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.