serious rest. I have had times where I have had 2 days off, but never lately have I felt so calm or relaxed even on the weekends (what little of those that i get).

The weekend may seem like it was pretty full on but damn was it relaxing. It was a lot of fitness stuff this weekend but to be honest, yesterday’s stuff was more for enjoyment, only really today was about my fitness. Yesterday started off with a ride along the river, sure it was 13km but damn was it good. Early morning, sun rising, quiet times along the river, not much crowd (apart from the 30+ runners from running club) and just the wind as I cruised along.

Then in the afternoon after a good catch up over coffee with some friends, I went hiking at Mt Cootha. Alisha had told me she wanted to go hiking at Mt Cootha, I took the opportunity to exact a bit of fun and be the evil person that I can be. I like being evil at times 😀 Alisha, Nathalia & Josh joined me on the trails and it was a good time. 7km in 90 mins was pretty good pace and boy did it feel good being back on the trails. I hand’t really been hiking since Canada and even that wasn’t the same. Hell I hadn’t been to Mt Cootha on the trails since I was training for Kokoda. Getting back on that trail just brought back so many memories, so many good memories.

After an awesome day yesterday, this morning I just had to get up and convince myself to get moving. But to hell with it. I got up and got moving anyway, I can take a break next week maybe, maybe. But after an uber long ride this morning (14km but didnt even intend to do that long was aiming 10-11km) I was looking forward to some airport time this morning to test out my lovely new lens (of which i will discuss more later this week). Then after some time enjoying the sun (and getting burnt in the process) I haded into the Valley for lunch with some very very good friends. It had been quite some time since I had seen Ross, Bredan & Suz together and to make the day even better, little baby Isabella was there.

It was only the 2nd time I had gotten to see the little one and she has grown so much in that time. But it was good to spend some time with my friends, relaxed, having fun and enjoying time together. Had a great time having lunch and enjoying some Sushi and ice cream and watching little isabella soak in all the new sites (she seemed somewhat obsessed with Ross) and then some time in the afternoon sun having some ice cream (got more burnt i think).

To be honest I had a fantastic weekend, sadly it won’t last and I know that its back to work tomorrow, but in reality, thats what it is all about really. I know that I am going to enjoy these moments, while I can.

Fun Times 2012

Another week, another book it seems (churning through is a good thing if you saw how many i had left to read).

This time it is The Bomber Boys by Travis L Ayres. The book follows 5 inviduals, all of them Crew members on Boeing B-17 Bombers during World War 2 (4 of them with the 8th Air Force, 1 with the 15th). All of them flew over Europe during World War 2 and all seemed to have an amazing story to their time they served.

Unlike most books of this type, this one follows 5 different individuals who did not know each other at all during the war. All of them served with different units and different bomber crews. So because of this you get 5 different perspectives on the war. 5 different stories and events of time served in Europe, 5 different men who all had different jobs as well (not just pilots as usual).

Some good stories are in this book including a Bomber crew member who fell out of his aircraft and didnt have time to pull his parachute after he came out of the blackout caused when it exploded (and lived!). An amazing good short book that helped me get a different perspective to what is definately a widely published style of book.

It feels good to be reading a book like this again, and it has been quite some time since I last opened a book this chunky.

The book is Dead or Alive by Tom Clancy. Clancy would be one of my favourite authors. Having been captured by his style of writing back in my high school days and getting sucked into the world of Jack Ryan & John Clarke it is always a thrill to read one of his books.

After a good sized gap Clancy is back at his old tricks again with lots of his usual characters in play. It is a bit wierd having the Clancy storyline with real world events intertwined but you get used to it eventually. This story picks up a few years after Jack Ryan has ended his presidency and his son works for a non government intelligence outfit called “The Campus “.

With Clancy’s usual panache and style there is usually a lot of back story before you start getting anywhere but any die hard fan will know that going in. Unlike Dale Brown who leaves the big moments till the last 3 pages Clancy does tie things up in the last 100 or so pages but it does get you hooked into the last portion of the book.

This book doesn’t disappoint in the usual story of cloak and dagger spy vs spy mixed with terrorist plots and the occasional nuclear weapon, and it brings that and more. I won’t ruin the story to much but it has some of his usual tactics. Good vs Evil etc

Although this is a thick book (hardback is 950 pages) I don’t regret it at all (my shoulder might after carrying it around for 2 weeks). A good read for any Clancy fan (get the paperback version though).