An avid reader, books fill my life but some have a greater meaning, written by friends. Which books belong in a place of honor on your shelf?

2016-06-08T20:43:06-04:00

My book collection could fill a small library, my kindle collection is an incredible space saver. But there are some books that deserve to be kept as Hard Copy. I received this one today. "Still Standing" written by Major Steven "Blaster" Hirst with assistance following a crash on black ice while stationed in Alaska changed a shining USAF Academy Grad and highly skilled war honed fighter pilot completely, another.

Response by SSG Pete Fleming made Jun 8 at 2016 8:44 PM

2016-06-08T20:44:50-04:00

The ones I wrote, no else buys them so at least they can sit on my shelf

Response by SGT Private RallyPoint Member made Jun 8 at 2016 8:45 PM

2016-06-08T20:45:38-04:00

War, by Sebastian Junger, and all of my books by Stephen Ambrose

Response by SGT Private RallyPoint Member made Jun 8 at 2016 8:46 PM

2016-06-08T20:46:08-04:00

Need to get the one by SSG Travis Mills

Response by MAJ Rene De La Rosa made Jun 8 at 2016 8:48 PM

2016-06-08T20:48:41-04:00

We Were Soldiers Once...and Young by LTG Hal Moore and Joe Galloway. Great book and closely depicted in the film.

Response by Nicholas Efstathiou made Jun 8 at 2016 8:50 PM

2016-06-08T20:50:33-04:00

Major, have you read "Hesitation Kills," by Maj. Jane Vizzi (USMC)? It's an excellent book, and remains one of the few which remain on a special, reserved bookcase.

Response by CSM Charles Hayden made Jun 8 at 2016 8:57 PM

2016-06-08T20:57:33-04:00

Maj Kim Patterson I am most pleased and proud of my Kipling books. I don't care if Queen Victoria banned him for a while. I consider Kipling's works to be literature I can understand and relate to in many ways.

I meta 13 year old avid reader last summer, 2015. We enjoyed one of those few moments people seldom have with one another. I happened to own a 'gilded' copy of The Jungle Book. Kaitlin soon wrote that she loved her new book so much that she would hold it to her chest and ever put it down until she had completed reading it

Response by LTC Stephen F. made Jun 8 at 2016 9:10 PM

2016-06-08T21:10:15-04:00

First the Bible; second works by Barbara Tuchman [A Distant Mirror; The Guns of August; the Zimmerman Telegram]; Ernie Pyle [Here is Your War; Brave Men, Last Chapter]; William Manchester [A World lit Only by Fire]; Erwin Rommel [Attacks]; Sir Basil Henry Liddell Hart [Scipio Africanus: Greater Than Napoleon; Great Captains Unveiled; A History of the World War (1914–1918)], Bruce Catton [The Coming Fury, Terrible Swift Sword, and Never Call Retreat] would be my first choices from a historical perspective Maj Kim Patterson

Response by MSG Private RallyPoint Member made Jun 8 at 2016 9:30 PM

2016-06-08T21:30:14-04:00

All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten by my second favorite dirty hippy, Robert Fulghum. Very easy light reading but if you're want something to put stuff in perspective ...
1. Share everything.
2. Play fair.
3. Don't hit people.
4. Put things back where you found them.
5. CLEAN UP YOUR OWN MESS.
6. Don't take things that aren't yours.
7. Say you're SORRY when you HURT somebody.
8. Wash your hands before you eat.
9. Flush.
10. Warm cookies and cold milk are good for you.
11. Live a balanced life - learn some and drink some and draw some and paint some and sing and dance and play and work everyday some.
12. Take a nap every afternoon.
13. When you go out into the world, watch out for traffic, hold hands, and stick together.
14. Be aware of wonder. Remember the little seed in the Styrofoam cup: The roots go down and the plant goes up and nobody really knows how or why, but we are all like that.
15. Goldfish and hamster and white mice and even the little seed in the Styrofoam cup - they all die. So do we.
16. And then remember the Dick-and-Jane books and the first word you learned - the biggest word of all - LOOK.”

Response by SP5 Mark Kuzinski made Jun 8 at 2016 9:40 PM

2016-06-08T21:40:15-04:00

Where do I start Maj Kim Patterson - Like you I love to read and through the years I have obtained many books from my mom and dad when they pass away. Last year we took an inventory and decided to give many of the books to a few of the senior citizen's homes for their library's. Books are made to be read and I enjoyed giving them to a place that can make use of them.

Did I give them all away? Heck no - I saved my favorites and here are a few of them:

1. Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand - Ayn Rand and the book were far ahead of their time and I can't tell you how many times I have read this book..
2. Killing Lincoln by Bill O'Reilly - A fantastic account of Lincoln and what went into the plot of the assassination. I have read all of Bill's books but this one is his best.
3. Any book about Washington or Jefferson!!! You name em, I got em!
4. The war of 1812 - again - you name em, I got em.
5. The Pocket Constitution - Here is one that I keep in my car and many other places - just in case I need a quick reference or reminder.
6. Just about any history book published.
7 and beyond many, many mystery books by James Paterson, John Grisham, David Baldacci and on and on and on.
Can't give everything away.
Thanks for the post Maj Kim Patterson

Response by MAJ Robert (Bob) Petrarca made Jun 8 at 2016 10:04 PM

2016-06-08T22:04:51-04:00

"In The Hands of Providence" - the bio of Joshua Laurence Chamberlain
"In The Company of Heroes" - the bio of Mike Durant
"Blackhawk Down"
"Infinite Loop" - the founding of Apple and the rise of Silicon Valley
"Once an Eagle"
"The Killer Angels"
"We Were Soldiers Once and Young"

Response by SFC John Birks made Jun 9 at 2016 12:39 AM

2016-06-09T00:39:02-04:00

Tank Sergeant, by Ralph Zumbro. He's published other books, but I could really relate to that one. Another good one is Death Traps by Beldon Cooper. It takes you into the boots of the 3rd Army's Ordance Officer. Really great writing! Puts you into their shoes!

Response by CSM Private RallyPoint Member made Jun 9 at 2016 1:21 AM

2016-06-09T01:21:17-04:00

Ashley's War by Gayle Z. Lemmon

Response by SPC Kirk Gilles made Jun 9 at 2016 2:06 AM

2016-06-09T02:06:14-04:00

Descent Into Darkness. About USN divers who tried to rescue USS Oklahoma survivors after PH attack.
Last Stand of the Tin Can Sailors. Heroic stuff.
Japan's War. Gives all the background that explains Japanese aggression from 1800's to WWII.
PT 109. Great story. Hard part is knowing how unethical JFK was in his personal life.
Target Patton. Not Bill O Reily book. The first one. Will make you physically upset with just how complicit our own leaders were/are in dealing with those who oppose them.

Response by Maj Kim Patterson made Jun 9 at 2016 2:11 AM

2016-06-09T02:11:37-04:00

Please feel free to include non military related gems. As mentioned, I am an eclectic reader. I enjoy a well written biography about almost anyone and can zip through a cheesy Harlequin romance in an hour or two. Now you might think Harlequin/Bodice rippers are a waste, but the history in them has been well researched and is mostly accurate with some leeway for poetic license. It made passing history classes a breeze.

Response by PO1 Tony Holland made Jun 9 at 2016 2:15 AM

2016-06-09T02:15:17-04:00

My personal library, mostly paperbacks, fills six 6-ft bookshelves. Although the large majority is sic-fi, Tom Clancy, Robert Ludlum, Van Lustbader, Wilbur Smith, Ken Follett, etc.; there are some that are especially meaningful to me. Nikos Kazantzaki's "Last Temptation of Christ", "The Magus" by John Fowles (later made into a film), "Devils with Green Faces" by LT Jerry J Fletcher ( a platoon leader I knew at SEAL Team One in 1971. Books by George Orwell, Aldous Huxley, Herman Hesse and D H Lawrence also are well represented in my library.

Response by 1stSgt Eugene Harless made Jun 9 at 2016 4:36 AM

2016-06-09T04:36:35-04:00

"The Five People You Meet in Heaven" by Mitch Album.

Response by SSG Roderick Smith made Jun 9 at 2016 6:50 AM

2016-06-09T06:50:05-04:00

I'm a huge fan of classics. I also tend to re-read them 6 or 7 times... maybe it's time to branch out and dig into some of the suggestions being made here! My all-time favorite is the Narnia series by C.C. Lewis. I spent a lot of time by myself as a kid, and I filled it with reading. It got me through a lot of crap. My mom had a box set of the entire series, and I read them so much the covers fell off. I still feel bad about that... I need to replace those for her!

As an adult, A Tale of Two Cities has always been a favorite. The Three Musketeers is another. As an adolescent and a teenager, I read pretty much anything. For nostalgia purposes, I re-read The Call of the Wild last year. Love that book. For grade school children that like fantasy books, there's a great series by Brian Jacques (Redwall).

And lastly, and my own personal all time guilty pleasure favorites... I've read literally every Star Wars novel ever written. Literally.

Response by Cpl Justin Goolsby made Jun 9 at 2016 9:07 AM

2016-06-09T09:07:45-04:00

1984
Brave New World
Animal Farm
His Dark Materials
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
The Divine Comedy
The Ultimate Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

Some of these I read in high school. Some of these were recommended by friends. Some I read for personal pleasure. But each one of these really resonated with me and I had to add them to my collection for repeat readings.

Response by MSgt Private RallyPoint Member made Jun 9 at 2016 9:44 AM

2016-06-09T09:44:36-04:00

Unbroken
American Patriot: The Life and Wars of Colonel Bud Day
Personal Memoirs of Grant
War as I Knew it

Response by MSgt Private RallyPoint Member made Jun 9 at 2016 10:01 AM

2016-06-09T10:01:56-04:00

The Forever War: Joe Haldeman
Armor: John Steakley
Starship Troopers: Robert Heinlein
Brave New World: Aldous Huxley
The Stand: Stephen King
The Dark Tower (Gunslinger) Series: Stephen King
The Dragonlance Chronicles: Weiss and Hickman
Death Be Not Proud: John Gunther

Response by PO3 Donald Murphy made Jun 9 at 2016 11:23 AM

2016-06-09T11:23:43-04:00

1. The American Standard version Bible. A great classic with updates to help you understand it better (unless you speak Aramaic...).

2. "Are We Living In The End Times" by Tim LaHay. An interesting take on things happening today and how they point to scripture.

3. "Trading With The Enemy" by Charles Higham. This book changed the way I vote. At the start of WW2, FDR sent Secretary Morgenthau to big business to make sure they weren't trading with the enemy. Boy was he in for a surprise! This is not a conspiracy book. All of the receipts and bills of lading are unclassified because everything was done within the letter of the law. In other words, the CEO's and businesses were doing everything legal. So what's the story? The story is how these businesses had congressional and senatorial assistance.

4. "The Hunt For Red October" by Tom Clancy. This book got me through submarine school. I'm not a fiction reader generally, but this one I made an exception for.

5. "Six Days In June" by Eric Hammel. This book has everything you need to know about Arab-Israeli conflict/relations and how America came to get involved.

6. "Flying Fortress" by Edward Jablonski. As a child, this book was in my USAF dad's book shelf and was one of my favorite childhood reads. Even now, it is one of my favorite reads. A mini history of the USAF and it's iconic B-17 bomber.

7. "Last Stand: Famous Battles Against The Odds" by Bryan Perrett. All the classic battles are here: The Alamo, Tarawa, Zulu's, etc. Just enough meat to get your appetite whet. My favorite is the artillery action at Nery in WWI and while at the Imperial War Museum in London, I was able to see and touch the cannon in the story! Great reading.

8. "Oswald Talked" by Ray and Mary LaFontaine. Remember, LHO never admitted to killing JFK. When he was arrested he never admitted to anything. So he was just thrown in to regular jail, next to regular prisoners. And as prisoners do...they talk amongst each other. Also, SURPRISINGLY - LHO's "box" of personal effects was still in Dallas Police Department's basement when the authors did their investigation. Doesn't matter which side of the fence you're on regarding the assassination; this book destroys a lot of myths and opens more questions.

9. "Flag Of Our Fathers" by James Bradley. New insight into a well known episode of American WW2 history.

10. "Spycatcher" by Peter Wright. Everything you ever wanted to know about spies and how the USA's CIA/NSA and Britain's MI-5/MI-6 operate.

11. "Blind Man's Bluff" by Sheri Sontag. Everything you ever wanted to know about Cold War submarine operations.

Response by SSG Private RallyPoint Member made Jun 9 at 2016 12:23 PM

2016-06-09T12:23:09-04:00

I would have to say that there are three:
"Marine Salvage" by Joseph Gores (the foundation of my interest in leadership and beating the odds against nature),
"No Banners, No Bugles" by Edward Ellsberg (same as the previous, but my wife found a signed copy - verified by the Ellsberg's Grandson),
...And "At Dawn We Slept"... forgot who wrote this one, but my ex-wife managed to get it signed by all the Pearl Harbor survivors alive and around Pearl in 2001.

Response by Col Jim Harmon made Jun 9 at 2016 2:16 PM

2016-06-09T14:16:13-04:00

God is My Co-Pilot: General Robert L. Scott
Deals with ingenuity on the battlefield as retold from General Scott’s personal service with General Chennault and the 1st American Volunteer Group (aka Flying Tigers). At one point General Scott had the Japanese believing that his single American P-40, represented four squadrons of American Aircraft. He would daily paint the nose cone of his P-40 a different color, and always attack from a different direction depending on his nose cone’s color. Deception operations at their finest!

Starship Troopers: Robert Heinlein
Read the book. Do NOT see the movie. The book deals with the difference between Combat Leadership and Garrison Leadership and makes a pretty solid argument for not allowing anyone to be an Officer, who has not first served as Enlisted in a combat environment. The book is set against the backdrop of a future space based war and does an exceptional job or forecasting the decline of Western Democracies when they embraced the rights of the individual, over the rights of the majority.

That Devil Forrest: John Allen Wyeth
A historical recounting of the life and battlefield accomplishments of Confederate General Nathan Bedford Forrest. Forrest is forgotten and ignored by U.S. military historians. He was perhaps the greatest field General every produced by America. When asked who he studied to become so proficient, Field Marshall Erwin Rommel replied, “I studied the tactics of General Nathan Forrest”. Ignore the politics of the Civil War, get past Forrest’s involvement with establishing (and disbanding) the KKK, and you will get to crawl around inside the head of a tactical genius. General Sherman is quoted as saying, “That devil Forrest must be hunted down and killed if it costs ten thousand lives and bankrupts the federal treasury.”

Response by SCPO Private RallyPoint Member made Jun 9 at 2016 2:41 PM

2016-06-09T14:41:32-04:00

I live to read, as well. I'm retired, so it is a very enjoyable hobby. And educational. I have an extensive range of interests and authors. One book that all but physically removed me from the reality of the present and transported me to another time, all five senses intact, was Cold Mountain. An unimaginably incredible book. But that book is followed by dozens more that are equally enthralling.

Response by Sgt Jason Markvart made Jun 10 at 2016 5:06 AM

2016-06-10T05:06:54-04:00

"The Forgotten Soldier" by Guy Sajer, and "Rifleman Dodd" by C.S. Forester. Both are excellent reads!

Response by Maj Kim Patterson made Jun 10 at 2016 9:19 AM

2016-06-10T09:19:17-04:00

If anyone notices my absense over the coming days, I am most likely reading some of your selections and recommendations. I may have to pop in to check a title but thanks all!

Response by MSG Private RallyPoint Member made Jun 11 at 2016 12:34 PM

2016-06-11T12:34:05-04:00

i read as many books as i could in my early years, dark green valley, letters from vietnam, i have he entire collection of the ww2 experience

Response by TSgt Tim (lj) Littlejohn made Jun 17 at 2016 9:40 AM

2016-06-17T09:40:41-04:00

I have hundreds of books in print and hundreds more on kindle. On my shelf of honor only 1, the Bible.

Response by Pat McCracken made Nov 23 at 2016 12:06 PM

2016-11-23T12:06:58-05:00

I have woks of Dr. Seuss, Shel Silverstein, John Grisham, and many others, but the only one that deserves a place of honor on my bookshelf is the Bible. This is my guide book for life.....the others are merely for enjoyment.

Response by SFC George Smith made Nov 25 at 2016 9:10 PM

2016-11-25T21:10:42-05:00

i'm a Clive Cussler fan...

Response by LTC Stephen C. made Nov 25 at 2016 11:03 PM

2016-11-25T23:03:57-05:00

Maj Kim Patterson, Return with Honor has a special place in my "library", principally because I met the author.
I met Col. George "Bud" Day (MOH recipient) on a three day cruise to the Bahamas out of Port Canaveral, FL in JUL92. The Legion of Valor was conducting their annual meeting on the cruise, and Col. Day was the keynote speaker for their dinner meeting (and, of course, a member). I introduced myself, and he graciously invited me to the dinner and presentation, which I immediately accepted and then attended! He signed a copy of his book "Return with Honor", which I have to this day.

Response by LTC Stephen C. made Nov 26 at 2016 12:50 AM

2016-11-26T00:50:34-05:00

Maj Kim Patterson, here's a book I read many years ago, that tells a story that few people know about. The Execution of Private Slovik by William Bradford Huie, tells the story of Private Eddie Slovik, the only American soldier to be executed for desertion since the American Civil War. It was published in 1954, despite the efforts of then President Dwight Eisenhower to stop its publication (Eisenhower authorized the execution).
It's a strange and sad tale.

Response by SGT David A. 'Cowboy' Groth made Nov 26 at 2016 6:27 AM

2016-11-26T06:27:31-05:00

I have my Bible first and formost, than an assortment of Sci-fi, westerns, lots of fiction, and then my bookshelf of military manuals.

Response by SGT Philip Roncari made Nov 26 at 2016 7:33 AM

2016-11-26T07:33:48-05:00

My reading lists over the years have taken me all over the world,Bruce Catton's civil war collection in my early years,Ian Fleming's "James Bond "novels,Mitchner,Kipling,Stephen King David McCullough so many in fact I would need to publish a book myself to list them all, very hard to plck out my favorite though I guess the last one would be a good answer!

Response by CWO3 Private RallyPoint Member made Nov 26 at 2016 9:43 AM

2016-11-26T09:43:49-05:00

Low lying fruit is fiction. The rest requires too much thought this early in the AM. Anything by Tom Clancy, W.E.B. Griffin, John Grisham, and James Webb especially "Fields of Fire", "Something to Die For", and "A Sense of Honor", also like USMC Major Retired H.G. "Dunk" Duncan's "Green Side Out", "Brown Side Out", and "Dunk's Almanac"....too many more that I'm missing now.

I like Military History, USMC History, Strategy/Tactics on non-fiction side, also History in general especially US during periods of adversity such as during wars. S.L.A. Marshall's "Soldiers Load", and "Men Against Fire" should be required reading for all leaders. "With The Old Breed" by E.B. Sledge, "The Magnificent Bastards" by K.W. Nolan about Army/USMC defense of Dong Ha in 1968, "Easter Offensive" by Gerald H. Turley, "The Killer Angels" by M. Shaara about Gettysburg....and so many more.

Response by MSgt John McGowan made Dec 15 at 2016 11:57 AM

2016-12-15T11:57:02-05:00

MAJOR. Reading is one of the joys of life. I almost raised a family of readers.