Book Review: Tonight We Die as Men

Tonight We Die As Men: The untold story of Third Battalion 506 Parachute Infantry Regiment from Toccoa to D-Day by Ian Gardner
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

I wanted to love this book, and parts of it I did. It certainly covers a lot of detail, with loads of personal anecdotes from veterans and from the civilians who encountered them. What it's missing is the big picture. Towards the end there's a line that says something like "The battle at Bloody Gully was the most important engagement for the 101st during the D-Day invasion" but it didn't explain why. I felt that way for most of the book. I knew what individual men were doing, but I couldn't quite put it into view as to what it all meant in terms of the war. It is fair to add that if I'd been able to see the maps (not legible on my kindle screen), I might have had better luck.

As a historical record, this is a valuable book. As a narrative, not so much. I don't regret reading it, but I doubt I'll ever read it again.

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Book Review: A Plunge Into Space

I got this book from Singularity: Save the Sci-fi. If you're a fan of classic science fiction, a membership in Singularity is a worthwhile investment!


A Plunge Into Space by Robert Cromie
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This book is not meant to be a comedy, but it's absolutely hilarious in its use of outdated tropes (no doubt cutting edge at the time it was written) and Victorian age prejudices regarding class, race, and sex. If you aren't a fan of classic sci-fi, I doubt you'll enjoy it. I am, and I did, but more as a curious historical artefact than as a story in its own right.

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Kindle and ME/CFS

I used to be a voracious reader, finishing most books in one or two sittings, even if it meant staying up all night and being bleary eyed at school the next day. When I entered the working world, I tried to be more responsible, and only book binge on weekends, but I still slipped occasionally.

Then I got sick, and it got difficult to read. I would read the same page over and over before I could extract meaning from it. I would get aching muscles from holding a paperback book open. Instead of binging books, I was nibbling them.

For about a year, I used a wonderful service provided by my local library, where I could request books online or by phone and volunteers would bring them to me. If I didn't request specific titles, they would just gather a few based on criteria I had given them. But it was getting more and more difficult to read. The last book I got from them took me six months to finish.

Then my parents bought me a Kindle for Christmas. If you're a reader with ME/CFS, I can't recommend it enough!

• It's lightweight. Lighter than a paperback, and doesn't have to be held open. I can hold it and turn pages in one hand, and easily switch to the other hand when I get tired. 
• It remembers. No more losing my place. Well, it's still possible to lose it, but it doesn't happen as often. And I can do a search for a phrase I remember to get back to where I was.
• It holds all the books I want! When my brain isn't up to the history books that I love to delve into, I can switch over and re-read The Hobbit for the hundredth time. When I want to look up something in a reference book, it's right there. No more pile of books by the bed.
• Instant dictionary. I can easily look up any word that brain fog is preventing me from understanding.
• Instant delivery of books. For someone who is housebound, this is wonderful. When I have the spoons to read a book, I can buy it and start reading right then.
• Easy bathtime reading. One of the best things I can do for my symptoms is a long epsom salts bath. And the best way for me to stay in the bath, is to have something to read. I seal the Kindle in a ziplock bag, and can read in the tub with no worries about drips or splashes.
• Adjustable text size. When my eyes get tired, I can just make the text size bigger. Try doing that with a paper book!

My experience has been with the Kindle, but my mother owns a Nook Touch, which is very similar. If you are considering both, I recommend watching some of the youtube reviews that compare both devices to help you decide which is best for you.

So often we think of disability equipment as being something from a specialist store, but it can also be something that's easily available to everyone. I would have enjoyed a Kindle as a healthy person, but as a sick person, Kindle has kept books in my life when I would have mostly had to give them up.