The Yellow Birds

Finished April 2
The Yellow Birds by Kevin Powers

This first novel, and National Book Award Finalist, tells the story of one man's experience of war. The speaker, Private Bartle is twenty-one years old and telling his story in chunks of time that jump around from the events in Iraq back to basic training, forward to him back in the U.S., back to Iraq and so on. Before they go to Iraq, he is paired up with a younger man, Private Murphy by their sergeant, Sterling.
The war experiences are told in a very factual manner, each battle and death recorded as it appeared to them, As they experienced it. It is unemotional, but the very nature of telling shows the suppressed emotion. Whether it is a local translator, a fighter for the other side, one of their own, a civilian, they record each one, filing it away in their minds. And for some of them, this builds up inside, affecting them in ways that don't show, until they do.
The book has been compared to classics on the Vietnam War in the way it expresses the reality of the experience. Powers experienced this himself, serving in Iraq in 2004-2005, so he writes from his own knowledge. A powerful book.

Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk

Finished April 12
Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk by Ben Fountain

This novel takes place on Thanksgiving Day at Texas Stadium as the Dallas Cowboys go up against the Chicago Bears. Billy Lynn is nineteen and a member of Bravo Squad, a team of marines whose engagement in a recent action against Iraqi insurgents has made them national heroes. Footage of the action by an embedded Fox reporter has brought it more immediate recognition than most engagements that are just heard about. Billy was awarded a Silver Star for his actions. Bravo  Squad has been touring America, attending a variety of events, and this is their last one before shipping back to Iraq to complete their tour of duty. They are travelling with Albert, a Hollywood producer who wants to make a movie about their story.
There are some flashbacks here, a major one is Billy's one-day visit with his family a few days ago. Billy is in the forces because of a criminal act he committed, albeit one with strong conviction behind it. His sister Kathryn, who he is close to and who he committed the act for, is urging him to contact a group she has heard of who helps soldiers who don't want to go back to Iraq. But Billy feels pulled between his hatred of the war and his bond with his fellow Bravo members.
Billy is young in many ways, and as we see his various interactions, with his team members, with a young woman he meets at the game and becomes enamored of, with the producer, with his family, we see both his maturity from his experiences and his innocence from his lack of experiences. Billy is still affected by the loss of one of his fellow squad members, Shroom, who was a mentor to him and who died in his arms during the action.
We see the goodness in these young men and the male banter, often lewd and irreverent, that occurs among them. These young men are contained energy, trained for action, and right now caught up in media attention that they aren't entirely comfortable with.
I felt for Billy, his struggle and his innocence here. He came alive for me.

The Impossible Knife of Memory

Finished May 4
The Impossible Knife of Memory by Laurie Halse Anderson

This teen novel has high school senior Hayley Kincain as its main character. Hayley's mother died when she was just a baby, and she lived in this small town with her grandmother until the age of seven, when her grandmother died. Following that her life path becomes a little less clear, but she has spent the last five years on the road with her father, until he finally decides to move back to the house and town he grew up in so Hayley can spend her senior year in a real high school instead of reading textbooks in the truck and in hotel rooms. Hayley reunites quickly with a friend from the distant past, Gracie, but has more trouble adjusting to high school. She doesn't know the rules of how to act, and finds many of her fellow students' behaviour unappealing. Her introduction to nerdy Finn, first as a friend, then as math tutor and perhaps more, have her feeling less sure of herself and yet more connected to this town.
But Hayley's real struggle is with her father, a veteran of both the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, suffering from his own demons in the form of post traumatic stress disorder. It is these disturbing memories that first drove the two into a nomadic life, and now brought them here. Hayley has been forced into the role of looking out for and after her father, loving him fiercely, but always wary of what he will do next. As his behaviour grows increasingly erratic, she is finally forced to look to her own past and reach out for help to those who care about her.
Once I started reading this book, I could barely put it down. Hayley has all the inner concerns of any girl her age, plus the burden of her father's illness. She is a character that is finely drawn, and that I quickly grew to care about. Her struggles brought me both tears and laughter, and her father's PTSD is revealed in all its complexity. His flashbacks show the experiences that brought him to where he is now.
A wonderful book.

One Was a Soldier

Finished June 5
One Was a Soldier by Julia Spencer-Fleming
This is one of my favourite mystery series, featuring Clare Fergusson and Russ Van Alstyne. This one continues the story, with Clare returning from duty in Iraq (as a helicopter pilot). The story moves back and forth between events beginning with Eric McCrea's return from duty and group therapy sessions for those returned from overseas duty. Eric returned in June (and Clare not much later) and the therapy sessions start in September. Besides Eric and Clare, who are both in the National Guard, with Eric an MP, there are also Dr. Stillman who did medical work overseas as part of the Guard, Tally McNabb, and Will Ellis. Will is a former high school track star who lost both his legs in Fallujah as a Marine. Tally had an affair while overseas the effects of which followed her back and threaten her marriage. All the vets are dealing with issues due to their overseas experiences. Coming home is hard on all of them and they all have issues they are struggling with.
Clare hasn't been upfront with Russ about her issues, and she is struggling with even admitting the issues to herself. When one of the vets dies, the others take it hard. Clare particularly can't accept the police verdict of suicide and this drives a wedge between her and Russ. She draws the other vets into an unofficial investigation and that has effects on them all.
This is a good one, with a variety of issues brought forward, and a good plot.

Edge of the Seat

Finished July 10
Nothing to Lose by Lee Child, read by Dick Hill
Jack Reacher is back and just as good as ever. This book has it all: suspense, bad guys, mystery, a woman, and Reacher.
Jack is making his way across the country east to west and his last ride brought him to Hope, Colorado. He notices that the next town over is named Despair, and is intrigued and decides to head that way. When he tries to stop in Despair for a bite to eat, not only won't they serve him, but they arrest him on vagrancy charges and drop him out on the town line, to the east, back towards Hope. Naturally, this gets Reacher's back up, and he must try to find out why the town has this attitude towards strangers.
The answers are complex and varied and as Reacher makes his way through them his main ally is a woman police officer from Hope, who has her own issues to deal with.
This book kept me wanting to stay with it all the way through. I woke up once at two in the morning, and could think of little else but the situation that Reacher was in when I left off and almost got up and went out to the car to continue listening. It was a close thing! The reading by Dick Hill was perfect. He talks in a measured way, just as I imagine Reacher might and expresses the emotions very well.
There are also lots of issues explored here, especially around the US and its role in the Middle East, and Child does it all well. He is a master.