Challenge 21: A Book With a Great First Line

Donna's Book: We Are Soldiers Still: A Journey Back to the Battlefields of Vietnam by Harold Moore and Joseph Galloway (HarperCollins, 2009)

To be honest, I don't think that a good book will ever have a bad first line.  As a published author (albeit of history text books) I know how many hours I spent getting that first line just right.  So this is really an excuse to read one of the books that's been on my reading list for ages, but hasn't really fit into any of the categories so far.

This one fits, and it also has a great first line as a bonus:  "It has been more than forty years since those nightmarish days of November 1965, when an understrength 450-man battalion of the 7th US Cavalry launched an audacious helicopter air assault into the heart of enemy territory in the Ia Drang valley."

Comments: 

This i' one of the most beautiful and powerful books that I've ever read. I never had the privilege of meeting Lt Gen Moore but, just from reading his book, I know I would have followed him into the Ia Drang valley in November 1965, and anywhere else since. Every chapter brought tears to my eyes. But mostly what made me sad is the complete and utter contrast with the so-called 'leadership' in America today.

I never met Lt Gen Moore but I can still follow where he led: "Never quit. There's always one more thing you can do to influence any situation in your favour."

I am the proud daughter of a Vietnam veteran. I am proud to be an American. And I will never quit.
#resist

Challenge 20: A Book "Everyone" But You Has Read

Donna's Book: Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone by J K Rowling (Pottermore, 2015)

I've never got the Harry Potter craze.  I watched the films, reluctantly, mainly because Jackie Spencer and I were going on Pointless (BBC TV quiz show) and there had been a lot of Harry Potter-related questions during the time we were preparing for the show.  And I still didn't really get what all the fuss was about.  When I was preparing for this challenge, I asked all my friends what I should read and, pretty much unanimously, the answer was one of the Harry Potter books.  So here goes nothing ...

Comments:

Another confession.  I was as reluctant to read this book as I had been to watch the films, but a challenge accepted is a challenge accepted, so I didn't have much choice.  Plus, it was available for free via the Amazon Prime Kindle Library so I really didn't have any excuse. 

Within a couple of pages, though, I realised that I'd committed the cardinal sin.  I'd watched the film BEFORE I read the book!  Where as I'd never been grabbed by the film, within a couple of pages I was engrossed in the book.  It really is good!!  I'm sure I don't need to share any of the storyline - after all, 'everyone' but me seems to have read it!  But I really enjoyed it.  The story was entertaining and dramatic, the characters had depth, and the descriptions really fired the imagination. 

I'm still not sure that I totally get the Harry Potter craze, and I'm not sure that I'll read any more of the series ... but I might!  And I never thought I'd say that about the Harry Potter books.  So a good challenge, and a good recommendation from my friends!