I read quite a bit but lately have been hit by a string of flops. I thought it would be cool to start a list of novels, that may or may not be related to survivor issues.

I also thought It might be cool to start an online book club. I don't know if any one is interested so i'm kind of just throwing this out there on whim. but if you are let me know.

Happy reading,
Christopher

Memoirs of guys who successfully came through great difficulties in childhood is a type of book I have been enjoying.

Ones I have read and recommend:
The Tender Bar by J.R. Moehringer
Seminary Boy by John Cornwell
Angelas Ashes by Frank McCourt
Twice Adopted by Michael Reagan
The Tricky Part by Martin Moran
Breaking Free: My Life with Dissociative Identity Disorder by Herschell Walker


Not about a guy but a gal:
Miss America by Day by Marilyn VanDerber

now there's a brilliant idea christopher!

communal book reading! yes!

why don't you choose one, then those of us who are interested can order it from amazon.com and begin reading it together. a chapter a week, and then follow up with a group discussion in chat. for those who could not make the meeting, a chat log would be provided so they could stay in the loop regarding the group's discussion.

that would really expand our personal perspectives, and help us come to understand the thinking minds of our fellow survivors.

how enriching! what a great way to bond beyond the issues that divide us.

yea, a male survivor book club..... i vote yes!

ron

Christopher,

I'm an avid reader and blessedly so because with the few real resourses available to so many of us, reading actually saved my sanity as I was beginning to deal with my CSA. However, living in Québec it is very difficult to find English reading material. Consequently all of the books, or almost anyway, that I've read are in French.

I think that yours and Ron's suggestion is damn awesome and I for one am all over that. Where do I sign up??? Count me in!!!

As a gradualtion present from my WoR I received a copy of "Rebuilding Your House of Self-Respect: Men recovering in group from childhood sexual abuse. Second Edition. By Tom Wilken. Published by Hope and Healing Associates Box 53, Erieau, Ontario Canada N0P 1N0 email: silencetohope@hotmail.com

I'm just getting into it, slowly as I am so full of happy tears from my weekend. Its Canadian, and from what I have read so far it is RIGHT ON!!!

Jim

There is a great resource called the public library.

Most if not all of us have boundary issues.
Even here at MS with all the best intentioned helpers, fixers, social co-ordinators etc

"Where to draw the line : how to set healthy boundaries every day" by Anne Katherine.

C

A recovery book that you've probably never heard of is called, "Hush,Hush,Little Baby" (By Ellen Hahn).

One of my dual disorder favorites is called, The dark night of recovery, subtitled...Conversations from the bottom of the bottle (By Edward Bear).

For fiction/non recovery, (if you just want me to pick something off the wall) let's try, "A spell for Chameleon" (By Piers Anthony).

For non fiction, I might go for, "Once upon an island" (Author's last name is something like Connover) It has to do with Wallace Island...in Canada. (Possibly hard to find...I dunno...)


...And just remember, Life's too short to read bad books...!!!

Dust in the wind (Kansas)

island

I like the book club idea too!

i like the idea, as long as i can get hold of the book in my library or the cities libraries (or you give notice so i can try to get them to order it in) because i'm not made of money, but i don't want recovery books, i want novels, escapism, to bring new flavour and colour, we already talk about recovery

Awesome guys this idea was kind of spontaneous but if you guys really want to do it I could be up for it. I'm pretty busy but I think i could make time for an hour a week or so for a book discussion.

Lewis I agree with you lets do novels. Why don't we brainstorm when we could meet up, who is interested, and then lets pick a book. I think once we get going each time we finish a book some one else in the group could choose the next book.

All are welcome but I think we need at least six or seven people

I vote for Monday nights or Sundays to be our meeting nights.

lets put this together it could prove to be a promising thing.

History 413/513: Naval Warfare of the 20th Century.

Just the other day Professor Hauser and I were discussing the finer points of the stunning defeat of the Japanese Navy in the Battle of Leyte Gulf in WWII. Our knowldege of the book AFTERNOON OF THE RISING SUN, by Kenneth I. Friedman, as well as some other information, was the entire basis of our discussion. In two days of tactical naval blunders, the Japanese Navy managed to lose 1 heavy aircraft carrier, 3 medium aircraft carriers, 3 battleships including one of the largest class of battleships ever built by any Navy (IJN Musashi), 8 heavy cruisers, over 200 aircraft, and several smaller ships, with most of the surviving ships damaged. The American Navy only lost 1 medium carrier (The USS Princeton), 3 escort-class carriers, and a few destroyers and PT boats. Our aircraft losses were under 50 for both days total.

Did you know that the IJN battleships Yamato and Musashi were so big and well-armored that it took a combination of over 40 major bomb and torpedo hits to sink Musashi and nearly 20 major hits to sink Yamato? In fact, Musashi continued steaming at between 6 and 9 knots for 2 hours after the last air-raid before she succumbed to progressive flooding and capsized? Why didn't they try to beach her? We will never know.

So Hauser and I would be happy to discuss the finer points of the Battle of Leyte Gulf this week. Next week how about we try the Battle of the Phillipine Sea, where the Japanese Navy blundered into loosing several more aircraft carriers and several hundred aircraft. And the following week why don't we discuss the mother of all naval battles, the 1916 Battle of Jutland? You will need to read the 800-page book CASTLES OF STEEL, by Robert Massey, for a good understanding of the Battle of Jutland, along with the following week's twin topics, the Battles of Colonel and the Falklands in 1914. The last topic of the semester will be the British Royal Navy's failed assault on the Dardaneles and the Battle of Gallipoli, and how the Turkish alliance with Germany cost the Russian Empire the Great War, and eventually caused the Russian Revolution.

There will be a FINAL EXAM, with each exam paper containing 5 essay questions randomly drawn from a pool of 60 questions. 80% of your grade will be based on your answers on the exam, and 20% on class participation. Then and only then will you students of history be free to enjoy your time at home for the holidays.

Professor Mark

Remember, those who forget history are condemned to repeat it!

Chris,

Great idea,count me in also.
Reading was one of my main survival tools.
Give me a good book and I can get lost in a whole new world.
I mean that literally. WWIII could happen while I am in a good book and I would never notice. just ask my wife.
Monday nights are good for me.
I like historical stuff lately but am open to whatever the group decides.

Mike

Ooooh, I think it would be really cool to talk about books! There are some websites that let you download books for free, but they only have a limited number of books.

I'm easy, novels work for me. I can do either Monday or Sunday so, SIGN ME UP!!!

Hi Guys,

I just finished a book by a guy from Chicago. Just wanted to pass this on. Here's the web sight. www.divinechild.us

So if every one interested wants to pm me i'll make a list of us and then we can set a date and time. in the Pm feel free to include what times work and don't work for you and maybe a Novel idea.

Thanks,
Chris

Q. What Do you call a hoola hoop with a nail in it?

A. A navel destroyer.

History 414/514: Collapse of Nazi Germany.

Next semester Professor Hauser and I will be teaching the Collapse of Nazi Germany. Required reading will be Kenneth Lowe's book INFERNO, an in-depth study of the firebombing of Hamburg, Germany by the British Royal Air Force in the Summer of 1943, Historian Robin Neillands' book THE BOMBER WAR, about the Allied air offensive against Nazi Germany, and British author Max Hasting's book ARMAGEDDON, about the last year of the war. There will be 3 five-page papers for 45% of your grade and 40% of your grade will be drawn from another five-question essay final exam. The remaining 15% of your grade will be determined by class participation.

4 credit hours.

Professor Mark

And next Summer don't miss our exciting presentation of D-Day and the Summer of 1944, as we explore the Allied invasion and liberation of France, as well as the reasons behind the failure of Operation Market Garden.

Mark I don't quite follow what your talking about. Not sure anyone does. are you sugesting we read history books? although world war two is an important part of our history I don't think your history class is really the goal of our book group we are trying to start. Your welcome to join in though. but unless the group decides to read a novel in the setting of WW2 I think your out of luck.

to any one interested so far only a few people have said they are interested in doing this book club, if you are interested and haven't already please contact me.

Sounds great Chris. I hope you can get a group together, and the focus on novels sounds like a good idea. I would love to join, but as I am 5 hours later than Eastern time this would probably not work for me.

Guys why don't we try and meet up in chat tomorrow night? around 7 pacific. we can decide on a book to read and make a schedule for when we meet. if you won't be able to make it tomorrow but are still interested send me a message... also I have a pretty busy schedule I am excited to do this but I don't want to be the sole organizer I would like it if we all shared the responsibility that way we all have equal share and can learn from the experience.

hope to see you tomorrow
Chris

I really like this Idea. sounds great, another way to be/ stay informed.

Logan

If I can help in anyway, let me know, OK?

hi all! i figured i'd just give an update on the progress of the book club.

we have decided to do it in thread form rather than deal with the hassle's of trying to meet every week in chat.

we;re in the process of selecting the title from a list contributed by those interested.

once the title is selected we will each order it, read the first chapter and begin to discuss it. the discussion thread will be public in either the off topic forum or open forum.

so it's not too late to jump on board or participate. you can shoot a pm to chris [theaterkid] if you want to participate, and he can add you to the pm's being bandied about on the subject.

looking forward to it, and the more the merrier!

ron

Chris (TheatreKid):

Just messin' with you, my man. Hauser and I both have a keen recreational interest in WWII history and we live 4 miles apart!

Since you are in college I just wanted to give you some insight into the requirements of a senior-level WWII history course.

I would have the advantage, of course, as I own all of the books that I mentioned in my WWII book collection and I have read them!

Cheer-up and laugh sometime!

Mark

Well, 4 miles is too far apart for you to shoot anyway! lol