From what we discussed last week, reading is an important component of being an effective officer in US Army. As a graduate student, reading is pretty much all I do. My professors assign readings and we come to class prepared to conduct case studies and discussions. I do so much reading that sometimes I get tired of it. There’s a solution to that, have a balance with educational/professional reading and leisurely reading.

Throughout the week, I spend hours on end reading for classes. Before I sleep, I make it an effort to read an article or listen to an NPR discussion. Not only am I reading or listening to something I like, I’m not tiring or limiting myself to only educational reading. Audiobooks are a great tool if you are constantly on the go. Another alternative to audiobooks is NPR, National Public Radio. I find those intellectual discussions or topics of interest on NPR to be intellectually stimulating. Also, reading magazines or newspaper articles are a great way to read short-form literature.

For professional reading, I like to read military history (“Battle for Manila”) or any Army officers’ biographies (General Colin Powell “My American Journey” is a book that’s on my list). For leisure reading, I like to read from different genres. It could be a thriller like Gillian Flynn’s “Gone Girl” or Kevin Kwan’s “Crazy Rich Asians.”
Feel free to send me any titles of books or articles that you guys like to read!
Happy Reading!

-CDT Bower