Been meaning to do this project for a while, but I just haven't had the time. Finally decided to just make it happen.
These are presented in no particular order. I personally enjoy science fiction and especially fantasy adventure stories, but I’ve tried to include a mix of other genres and types of books in deference to my audience. The second part is a (much shorter) list of books that I still need to read myself. If you've got one for that list, please let me know.
Nightwing: A Knight of Bludhaven. The first full, 12-issue story arc from Chuck Dixon and Scott MacDaniels’ mid-90s run on Nightwing, the character’s first time headlining an unlimited series. 21 bodies wash up on the shores of Gotham Harbor, and at the behest of Batman, Nightwing – aka Dick Grayson, the original Robin – heads to Bludhaven to investigate. In the DCU, Bludhaven is Newark/Jersey City to Gotham’s New York, making its streets even meaner than the ones Batman himself patrols. The resulting story is a high-flying gangland whodunit that I thoroughly enjoyed.
Altered Carbon. My go-to recommendation. Richard K. Morgan crafts a truly original cyberpunk detective story, but the real reason to read this thing is his use of language, which is brutally evocative and punchy. Altered Carbon is an absolute favorite.
So Far From God. Ambassador John S.D. Eisenhower (’46) tells the true story of the Civil War’s greatest heroes during the company-grade deployment to Mexico during the Mexican-American War. This is my favorite piece of popular history.
Death in the Family / Batman: Year 3 / A Lonely Place of Dying. These three story arcs hit the highlights from Jim Starlin’s epic run on Batman in the mid- to late-80s. Jason Todd, the second Robin, dies in the first part, leading the Batman into an increasingly fragile mental state. Alfred calls Dick Grayson home to help his mentor cope, and eventually our heroes reconcile. We also meet Tim Drake, the third Robin, and recount the death of Dick Grayson’s parents.
This is an amazing read from start to finish from the creator of Thanos and most of the other highpoints of the current Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Real Men Do Yoga. We talk a lot about books that change our lives, but this one really changed mine. I completely altered the way I thought about warm ups, warm downs, and overall flexibility, and oh by the way, I also took up yoga. Highly recommended!
Without Remorse. I couldn’t put a list like this together without putting at least a little military fiction on it, but can you put military fiction in a list without Tom Clancy?
No, you cannot.
The Hunt For Red October is great, but it’s also very wonky. Red Storm Rising is great, too, but it’s so dated that the Army is actually driving M60 tanks around in its pages. By comparison, Without Remorse is timeless because it’s a period piece and because it has way, way fewer pages about the workings of submarine engines.
The Way of Kings. Robert Jordan flew Cobra attack helicopters in Vietnam. He then came home and crafted three of the best epic fantasy novels in history. The Eye of the World and its immediate sequels are outstanding, getting the Wheel of Time off to a rocking good start. But the series got so long and protracted that Jordan actually died before he could finish writing it – or really even get around to the good stuff. Jordan’s widow then hired author Brandon Sanderson to finish the Wheel of Time, and afterwards, Sanderson took a lot of WoT’s basic ideas and spun them into a much tighter, much weirder epic of his own called The Stormlight Archives.
The Way of Kings is the first book in the Stormlight Archives, and it is truly amazing. I love it so, so much.
A Civil War: Army vs. Navy. John Feinstein’s classic history of the 1995 Army-Navy Game is a must-read for Army Football fans.
The Physics of Baseball. Major League Baseball commissioned this study by physicist Robert Adair. The result is a surprisingly breezy read that explains why things work in baseball. It’s a must if you like the game. And if you don’t like baseball, this book might help you understand why you should.
Dune. Frank Herbert’s classic science fiction story about war, politics, and betrayal. Like all good sci fi, it’s really about the world we live in now. Every time I read it, it seems more relevant to the times.
War in 2020. Ralph Peters was a military intelligence officer during the Cold War. His book Red Army is interesting because it’s basically a novelization of a career’s worth of study, but I prefer War in 2020 because it’s tighter and less constrained by reality. Peters has the armored cavalry mounted in Ospreys with rail guns in this one, and his main character is straight out of a comic book. Dude is so ugly that he actually wears a bag over his head like Cobra Commander.
Peters tries to sell himself as a military know-it-all, but he’s a better writer than know-it-all, and if he just leaned into his fiction, he’d be a lot happier and more successful.
An Army at Dawn. This is Rick Atkinson’s history of the Army in the North Africa campaign. Worth reading because it humanizes the Greatest Generation and because they made so many mistakes and still landed on their feet that it gives me hope for future generations.
Sneakatara Boatman & the Priest of Loki. If you’ve made it this far, why not read my book? Everybody likes it.
No, really. That is literally true.
Six Books I On My Personal List
Ghost Fleet. I’m not super into military fiction these days, but folks say Ghost Fleet is amazing. We’ll see.
Personal Memoirs of Ulysses S. Grant. Been sitting in the Kindle app on my phone for over a year. Sigh.
Shakespeare’s King Henry Trilogy: Henry IV (Part 1), Henry IV (Part 2), Henry V. Netflix just put a movie out based loosely on the story outlined in these plays. I’d like to watch it, but I’d very much like to read the original first.
Green Arrow: The Longbow Hunters. This is Green Arrow’s The Dark Knight Returns. Was recommended to me again recently, but I’ve never read it.
Final Crisis / Batman & Robin. But I very much want to read Grant Morrison’s Batman & Robin, in which Dick Grayson becomes Batman to Bruce Wayne’s now-orphaned son Damian. Before I do that, though, I need to read the one where the original Batman actually dies. I think that’s Final Crisis, but I’m not totally sure. Final Crisis is also from writer Grant Morrison, though, so this ought to be a decent pairing regardless.
Red Metal. By Mark Greaney. My buddy Matt recommended this one to me as a story for former armored cavalrymen. We’ll see.
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