• It's brain candy, but tasty, John Birmingham's Final Impact. It's the third book in a trilogy (I truly hate that phrase, but they must be some kind of marketing thing, who knows) where in a heavy carrier battle group from 2021 who've been fighting a hard war against Islamic terrorism for twenty years accidently gets transported back in time. The first book lands them in the middle of the battle of Midway, accidently sinking the entire American fleet. History goes downhill from there. It's a little choppy and kind of goofy in a lot of ways, but Birmingham is a fun writer, so it's good escapist fantasy stuff. Brain candy.

    For something a bit more serious, a new history of the French & Indian War by Walter Borneman is worth the read.

    The book I hope I'm getting from Santa is a little older, but if you haven't heard of it, it might be good. It's called Caveman Chemistry by Kevin Dunn. 28 Projects formthe the Creation of Fire to the Production of Plastics... My kids are going to love me in equal amounts to how much my wife will hate me. I can't wait.

    "The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood"
    - Theodore Roosevelt

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