What's In Your Library?

(Source)

As I cast about for a topic, the Muse kept saying, "Hey, it's snowing." Not wanting to revert to talking about the weather (as Skip says, when in doubt, you can always talk about the weather), I realized that I could do another "favorite things" post. Books! What do I do when the weather is crappy? I sit inside and read a book.

So here ya go, books.

As you may well imagine, I have a number of favorite books, if I was forced to pick four all-time favorites (why four, why not five, um, I dunno), that would be these four -

Two non-fiction (both concerning the First French Empire) and two fiction, one about Japan during the period leading up to the Tokugawa Shogunate (the main character Mr. Clavell chose to call Toranaga, played by none other than one of my favorite actors, Mifune Toshirō¹), the other about a fictional Soviet submarine. That last one shocked a few people in the intelligence world. Surprises me how the cloak and dagger types often don't know how many of their secrets are out there for all the world to see. (Used to read Aviation Week, which we Air Force types liked to call Aviation Leak, with some good reason.)

I go through moods in my reading, there are times that I want non-fiction, usually (heck, 99.99% of the time) that means an historical work, like those first two on my list above. Then, hey it happens, I get tired of reading history and will read a few novels, just to keep my sanity. Usually though, those novels will have a military or historical theme. (I think I've read everything by Bernard Cornwell, you might know him as the author of the Sharpe series.)

So that's my drug of choice, a good book and a comfy chair.

As it's snowing outside, I may just do that tonight (as I write). I'm still working my way through Andrew W. Field's Waterloo series. I highly recommend them. (Looking at you David!))

What do you like to read?²

¹ You will see him listed in the west as Toshiro Mifune, in many Asian countries the family name comes first, Mifune in this case. Of course in Japan he would be listed as 三船 敏郎.

² This type of blogging feels like cheating, I throw a topic out there, with a little something to start it off, then let you, the readers, actually write the bulk of the post in the comments. Easy for me, fun for everyone. Yes?