Living on the dry line is SUCH fun… Thunder and lightning, and rain, oh my!

So you get next week’s book promo early, since I already had it done.

Click on the covers to go to the books.

NASA Mission AS-506 Apollo 11 Owners’ Workshop Manual

The blurb-

On 20 July 1969, US astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin became the first men to walk on the moon. NASA Mission AS-506 Apollo 11 Owners’ Workshop Manual is the story of the Apollo 11 mission and the ‘space hardware’ that made it all possible. This manual looks at the evolution and design of the mighty Saturn V rocket, the Command and Service Modules, and the Lunar Module. It describes the space suits worn by the crew and their special life support and communications systems. We learn about how the Apollo 11 mission was flown – from launch procedures to ‘flying’ the Saturn V and the ‘LEM’, and from moon walking to the earth re-entry procedure. This new edition of the book celebrates the 50th Anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing.

This book has a lot of background/technical info on both NASA and the Apollo missions. Highly recommended if you’re old enough to remember them!

And second, A Dance with Death: Soviet Airwomen in WWII by Anne Noggle.

The blurb-

In their own vivid words, the women members of the Soviet air force recount their dramatic efforts against the German forces in World War II. These brave women, the first ever to fly in combat, proved that women could be among the best of warriors, withstanding the rigors of combat and downing the enemy. 

The women who tell their stories here began the war mostly as inexperienced girls—many of them teenagers. In support of their homeland, they volunteered to serve as bomber and fighter pilots, navigator-bombardiers, gunners, and support crews. Flying against the Luftwaffe, they saw many of their friends—as well as many of their foes—fall to earth in flames. Their three combat Air Force regiments fought as many as one thousand missions during the war.

For their heroism and success against the enemy, two of the women’s regiments were honored by designation as “Guard” regiments. At least thirty women were decorated with the gold star of Hero of the Soviet Union, their nation’s highest award.

But equally courageous were the women’s efforts to show the Red Army that they were entirely adequate to the great role they sought. For even though Stalin had decreed equality for both sexes, the women had to grapple initially with deep distrust from male pilots and Red Army officers, against whom they eventually prevailed.

War, Stalin-era politics, and human emotion mix in these gripping, first-person accounts. Supported by photographs of the women at war, the stories are unforgettable. Portraits of the women as they are now, taken by award-winning photographer Anne Noggle, add the perspective of time to the experiences of the survivors of this great dance with death.

Both fascinating and horrifying at the same time, it truly shows that women CAN do anything they set their minds to.

h/t to Guy and Stretch for the recommendations!