The incredible wealth of talent behind Band of Brothers

Back in 2001, HBO screened Band of Brothers for the first time.  Recently it was picked as HBO's best original programming ever.  Created as a sort of expanded version of Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg's seminal Saving Private Ryan and based on the Stephen Ambrose book, Band of Brothers was created in part by Erik Jendresen (most famous in recent years for nearly creating new Star Trek movies before JJ Abrams got to them) and Graham Yost (most famous recently for the TV series Justified, but immortal as far as I'm concerned for Boomtown, a brilliant mosaic of crime). 

Here's a listing of the powerhouse acting talent to be found in Band of Brothers:

• Damian Lewis - Later starred in Homeland.
• Ron Livingston - Previously starred in cult classic Office Space, later featured in short-lived TV show Defying Gravity.
• Scott Grimes - Currently featured in The Orville, previously a cast member of ER.
• Donnie Wahlberg - Featured in Yost's Boomtown, plus a longstanding cast member of Blue Bloods.
• Kirk Acevedo - Later featured in Fringe.
• Michael Cudlitz - Later featured in The Walking Dead.
• Neal McDonough - Later featured in Yost's Boomtown.
• Colin Hanks - Later featured in the sitcom Life in Pieces.
• David Schwimmer - Previously featured in Friends.
• Jamie Bamber - Later featured in Battlestar Galactica.
• Dominic Cooper - Later appeared in the MCU and starred in Preacher.
• Jimmy Fallon - Previously featured in Saturday Night Live, later host of The Tonight Show.
• Michael Fassbender - Later featured in Inglourious Basterds and starred as Magneto in the X-Men movies.
• Tom Hardy - Later had his big break in Star Trek Nemesis and breakthrough role in Inception.
• James McAvoy - Later featured as Charles Xavier in the X-Men movies.
• Jason O'Mara - Later starred in the American version of Life on Mars.
• Simon Pegg - Later featured in Shaun of the Dead and the Star Trek movies.

Favorite books read in 2019

Here's my list of favorite books I read in 2019.  As I don't read a lot of new releases, most of these will be older, in some cases quite a bit older, than what you typically find in these lists...

1. The Last Samurai by Helen DeWitt, something I tracked down expressly because of one of those wildly premature "best of the century so far" lists that began appearing within the last year or so.  And I was pleasantly surprised to really love it!  
2. Distant Star by Roberto Bolano, part of my push last year to collect and read all the remaining books from the late author I hadn't yet gotten around to.  This one focused on the little-explored legacy of Nazis who fled to South America following WWII, not merely from the spectacular reclamations for later trials, but the effects they had on the native populations, part of the youth that greatly affected Bolano's life.
3. Frankenstein in Baghdad by Ahmed Saadawi, which presents the imaginative response from another native perspective, this time as part of the Iraq War, a book I found at an airport.  (I recently bought a few more from another trip, and hope the results are even half as good.)
4. Don Quixote by Cervantes, a first-time read of a classic, and hugely illuminating.
5. For Whom the Bell Tolls by Hemingway, another first-time read of a classic, and by far the best book I've read in my recent push to finally read Papa.
6. The Great Gatsby by Fitzgerald, the first time I've read it since high school, and I'm pretty sure I got more out of it this time, and a greater appreciation.
7. Heroes in Crisis by Tom King, a controversial graphic novel for some, but the next great piece of writing from my current favorite in the medium.
8. Quichotte by Salman Rushdie, coincidentally released the same year I read the book on which it's mostly based.
9. The Perilous Adventures of the Cowboy King by Jerome Charyn, a book based on Teddy Roosevelt by one of my favorite authors.
10. Lessons from Lucy by Dave Barry, the latest from one of my favorite writers, slowly working his way past strict humor.

I spend all year writing extensive reviews over at Goodreads, and then I write the bare minimum here...At least I know about as many people are likely to care one way or the other!