WK 11 reading times

Mon   1100-1300

          1600-1700

TUE

WED 1700-1900

THU  1000-1400

          1900-2000

FRI    1900-2000

SAT

SUN

I never really thought of myself as a reader.  This class has shown me that I have learned to over come my perceived short comes as a reader and have developed into a person who actually enjoys reading.  I don not know if it is because of all the deployments I have been on that started me down a road of reading in my adult life but is something I enjoy and find relaxing in the evenings.  My son and daughter have taken to reading as well and they can see that their mother and I enjoy it, which does set a good example for them. 

I found this reading assignment rather easy as it was stated at the beginning of class if you already like to read and are doing, as much this assignment would be easy.  I have not really noticed that there were any changes in my reading behavior during this assignment other than maybe more awareness of what amount of reading and comprehension actually goes it to my current job in the military.

WK 10

I need to make a correction to this last post.  I posted he requirements for week 11’s post.  The times for reading were for week 10 but the comments were for week 11.  I actually completed the Omen Machine this week and now have to wait for Terry Goodkind to write the next book in the series.  I must say I finished the last two books faster than I thought I would have been able but I do notice the more I read the fast and easier the comprehension becomes.

WK 11

Mon   1930-2230

TUE   2000-2130

WED

THU  1000-1400

           1900-2000

FRI    1800-2200

SAT   2030-2300

SUN  1900-2200

I never really thought of myself as a reader.  This class has shown me that I have learned to over come my perceived short comes as a reader and have developed into a person who actually enjoys reading.  I don not know if it is because of all the deployments I have been on that started me down a road of reading in my adult life but is something I enjoy and find relaxing in the evenings.  My son and daughter have taken to reading as well and they can see that their mother and I enjoy it, which does set a good example for them. 

I found this reading assignment rather easy as it was stated at the beginning of class if you already like to read and are doing, as much this assignment would be easy.  I have not really noticed that there were any changes in my reading behavior during this assignment other than maybe more awareness of what amount of reading and comprehension actually goes it to my current job in the military.

Week #9

Mon  1930-2230
TUE  2000-2130
WED 2030-2100
THU 
FRI 1800-1900
SAT 2030-2300
SUN 1600-1800
I said last week I needed to decide which book I was going to read for
the series of the Sword of Truth.  I had not realized that the author
also wrote a book that is sort of a spinoff of the original series.  He
wrote "The Law of Nines" book before he wrote the next two so I decided
to read that first and then will move on to the next in the series.  I
will read the "Omen Machine" before I read the prequel even though he
wrote the prequel before the "Omen Machine" because it is not available
in the Kindle format and I cannot obtain it from where I currently
located.  

Week #8

Week #8

Mon  2000-2200
TUE  1200-1300
WED 0800-1130 
 1300-1530
THU 0800-1130
 1300-1530
FRI 2000-2300
SAT 1200-1300
 1900-2300
SUN 

This week I was supposed to travel for my work but I had the pleasure of
being stranded at the terminal where we would be able to catch our
flights to the locations we wished to visit.  Wednesday and Thursday
were both days that I spent waiting for flight that I was not able to
get on.   I started and completed the original final book of the series.
I must say that towards the end of this series I did notice that the
author was starting to restate a lot of parts of the story as if he had
to refresh your memory of what and who some of the characters were.  I
guess if you were reading these books as they were published these
recaps of previous knowledge would be good since there was at times up
to a year or more between books being released.  Over all I have enjoyed
the series.  The author also published a prequel and has added a new
book to the end of the series just this year so I will have to decide if
I want to read the prequel first, which was released before the newest
book in the series.

Week #7

Week #7 
Mon  1200-1300
TUE  2130-2200
WED 1500-1600
THU 1900-2300
FRI 1900-2300
SAT 2200-2300
SUN 

This week's reading consisted of continuing to read the next book in the
Sword of Truth series of Chainfire.  I had a lot of free time to read in
the evening this week and I completed the book Chainfire.  I have
enjoyed this series and am not looking forward to the books coming to an
end but the author cannot drag the story out forever.  I have become so
engrossed in the story of the final three books that this is all I have
read.   

Week 6

Mon

TUE

WED 2100-2230

THU

FRI 2000-2300

SAT 1900-2130

SUN

With this weeks Ifinnished the  Naked Empire and started the next book in the series Chainfire.   This Story kind of jumped from one story line to another.  I has left a gap between the two books but has already started to explain some details that are missing.  The more I read the more I am understanding and coming to believe this gap was intentional in that the characters in the book are missing some key memories of one of the main characters of the book.  That is to say that this character never existed.

I have also started to read a christian based book based on Calvinism called Joh Calvin: A Heart for Devotion.  This is a very interesting book recommended to me by a pastor friend of mine to help those of us in our denomination to better understand our church history and doctrine.

Week 5

Mon 2030-2130

TUE

WED 2100-2130

THU 2200-2300

FRI 1330-1500

SAT

SUN

With this weeks reading I am almost finished with  Naked Empire.   The series is still very enjoyable of course.  The funny part for me is my 11 year old son whose test results have him reading at the 11^th grade level is reading the same series as me.   This weeks reading was mor limited doue to the fact of traveling and doing interviews with personnel to update my organizations training products.  Most of my time this weekend I spent reading my own notes and typing up my reports.  

Week 4

Mon 2200-2300

TUE 2230-2330

WED

THU

FRI 2100-2130

SAT 2000-2230

SUN

I finished the Pillars of creation this week.  The story did diverge from the original characters and focused on a three new character it was interest how the author brought the story full circle back to the original main characters.  These new characters that survived to the end of the book and into the next, Naked Empire, have become a key part of the new crisis that is unfolding for the main character for the book series.. 

This week I have also continued to reread through the JCISFA Afghanistan National Army Mentors Guide.  I have found a few more things I feel need to be updated to this manual but I will have to travel to a couple other parts of Afghanistan to interview some organizations and personnel to get the proper information.  

Week #3

Mon 2000-2030

TUE 1930-2100

WED

THU 2100-2230

FRI 2100-2300

SAT

SUN 2130-2330

This weeks reading was on the Pillars of creation.  I am almost finished with this book.  The story is enjoyable of course or I would not be reading it.  The story has diverged from the original characters and focused on a few new ones and will be interesting to see where and how the author brings them together in the story. 

This week I have also read the JCISFA Afghanistan National Army Mentors Guide.  This is one of our publications that we produce to aid in the effort to work with the Afghan army.  We are beginning the process of updating the publication and aiding any new information that we have obtained offer the last year.  Every year we try to update and aid new information to our documents to ensure those who use them have the most up to date information.  To do this we must review numerous documents, which come in the form of After Action Reviews (AARs) and Observations Insights and Lessons (OILs) from all over the country and extrapolate the needed information to update or products.  This reading is not included in the reading time.

Week One's Reading

I need to take time and figure out a good way to track my reading time but for now I will just post it before I write about what I read. 

Monday            3 OCT             2000- 2200

Tuesday            4 OCT             2130-2200

Wednesday       5 OCT            2100-2230

Thursday           6 OCT            2200-2230

Friday               7 OCT           

Saturday            8 OCT            2100-2200

Sunday              9 OCT            1330-1430

As I said in my introduction I would finish a book titled “A Dance with Dragons” by George R. R. Martin, which is part of the series “A Game of Thrones”.  This book had been many years in coming out about eight if I am correct.  I read the first set of books while I was deployed last time to Iraq.   I must say I was disappointed with the book it seemed to jump around too much from character to character.  The worst part was the last couple of chapter and the way he ended the book, which I understood was to be the last.   If it truly was the last book it left you hanging with to many unanswered question and characters who did not achieve their intended goals.  Some of the characters were apparently killed of but it was not definitive.  I know that in high school English I was docked points for such ambiguous endings.

Another book I read this week was a book titled “The 17 Day Diet” by Dr. Mike Moreno.  My wife had heard about the diet and book from a friend and asked my to read it and do the diet with her.  The concept is similar to many other diets I have heard of.  The concept seems sound and not to faddish in that, it seems to be one that can be maintained if you make it through the first 17 days.  The goal is to reset your bodies metabolism by cutting out all types of artificial sugars and refined carbs, like white bread, white pasta potatoes and so on.  The first 17 days are the most restrictive and you are trying to cleanse the body of all the impure and unnatural man made products.  I know it sounds all to health nutty but with each new 17 days you are able to add things back into your diet and your able to eat almost all the thing you did before except it is recommended that you eat minimal amounts of things that have high amount of processed sugars.  Over all it seems to be a life style diet you can live with for a long time.

I also said I would start up a book title “The Pillars of Creation” by Terry Goodkind and I did.  This book is also a series called “Sword of Truth” and does have a TV series that is based upon the first book “The Wizards First Rule” and the “Seeker”.   I started this series as well while I was in Iraq.  The fun part about deployments is that you may not always be able to find the next book in a series you started but books are abundant all over the place.  You just sometime have to look real hard for one that you rely want to read.

Intro

I must start off by saying as a child I was not much of a reader and I struggled with reading comprehension all through school.  It was not until I joined the Army and was deployed numerous times that I would occupy my spare time with reading.  Books are and have always been an easy entertainment for soldiers to transport with them and a good escape from what may be going on around them.

In my current job, I do a lot of reading and research to help develop some of the Army’s current doctrine for training.  I must say when I do read at night, for at least 30 minutes, I use it to unwind from the day and relax.   However, while deployed I tend to read more often.  I prefer books that are usually suspense thrillers and good old traditional fantasy books.

I will finish a book titled “A Dance with Dragoons” by George R. R. Martin this week and move back into “The Pillars of Creation” a book in the series “The Sword of Truth” by Terry Goodkind.   I hope you find my thoughts about my read enjoyable and entertaining.