Reddit reviews The Guns of Navarone

Ok, two different categories of recs that arent exactly what you asked for but you might want to put on the radar:

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1. Superbly enjoyable stories of bad-assery: I love Alistair MacLean's (historical fiction) books. These two are my favorite. They are the alpha male equivalent of romance beach novels. They are excellent:
   South by Java Head: https://www.amazon.com/South-Java-Head-Alistair-MacLean/dp/0006172482
   The Guns of Navarone: https://www.amazon.com/Guns-Navarone-Alistair-MacLean/dp/0006172474
   
   
2. Marcus Aurelius's Meditations is the single book I would take with me to an island. It reads like a conversation with a friend. Not archaic, not heavy or overwrought, and yet gets to the essence of what it means to be a good man and live a good life. General Mattis used to carry this in combat. I suggest reading it bits at a time, in 20-30 minute sessions. https://www.amazon.com/Meditations-Thrift-Editions-Marcus-Aurelius/dp/048629823X
   
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   Some quotes from #2 to give you a sense. Crazy this was just a roman emperor's diary 2000 years ago:
   
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   “When you arise in the morning think of what a privilege it is to be alive, to think, to enjoy, to love ...”
   
   “Never let the future disturb you. You will meet it, if you have to, with the same weapons of reason which today arm you against the present.”
   
   “The object of life is not to be on the side of the majority, but to escape finding oneself in the ranks of the insane.”
   
   “Whenever you are about to find fault with someone, ask yourself the following question: What fault of mine most nearly resembles the one I am about to criticize?”
   
   “The first rule is to keep an untroubled spirit. The second is to look things in the face and know them for what they are.”
   “Nothing happens to anybody which he is not fitted by nature to bear.”