I did something recently that I've never done before. I signed up for a library card and started checking books out of the library. In the old days, I loved building my home library. I liked scanning the books, pulling them from the shelves and referring to them when necessary, loaning them out, even re-reading a few on occasion. But several moves (can you say, weight limit) and living in houses which vary in size have dampened my enthusiasm for expanding my personal library. In short, I'm all done. I'll get my knowledge and reading pleasure on loan from this point forward.
Before joining the library, I went through my collection of books and decided that, as with music, my literary taste is, well, eclectic.... Some of my all-time favorite books are Eyes on the Prize (a great history of the Civil Rights movement), Anna Karenina, Eisenhower's Lieutenants(a thorough look at campaigns in France and Germany and insights into the personalities of those designing and implementing strategy, but definitely a heavy read), anything by Jan Karon or Alexander McCall Smith (I'd read his grocery list with pleasure) and Who Moved My Cheese (highly recommend this book).
A milspouse friend loaned me a book by Nicholas Sparks a couple of months ago. I read it in two days. Since then, I have read five other books by Sparks. The last book I read was Dear John, and it was the most interesting to me because it was about a soldier and how a relationship can strenghten or break due to separation. To be fair, that's an over-simplistic description of Dear John, but because I'm married to a solider, this book naturally piqued my interest more than the other five I read. My only gripe is that Mr. Sparks kept referring to Army posts as bases.....
Yesterday, without knowing what it was about, I picked up The Lucky One, another Nicholas Sparks book. When I opened the book and began reading, to my delight, I found that the main character is a Marine who joined The Corps after September 11. Although I'm only on page 55, I have no doubt it's going to be a great read.
It's an unscientific poll, of course, but I've found that my milspouse friends read far more frequently than my civilian friends.
Not sure why, but I have a suspicion that it's due to the fact that we're constantly looking for distractions, ways to fill time and something to help us with our insomnia.
Who are your favorite authors? What are your favorite books? What are you reading now? Recommendations?
Below is a list of books by milspouse authors that I've read and enjoyed. You might be interested in them, too:
Household Baggage and Household Baggage Handlers by Marna Krajeski
Army Wives: The Unwritten Code of Military Marriage by Tanya Biank (The television show Army Wives is based on this book)
I Love a Man in Uniform by the wonderful Lily Burana
365 Deployment Days: A Wife's Survival Story by Sara DeWalt
While They're at War by Kristin Henderson
