Redeployment | 
My 95 year old WWII vet Father-in-law lived with us this summer. Here he is in September on our patio with our sweet girl. Happy Veterans and Remembrance Day to those who served and all who remember those we lost. #LestWeForget
pickFirst book I‘ve read that focused on the wars I‘ve lived through and what the experience has been like for the young men and women deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan. Klay covers a wide variety of experiences and reactions and it felt very real. And with that #booked2019 is done. Will post a fall summary shortly. #soldierstory
so-sogood book
This is the book I have planned for #SoldiersStory for #booked2019. It‘s short stories about men and women serving in/coming home from Iraq and Afghanistan.
#TheWayoftheWarrior introduced Worf (from TNG) to DS9 and started the war with Klingons as a plot line. While I didn‘t care for the Klingon war, the dynamic/writing shifted to where the episodes went from good to great. I liked the serialization of the episodes as well. #StarTrekSummerJune
A soldier who served in the Iraq war writes about his experiences and how they continue to impact him to give civilians an understanding of what it is like to be a combat vet. My husband recommended this one - on my tbr #bitinthebullet #octoberxfiles
What a way to end the work week! @SexyCajun thanks again for all of the books, the tasty beverages, the fantastic bookmarks, and the twinkle lights that make everything look better. George couldn‘t resist the opportunity to inspect the goods. #fffs #fallingforfallswap #catsoflitsy #blackcatsoflitsy
pickThis was phenomenal. I see why this collection won a National Book Award and I am so glad I finally read it. #litsyatoz2018
“In all my interactions with him thus far, he had projected an idiocy so pure it boggled the mind.” This character description is so completely believable to me. Something about him looking like “a lovingly polished bowling ball resting on a sack of grain” that just seems very harsh - and very real.
I wondered when this character would find out this pronunciation is off. I just didn‘t think his translator would be so direct about it, ouch. These stories are good but very dark.
pickBased on HS readings of The Red Badge of Courage and All‘s Quiet on the Western Front (I know, don‘t hate me for not liking them!!!), I keep telling myself that I don‘t like to read war stories. And, I keep reading great ones. This short story collection is fabulous. The format is especially successful here, where each story highlights a different veteran experience.
Kindle deal. Finally had to get it.
pickSome of the stories are dark. Most are sad. But they're all good! #litsyatoz #letterD
Next up! #audiobooks #military #shortstories
Free audiobook this weekend thanks to Penguin Random House! You just need the Volumes app. 😀
This has been on my tbr for a while, so I'm excited to finally get it!
#audiobook #free #memorialday
#LyricalApril Day 29 I ❤️this song! For me it's about forgiveness, redemption, second chances, finding success, building a future, recognizing what's important, family🙌🏻but I also think about #ComingHome returning to a place a world that may feel alien...I think about soldiers returning from overseas and having to readjust to civilian life... Redeployment takes readers to the frontlines of recent wars & allows them to experience the chaos.
pickQuite good. I forgot that it was fictional most of the time. I don't normally read anything with a military theme, but this was good despite that.
@Liberty #readathonstories I loved this collection and forced it on everyone I knew as soon as I was done!
Be honest with me she said.
It could have only ended badly.
There's a perversity in me that when I talk to conservatives makes me want to bash the war and when I talk to liberals defend it.
"Getting back feels like your first breath after nearly drowning. Even if it hurts, it‘s good.”
There are two ways to tell the story. Funny or sad. Guys like it funny, with lots of gore and a grin on your face when you get to the end. Girls like it sad, with a thousand-yard stare out to the distance as you gaze upon the horrors of war they can‘t quite see. Either way, it‘s the same story.
"She spent all his combat pay before he got back, and she was five months pregnant, which, for a Marine coming back from a seven-month deployment, is not pregnant enough."
pickThis series of short stories — which dive into the minds of the Americans in the Iraq War — pushes the reader back, not onto her heels but deeper into her chair. Each account of a Marine's tussle with depression, each veteran's disconnect from the life he knew is another reminder of the cost that is largely unknown and perhaps unknowable by the rest of us. http://www.paperplatesblog.com/blog/book-pairing-redeployment-phil-klay-thumbpri...
pickOn the blog today: Book pairing: "Redeployment" by Phil Klay & thumbprint cookies
http://www.paperplatesblog.com/blog/book-pairing-redeployment-phil-klay-thumbpri...
pickThis book was eye opening and brutal and should be mandatory reading. Reading this in the final days leading up to the American election made for an interesting comparison of language used by men in the company of men. Hoping my boys are above it ( and I am not talking about swearing)
This book is a gut-punch. Picking the right recipe for it is going to be tough. Any ideas?
This book should be required reading
My next read. Hoping to do a pairing on this soon. November's paperplatesblog.com theme will be 'veterans.'
pickNeed to ruminate on what I just read. These stories were sad, wrenching and frequently excellent.
#fridayreads Good writing. But these truthful accounts of serving in Iraq are going to destroy me emotionally. Much respect for those who serve and rage for those who placed them in harm's way.
Stunning art installation from the National Veteran's Art Museum at the Harold Washington branch of the Chicago Public library.
pickI really loved the use of "power language" (words used by a group of people as a sort of shorthand; but that often excludes others outside of a group, e.g. slang & acronyms); and the stories were well-crafted even if I didn't "get" a couple and none got under my skin. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
pickCollection of short stories told from the soldiers' point of view. From boredom & frustration, to stark loss and gritty combat, through redeployments & back on home turf. A very intense group of stories that read as gripping first hand accounts covering all facets of the experience of serving.
Starting this one on audiobook today.
pickPhil Klay's Redeployment was part of my story stack for short story month and the only book I read in its entirety. this examination of modern warfare (Iraq) was gritty and emotionally complex.
