“Once an Eagle” Anton Myrer

“All Quiet on the Western Front” Erich Remarque

“Black Hawk Down” Mark Bowden

“Not a Good Day to Die” Sean Naylor

It’s important to focus your reading on your current job and next few jobs.  Reading fiction about small unit actions and what Soldiers go through will help build empathy and intuition.  Books like “Black Hawk Down” and “Not a Good Day to Die” tell stories of smaller unit actions of relatively contemporary actions.  Reading leadership theory is good, but books that build your intuition are better.  Also, have a reading plan where you pick topics – one book is on military history, then leadership, then a book related to your branch (I read technology/science books because I’m an Engineer – which if you’re an Engineer too, read “Cadillac Desert,” it’s amazing), and then one that is just for fun.  You need to balance your reading list to match your life, job, and interests.  The most critical piece is to read.  It’s like exercising, if all you ever do is the exercise you hate, you will not continue to exercise.  So balance your reading load so you hit some enjoyable reading, too.