The Bomber Mafia: A Dream, a Temptation, and the Longest Night of the Second World War by Malcolm Gladwell

 

 

An exploration of how technology and best intentions collide in the heat of war

A New York Times Book Review Editors’ Choice

In The Bomber Mafia, Malcolm Gladwell weaves together the stories of a Dutch genius and his homemade computer, a band of brothers in central Alabama, a British psychopath, and pyromaniacal chemists at Harvard to examine one of the greatest moral challenges in modern American history.
 
Most military thinkers in the years leading up to World War II saw the airplane as an afterthought. But a small band of idealistic strategists, the “Bomber Mafia,” asked: What if precision bombing could cripple the enemy and make war far less lethal?  
 
In contrast, the bombing of Tokyo on the deadliest night of the war was the brainchild of General Curtis LeMay, whose brutal pragmatism and scorched-earth tactics in Japan cost thousands of civilian lives, but may have spared even more by averting a planned US invasion. In The Bomber Mafia, Gladwell asks, “Was it worth it?”
 
Things might have gone differently had LeMay’s predecessor, General Haywood Hansell, remained in charge. Hansell believed in precision bombing, but when he and Curtis LeMay squared off for a leadership handover in the jungles of Guam, LeMay emerged victorious, leading to the darkest night of World War II. The Bomber Mafia is a riveting tale of persistence, innovation, and the incalculable wages of war.

 

Temptation by Ivy Smoak

 

 

Shy student Penny Taylor always follows the rules. At least, that's how it appears to her classmates. But she has one illicit secret - she's fallen hard for her professor. And she's pretty sure he's fallen for her too.

Everyone loves Professor Hunter. He's tall, dark, and handsome. And completely unobtainable. But it's the secrets hiding behind his deep brown eyes that allures Penny. Secrets darker than she could ever imagine.

James Hunter gave up his billionaire lifestyle in NYC last year to become a professor. The easiest new rule to follow: don't fraternize with the students. It's easy to follow because he's become quite the recluse in his new town - the only way he knows how to keep his secrets buried.

But he never expected to be teaching such a beautiful student. He has to resist her. He needs to walk away. Penny deserves better than a man with his demons. But she's daring him to cross the line. And he's never been one to resist temptation.

 

Married to Maggie (Texas Boys Falling Fast) by Jan Romes

 

 

 

Ty Vincent needs a short-term wife to convince his grandfather and the Board of Directors of Vincent Oil that he's changing his carefree ways, so they'll name him CEO. He gives into one last temptation and ditches an environmental conference in Atlanta to play in Reno. At the airport, karma catches up. The woman who renders aid fibs to keep airport security and paparazzi from descending on him. She's brilliant, unemployed, and not his type; which makes her the perfect choice for a temporary spouse.Cardiac rehab nurse, Maggie Gray finds herself the victim of hospital downsizing. A former patient - Ty's grandfather - offers her a deal to get his grandson under control and Maggie is pressured into accepting it. She tracks Ty down at the Reno Airport and finds him in the middle of chest issues. Soon she's eyebrow-deep in a second deal.Six months. No sex. No telling each other what to do. It should've been a win-win for them both, but it wasn't -- not even close. Enjoy the chaos and surprises that are in store for Ty and Maggie.