What books do you recommend for personal and professional development?

SGT Joseph Gunderson — Wed, 10 Mar 2021 23:08:55 -0500

I've made a point to read two books a month this year.
As of today, I've read:
Tender is the Night by F. Scott Fitzgerald
The Sense of Style by Steven Pinker
The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoevsky
Cynical Theories by Helen Pluckrose & James Lindsay
Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
and have recently started reading Beyond Order by Jordan Peterson

Additionally, I've made a point to go between fiction and nonfiction, balancing entertainment and development. I have a handful of novels currently sitting on my shelves to read this year but need some recommendations for nonfiction.

What have you read that you would recommend? Why?

Response by CPT Private RallyPoint Member made Mar 10 at 2021 11:31 PM

CPT Private RallyPoint Member — Wed, 10 Mar 2021 23:31:26 -0500

*Zen in the Martial Arts* —-> Addresses life’s daily challenges (in or out of uniform) and provides more common sense wisdom than most self-help, lifestyle or business books. Quick read cover to cover and chapters can also be read standalone. Read it years ago and have since gifted it to many.

Response by SFC Casey O'Mally made Mar 11 at 2021 10:24 AM

SFC Casey O'Mally — Thu, 11 Mar 2021 10:24:13 -0500

Since you are trying to flip back and forth, so does my list..

Stranger in a Strange Land by Robert Heinlein
Simply put, one of the best books I have read. Plus I think that Michael Valentine Smith's concept of religion is a VERY good one to adopt, especially as it pertains to dealing with our fellow human beings. It literally changed my life.

We Were Soldiers Once, and Young by Hal Moore and Joey Galloway.
Made into a movie with Mel Gibson. Movie was good, but it left SO MUCH out. Just an awesome, awesome look at the realities of combat in Vietnam, but more importantly the realities of Soldiers who cared about each other.

Ready Player One by Ernest Kline
Just an entertaining read with lots of nostalgia for 80s kids. Movie did NOT do it justice. At all.

Pick a Religious Text - Bible, Qu'ran, Tao Te Ching, Buddhist Sutras, etc.
Few things will help you understand a people or their culture like understanding their religion will

Any of the Discworld novels by Terry Pratchett
Novelized satire at its best. Pratchett's Discworld is completely different from ours - except that people are the same everywhere. (There are a couple of Discworld movies out there - they are utter shite, do not judge the books by these.) Pratchett's ability to completely mock our world and our institutions without being cruel or mean-spirited and maintaining a genuine sense of humor and wonder is top-notch.

War in a Time of Peace by David Halbertsam
A great look at the end of the Cold War and the war in the Balkans, how it happened, and why it happened

Catch-22 by Joseph Heller
Recommended for all career military folks. A great look at military absurdity. Totally farcical, but having served, I could relate to almost all of the farce.

Rising Sons by Bill Yenne
Awesome perspective of Japanese-Amercian Soldiers in WWII. It looks at the uncommon patriotism in the face of persecution, uncommon valor in their service, and the unrecognized/ enderappreciated contributions they made. It really helped to open *my* eyes regarding a lot of overt racism back then that continues into the subconscious and unconscious racism of today. Plus some really good war stories

Finding Nouf by Zoe Ferraris
This one has drawn some criticism, but.... Ferraris is an American woman who spent time in Saudi Arabia as the wife of a Saudi businessman (and all of the cultural implications therein). She did not spend a LOT of time there, but she uses her experiences with her Saudi-Palestinian Bedouin family to write this COMPLETELY FICTIONAL (some people thought she was trying to write a true crim novel - not AT ALL so) novel about a young Saudi girl who goes missing. There was some criticism from Saudis saying how she got everything wrong, culturally, and I am guessing that she wasn't as accurate as a native would have been. Nonetheless, I believe that she got the BASICS right. All of that being said, the tale she spins is entertaining enough, regardless of cultural accuracy or innaccuracy. And when taking into account culture, it become (in my opinion) fascinating. I actual wrote one of my papers for college comparing the "radical" religious concepts found in the book to fundamentalist Christian and Jewish laws/rules (surprise! they aren't all that different!).

All of the above fiction I found to be profound in SOME way - it changed at least a LITTLE bit of how I thought about things.

Then there is the just "fun" fiction....

Lord of the Rings - Tolkien
A Song of Ice and Fire (commonly known as Game of Thrones) - Martin
Wheel of Time - Jordan
Little Women - Alcott
Any book ever written by Heinlein
Dragonriders of Pern - McCafferry
Any book by Misty Lackey

Hope this is helpful

Response by SGM Bill Frazer made Mar 11 at 2021 2:12 PM

SGM Bill Frazer — Thu, 11 Mar 2021 14:12:33 -0500

More than you can count- here are must reads= authors or titles; Sun T Zu; Book of 5 Rings,; The utility of Force; Clausewitz.

Response by SSG Private RallyPoint Member made Mar 12 at 2021 12:05 AM

SSG Private RallyPoint Member — Fri, 12 Mar 2021 00:05:40 -0500

The mission, the men, and me. Always my top recommendation. Written by Pete Blaber. He details that all 3 are important and how to fulfill the commitment to each.

Response by CPT Private RallyPoint Member made Mar 22 at 2021 9:40 PM

CPT Private RallyPoint Member — Mon, 22 Mar 2021 21:40:26 -0400

Anything from Army CALL (Center of Lessons Learned); reading about feedback from the experience of leaders before you allows you to be aware of mistakes and potentially avoid a few.

ADP 6-22, the Army Leadership Doctrine; mentorship lacks in the Army, and this will help you mentor others.

Crucial Conversations; sometimes you gotta have ‘em and this breaks it down into a science.