The Biggest Book I've Ever....

Here's a pic of the biggest book I've ever seen or purchased.  It is MASSIVE.  "Kursk, The Battle of Prokhorovka" comes in at slightly over 1600 pages and several pounds in weight!  This is a fantastic book, full of analysis, summaries, sidebars, photos, etc.  It is a much easier read than Glantz.  Published by Aberdeen books, this is a once in a lifetime book.  While not cheap, I am thrilled to have a copy.

A quick note - if you are ever in the Denver area and have the time, I heartily recommend visiting Aberdeen Books.   Packed with any WW2 book you could want, plus a huge WW1 section, as well as a very large ancient, medieval, all the way up through FPW section.   They stock tons of books from Helion, and have so many specialist books that it is stunning.   I'll warn you - prepare to leave some money if you visit - you won't be able to just browse.

I've been out of action on the gaming front over the last month - here's what my game table looks like right now:

The table is covered with half of the cookware from our kitchen, as we're in the middle of a total renovation of it.  The kitchen is the last room in the house to finish, and while I've enjoyed the entire project (almost 2 years), I'm looking forward to having free time!  I'm guessing we won't be totally finished until after the start of the new year, but at least there's light at the end of the tunnel.

Since I haven't had as much time (or energy!) for painting figures, etc, I've been doing more fiction reading.   I just finished reading "The Heroes" by Joe Abercrombie.  I loved this book.  Great characters, fantastic action.   From the Amazon summary:

"They say Black Dow's killed more men than winter, and clawed his way to the throne of the North up a hill of skulls. The King of the Union, ever a jealous neighbor, is not about to stand smiling by while he claws his way any higher. The orders have been given and the armies are toiling through the northern mud. Thousands of men are converging on a forgotten ring of stones, on a worthless hill, in an unimportant valley, and they've brought a lot of sharpened metal with them."

You can find the book at your local bookstore, or at http://www.amazon.com/Heroes-Joe-Abercrombie/dp/0316193569/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1445507756&sr=1-1&keywords=the+heroes+joe+abercrombie

I previously read "Virtues of War" by Bennet R. Coles.  A military SF book, this was also a great read.  Here's a summary, again from Amazon:

"Lieutenant Katja Emmes is assigned to the fast-attack craft Rapier, joining a mission to investigate weapons smuggling activity between the Terran colonies of Sirius and Centauria. If true, this act of rebellion could escalate rapidly, and lead to all-out war.

When combat does erupt, its ferocity stuns the Terran forces, and pushes them to their limits. It tests the abilities of Lieutenant Emmes, as well, along with Sublieutenant Jack Mallory and Lieutenant Commander Thomas Kane, commanding officer of the Rapier. But failure is not acceptable.

They must defeat the enemy... by whatever means necessary."

http://www.amazon.com/Virtues-Astral-Saga-Bennett-Coles/dp/1783294205/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1445507915&sr=1-1&keywords=virtues+of+war+by+bennett+r.+coles

Both books were engrossing and a nice break from non-fiction works.

Here's a photo to show the relative sizes of the books.....I told you the Kursk book was big!