[Vulgar]

I just finished a new book by two authors: Stephen Co***, a Vietnam War vet and Barrett Ti***, a military aviation historian, about a bridge in North Vietnam called the Thanh Hoa (Dragon's Jaw). It hasn't been out yet but I read it in preparation for an interview with them for a history site. I'm blurring their names so I don't get in trouble with anyone lol. I thought it was good, they did original interviews with a bunch of different pilots and took the reader through a play-by-play of every nosedive, bomb drop, antiaircraft fire, ejection, and even the pilot's thoughts as it was happening. I don't read this type of stuff often. It was educational about the Vietnam War. An easy read overall, even though a good 30% or more of the book was talking about technical aspects of bombs, naval flying, planes, and other logistics. It was well researched.

I'm almost done with The Optimist's Daughter by Eudora Welty. She was clearly a very talented writer (the book won the Pulitzer Prize for fiction), there's a lot of texture and meaning on every page; written with care. It's about a bit of a bland subject -- a tragic loss, some fallout afterwards, family visits and emotions. I'm not sure where the end is headed so I guess that's a positive thing, it could be an unexpected twist to bring it together.