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“There is no friend as loyal as a book.”
― Ernest Hemingway
I strongly feel that having a running book list is something everyone should do. Reading is known to reduce stress, cultivate our minds and expand imagination. On top of all that, reading is an amazing way to gain information and insight into things we are not aware of.
Most people do not enter military life 100% prepared. In fact, many of them have no clue where to even start. While there are classes you can attend or seminars to watch, many people start to scour for resources that they can digest without ever leaving their home.
Whether you are brand new to military life, preparing for a deployment, or recently PCS’ed, military life is an adventure! So here is the ultimate book list for military families. I have read almost every single one of them and so far I have not been disappointed! Whether a book about deployments or raising a military family, here are some great reads for you as you are trying to find humor and joy in this crazy life!
Dinner with the Smileys – Sarah Smiley
A must-add to your book list! The uplifting true story of a wife and mother’s yearlong experience inviting one new guest (from senators to school teachers, artists to professional athletes) to dinner for each week that her husband was deployed overseas. Read More…
1001 Things to Love About Military Life – Tara Crooks
A first-of-its-kind celebration of military life, 1001 THINGS TO LOVE ABOUT MILITARY LIFE chronicles some obvious and not-so-obvious traditions, advantages and experiences military members, veterans and their families share. Full of heart-warming vignettes, laugh-out-loud lists, stories and quotes from military members and family members, and… READ MORE…
Confessions of a Military Wife – Millie Gross
““I remember when I hit rock bottom. There I was with no make-up on, hadn’t showered, eating raw cookie dough out of the tube, hitting on the toothless bagger at the commissary, and ordering jewelry off the TV. And that was just my first day!” Confessions of a Military Wife is an honest, witty, and often hilarious look at the life of the new generation military wife. Mollie Gross learned the hard way to laugh instead of cry at what she could not control as a military spouse—and as she quickly discovered, nearly everything was out of her control! Read More…
Right Side Up – Judy Davis
Adding this to your book list will add a smile to your face! Are you Ready to be happy in military life? In this practical and motivating personal guide, you will:
— Define your role as a military spouse and tweak your expectations of military life.
— Identify situations that cause you stress and create strategies to calm chaos, deal with drama, and respond to change.
— Find ways to cut the yuck from your life, make yourself a priority, and fully embrace military life. Read More…
The Homefront Club – Jacey Eckhart
As anyone with a spouse in uniform knows, the military offers families neither geographical stability nor guarantees of life under one roof. Those conditions make it tough to keep a marriage together, raise good kids, and maintain some semblance of normalcy, but help is on the way. Jacey Eckhart’s new guide navigates readers through military life on the homefront. Aiming her advice at the wife–male spouses, she says, need their own book–she covers issues from the first day in the “fortress” to the last day the husband is piped ashore with humor and encouragement. READ MORE…
Military Spouse Journey – Kathie Hightower & Holly Scherer
Military Spouse Journey helps readers craft their best life possible. The unique components of military life can make it challenging for military spouses to pursue careers and other personal dreams. This encouraging book, written by two experienced military spouses, shares lessons learned, success stories of, READ MORE…
15 Years of War – Kristine Schellhaas
This is a book list addition for the more serious MILSO. 15 Years of War: How the Longest War in U.S. History Affected a Military Family in Love, Loss, and the Cost Of Service provides a unique he said/she said perspective on coping with war in modern-day America. It reveals a true account of how a dedicated Marine and his equally committed spouse faced unfathomable challenges and achieved triumph, from the days just before 9/11 through 15 years of training workups, deployments, and other separations. This story of faith, love, and resilience offers insight into how a decade and a half of war has redefined what it means to be a military family. READ MORE…
Faith Deployed Again – Jocelyn Green
This book is not “ten easy steps” for a painless life; instead, it is a collection of devotions that squarely addresses the challenges wives face when their husbands are away protecting freedom, challenges like: How does a military wife maintain a strong sense of patriotism without allowing her country to become an idol? What good can possibly come from moving every two or three years? How can I be sure that God has a purpose for my life that’s as strong as His purpose for my husband’s? READ MORE…
Spouse Calls – Terri Barnes
Since 2007, Terri Barnes has been a touchstone for readers of Stars and Stripesthrough her popular weekly column, Spouse Calls. In Spouse Calls: Messages From a Military Life, Terri continues to bridge generations with a best of collection sure to touch the hearts and homes of every reader. READ MORE…
Modern Military Spouse – Lauren Tamm, J.D. Collins, & Jo My Gosh
Let’s take the guesswork out of military life! Join me, along with hundreds of other military spouses, and grab your copy of Modern Military Spouse today. It has everything you need to survive the ups and downs of military life! After reading this book, you will be able to… READ MORE…
Behind the Blue Star Banner – Michelle Cuthrell
Michelle Cuthrell was 23 years old, nine months out of college and 11 weeks pregnant with her first child when her husband deployed to Iraq in August 2005. With a baby in her belly and a husband in her heart, this newlywed embarked on a crazy journey that led her through a year of tests and trials, heartbreak and hard times, as she lived alone in the freezes and frosts of Fairbanks, Alaska. It was in those difficult days that she learned the real value of friendship, faith and unfailing love. READ MORE…
The Last Letter – Rebecca Yarros
Beckett, If you’re reading this, well, you know the last-letter drill. You made it. I didn’t. Get off the guilt train, because I know if there was any chance you could have saved me, you would have. I need one thing from you: get out of the army and get to Telluride. My little sister Ella’s raising the twins alone. She’s too independent and won’t accept help easily, but she has lost our grandmother, our parents, and now me. It’s too much for anyone to endure. It’s not fair.And here’s the kicker: there’s something else you don’t know that’s tearing her family apart. She’s going to need help. READ MORE…
The 5 Love Languages Military Edition – Gary Chapman
If you are in a military relationship, you know the strain of long deployments, lonely nights, and difficult transitions. For extraordinary challenges like these, couples need specific advice. In this updated edition of The 5 Love Languages®:Military Edition, relationship expert Dr. Gary Chapman teams up with Jocelyn Green, a former military wife, to speak directly to military couples. READ MORE…
Tour Of Duty: Preparing Our Hearts For Deployment – Sara Horn
Military families like to be prepared―they plan, they strategize, they organize. But whether they’re active, National Guard, or Reserve, when deployment comes, all the planning in the world can still fail when it comes to their hearts. Tour Of Duty is an excellent starting point for military wives to get connected with others in the military community who share this common thread. READ MORE…
Journey Through Deployment – Kathryn Sneed
This is a journey you were meant to take. Don’t let deployment intimidate you; learn to step forward with confidence. Remember: you are not alone. The challenges in this journey may be waiting to dishearten you, but you can and will overcome them and experience hope and encouragement on the road ahead.
Behind The Scenes
There are roughly 1.1 million military spouses of the US Armed Forces spread across communities around the globe. They are entrepreneurs and volunteers, educators and lawyers, authors and elected representatives, stay-at-home parents and advocates. These men and women embody the American dream by sacrificing on behalf of the pursuit of freedom, while chasing bold dreams of their own. Often told are the stories of the selfless service of the heroes in military uniform, but lesser known is READ MORE…
Finding Joy: The Year Apart – Hope Griffin
If you’ve ever found yourself in a long-distance marriage and wondered if it was possible not only to survive but also to thrive, then Finding Joy is for you. As a military spouse and mother (with one of her children being a young cancer survivor), Hope has faced some long, lonely nights questioning God’s faithfulness and the strength of her marriage. Hope invites you through personal experience, examples of others in history, and Scripture to explore the possibility of a stronger more fulfilling marriage. READ MORE…
What Are You Waiting For!?
Military spouses are a unique breed of people and these books are made just for you! So go grab a cozy blanket, a glass of your favorite drink and settle in for some good reads from this book list!
