We're nearly halfway through 2015, and I'm more than halfway through my goal of reading eight books in 2015. Thus far, I've finished five books: Cyber War Will Not Take Place by Thomas Rid, Warlords of Oman by P.S. Allfree, Grounded: The Case for Abolishing the United States Air Force by Robert M. Farley, and The Martian by Andy Weir, Churchill's First War: Young Winston at War with the Afghans by Con Coughlin. I started the first couple of books in 2014, so I should probably read a ninth book just for good measure.
The remaining books on my 2015 list are Bleeding Talent: How the US Military Mismanages Great Leaders and Why It's Time for a Revolution by Tim Kane, Bomb: The Race to Build--and Steal--the World's Most Dangerous Weapon by Steve Sheinkin, and Tower of the Sun: Stories From the Middle East and North Africa by Michael Totten. That would put me up to eight. However, there may be a couple of changes. The original plan was to read Sheinkin's book with Lady Jaye as part of a program at her school, but we never got around to reading it during the school year, so it may get shelved for the time being. I also began reading The Devil's Sandbox: With the 2nd Battalion, 162nd Infantry at War in Iraq by John Bruning during a recent trip. I've intended to read this for about a decade, I've had it on my Kindle for two years, and I'm finally getting around to reading it. I retain the hope of finishing On War by Carl von Clausewitz and The Design and Evaluation of Physical Protection Systems by Mary Lynn Garcia this year. Other potential supplements include The Story of the Malakand Field Force by Winston Churchill (as a follow-up to Coughlin's book), and Where the West Ends by Michael Totten (as a supplement to Tower of the Sun).
I typically underperform on this particular goal, but being more than halfway through with around half of the year yet to go is encouraging.
