Iron Widow

Iron Widow by Xiran Jay Zhao (2021) 394 pages

This is the beginning of a relatively new series. I listened to the audiobook narrated by Rong Fu on Libby. Part Mighty Morphin Power Rangers kaiju adventure and part feminist revenge tale. The story is set in the future, but cultural values and some characters were pulled from Chinese history, according to the author. This leans more toward fantasy than science fiction with Chi energy powering soldiers' armor and the mecha Chrysalises like the vermilion bird pictured on the cover. Zetian is a powerful teen pilot who gains the nickname the Iron Widow. She is unstoppable in fighting the misogyny in her culture in addition to the alien insectoid "invaders" that the government sends the soldiers to eliminate.
 

Wolves of Winter

Wolves of Winter by Dan Jones, 416 pages

A year after they were sent across the English Channel to fight the French, a motley crew of soldiers/thugs called the Essex Dogs is ready to go home. They're weary, battle-worn, and a few men lighter than they were when the arrived. But King Edward has other plans, sending his troops to capture Calais, a heavily fortified port city that is unlikely to fall quickly. As they settle in for a LONG siege, the Dogs must contend with personal demons, camp sickness, and a never-ending parade of lords who won't pay them for their work.

This is the second book in a planned trilogy (following Essex Dogs), and I didn't read the first book, as I was told this one stands alone well. And while yes, I could definitely get the feel for soldiers trapped in a stalemate situation — which is very well told — I also felt like there were gaps in the relationships and character motivations that I may have understood better if I'd read the first book. That said, if you're interested in military-focused historical fiction and want to read about something pre-20th Century, this series, set during the Hundred Years War, is probably a good option. Just make sure you read Essex Dogs before you pick up this one.

Cherry

Cherry by Nico Walker, 317 pages.
A great, somewhat depressing, and moving debut novel by a man who, like his main character, served as a soldier in Iraq, was a heroin addict and a bank robber.
Adrift as a teen in Ohio, the narrator joins the army, not out of a surfeit of patriotism, but more because his girlfriend has changed schools and is due to leave him. Soon he is off to Iraq as a medic, but he doesn't find much in the Army or in Iraq that inspires him. There is no heroism or patriotic awakening in the narrator's experience, it's mostly grim, stupid and wasteful. Once back home, and reunited with his wife, the narrator mostly focuses on his opiod addiction. That's where the bank robbery comes in. Walker presents his characters with a grim humor and empathy and makes the book a compelling read.

The Fighters: Americans in Combat in Afghanistan and Iraq

The Fighters: Americans in Combat in Afghanistan and Iraq by C. J. Chivers, 374 pages.

Chivers gives us several moving portraits of American soldiers, sailors (Navy Corpsmen, anyway) and pilots who fought in the ongoing wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. It is stunning to realize that over 2.5 million American military personnel have served in these two conflicts since 2001. Chivers, who served as a Marine Corps officer, starts his book with the story of Lt. Layne McDowell. McDowell's carrier, the USS Enterprise, was returning from the Persian Gulf in 2001 just as the twin towers were destroyed. McDowell, who had flown combat missions over Serbia and Montenegro, would now fly his first missions in his F-14 Tomcat over Afghanistan. Years later he would return to the conflicts flying an F/A-18 Super Hornet.
Leo Kryszewski, a Staff Seargent in the Army served in Iraq. Dustin Kirby, a Navy Corpsman was horribly wounded while serving with the Marines and lost years to recovery and post traumatic stress (and attendant problems like alcohol abuse).Army Air Cavalry Kiowa helicopter pilot Michael Slebodnik served and died in Afghanistan. All of these important stories, and others, are respectfully told in an engaging and riveting narrative.
An important account of these seemingly endless wars.
The downloadable audio is narrated ably by Scott Brick

A Torch against the Night

A Torch against the Night by Sabaa Tahir,  452 pages.

An Ember in the Ashes, the first book set in Tahir's Martial Empire came out in 2015.One of the problems with reading a series of books as they come our, especially if you are an aged person, is forgetting the plot, characters, setting, etc., by the time the next book comes out. When I had first checked out this sequel back in August, I felt that I did not remember enough of Tahir's world to make reading this worthwhile. Luckily for me I found Torch in our Overdrive collection and listened to it. In the second volume, Laia, with help from Marcus, must try and rescue her brother from a more-or-less impregnable prison while being hunted by the newly installed emperor, Marcus. The story always seems to be taking a predictable path, albeit in an interestingly constructed world, when things go off the rails in clever and engaging ways. Characters die. Strange forces are seen to have been working behind the scenes. It's all very well put together and makes for a satisfying read. Fans of YA fantasy with solid characters will enjoy this series, though as I said, characters meet some violent deaths, and it's not always the characters the reader would prefer. Plus it's written by a non-white, young female author and has strong female characters (not just Laia, but the evil commandant, and the newly appointed "Blood Shrike," Helene. Who wouldn't want to be Blood Shrike?).

American Ulysses: A Life of Ulysses S. Grant

American Ulysses: A Life of Ulysses S. Grant by Ronald C. White, 826 pages.
White makes an eloquent and well-researched argument that much of Grant's reputation as a butcher of a general, and as a corrupt, incompetent president lingers as a result of the lingering narrative presented by his enemies, particularly the politicians and press of the southern states. While he was a president whose cabinet was embroiled in scandals, Grant was particularly honest. And while he lost many men during the war, Grant always felt that it was better to attack and then attack again, that fewer men would be lost by ending the war as soon as possible. Lincoln, who watched many generals hesitate and let chances and enemy armies escape, valued Grant's willingness to fight and to keep on fighting.
White also makes a fair account of the evolution of Grant's attitudes towards slavery, from a man who was willing to abide the institution, and make no fuss concerning the slaves in his wife's family, to a man willing to fight not just to preserve the Union, but also to end slavery in America.
A very readable, cogent account of a man who accomplished much but was left with a tattered reputation.

Grunt

Grunt: the curious science of humans at war / Mary Roach 285 pgs.

Mary Roach writes about the most interesting topics.  This book has chapters on shark attacks, genital reconstruction and diarrhea. How can anyone dislike science?

Per usual, Roach has a way of leading the reader through topics in the most enjoyable way.  She is the master of getting herself into unusual situations and then asks all the questions you would ask.  Have more soldiers died of diarrhea than combat injuries?  How do you protect sailors from shark attack? How great are maggots at cleaning wounds?

Another home run by Roach.  Already looking forward to her next book.

Pumpkin Flowers: A Soldier’s Story

Pumpkin Flowers: A Soldier’s Story by Matti Friedman, 242 pages

Avi's story start's the book. Avi was a letter writer and a member of the Fighting Pioneer Youth. That was his unit while doing his mandatory service in the Israeli Defense Force. During the 1990's The Fighting Pioneer Youth was one of two units that took turns assigned to guard the Pumpkin, a hilltop outpost in Lebanon, just across the Israeli-Lebanese border. 

After a chapter or two Friedman explains how cross-border raids into Israel in the late 1960’s led to that country’s  1982 intervention, militarily, in the Lebanese Civil War. By 1985 the Israelis had withdrawn for the most part, occupying isolated outposts in a buffer zone in a narrow strip of Lebanese territory right outside of Israel.
Friedman follows several units, including his own, as they deploy to the Pumpkin, and as the conflict, and opposition to it heat up.
An interesting book about an under-explored bit of recent history.

The Things They Carried

The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien  273 pp.

This has been on my "to read" list for a long time and I'm glad I finally read it. O'Brien, a Vietnam War Vet, tells the experiences of a group of people either wholly or partially based on the people he knew and things they did before, during, and after the war. There is violence, tedium, humor, tragedy, boredom, and horror all related to living through an infamous war that, in the opinion of many, the U.S. never should have fought. The main character, also named Tim, details the arrival of his draft notice, what it's like to kill a man, life in the jungles of 'Nam, and so much more. Although categorized as fiction, the reader is left to wonder how much of it is fact. I highly recommend this one.

Gentlemen of the Road by Michael Chabon

Gentlemen of the Road by Michael Chabon, 204 pages

This relatively short book, the working title of which was Jews with Swords, is set in and around the year 950. Zelikman and Amram, two con-men and fighters have to make their way to Khazaria to save the rightful ruler. Lots of fun.
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When Books Went to War

When Books Went to War by Molly Guptill Manning  267 pp.

Subtitled The stories that helped us win World War II. This is the fascinating story of how the U.S. government went into the publishing business to produce millions of inexpensive paperback books for the servicemen fighting in World War II. The first books for soldiers were provided through public donations through the ALA National Defense Book Campaign. Althea Warren, head librarian of the Los Angeles Public Library was put in charge. Book drives were set up all over the country in libraries, train & bus stations, and other public venues. The drives were advertised via millions of posters, bus tickets and these St. Louis streetcar tickets:

Sadly, most of the books donated were large hard-bound volumes that were, for the most part, unsuitable for use by servicemen in battle. The Armed Services Editions (ASEs) were created in the form of inexpensive paperback books formatted to fit in a soldier's pocket so they could be carried easily anywhere. The books were stapled rather than glued and featured a thumbnail photo of the original book cover on the front. The success of this program was phenomenal and turned even non-readers into avid book lovers. Most of the books didn't survive after the war because they were literally "read to death" as they passed from soldier to soldier. (an Ebay search found some selling for over $100.) Forty-six separate collections of books were produced including popular and classic fiction as well as biographies, poetry, plays, and non-fiction topics. Many authors received thousands of letters from servicemen who had read their books via ASE editions. The book is appended with lists of all the books published as ASEs and a list of authors banned by the Nazis.

Redeployment

Redeployment / Phil Klay 291 pgs.

A collection of short stories loosely tied together by the second Iraq War.  This book takes you to a place most of us have not been.  How does it feel when you make your first kill?  How does it feel when you kill a child?  How does it feel when you go home after being at war and being under stress for months and months?  These stories give you a little bit on insight based on a variety of characters in different roles during the war.  There are times when I was reading this that it was painful.  There were times when you just feel so strongly for the character in the story and there are times when you dislike the characters and the situations they find themselves in.  In the end, I'm not exactly sure what insights I gained but I feel like reading this book was worthwhile.

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All the light we cannot see

All the light we cannot see / Anthony Doerr 531 pgs.

This book is very popular and may have more holds than any other at the library.  There is a good reason, it is a great book that pulls you in and keeps you reading.  Werner is an orphan who is a whiz with radios who gets "drafted" into the army at a very young age.  Marie-Laure is a young French girl who finds herself orphaned when her beloved father is jailed. She works for the resistance and survives on her wits.  Somehow, you know their paths will cross.  It is a pleasure to get there.

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Tigerman

Tigerman: a novel by Nick Harkaway 339 pgs.

I was a little slow getting into this book but I'm glad I stuck with it. Lester Ferris is a good soldier who is ready to retire.  He gets sent to the island of Mancreu to serve out the remainder of his time.  It is a lovely island that is so poisoned, the "authorities" have decided to blow it up soon.  People are leaving but there is still a stable population that is waiting for final evacuation.  Lester finds himself drawn to a super smart street kid with a comic book obsession.  He seems himself a father figure and starts thinking about how he and the kid can leave together and start a new life as a family.  In the meantime, Mancreu isn't a paradise.  There is an offshore fleet doing any of a number of crazy and illegal things, the population is close to rioting and the murder of a friend puts Lester on notice.  He and the kid cook up a ridiculous scheme for some revenge and Lester becomes the tigerman.  I won't say anything else to avoid spoilers.  A very interesting concept and a well done adventure for Lester and the reader.

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Templar

Templar by Jordan Mechner, LeUyen Pham, and Alex Puvilland, 473 pages.

Mechner and company have done a great job with this graphic novel. His characters, some based on actual people, and some made up, are all solid and consistent throughout this work. The story itself, that of the Knights Templar, their legal trouble in France, in 1291, is based on fact. Many of the scenes within the book are fictional, or at least imagined.
When the King of France sends his troops to investigate the
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Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk

Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk by Ben Fountain. 307 pages. This was one of my absolute favorites this year. A finalist for the 2012 National Book Award, Fountain's novel takes place, physically, during a Dallas Cowboy's home game on Thanksgiving. Billy and his comrades from Bravo Company (though the name their known by has been changed to Bravo Squad by the news-folk who made them famous) are heroes. They're on a victory tour and they are being wooed by Hollywood and the Cowboys owner for the rights to their story-specifically the firefight in Iraq that transfixed the nation as it was televised, and then repeated over and over again. Billy's got some secrets, his sister wants him out of the Army, he's got a thing going with one of the cheerleaders, and then there's the one that the whole squad shares, that they're not supposed to mention while on tour. He has things that he wants to talk about but can't, and things he does not want to talk about or think about. The characters are great, and their relationships to each other are almost frantic. It's a great read, one of the best of an excellent group of books about the recent wars. Check our catalog. Downloadable audio.

The yellow birds

The yellow birds/Kevin Powers 230 pgs.

I enjoyed this book despite it being depressing and about the horror of war.  The author did a good job depicting the feelings of the narrator and, although there wasn't much dialog, it rang true.

Murphy and  Bartle are young privates, their Sargent (Sterling) tells Bartle to take care of Murphy during basic training.  When they end up in Iraq together, Bartle does the best he can but Murphy ends up losing it Bartle is forced to make a snap decision about what is best for Murphy, his family and himself.  Things don't turn out too well for anyone.

When I read books about war I always wonder if they have been read by people who vote to send others  to war.

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The Yellow Birds by Kevin Powers

The Yellow Birds

by Kevin Powers, 320 pages, Fiction.

Powers' first novel is a moving account of two young soldiers in Iraq, flashing back to their meeting in basic training. Through most of the book they are impossibly young and naive, referred to as "the boys"--with their memories of school, of being hugged by and cried over by their mothers intruding into their rapid, chaotic, and deadly transition toward manhood. Sgt. Sterling is the only other constant in the book. He's the only other "real" character in what is described on the book jacket as an increasingly "hazy nightmare." Sterling sees it all too well and has illusions about none of it. His advice to the other two is harsh, cold, and (to his thinking) vital for their survival.
The Yellow Birds is a small book, and it goes by quickly. And even though I went back and read the end agai,n I am still a bit confused: what exactly happened there in the minaret and then at the river? Why did those actions seem so necessary to Bartle and to Sterling, and why is there so much guilt there? What was in the letter? And why is Bartle where he is at the end for so long? Forceful, sad, and a bit confusing. I'd love to have a book discussion about this one to find out what others think.

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War Horse

War Horse by Michael Morpurgo  176 pp.

This short book is the basis for Broadway play and the movie nominated for a Best Picture Oscar. The story is told from the point of view of a half-Thoroughbred horse named Joey. It begins with the horse being sold at auction to a farmer and then befriended by the farmer's son, Albert. Eventually he is sold to a captain in the British cavalry for service in World War I. His war experiences include making and losing friends--both horse and human, surviving battles, and eventually pulling wagons and weapons for both sides of the conflict. Joey learns about the pointlessness of war and wonders if he will ever see his friend, Albert, again. Now I can go see the movie. 

The River Between Us

The River Between Us by Richard Peck  164 pp.

This young adult novel begins in the summer of 1916, with a St. Louis doctor taking a road trip with his children to visit elderly relatives in Illinois. It then flashes back to the time when those relatives were young. Twins Tilly and Noah Pruitt live in the tiny town of Grand Tower, Illinois, on the banks of the Mississippi River in the early days of the Civil War with their mother and their sister, Cass, who 'sees' things. When a mysterious woman and her servant arrive from New Orleans on the last boat before the river is blockaded, their lives are changed forever. Tilly's mother takes the pair in as boarders, the townspeople suspect them of being spies and the women of the town are upset at the attention their menfolk pay to the beautiful Delphine. Noah is smitten with Delphine even though she seems much older than his 15 years. After the war begins in earnest, Noah enlists and is sent to Cairo, IL where he and most of the other soldiers become seriously ill with dysentery. Tilly's mother sends Tilly and Delphine to find him and bring him home. The young women end up staying in Cairo, nursing the sick soldiers with the help of the former town doctor from Grand Tower. Eventually the truth about the "quadroon" background of Delphine and Calinda comes out, Noah is wounded in the Battle of Belmont, Missouri, and they all return home to Grand Tower. The last chapter returns to 1916 when the children from St. Louis learn more about their family's history.

This story takes place in the "Little Egypt" area of southern Illinois and most of the places mentioned are familiar ones to most St. Louisans. Towns as far north as Belleville are mentioned. Notes at the end give a brief history of the "free people of color" in New Orleans. Newbery award winning author, Peck, creates entertaining historical fiction through detailed, imaginative characters that are correct for the period.