Pete Has A Couple of Recommendations For You

"So many of my friends and colleagues have heaped praise upon Kevin Powers' The Yellow Birds that even more praise might seem redundant. But so be it. This is a great novel. Great in its simplicity, great in its prose, great in its sensitivity. 

Written by a veteran of the second war in Iraq, The Yellow Birds tells the story of a doomed friendship between two young soldiers trying hard to keep their heads down and not become the 1000th KIA of the war. They fight in a mysterious, nearly inhospitable land with a nebulous enemy. Over time, their battle becomes more psychological than physical, and the mounting pain doesn't subside no matter the time or distance one recedes from the fight.  

If you love this book as much as I did, I would also recommend Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk by Ben Fountain. Also about the second war in Iraq, both novels explore the human side of a very strange war in a very strange time."

--Pete