Gunner and the Dumbo - Dwight W. Follett

When I picked up a few books on Coachwhip.com, I picked this one up as well. It's a children's book from 1945 and tells the tale of Gunner, a Boston Terrier, who is part of a bomber crew in the Pacific. He goes on a mission to bomb battleships when things go wrong on the way back. Gunner is vital to the survival of his crew.

The pictures in this book are adorable. It's probably not for small children, and the labels used aren't appropriate today ( ex. "Jap"). The story was so good, and I loved it. I was a bit bummed to learn it wasn't a true story, because it seemed like it could've really happened.

The book is still available digitally on Coachwhip. It's super cute, and I really liked it. It's short, cute, and Gunner is a real (fictional) hero! Good Book!

The Phantom Coach and Other Stories - Amelia Edwards

This is a set of six stories - The Phantom Coach, An Engineer's Story, A Service of Danger, The Story of Salome, Was it an Illusion? A Parson's Story, and How the Third Floor Knew the Potteries. I wish I could remember how/why this ended up on my list, but it's been on there too long...

They're all pretty short, so I won't go into the details of them here. I will say they're all ghost stories. Some of them are better than others, and my favorites were An Engineer's Story, the Illusion story, and to a lesser degree the Pottery one.

There's not much more to say since they're so short. If you're in the mood for some quick ghost stories, you might enjoy these. I found them a pretty good investment of my time. The whole thing is only a little over 100 pages, so I wouldn't spend oodles of money on it. I somehow had it in a Word document, so I don't even know where it came from. Anyway, wherever this literature came from, it gets a Good Book! review.

White Plague (Joe Rush #1) - James Abel

This paperback was a pick from the HPB run, but it was one of Mom's.

A submarine is struggling after a fire. It's up in the Arctic, and the only icebreaker is a research vessel. Joe is convinced to take his team and investigate the strange illness that has broken out. The Arctic is becoming a contested area since the ice is melting to the point where it can become a thoroughfare, so it's important to get to the submarine before anyone else does.

Once they finally find the sub, the situation is dire...and complex. The illness that has broken out is mysterious, and once they figure out what it is, they fear what it means for not only the members of the submarine, but the crew of the icebreaker as well.

I found this book to be very interesting. It's been a bit since I've read a book in this genre, and I really enjoyed the way this one was put together. I wish Joe and the Major could've cleared the air with the truth, but it didn't matter. The writing style flowed well, and I couldn't wait to see what happened next.

This is the first of a four-book series. The other three are Protocol Zero, Cold Silence and Vector. I wouldn't mind reading more in the future. Good Book!

Helmet for My Pillow - Robert Leckie

I picked this one up a while back. When I purchased Band of Brothers, I got The Pacific as well. We haven't watched it yet, but this book is one of the inspirations that was used for the series.

Leckie was with the 1st Marine Division while they were battling in places like Guadalcanal and Peleliu. Much of the book felt surface level and seemed to be focused on explaining the brig, time on leave and fighting the jungle.

That all changed in the last 10% of the book. When Leckie explained what happened on Peleliu, I felt like he really went in depth of what he went through. He lost a lot of friends and was injured, The epilogue was a peek into his mind as well. 

Overall, the book was okay, but there's something about it that keeps it from pushing over into a good book review. I appreciate Leckie telling his story, it didn't really resonate with me most of the time.

May they rest in peace...

Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte

Okay, so this is one of those books that theoretically I should have read a long time ago. We've had this really cool version of it since I was a kid. We used to have another classic, but it's gone, and I don't remember what it was. Wuthering Heights is a story that, on the surface, seems like it would be right up my alley. But, I had a sense that it was not a happy ending kind of story. Maybe it was something I heard.

Hindley and Catherine are siblings. Their father brings home an orphan named Heathcliff, and they all grow up together. Catherine and Heathcliff become close, but Catherine marries a neighbor for questionable reasons. Later, Catherine becomes ill, and Heathcliff marries Catherine's sister-in-law because he's a jerk. The next generation becomes playthings for Heathcliff's revenge plans, and it seems that no one can stop him.

This book made me angry. I hated everyone in it, and that doesn't happen very often. Usually there's at least one or two characters that I can at least tolerate to root for. In this, they all sucked. Everyone was either whiny, selfish, spoiled, made numerous bad decisions or turned a blind eye when others did. I kept thinking the best thing that could happen to these people would be for an earthquake to swallow up both estates and be done with them. The end wasn't even really that happy. The "couple" was unevenly matched with one of them still mocking the other. Ugh.

I don't know why people love this book. To each their own. Heathcliff is not a sympathetic character. He reminded me a little of Edward Rochester from Jane Eyre (funnily enough written by Emily's sister Charlotte). The difference is that Rochester had an arc during the book where he underwent a change. Heathcliff just went downhill and stayed there. I was not a fan of this one. Having a character to root for is a must for me, and without that, I just couldn't enjoy it.

Striking Back - Aaron J. Klein

After watching One Day in September, a documentary about the murder of Israeli athletes at the 1972 Olympics, I wanted to learn more about the aftermath. I hoped this book would help with that.

The first part of the book went through the tragedy in Munich, and I did learn a few things I didn't pick up from the documentary. Other than that, it was all familiar ground. Also, the documentary itself was mentioned more than once.

Once that part was over, I was into new territory. Israel's response wasn't quite what I expected. A lot of the targets they went after weren't directly related to Munich, which surprised me. Some of them were barely related to terrorism at all. They even had a major mishap when they assassinated an innocent man.

There was also a weird detail that puzzled me. Three of the terrorists from Munich survived and were eventually given back to their people. I thought they would be high on the list of targets, but their fates are murky. The Mossad claim they killed them as part of Mission Wrath of God, but one of them appeared in the documentary One Day in September, one of them may have died of heart failure, and a different group claims to have killed the third. So that's a bit weird.

Overall, this book was interesting. The assassinations were carried out under the claim of prevention and not revenge, but I believe an element of revenge had to be in the minds of some of those involved. When it comes to actions like this, it feels like there aren't any right answers. When the terrorist attacks died down, was it because of the fear of Mossad reprisal? Or was it because the Palestinians realized since their story was finally being told, the carnage was hurting their message? It's a mystery...

Anyway, this book was informative, and I enjoyed it. I learned a lot, and it went in a totally different direction than I was expecting. Good Book!

The Canary Murder Case (Philo Vance #2) - S. S. Van Dine

After I read the first book with Philo Vance, The Benson Murder Case, I wanted to give him a second chance. He irritated me with the way he spoke and his condescending attitude, but I feel like the mystery was enough to make me want to try again.

A woman is murdered in her home. A quartet of suspects muddy the waters of a crime that is too perfect. Vance tries to point out that even though it looks like a robbery, it's a calculated crime, and the killer is smarter than they think.

Vance wasn't near as annoying this time. The mystery had me intrigued, and I had an inkling of where it was going at times, so it wasn't so far out there that I was 100% shocked and amazed. Sprinkled throughout the book are diagrams that I immediately forgot once I turned the page, so they didn't add anything for me.

In all, Vance has 12 books. Since public domain is up to 1929 now, there are still two more books available in this series if I decide to dive into this character more. Next up is The Greene Murder Case followed by The Bishop Murder Case. I have tons of things to read, so I may or may not add these to the list. But you can never have too many books waiting, can you? Good Book!