Most of y’all who follow me and Lynndee on this blog already know what a book lover I am. I’ve already shared with you the wonderful gift my late Mama gave me that sent me on that journey of words. And I later told the true tale of the temporary detour I encountered that almost diverted my trek from there to now.

But this week, I’ve ran into other diversions. Not only have I constantly had a book in my hands, five books have crossed my fingers during this time period. Multi-tasking the same task! An explanation is in order, so here goes.

In Our Image: America’s Empire in the Philippines

Initially, I was rereading a wonderful work of history, In Our Image: America’s Empire in the Philippines. Though I do love history and already knew much of this story, in no way was I this well versed in this story. This book was written by the late Stanley Karnow who spent the most influential part of his career in Asia. His first major work was Vietnam: A History. He reported on the war from the beginning which landed him on the master list of Nixon’s political opponents. From his notes and stories, came the history, published in 1983. Also in ’83, he was chief correspondent for the 13-hour PBS series Vietnam: A Television History. Not only did I read the book, I also saw the entire series. And Karnow won the 1990 Pulitzer Prize for History for In Our Image.

Ironically, I ran across In Our Image after having married a Filipino girl. And in it, I learned oh so much more about America’s ties to the islands, and the entire story isn’t totally pretty. But then, look at the subtitle: America’s Empire in the Philippines. The keyword there is “empire,” for this is the story of America’s only major colonial experience. Yeah, we did colonize them, just as the British created the American colonies. But we came here and created a colony; we went there and made them one, trying to recreate them “in our image,” after they’d been under Spanish rule for over 300 years. Certainly, there were issues. But then, again, all things were eventually worked out and to this day, the Filipino people love us and consider us brothers and sisters and allies.

Legacy of Ashes: The History of the CIA

Thing is, I was only halfway through this book when I had the opportunity to get another one at a cheap price, and when I got it, I had to start reading it. This one was Legacy of Ashes: The History of the CIA. I’ve shared my love of the spy genre, having read Tom Clancy’s novels about the CIA and the entire James Bond series by Ian Fleming. But the fictional version of the clandestine services aren’t exactly the truth of the real world. And just like our vision of Filipino history, all isn’t a pretty picture. Thus the title of this book, Legacy of Ashes. The author got his book title from a statement by President Eisenhower nearing the end of his administration when he told Allen Dulles, then head of the CIA, that “The structure of our intelligence organization is faulty,” and that he would “leave a legacy of ashes” to his successor. Nope, not a pretty picture, and the book goes on to explain many of the fiascos that have come from CIA operations over the years leading up to 9/11.

Robert James Waller Books

But I found myself in a situation that such deep reading of history can at times be tiring. I was taking books to work with me to fill my time. With the job I’m doing, I have plenty of time to read. But reading in-depth history can sometimes make one nod off, and I must stay awake while on duty. So I went to my personal library and got some light reading out for a few days duty. And those were the three works by Robert James Waller telling the love and life stories of Robert Kincaid and Francesca Johnson beginning with The Bridges of Madison County. Along with my Soduku puzzles, that kept me busy for my 9-hour work shifts, killing my boredom yet keeping me awake. But I knocked those three books out in three days and I’ll have to find other diversions for my next scheduled work days.

Until then, though, it’s back to my history books, which I use to read myself to sleep every night. So until next time, g’nite y’all!