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Holy Smoke by G.Cabera Infante

Warriors of God: Richard the Lionheart and Saladin in the Third Crusade by James Reston Jr.

Dissonance: The Turbulent Days Between Fort Sumter and Bull Run by David Detzer

The Name of War: King Philip's War and the Origins of American Identity by Jill Lepore

Patterns of War Through the Eighteenth Century by Larry H. Addington

Waterloo 1815: The Birth of Modern Europe (Campaign) by Geoff Wootten

Maps and Legends: Reading and Writing Along the Borderlands (P.S.) by Michael Chabon

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Friends: jonathaneum

Interesting library: bookblotter, Chris469, Derek_Law, joncgoodwin, Kordo, RobertMosher, rudel519, southerncross116, surly

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Member: MichaelJR

CollectionsHistory (1,533), Non-Fiction (21), Fiction (140), Comic Books (1), Graphic Novels (12), Your library (1,579), All collections (1,712)

ReviewsNone

TagsWWII (310), American Civil War (171), American History (152), Napoleonic (126), Military History (111), Science Fiction and Fantasy (82), Ancient Rome (68), Medieval History (56), England (48), WWI (47) — see all tags

Cloudstag cloud, author cloud, tag mirror

About meI am a lifelong reader and book collector. My childhood was spent adventuring along the shores of the Great Lakes; exploring the colonial era forts, traveling the myriad waterways and investigating Native American culture and lore with my Grandfather, a local historian and anthropologist. Thus was my obsession with history born, resulting in degrees in history, political science and a JD.

My wife and I frequently volunteer our time to help the Arlington Heights Memorial Library Booksale. Truly one of the best used book sales around, you should definitely check it out if you are ever in Chicago's NW suburbs.

My late Grandfather's one published book is listed here on LT, an examination of the Lithuanian immigrant community of his childhood in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
"Growing Up in Old Lithuanian Town" by E.V. Gillis

Pictured is my personal assistant, Corwin the Library Spaniel.

About my libraryMy library reflects an interest in both fiction and non-fiction including: history, Great Lakes history, military history, philosophy, mythology, folklore, classic literature, historical fiction, science fiction, fantasy, comic books, art and more.

It is going to take some time to catalog my entire collection, so please bear with me. While you are waiting, here are some of my favorite quotes:

When asked by a visitor upon seeing his prodigious private library: "What a lot of books! Have you read them all?"
"No, these are the ones I have to read by the end of the month."
- Umberto Eco, How to Justify a Private Library

GroupsHistorical Fiction, History: On learning from and writing history, Military History, Second World War History, Wargamer

Favorite authorsJeremy Black, Jorge Luis Borges, David G. Chandler, Bernard Cornwell, Arthur Conan Doyle, Christopher Duffy, Trevor N. Dupuy, Umberto Eco, Shelby Foote, C. S. Forester, David M. Glantz, Christopher Hibbert, Robert E. Howard, Rudyard Kipling, Patrick O'Brian, Mary Renault, J. R. R. Tolkien, Jules Verne, Gene Wolfe, Roger Zelazny (Shared favorites)

VenuesFavorites

Favorite bookstoresBorders - Chicago - Michigan Avenue, Borders - Schaumburg, Chicago Comics

Favorite librariesArlington Heights Memorial Library, Mount Prospect Public Library, Newberry Library, Northwestern University - Chicago Campus - School of Law - Pritzker Legal Research Center, Park Ridge Public Library, Pritzker Military Library

Other favoritesLoyola University Museum of Art, Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago History Museum, Donald E. Stephens Convention Center, Chicago Comic & Entertainment Expo 2010 (C2E2)

Homepagehttp://chicagowargamer.blogspot.com/

Also onBoardGameGeek

Real nameMichael

LocationChicago Park Ridge

Account typepublic, lifetime

URLs http://www.librarything.com/profile/MichaelJR (profile)
http://www.librarything.com/catalog/MichaelJR (library)

Member sinceJan 2, 2008

Most recent activity

MichaelJR rated:
The Incredible War of 1812: A Military History by J. Mackay Hitsman

MichaelJR rated:
The Western Way of War: Infantry Battle in Classical Greece by Victor Davis Hanson

MichaelJR rated:
The Island of Dr. Death and Other Stories by Gene Wolfe

MichaelJR rated:
The Fifth Head of Cerberus by Gene Wolfe

MichaelJR rated:
The Bloody Crown of Conan (Conan of Cimmeria, Book 2) by Robert E. Howard

MichaelJR rated:
The Conquering Sword of Conan (Conan of Cimmeria, Book 3) by Robert E. Howard

It is spooky you were looking at my library as I was just doing some book and author combining in yours! You have about 10 more books with either member matches when there were none or with more matches than before. It's harder to find interesting libraries to peruse if your books don't match when they can. :)

posted by surly at 10:46 am (EST) on May 19, 2010

Well, we have at least two other points of commonality.

When I was a kid we had a cocker spaniel puppy. Great dog, very lovable, stubby tail wagging at least 23 hours a day, full of energy, loved water. Unfortunately, he had a taste for leather and, one day while we were all out, picked a leather covered bible out of the book case and chewed it to bits. He died very young about a month after that incident. That kind of defined the concept of “retribution” for a 7 or 8 year old.

I lived near Cumberland & Higgins in the late 60s. Loved the house, didn’t love the patio in summer. Yikes, the airplanes! O’Hare’s eastern flight path was routed over our patio.

Okay, I’ll bite… Who/What Golodhrond? It sounds like someone from the Middle Ages with magical powers (via Tolkein???). I Googled the word/name and found little other than as related to you at LibraryThing, but I did learn that our pages at LibraryThing are automatically translated into other languages for the foreign sites. Before I realized what the reason was, I was very impressed with your language skills (German, Italian, Spanish, Latvian (I think!?!), Portuguese, etc).

Bill Bookblotter

posted by bookblotter at 11:22 am (EST) on Mar 18, 2010

Thanks for linking to my library. The law of numbers is at work here; you have a fairly high percentage of my books and I a low percentage of your library. I suspect that the immediate connection is via the discussion group “History: On learning from & writing history” which we both signed up for recently (I’m the newest “kid” on the block). It appears that Urquhart has done a nice job of bringing in recruits and stirring the pot on this group.

We have some commonality in location, Chicago (I’m actually in Winfield but who away from Chicago has heard of it?), and in history and, I note, in atlases of historic bent. If you have read my profile ramble, I love maps. I find them informative, interesting and, particularly early maps, works of art in some cases. I’ve been scouting out and downloading maps, mostly historic or early, that I find online, an online treasure trove in many cases.

I guess that I’m a serendipitous history reader; just kind of go with whatever calls out to me at the moment as opposed to seeking books on the War of 1812 or why the Venetians, Dutch or Hanseatic group were the kings of the trading world at various times.

In any event, welcome. Hope to “see” you around LibraryThing sometime.

bookblotter a/k/a Bill

posted by bookblotter at 5:13 pm (EST) on Mar 16, 2010