Memorial Day Reading Recommendations

This Monday is Memorial Day here in the states, a day in which we honor, celebrate, and remember the brave men and women who have served in our armed forces. To commemorate the occasion, I have put togethe a small array of books that feature members of the military.

The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien: This will always remain one of my favorite books. This book is a series of short stories (which I definitely somehow didn't realize when I first read this as a freshman in high school!) of a man's experienced during the Vietnam War. 

The Outside Lands by Hannah Kohler (review): If you want historical fiction that focuses on both the war itself and those back home, then this is a great one set during the Vietnam War. 

Matterhorn by Karl Marlantes: Another fantastic Vietnam War novel that I cannot recommend enough.

A Farewell to Arms by Ernest Hemingway: This is, of course, a classic novel of an American soldier during World War I. I actually haven't this one because I'm not a huge fan of Hemingway (I'm sorry), but I had to include such a well-loved book.

Consequence by Eric Fair (review): Consequence isn't an overly positive, light-hearted book (though what books about war are?), but it is a fascinating, must-read account of an Army translator who becomes involved with interrogations in Iraq. 

Thank You For Your Service by David Finkel: This one is slightly more modern and consists of a collection of short stories about soldiers in Baghdad from 2007-2008.

The Barracks Thief by Tobias Wolff: This is a short novella one set during the Vietnam War, and also yet another fascinating story.

Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut: I'll be honest: I'm not a huge Vonnegut fan, but I won't deny that is indeed a classic in the field of war books. Slaughterhouse-Five is an "absurdist science fiction" of an American prisoner of war in Dresden, Germany.

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