NIGHTLY READING THREAD: Welcome to Edition #74 of #GMGReads. Every night through this weird time, I'm tweeting out a list of my five favorite books around a general theme—and a link to an indie bookstore where you can order them online....
I've spent this Memorial Day week featuring books on America's modern wars, and after's night's best memoirs of the war, here's the best reportage to come out of the war in Afghanistan:
1) The best book I've ever come across about the war in Afghanistan is Jake Tapper's (@jaketapper) incredibly reported THE OUTPOST, which is surely the BLACK HAWK DOWN of the war: strandbooks.com/product/978031…
2) Sebastian Junger's (@sebastianjunger) WAR, about a platoon in the heart of the Korengal Valley, is an amazing tale of a small unit in a lonely place (and became a great documentary too): bookshop.org/books/war-9780…
3) Hands down the best modern war writer is CJ Chivers (@cjchivers), who has probably gone more places and seen more than any other modern war correspondent. His THE FIGHTERS pulls together some of his best reportage from Iraq and Afghanistan both: bookshop.org/books/the-figh…
4) Gayle Tzemach (@gaylelemmon)—my first-ever boss in journalism!—uncovered an amazing tale in ASHLEY'S WAR, chronicling the surprising story of women inserted into special ops teams in Afghanistan: bookshop.org/books/ashley-s…
5) One of the defining aspects of Afghanistan has been the front-line role of CIA officers, and Gary Schroen tells the wild story in FIRST IN of that first wave of officers post-9/11: powells.com/book/-97808914…
PS: This list makes me realize I've never read another classic of the Afghanistan war, Doug Stanton's (@dougstantonbook) HORSE SOLDIERS, now retitled 12 STRONG, but that's also worth checking out: bookshop.org/books/12-stron…
Those are tonight's #GMGReads. What are your favorite books about recent US wars? Share! #avidreadersunite
