#the only plane in the sky: the oral history of 9/11

[booksandwords]

The Only Plane in the Sky: The Oral History of 9/11 by Garrett M. Graff

Read time: 6 Days Rating: 4/5 Stars

The Quote: "The real heroes are the passengers on Flight 93 we were willing to sacrifice themselves" "They made the decision we didn't have to make." — Lt. Heather "Lucky" Penney and Lt. Col. Marc Sassville

Warnings: There are many obvious triggers here. There is discussion of brutal deaths and particularly in relation to United Airlines 93 the needs of the many outweighing the needs of the few.

I am automatically giving this book five stars because it is all about personal experience. While author Garrett M. Graff and his oral historian colleague Jenny Pachucki (involved heavily in the research) couldn't include all the stories they included more than enough and the small edits they made for linguistic consistency made this easily readable with a reader having to think too hard to make the connections. On a more personal level I have an interest in ethnography and social anthropology, this is exactly the kind of thing that interests me. This review is mostly going to be a series of dot points of things I found noteworthy.

I kind of feel that reading this book will be coloured by the reader and their experiences, which includes undoubtedly how old and where they were during 9/11. So for that context, I'm Australian and am part of what Graff calls the 9/11 generation. I was 13 at the time I distinctly remember my mother waking me up early, saying 'they'll be talking about this at school' and showing me what was on the tv. This was not long before the tower fell. All day at school we were watching this with the counsellor on standby. Another thing I remember from that day is the jumpers. I think they impacted me more than anything else. But in my life, the part of 9/11 that has fascinated me most is United 93. Their heroic actions are beyond me.

Something that shows well how isolated the 2 (and a half) scenes were. Those at the World Trade Center were unaware of the plane at the Pentagon. Those at the Pentagon were barely cognisent of the places hitting the World Trade Center. The only people aware of all the sites was Air Traffic Control, the media and the government. But they were only aware of them in bits and pieces. United Airlines 93 is  what I referred to as the half scene. We all know they were aware of what was going on at least to a degree. Another thing that is shown in spades, as Gradd was hoping was the humanity and the equality of disaster. The Pentagon in particular proves a great equalisor with multistared Generals pitching in to help, or just being so broken in equal measure to the civillian workers.

On the  formatting of The Only Plane in the Sky. The book is written broken up into 65 chapters with two 16-page sections of colour photos. The longest chapter is I think only 15 pages, with the exception of the epilogue, that is much longer. Each new chapter is started by an italics paragraph, Garrett M. Graff telling the readers the context for the chapter and the time you join thein the scheme of things, without these I may have got lost a couple of times. Each person is introduced by name, title, location and if required connection to the person in the towers/planes/pentagon. If someone is used more that once in a chapter only their name is given again but if it is in a different chapter it will be the in full again. Honestly, you need it, there are so many players involved and it really helps to know who is who, where they've come from and how likely they were to actually get out.

To my daughter, Eliza, and to all the children affected by 9/11. I hope this book helps you understand the world in which you live. — This is the dedication and I really like it. I wonder how old Eliza is.

I appreciate the maps provided. As an Australian, this level of micro-geography is not something I know. With the timing on the first map and the names of the companies located on the isolated floors, it can be a critical resource for those trying to follow along.

3 years, over 500 stories, 17 years of work by others. The amount of information Graff and Pachucki waded through in researching this astounds me as a librarian. So much of it was possibly barely organised or organised by boutique systems.

 Frank Culbertson has a truly unique perspective on the events of 9/11 he was the only American off planet, on the Internation Space Station on the day. His perspective wasn't the first chronologically but it was definitely the most exclusive and a brilliant choice for the first entry in the book. He was able to clearly see the loss of the plane traffic to the point where there was only one visible contrail in the sky (Air Force One) and he could see the massive debris field from the towers falling.

The artists in residence, Monika Bravo and Vanessa Lawrence, and their final interpretations of the towers, both made the day before, are beautiful.

8:00 am is interesting for the sliding doors moments. The forgotten book. Ironing a shirt. Speaking to a friend. The forgotten ID. These are the people that survived. Also, Monica O'Leary by happenstance was fired from her job at Cantor Fitzgerald at 2:00 the previous day. It's on the 105th floor in the North Tower.

Something I didn't know... United Airlines 175 was at one point watching AA11 before being hijacked themselves. They, like air traffic control, heard Atta's message to stay in your seats. There are some voice recordings from both flights. The most painful is flight attendant Madeline "Amy" Sweeny, a flight attendant on American Airlines 11... "It is a rapid descent. Something is wrong. I don't think the captain is in control, I see water. I see buildings. We're flying low. We're flying very, very low. Oh my God. We're flying way too low."

 "Everybody's heard plane engines, except very few people have heard the sound of plane engines when they're at full strength, full force, flying up in the sky. That is a horrifying sound. I still remember it very clearly—the sound of the engines flying at full force toward the World Trade Center." — Bruno Dellinger, principal Quint Amasis North America, North Tower, 47th floor

Christine Hanson was the youngest victim of September 11th at two and a half. She was a passenger on United Flight 175 with her parents Peter and Sue Kim.

 "They came back on and said, "NORAD took control of all the airspace in the country. Proceed directly to Manhattan and set up Combat Air Patrol." I said, " OK, got that." It was a very surreal experience—flying over Central Park at 1,000 feet and 500 knots, trying to identify possible targets. That was just wrong. You should never be doing this over Manhattan." — Lt. Col. Tim Duffy, F-15 pilot, Otis Air Force Base, Cape Cod, Massachusetts. Tim Duffy is one of the recurring pilots in the book. (also omg the multiple lines required for names when we get to the military)

It is so useful know where the planes hit. I didn't know the differences between their impacts. United Airlines 175 hit the sky lobby which was always going to be a big issue and the way in which it hit explains perfectly why it collapsed first. AA11 hit square on but higher up.

I adore Louise Buzzelli, amazing woman. Seven and a half months pregnant and feisty as hell. Wife of Pasquale Buzzelli an engineer on the 64th floor of the North Tower.

"That number doesn't include numerous fire companies, firefighters, EMTs and paramedics who continued to self-dispatch, and because the attacks took place around the time of the standard 9:00 a.m. shift change, many of the trucks were "riding heavy," that is, carrying firefighters from both the night and day tours" — If there is any even muted silver lining to 9/11 it is this. The timing. The "riding heavy".

The number of people with duel connections is great as in I'm glad they were included, not great they existed. Both a personal connection to someone on the flight or in one of the three buildings struck and a job that requires them to keep calm and carry on.

I never fully understood the full confusion around United Airlines 93. It was delayed in its departure, which might kinda explain some of the delays in the hijacking and their failure to hit their target. But also the heroism of the passengers, the reason they knew what was going on and knew they acted to save others. The Capitol has always been my guess for the target for those specific terrorists. It is also a widely suspected target by professionals.

Deena and Tom Burnett are amazing to me. She is so strong. Her strength might be one of the reasons he became one of the leaders of the retaking of United 93.

"As I hit Vesey between Church and Broadway, the first thing that struck me was the amount of women's shoes. I couldn't understand it. I realized women had run out of their shoes—the high heels and what have you. There were women's shoes all over." — James Luongo, inspector, NYPD. If someone had thought to photograph it this would likely have become one of the lasting images of the day. That idea of running for your life so much that comfort no longer matters because there would have been a lot of debris on the ground at the time.

 All the freaking loyalty and comradery... it might be some of why whole engines were wiped out.

Herb and Todd Ouida (World Trade Centers Association, North Tower, 77th floor and Cantor Fitzgerald, North Tower, 105th floor respectively) broke my heart. A father and son pair. One survived and one did not. I struggled through their story.

Straight after Herb and Todd we meet Stanley Pramnath and Brian Clark (Fuji Bank, South Tower, 81st floor and executive vice president, EuroBrokers, South Tower, [83rd floor] respectively) they gave me smiles again. They are a reminder of the good in humanity, everyday people standing together and helping others at risk to themselves.

Rick Rescorla (vice president of security, Morgan Stanley, South Tower, 59-74 floors) is a legend. He evacuated his people early, going against the Port Authority's announcement, saving potentially hundreds of lives but losing his life in the process. Rick Rescorla was one of only 11 out of 2,700 people working at Morgan Stanley in the South Tower who died. 

The story of Harry Ramos and Victor Wald (May Davis Group, North Tower, 87th floor and Avalon Partners, [North Tower, 84th floor] respectively) was one I wish we knew more of. But it did get me thinking about the placement of names on the memorial after the families of Ramos and Wald requested they be placed together. There is an article on it by Linda Tischler from 2011 for anyone else interested.

While the first official casualty is Father Mychal Judge one of the first firemen killed is Danny Suhr. He didn't get into the towers, he died in the forecourt after being struck by a jumper. I would suspect (though it is not specified) that he wasn't the only one to die in such a way. I have thoughts on the jumpers I go into later.

"A pop and then a sift—like taking a bag of sugar and pouring it into a container." — Joe Massian, technology consultant, Port Authority, North Tower, 70th floor. All the descriptions of the towers collapsing are varied but paint a pretty vivid soundscape of the moment.

While I have much more interest in the day-to-day people in this book, the people whose names will ultimately be lost to history, there are many people from the government providing input as well. It is just as interesting to see them. I have just got a greater interest in the everyday man.

"We would be ramming the aircraft. We didn't have weapons on board to shoot the airplane down. Both Sass and I had 105 bullets, lead-nosed. As we were putting on our flight gear in the life support shop, Sass looked at me and said, "I'll ram the cockpit." I made the decision I would take out the tail off the aircraft." — Lt. Heather "Lucky" Penney, F-16 pilot, D.C. Air National Guard. Essentially Lucky and Sass (Lt. Col. Marc Sassville, F-16 pilot, U.S. Air Force) were on a kamikaze run if necessary to take down United Airlines 93. This I never knew. Sass and Lucky are a whole other level of dedicated, I was stunned reading their story.

The Fourth Crash, the chapter that goes through the downing of United Airlines 93, is A LOT. If you have an interest in this flight I recommend United 93. It's heavy going but worth it.

The firemen took his body. Because they respected and loved him so much, they didn't want to leave it in the street. They quickly carried it into St. Peter's Church. They went up the center aisle, and they put the body in front of the alter. They covered it with a sheet. On the sheet, they placed his stole and his fire badge. — Friar Michael Duffy. This is in reference to Father Mychal Judge and the way he was treated after his death. He is for me impressive and unexpected. I was almost in tears by the end of it, there are two beautiful sections.

Wheelchair-bound John Abruzzo (staff accountant, Port Authority, North Tower, 69th floor) was lucky in a way.  Without the bomb in 1993, he would have been dead. It took them six hours to evacuate in 1993 after that the Port Authority purchased evacuation chairs. With the evaluation chair and the help of 10 people he got out in an hour and a half. Getting out right before the North Tower collapsed.

Everyone has their own unsung heroes from 9/11. Security guards (Richard Wichen and Ralph Blasi), the civilian and uniformed personnel that work at the Pentagon (James Schwartz), the passengers of United Airlines (Heather Penny and Marc Sassville), the ship captains (Rick Schoenlank and James Parese).

"I recalled the Secretary [Donald] Rumsfeld had been in the navy. He was like the captain going down with the ship—he was going to make sure everything was OK before he went back." — Aubrey Davis, officer, Protective Service Unit, Defence Protective Service, Pentagon. Donald Rumsfeld has the respect of all under his command for his unwillingness to leave the scene. But I really like this take keeping his naval background in mind.

"I was running and running and running. I came up to a fireman who was also running, a tall skinny guy. I looked over and I saw that it said "Chaplin" on the helmet. It was a Fire Department Chaplin John Delendick, from St. Michael's Church in Brooklyn. I was running with him, and I said to him, "Are you a priest?" He said, "Yeah." I said, "Are you a Catholic priest?" He said, "Yeah." "How about absolution?" & "This police officer came up next to me, and said, "Father can you hear my confession?" I told him, "This is an act of war, so I'm going to give everyone general absolution," which I did. General absolution in the Catholic Church is forgiving all at the same time." — James Luongo, inspector, NYPD and Monsignor John Delendick, chaplain, FDNY. I include this because I find it intriguing to see what is remembered by people. In a day when so much happened, when so much was seen both of these two remember this conversion. I'm unsurprised Luongo remembers it, though I am surprised about Monsignor Delendick.

Some of the strongest stories in this oral history are from women. Those women who were left at home wondering if their partner was alive or dead. Wondering if they got out, wondering if they stayed to help others and knowing that their loved ones ran into the towers. It feels like so many of these women were pregnant at the time.

We went over by Kennedy and turned a plane away that was over there. I was going to check out the North Tower and see how it was doing. I flew by. I was looking straight at it; I realized it was exploding right before my eyes. It was the sicked feeling I've ever had. — Lt. Col. Tim Duffy. This would possibly be the most distressing view of the tower falling. That feeling of helplessness and knowing that so many people will be dying in those buildings

One of the two long long-running story arcs (if you can call them that) is of Jean and Dan Porter (Bank of America, North Tower, 81st floor and firefighter, Ladder 10, FDNY respectively). Dan was as close to panicked/ frantic in his search for Jean as any spouse would be. The biggest difference is he was boots on the ground and was able to search. Equally, Jean knew Dan would be looking for her and on the ground but couldn't find him. One of the best-known pictures from 9/11, taken by Matt Moyer, is of Dan on a bench when he has resigned himself to Jean being dead. The slow reveal of their story is just lovely. Their finding each other again is damn near Hollywood.

The editorial comments added by Garrett M. Graff are important for context and potential understanding. Especially the numbers and United Airlines 93 confusion, as well as some important death and comments like the names on the memorial. As September 11 2001 gets further in the past that information will be key for contextual knowledge.

"For those at the tip of Lower Manhattan, the only viable evacuating route turned out to be the water. A makeshift. unorganized armada of more than 130 ferries, pleasure yachts, sightseeing vessels, Coast Guard and police vessels, fire boats, and tugboats gathered—many without being asked—at Battery Park and nearby piers. By the end of the day, they had collectively evacuated somewhere between 300,000 and 500,00 people from Manhattan—a maritime rescue larger than the World War II evacuation from Dunkirk." — Garrett M. Graff. I'm not sure I'd ever known about the armada or really given much thought about how the survivors got off Lower Manhattan. It is logical but this is so much more micro than anything I've read. It is yet another moment of people coming together though, just getting it done.

 Lt. Terri Tobin (public information officer, NYPD) is just one example of someone getting something done that would be otherwise unthinkable outside a warzone (though this was a warzone sooo...). Terri had two large shards of glass pulled out of her back, on a rocking boat without anesthetic. Lady after my own heart though, she can still recognise a cute guy when she sees one.

I looked at the water and saw another ferryboat. In my book Jersey was currently a helluva lot safer than crossing any bridge in Brooklyn. We rounded up whoever wanted to go with us and muscled over to the boat. All we had to do was yell, "We've got students," and the adults parted like the Red Sea. — Heather Ordover, English teacher, HSLPS [High School for Leadership and Public Service] I really like the respect given to the kids. It feels like people looked at the kids and thought they don't need to see any more of this carnage. Also those poor parents, especially of the HSLPS students, HSLPS is located only a couple of blocks from the towers. The kids stayed in small groups even if they got separated but the amount of worry existing... on both sides. Total respect for all involved though.

I need to add just a shout-out to the unexpected power couple of the book Rep. Martin Frost ((D-Texas), chair, House Democratic Caucus) and his wife of the time Major General Kathryn Frost. Major General Frost died in 2006 of cancer, Rep. Martin Frost's 2nd wife Jo Ellen is just as impressive.

It was completely amazing, the feeling of support, of unity. I felt so proud that my community, the Hispanic community, were calling. Suddenly the phones were ringing and saying, "This is the country that we chose to come to. Nobody will destroy our country," They would say, "I'm not legal in the United State. Do you think they will accept me to do volunteer work?" — Ilena Mayorga, management specialist, Volunteer Arlington. It's quotes like this and moments like this that are fantastic as a reminder of what al-Qaeda attacks managed to do. Bring people to together against a common enemy, issue.

Among all the people flying around with the President on September 11th that we get to meet Ellen Eckert (stenographer, White House) is my favourite. Ellen feels the most like the everyman. There are moments when she shows her fear that I appreciate.

There is a chapter called The 9/11 Generation. These are stories from children aged 0-college, I didn't know how useful I would find this perspective, it is a fantastic inclusion. I fit in this generation, we are the ones that need the book the most in some ways. Some of us were alive and knew what we were seeing was monumental but not why. We're adults now, and some of us are still trying to understand the gravity of the way it changed us and the world. Even from across the ocean we became a generation shaped by this and gun violence.

I was a pretty shy and quiet child, but I had made my first friend on my own. After that day, my friend come over and said, "We can't be friends anymore, Hiba. My mom said until this is over, we can't be friends anymore. — Hiba Elaasar, Louisiana, age 7. I know there was so much fear involved around this, especially from adults. But this is downright racist and these poor kids who lost those friendships, and friendship opportunities because of the actions of a few.

I didn't really understand the severity of its couple of buildings a few states away had been hit by planes. I'm not sure I had ever heard the word "terrorism" before. Once I got home I turned on the TV to try and figure out what was going on. I remember scrolling through more than 100 channels, seeing the same images of the Twin Towers falling, over and over. I counted 31 TV channels all airing live coverage of 9/11. When I saw that MTV and VH1 were also airing it, that's when I realized how big a deal it was and started to get scared. It was suddenly not an adult problem, but something that I was supposed to be attention to too. — Kat Cosgrove, New Hampshire, age 13. Ms Cosgrove is the same age as me. The idea of this is not just an adult problem is something that I remember well. That fear with no one to turn to as well. Except it was early in the am here.

I called my friend Andy over in the freshman boys' dorm. He very sleepily answered. In the calmest voice possible, I told him to turn on the TV and call me back. As we watched, it happened again [a plane flew into the second tower]. Almost immediately my phone rang. It was Andy, calling to tell me he saw it, and that he was "signing up" I was stunned, at first not knowing what he meant. He kept talking, telling me that he had to call his mom, and that he'd stay and finish up his freshman year, but he was signing up because that's what you do. Andy did sign up. He joined the National Guard that year. — Daphne Leigh, Ripon College, Wisconsin. Okay, so this is a pain quote. Andy would not have been the only college-age student to sign up for the sake of his country forsaking his education. But in multiple reviews I have mentioned guys in my year level enlisting, 9/11 was the originating reason for them too. We had an Andrew I read this, thought of him and got terribly emotional.

"Give me all the bad news now you want. This is the worst day of my life.” — Bill Spade, firefighter, Rescue 5, FDNY. Bill Spade has one of the worst double blows among these oral histories. He was the only one of FDNY Rescue 5 to survive. His uncle, Joe Driscoll (listed as Patrick Joseph Driscoll) was a passenger on United Airlines 93. This was said to his wife after finding out all the people he saw only that morning were missing and his uncle was certainly dead.

For a week, we only had text on paper and each of us in the submarine hoped it wasn't real. Finally seeing the footage for the first time is a feeling none of us can forget. — Matt Dooley, crewman, USS Norfolk. I do appreciate the choice to include oral histories from Dooley and Capt. James "Sandy" Winnefeld Jr., commander, USS Enterprise. These are another group of people we don't think about. Soldiers that were isolated and couldn't really get news for days because of their orders. And the nodes that were on their way home to be turned around back into what was clearly going to be a conflict.

He's like, "Hurry up! Hurry! You've got to get to him. He's going to die if you don't get to him." I said, "Will, we got to do our job. We got to get you out, then we'll get him out." we're scratching away, scratching away, and then we hear Sergeant McLoughlin's voice, and he goes, "Hey, how are you guys doing?" I'm like, "Who's that?" Will's like, "That's my partner," like, You idiots. What do you think I've been talking about? So we're like "We thought he was your partner." He said. "No, that's Dominick. He's dead" I'm like, Oh, my God! Now we have another rescue that we have to do.</i> — Scott Strauss, officer, Emergency Service Unit, Truck 1, NYPD. The other ongoing arc we follow is William Jimeno, John McLoughlin (officer, Port Authority Police Department and Sargent, Port Authority Police Department respectively) and their partners they survive but only just. They were found late on Tuesday night by U.S. Marines, Jason Thomas and Dave Karnes. Honestly, their being found and coming out is a moment and a half. But it's made nearly comical by quote I included. I like Will he's feisty and young.

It was fascinating to see what happened when people went home, and what their pressure valve was. For some of them, they broke because of something else entirely. Emotional overload. Pasquale Buzzelli has possibly the most amusing last moment. Such an Italian thing.

I want to address the 9/11 jumpers. There is a short section on them here, they cannot be forgotten and to ignore them is to erase history. The way that section is introduced is "Amid the catastrophe at the World Trade Center, no sight left as powerful an impression on the rescuers, officials and evacuees as the developing tragedy of the victims—trapped without escape on the Towers' upper floors, caught amid rising, unbearable temperatures and deadly smoke—who fell or chose to jump.". The section is treated with absolute respect and no one mentions suicide. I have thoughts about the jumpers. I subscribe to The Order of the Good Death's death-positive theory of the incident. “The jumpers were choosing their least worst death, the best of two horrendous options and reclaiming their agency.” (From Death in the Afternoon podcast episode The Least Worst Death.) The final lines of the chapter from Sunny Mindel (communication director for the mayor of the City of New York, Rudy Giuliani) explains why so many images exist of these people and in some ways mirror my own thoughts. "I was so rivited to this moment of people making this decision to jump that my gut instinct was: This is an invasion of the most intimate moment ever. My hand started to go up to block the lenses. But then I thought,  No, this has got to be recorded for history. I just stood there.".

[deadpresidents]

Best books you've read about 9/11/2001?

The books that come to mind immediately are:

Fall and Rise: The Story of 9/11 Mitchell Zuckoff (BOOK | KINDLE | AUDIO)

The Only Plane in the Sky: An Oral History of 9/11 Garrett M. Graff (BOOK | KINDLE | AUDIO)

102 Minutes: The Unforgettable Story of the Fight to Survive Inside the Twin Towers Jim Dwyer and Kevin Flynn (BOOK | KINDLE | AUDIO)

And, honestly, I think one of the best overall accounts of the events of September 11, 2001 is the government's actual report issued by the 9/11 Commission:

The 9/11 Commission Report: Final Report of the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States (BOOK | KINDLE | AUDIO) The report is available in the usual formats just like the other books, but since it's a government report, it's also in the public domain, so you can instantly download the entire thing for free.

[uss-edsall]

If anybody wants to learn more about 9/11 I highly recommend not just the oral history book The Only Plane In The Sky, but I recommend the audiobook form.

It is a novel approach to how to do audiobooks and it is at once harrowing and I adore it.

First it’s got a cast of 45 narrators. Most are professionals but a handful are the real people, recounting their own eyewitness to history.

Second? Where the original book has transcripts of recorded calls and events, like flight attendants calling the airline to ring the alarm their plane had been hijacked, the audiobook has the original recordings. Where the book has transcripts of black box recordings, the audiobook has the real things played. Where the book has written out what people said in frantic calls home, the audiobook has those recorded calls. It is genuinely remarkable to listen and read along to. To hear those voices, to hear the calls.

I think The Only Plane In The Sky is both one of the best books ever written on 9/11 and one of the greatest audiobooks ever made, really showing how you can push a book to be more than just listening to somebody read, but a genuine experience.

[disasterarea-podcast]

So given the writer’s strike, some people are concerned about their shows and movies being postponed or canceled, and aside from the fact networks have already BEEN canceling shows for no reason for years (I still maintain a healthy anger about what Netflix did to Sense8), I thought I would suggest some books on disasters you might want to read if you’re into that sort of history. Which you are if you’re here, I imagine.

Note: I’m suggesting these books because most books on disasters don’t get a huge audience, and so I recommend them because this sort of writing can be hard on the writer and requires a bunch of research. We throw so much money at true crime, we can spare a few bucks for the stories of people who died in disasters.

Also, please check with these with your local small bookstore or library. Amazon can be great, but let’s lend a hand to those who need us more.

Recommended books:

“The Circus Fire,” by Stewart O’Nan - This is one my favorite books on a disaster, because the whole thing creates a very vivid image of the circus prior to the fire in Hartford in July of 1944. There’s one specific line in the book which always makes me pause because it’s so affecting, about how everyone who escaped being able to hear the sounds of the animals screaming as they died - except all of the animals were out of the tent by then.

“The Only Plane in the Sky,” by Garrett Graff - This, I highly recommend you get on audiobook. It’s an oral history of the events of 9/11 with a full cast, and it’s incredibly affecting to listen to.

“Ada Blackjack: A True Story of Survival in the Arctic,” by Jennifer Niven - Ada Blackjack was a badass: flawed and weak at times, but hardy and steady when necessary. Half of her story is how she survived, but half is how she was exploited following her rescue. Both stories need to be known.

“Alive,” by Piers Paul Read - If you’re watching “Yellowjackets,” this should be required reading. If you’ve seen the movie adaptation from the 90s, there is WAY more you don’t know. The story of Uruguayan Air Force Flight 571 is a tough read, but a worthy one.

“A Night to Remember,” by Walter Lord - This is to disaster nonfiction what “In Cold Blood” is to true crime. It’s not a long read, but it’s a great one. Lord had the advantage of writing the book while many of the Titanic survivors were still alive and could give a very good description of what they went through.

“Dying to Cross,” by Jorge Ramos - I recommend this not just because it is good, but because it is timely. Nineteen people died in an un-air-conditioned truck as they were attempting to make their way into the states from over the Mexican border. It’s a horrific story, and one that humanizes an issue for whom some people need to be faced with the humans involved and what they go through.

“Bath Massacre: America’s First School Bombing,” by Arnie Bernstein - Harold Schecter also wrote a very good book on the Bath school massacre called “Maniac,” but I have a preference for this version. It’s a good reminder that schools in the U.S. didn’t just become targets in the last twenty years or so.

“Into Thin Air,” by Jon Krakauer - I feel like this is a gimme, but it’s a fantastic book from someone who was actually on Mount Everest during the 1996 disaster and knew those involved very well. I happen to like Krakauer’s work anyway - I even like “Into the Wild” despite my feelings about McCandless and his legacy - but it’s understandably my favorite.

“And the Band Played On,” by Randy Shilts - The one thing I will say is that Shilts’ treatment of Gaetan Dugas is *rough* to say the least and outright wrong on some points, God knows. But it’s still an amazing book, and if you come out of it not wanting to dig up Reagan and punch him a bunch I’m impressed at your restraint.

“Triangle: The Fire That Changed America,” by David von Drehle - The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire is one of the disasters I am most interested in, and I would argue this is the definitive book on the subject. Also, if this book introduces you to both Clara Lemlich and Frances Perkins … I mean, talk about badass women.

“The Radium Girls,” by Kate Moore - Look, I’ll say this. If you know of the Radium Girls, this is a great book on their story. If you don’t know, go in blind and prepared to be horrified.

“Red Famine: Stalin’s War on Ukraine,” by Anne Applebaum - Ukraine has always been a target. During the Holodomor, they were victims of one of the worst genocides in history.

“Midnight in Chernobyl,” by Adam Higginbotham - Like the miniseries? This is a great source for more information for what happened at Chernobyl and all of the ass-covering involved.

"Boston Strong: A City's Triumph Over Tragedy," by Casey Sherman and Dave Wedge - If you’re interested in the Boston marathon bombing, I really thought this book did a good job of connecting the stories of the victims, the authorities searching for the killers, and the killers themselves.

“Show Me the Bodies: How We Let Grenfell Tower,” by Peter Apps - As I understand it, Apps did a lot of covering the Grenfell Tower fire for the British press, and it shows. He provides a mountain of information, and you will come out of reading this book absolutely LIVID about what authorities allowed to happen in Grenfell and so many other council estates in the UK.

“Dark Tide: The Great Molasses Flood of 1919,” by Stephen Puleo - I feel as though the molasses flood gets treated like a joke a lot of the time, but y’all, twenty people died. That area of Boston was *wrecked*. The photos of the devastation are terrifying. Puleo treats all of this with the proper respect it deserves.

“In the Heart of the Sea: The Tragedy of the Whaleship Essex,” by Nathaniel Philbrick - Forget the movie. Read the book.

“The Great Influenza,” by John M. Barry - Want to read about the 1918 flu epidemic? Want to be mad that a hundred years later we didn’t learn a damn thing?

Now, that’s just a start. If anyone wants, I can always post photos of my disaster book collection on Kindle and next to my recording desk. Or if there’s a specific disaster you’re interested in, I may know of a good book about it you can read.

But just remember if SAG and the directors’ guild joins the strike too - there is so much out there to occupy your time until they come back. Entertainment work is work, and it deserves to be supported financially and fairly as such. Rock on, WGA. ✊

[rockislandadultreads]

Nonfiction Picks: Remembering 9/11

These book recommendations explore the history and consider the aftermath surrounding the tragic events of September 11, 2001.

The Only Plane in the Sky by Garrett M. Graff

In this volume, award-winning journalist and bestselling historian Garrett Graff tells the story of the day as it was lived - in the words of those who lived it. Drawing on never-before-published transcripts, recently declassified documents, original interviews, and oral histories from nearly five hundred government officials, first responders, witnesses, survivors, friends, and family members, Graff paints the most vivid and human portrait of the September 11th attacks yet.

In the Shadow of the Fallen Towers by Don Brown

The consequences of the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center in New York City, both political and personal, were vast, and continue to reverberate today. In this graphic novel, Don Brown brings his journalistic eye and attention to individual stories to help contextualize and broaden readers' understanding of the immediate aftermath and rippling effects of one of the most impactful days in modern history. 

Power at Ground Zero by Lynne B. Sagalyn

The destruction of the World Trade Center complex on 9/11 set in motion a chain of events that fundamentally transformed both the U.S. and the wider world. But the symbolic locus of the post-9/11 world has always been "Ground Zero" - the sixteen acres in Manhattan's financial district where the twin towers collapsed. This book offers the definitive account of one of the greatest reconstruction projects in modern world history, and how the symbolism of the reconstruction extended far beyond New York.

First Casualty by Toby Harnden

This volume reveals the secret mission of the eight members of the CIA’s Team Alpha, the first Americans to be dropped behind enemy lines in Afghanistan after 9/11. Comprised of an eclectic band of linguists, tribal experts, and elite warriors, they were the first Americans to operate inside Taliban territory with the mission to track down Al- Qaeda. Award-winning author Toby Harnden gained unprecedented access to all living Team Alpha members in writing this book, drawing on extensive interviews and secret documents, as well as deep reporting inside Afghanistan.

[lyndsyslnmrrsn]

Books I Read in 2022.

The Appalachian Trail: A Biography by Philip D’Anieri

Hiking Shenandoah National Park by Bert and Jane Gildart

Wholehearted Faith by Rachel Held Evans with Jeff Chu

One Nation Under God: How Corporate America Invented Christian America by Kevin M. Kruse (audiobook)

Empire of Pain: The Secret History of the Sackler Dynasty by Patrick Radden Keefe (audiobook)

Bible Gender Sexuality: Reframing the Church’s Debate on Same-Sex Relationships by James V. Brownson

The World-Ending Fire: The Essential Wendell Berry selected by Paul Kingsnorth

Freeing Jesus: Rediscovering Jesus as Friend, Teacher, Savior, Lord, Way and Presence by Diana Butler Bass

Dark Money: The Hidden History of the Billionaires Behind the Rise of the Radical Right by Jane Mayer (audiobook)

Trailed: One Woman’s Quest to Solve the Shenandoah Murders by Kathryn Miles (audiobook)

She Come By It Natural by Sarah Smarsh (audiobook)

Devotions: The Selected Poems of Mary Oliver by Mary Oliver

Leaving Church: A Memoir of Faith by Barbara Brown Taylor

We Keep the Dead Close: A Murder at Harvard and a Half Century of Silence by Becky Cooper

Like Streams to the Ocean: Notes on Ego, Love, and the Things That Make Us Who We Are by Jedidiah Jenkins

The Making of Biblical Womanhood by Beth Allison Barr

The Only Plane in the Sky: An Oral History of 9/11 by Garrett M. Graff (audiobook)

God is Here: Reimagining the Divine by Toba Spitzer

Bittersweet: How Sorrow and Longing Make Us Whole by Susan Cain (audiobook)

Last Call: A True Story of Love, Lust, and Murder in Queer New York by Elon Green (audiobook)

The Great Emergence: How Christianity is Changing and Why by Phyllis Tickle (audiobook)

I’m Glad My Mom Died by Jennette McCurdy (audiobook)

Grandma Gatewood's Walk by Ben Montgomery (audiobook)

Milk Fed by Melissa Broder

Columbine by Dave Cullen (audiobook)

Material Methods: Researching and Thinking with Things by Sophie Woodward

The Third Rainbow Girl: The Long Life of a Double Murder in Appalachia by Emma Copley Eisenberg (audiobook)

[art-of-manliness]

Podcast #996: Remembering D-Day 80 Years Later

On D-Day, June 6, 1944, 160,000 troops participated in the invasion of Normandy. Today just a few thousand of these veterans are still alive, with the youngest in their late nineties. As their voices, and those of the million combatants and leaders who swept into motion across Europe 80 years ago, fall silent and pass from living history, Garrett Graff has captured and compiled them in a new book: When the Sea Came Alive: An Oral History of D-Day. Drawing on his project of sifting through and synthesizing 5,000 oral histories, today Garrett takes us back to what was arguably the most consequential day in modern history and helps unpack the truly epic sweep of the operation, which was hard to fathom even then, and has become even more difficult to grasp with the passage of time. We talk about how unbelievably involved the planning process for D-Day was, stories you may never have heard before, a couple of the myths around D-Day, and the sacrificial heroism born of this event that continues to live on. Resources Related to the Podcast * AoM Podcast Episode #1: We Who Are Alive and Remain * AoM Article: The 70th Anniversary of D-Day — Remembrances from the Brave Men Who Were There * AoM Podcast #514: Remembering D-Day 75 Years Later * The Bedford Boys: One American Town’s Ultimate D-Day Sacrifice by Alex Kershaw * AoM Article: How Eisenhwoer Made the D-Day Decision * The Only Plane in the Sky: An Oral History of 9/11 by Garrett M. Graff Connect With Garrett Graff * Garrett’s website Listen to the Podcast! (And don’t forget to leave us a review!)   Listen to the episode on a separate page. Download this episode. Subscribe to the podcast in the media player of your choice. Transcript Coming Soon Help support independent publishing. Make a donation to The Art of Manliness! Thanks for the support! http://dlvr.it/T7tBhz

[ijustkindalikebooks]

Currently reading this. 

(If anyone knows of any books like this, let me know, I find them engrossing, this one though is incredibly harrowing). 

[filosofablogger]

Something To Think About ...

Something To Think About …

Since becoming largely disabled due to a heart condition in early September, one of the things I have been able to do is spend more time reading!  Way back in the day, I used to read 3-4 books of an average 450 pages each, every week.  But then … I began blogging, Donald Trump came on the scene, the clowns took over the country, and my days and nights were suddenly filled with trolling the news…

[bigtickhk]

The Only Plane in the Sky: An Oral History of 9/11 by Garrett M. Graff https://amzn.to/35BW7se

[manuscripts-dontburn]

Journal of a Russian Grand Duchess: Complete Annotated 1913 Diary of Olga Romanov, Eldest Daughter of the Last Tsar

Edited by Helen Azar

First published: 2015

Pages: 302

Rating: ★★★★★

Another excellent addition to the first-hand sources about the Romanovs. Just be aware that this really is a journal of daily events, not a novel, and may not be easy or super engaging to read unless you really are into the subject. Perfect if you want to do some serious research into the daily lives of the Imperial family

Only Plane in the Sky: The Oral History of 9/11

Author: Garrett M. Graff

First published: 2019

Pages: 512

Rating: ★★★★★

I read this book in record time partly because my human nature was fascinated with a new, intimate look into one of the greatest tragedies of my own lifetime, but partly also because I knew I did not want to spend any more time in the chaos and terror it represents so well than necessary. I was 14 when 9/11 happened and even though on the other side of the world, I watched live as that second plane hit and other hijacked planes were announced missing. I remember being numb all over and crying through the night, fearing that the Third World War was upon us and it was the end of everything I knew. The author himself makes you aware early on this is not a strictly structured narrative supported by the meticulous research of archives. This is a cry of those who lived it all.

The Phantom Atlas: The Greatest Myths, Lies and Blunders on Maps

Author: Edward Brooke-Hitching

First published: 2016

Pages: 256

Rating: ★★★★★

Gorgeously illustrated and engagingly written as a sort of encyclopedia - yet without being exhausting or dry - this is an utterly fascinating book. Read it if you are at all interested in old maps, discovery of the world, human obstinacy, shameless liars and pranksters.

If We Were Villains

Author: L.M. Rio

First published: 2017

Pages: 432

Rating: ★★★★☆

This is one of those books everybody knows about so I feel no review is needed from me. You either enjoy it or you find it pretentious. I personally enjoyed it. Certain parallels with The Secret History are inevitable, but even then the book stands the comparison more than well.

Dead Mountain: The Untold True Story of the Dyatlov Pass Incident

Author: Donnie Eichar

First published: 2013

Pages: 288

Rating: ★★★★☆

Even though my curiosity was immense, I have abstained from reading anything about the recent discoveries and explanation of the Dyatlov Pass Incident precisely because I wanted to read this book first and judge it on its own merit. I am glad I did. (And I would advise anyone to do the same). Although some of the parts in which the author narrates his own personal journey and research may seem slow and even unnecessary, the rest of it is a terrifying, haunting and genuinely disturbing wild ride. I found myself almost reluctant to turn the next page in fear of what it would bring to the picture. I also have to acknowledge that the author really tries to introduce all of the possible theories that were available and suggest his own, trying to be as impartial as possible. In other words, he is not courting scandal, he just really wants to know the truth. Yet again this book proves that real life can top any fictional horror book. And now I´m off to read on what actually did happen.

The Haunting of Hill House

Edited by: Shirley Jackson

First published: 1959

Pages: 246

Rating: ★★★★☆

Fantastic. Creepy. Heart-breaking. Weird. And so, so beautifully written.

The Forest of Enchantments

Author: Chitra Bannerjee Divakaruni

First published: 2019

Pages: 372

Rating: ★★☆☆☆

This is not a powerful feminist retelling of Ramayana. It is a simplified version of the great Hindu epic told from Sita´s point of view. Here and there an outcry over the injustices Sita suffers appears, but for the most part, the language the author uses feels impersonal and reduces what could have been a truly magnificent story full of contradicting emotions and passions into a bland fairytale. Even Sita´s arguably strongest, the most defining moment in the story - the trial by fire - is rushed, unexplained and simply "undercooked" if you pardon the expression. I am deeply disappointed. (Sidenote: I always found it curious how Ram - a literal God - is in a way the worst and most unlikeable character in the whole of Ramayana.)

The Fall of Gondolin

Author: J.R.R. Tolkien

First published: 2018

Pages: 304

Rating: ★★★★★

Every single sentence Tolkien has ever written sings. The dedication of Christopher Tolkien to his father´s legacy is nothing but awespiring. The illustrations by Alan Lee stunning and outworldly. These are the reasons why I am rating this much-welcomed addition to the Middle-Earth mythology so high.

Cinderella is Dead

Author:  Kalynn Bayron

First published: 2020

Pages: 389

Rating: ★★★☆☆

This was actually a lot of fun, once I stopped expecting something grand and subtle. A wonderfully original idea that is the basis for the story is worth notice and some of the action scenes are truly engaging. If you don´t mind being hit over the head with the injustices (though I wonder if the lack of subtlety was brilliant or the opposite of that still) heaped upon women in this world, and if you are not bothered by insta-love, this is a good book to spend an afternoon or two with.

Floriography: An Illustrated Guide to the Victorian Language of Flowers

Author: Jessica Roux

First published: 2020

Pages: 224

Rating: ★★★★★

Perfect coffee table book!

The Henna Artist

Author: Alka Joshi

First published: 2020

Pages: 366

Rating: ★★★☆☆

I enjoyed this book but... I have almost nothing to say? Somehow this is exactly the kind of book that is good.... but it is that "standard" kind of good. Like... sure. It was good. I have not had any super-strong feelings towards it.

Catherine House

Author: Elisabeth Thomas

First published: 2020

Pages: 320

Rating: ★★☆☆☆

It started with a promise, turned into a boring slog and fizzled out without anything resembling a satisfying climax. I may have enjoyed it more had it not been for other books centred around weird and creepy campuses (namely Vita Nostra and If We Were Villains) I have read this year, which were simply better in every way. I believe the author might win me over in the future, her writing was good and the premise itself interesting. Unfortunately what this whole thing misses are an actual plot and a finale. I did not feel scared or creeped out... I was just bored.

[oldreadsebooks]

Best History Audiobooks

On the 27th April, it will be National Tell a Story Day. This is a great opportunity to get one of the many talented narrators to read you a story that will inspire and entertain. There are many such audiobooks on sites like Oldreads. However, here are some of the best history stories you can find on audiobooks.

The Only Plane in the Sky: An Oral History of September 11, 2001 by Garrett Graff

The tragedy of 9/11 was felt across the globe. However, only those who lived through the event will ever know what it really felt like. This book tells the story of some of the survivors using never-before-seen transcripts and other documents. The book starts on the day before 9/11, and carries on for the few months after the disaster.

Ordinary Men by Christopher Browning

A group of middle-aged men from Hamburg along with a long-serving policeman, were responsible for some of the worst atrocities of the Second World War. Here is the story of how they were able to get away with it, along with testimony that helps to understand why they did such atrocious acts. You can find this book on sites like Oldreads.

First Light by Geoffrey Wellum

During World War Two, there were many brave pilots that were thrust into the action at a young age. This book looks at the stories of some of those pilots, and describes the fear, camaraderie, and what it was like to fly the iconic Spitfire.

These are just some of the audiobooks you can listen to when you visit Oldreads.

[niallloverontheloose]

Sorry for the delay. Thank you for the tag @whenziamwere18! 

Three ships: Ziam, Sterek, Berica

Last song: Caution- The Killers

Last movie: Hocus Pocus

Last book:  The Only Plane in the Sky: An Oral History of 9/11, By Garrett M. Graff 

Tagging: @massivelydeepdreamland, @weareonejazzhand, @behind-my-hazeleyes27, @velocityisamazeballs, & @spongeboblovessterek

[cheshirelibrary]

2020 Audie Awards Winners Announced

[via Audio Publishers Association]

The Audie Awards​®​ recognized the best in audiobook and spoken word entertainment and Stephen King was presented with a Lifetime Achievement Award at the Audies’ 25th anniversary celebration on March 2nd. The Audies recognizes outstanding achievement from authors, narrators, publishers, andproducers across a wide array of genres and categories.

Winners included:

AUDIOBOOK OF THE YEAR: The Only Plane in the Sky: An Oral History of 9/11 by Garrett M. Graff, narrated by a full cast with Holter Graham

FICTION: City of Girls by Elizabeth Gilbert, narrated by Blair Brown

FANTASY: The Ten Thousand Doors of January by Alix E. Harrow, narrated by January LaVoy

SCIENCE FICTION: Emergency Skin by N.K. Jemisin, narrated by Jason Isaacs

THRILLER/SUSPENSE: The Institute By Stephen King, narrated by Santino Fontana

ROMANCE: Devil’s Daughter by Lisa Kleypas, narrated by Mary Jane Wells

SHORT STORIES/COLLECTIONS: Full Throttle by Joe Hill, narrated by Zachary Quinto, Wil Wheaton, Kate Mulgrew, Neil Gaiman,Ashleigh Cummings, Joe Hill, Laysla De Oliveira, Nate Corddry, Connor Jessup,Stephen Lang, and George Guidall

BEST FEMALE NARRATOR: Nothing to See Here by Kevin Wilson, narrated by Marin Ireland

BEST MALE NARRATOR: Kingdom of the Blind by Louise Penny, narrated by Robert Bathurst

NARRATION BY AUTHOR OR AUTHORS: With the Fire on High, written and narrated by Elizabeth Acevedo

YOUNG ADULT: Hey, Kiddo by Jarrett J. Krosoczka, narrated by Jarrett J. Krosoczka, Jeanne Birdsall, Richard Ferrone, Jenna Lamia, and a full cast

NON-FICTION: Grace Will Lead Us Home by Jennifer Berry Hawes, narrated by Karen Chilton and Jennifer Berry Hawes

AUTOBIOGRAPHY/MEMOIR: Becoming, written and narrated by Michelle Obama

...

Click through to see the full list of finalists and winners.

[rockislandadultreads]

Honoring and Remembering 9/11

The Only Plane in the Sky by Garrett M. Graff

Over the past eighteen years, monumental literature has been published about 9/11, from Lawrence Wright’s The Looming Tower to The 9/11 Commission Report. But one perspective has been missing up to this point—a 360-degree account of the day told through firsthand.

Now, in The Only Plane in the Sky, Garrett Graff tells the story of the day as it was lived—in the words of those who lived it. Drawing on never-before-published transcripts, declassified documents, original interviews, and oral histories from nearly five hundred government officials, first responders, witnesses, survivors, friends, and family members, he paints the most vivid and human portrait of the September 11 attacks yet.

A Nation Challenged by The New York Times

In this visual history, the New York Times has opened its archives on September 11 and its consequences, including the anthrax scare, the bombing campaign in Afghanistan, the fall of the Taliban and the efforts to rebuild the nation. It also features background essays, charts, and graphics that provide a new level of clarity.

Thunder Dog by Michael Hingson

First came the boom - the loud, deep, unapologetic bellow that seemed to erupt from the very core of the earth. Eerily, the majestic high-rise slowly leaned to the south. On the seventy-eighth floor of the World Trade Center's north tower, no alarms sounded, and no one had information about what had happened at 8:46 a.m. on September 11, 2001. What should have been a normal workday for thousands of people. All that was known to the people inside was what they could see out the windows: smoke and fire and millions of pieces of burning paper and other debris falling through the air.

Blind since birth, Michael couldn't see a thing, but he could hear the sounds of shattering glass, falling debris, and terrified people flooding around him and his guide dog, Roselle. However, Roselle sat calmly beside him. In that moment, Michael chose to trust Roselle's judgment and not to panic. They are a team.

Thunder Dog allows you entry into the isolated, fume-filled chamber of stairwell B to experience survival through the eyes of a blind man and his beloved guide dog. Live each moment from the second a Boeing 767 hits the north tower, to the harrowing stairwell escape, to dodging death a second time as both towers fold into the earth.

Where You Left Me by Jennifer Gardner Trulson

Lucky - that’s how Jennifer would describe herself. She had a successful law career, met the love of her life in Doug, married him, had an apartment in New York City, a house in the Hamptons, two beautiful children, and was still madly in love after nearly seven years of marriage. Jennifer was living the kind of idyllic life that clichés are made of.

Until Doug was killed in the attacks on the World Trade Center, and she became a widow at age thirty-five - a “9/11 widow,” no less, a member of a select group bound by sorrow, of which she wanted no part. Though completely devastated, Jennifer still considered herself blessed. Doug had loved her enough to last her a lifetime, and after his sudden death, she was done with the idea of romantic love - fully resigned to being a widowed single mother . . . until a chance encounter with a gregarious stranger changed everything. Without a clue how to handle this unexpected turn of events, Jennifer faced the question asked by anyone who has ever lost a loved one: Is it really possible to feel joy again, let alone love?

With unvarnished emotion and clear-eyed sardonic humor, Jennifer tells an ordinary woman’s extraordinary tale of unimaginable loss, resilience, friendship, love, and healing—which is also New York City’s narrative in the wake of September 11. Where You Left Me is an unlikely love story, a quintessentially New York story—at once Jennifer’s tribute to the city that gave her everything and proof that second chances are possible.

[tenaciousyouthnacho]

(PDF) Download A Student's Guide to Infinite Series and Sequences ####

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[EPUB & PDF] Ebook A Student's Guide to Infinite Series and Sequences | EBOOK ONLINE DOWNLOAD

by Bernhard W. Bach Jr..

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Description

Why study infinite series? Not all mathematical problems can be solved exactly or have a solution that can be expressed in terms of a known function. In such cases, it is common practice to use an infinite series expansion to approximate or represent a solution. This informal introduction for undergraduate students explores the numerous uses of infinite series and sequences in engineering and the physical sciences. The material has been carefully selected to help the reader develop the techniques needed to confidently utilize infinite series. The book begins with infinite series and sequences before moving onto power series, complex infinite series and finally onto Fourier, Legendre, and Fourier-Bessel series. With a focus on practical applications, the book demonstrates that infinite series are more than an academic exercise and helps students to conceptualize the theory with real world examples and to build their skill set in this area.

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Let's be real: 2020 has been a nightmare. Between the political unrest and novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, it's difficult to look back on the year and find something, anything, that was a potential bright spot in an otherwise turbulent trip around the sun. Luckily, there were a few bright spots: namely, some of the excellent works of military history and analysis, fiction and non-fiction, novels and graphic novels that we've absorbed over the last year. 

Here's a brief list of some of the best books we read here at Task & Purpose in the last year. Have a recommendation of your own? Send an email to jared@taskandpurpose.Com and we'll include it in a future story.

Missionaries by Phil Klay

I loved Phil Klay’s first book, Redeployment (which won the National Book Award), so Missionaries was high on my list of must-reads when it came out in October. It took Klay six years to research and write the book, which follows four characters in Colombia who come together in the shadow of our post-9/11 wars. As Klay’s prophetic novel shows, the machinery of technology, drones, and targeted killings that was built on the Middle East battlefield will continue to grow in far-flung lands that rarely garner headlines. [Buy]

 - Paul Szoldra, editor-in-chief

Battle Born: Lapis Lazuli by Max Uriarte

Written by 'Terminal Lance' creator Maximilian Uriarte, this full-length graphic novel follows a Marine infantry squad on a bloody odyssey through the mountain reaches of northern Afghanistan. The full-color comic is basically 'Conan the Barbarian' in MARPAT. [Buy]

 - James Clark, senior reporter

The Liberator by Alex Kershaw

Now a gritty and grim animated World War II miniseries from Netflix, The Liberator follows the 157th Infantry Battalion of the 45th Division from the beaches of Sicily to the mountains of Italy and the Battle of Anzio, then on to France and later still to Bavaria for some of the bloodiest urban battles of the conflict before culminating in the liberation of the Dachau concentration camp. It's a harrowing tale, but one worth reading before enjoying the acclaimed Netflix series. [Buy]

 - Jared Keller, deputy editor

The Only Plane in the Sky: An Oral History of 9/11 by Garrett Graff

If you haven’t gotten this must-read account of the September 11th attacks, you need to put The Only Plane In the Sky at the top of your Christmas list. Graff expertly explains the timeline of that day through the re-telling of those who lived it, including the loved ones of those who were lost, the persistently brave first responders who were on the ground in New York, and the service members working in the Pentagon. My only suggestion is to not read it in public — if you’re anything like me, you’ll be consistently left in tears. [Buy]

- Haley Britzky, Army reporter

The Body in Pain: The Making and Unmaking of the World by Elaine Scarry

Why do we even fight wars? Wouldn’t a massive tennis tournament be a nicer way for nations to settle their differences? This is one of the many questions Harvard professor Elaine Scarry attempts to answer, along with why nuclear war is akin to torture, why the language surrounding war is sterilized in public discourse, and why both war and torture unmake human worlds by destroying access to language. It’s a big lift of a read, but even if you just read chapter two (like I did), you’ll come away thinking about war in new and refreshing ways. [Buy]

 - David Roza, Air Force reporter

Stalingrad: The Fateful Siege: 1942-1943 by Antony Beevor

Stalingrad takes readers all the way from the Nazi invasion of the Soviet Union to the collapse of the 6th Army at Stalingrad in February 1943. It gives you the perspective of German and Soviet soldiers during the most apocalyptic battle of the 20th century. [Buy]

- Jeff Schogol, Pentagon correspondent 

America's War for the Greater Middle East by Andrew J. Bacevich

I picked up America's War for the Greater Middle East earlier this year and couldn’t put it down. Published in 2016 by Andrew Bacevich, a historian and retired Army officer who served in Vietnam, the book unravels the long and winding history of how America got so entangled in the Middle East and shows that we’ve been fighting one long war since the 1980s — with errors in judgment from political leaders on both sides of the aisle to blame. “From the end of World War II until 1980, virtually no American soldiers were killed in action while serving in the Greater Middle East. Since 1990, virtually no American soldiers have been killed in action anywhere else. What caused this shift?” the book jacket asks. As Bacevich details in this definitive history, the mission creep of our Vietnam experience has been played out again and again over the past 30 years, with disastrous results. [Buy]

 - Paul Szoldra, editor-in-chief

Burn In: A Novel of the Real Robotic Revolution by P.W. Singer and August Cole

In Burn In, Singer and Cole take readers on a journey at an unknown date in the future, in which an FBI agent searches for a high-tech terrorist in Washington, D.C. Set after what the authors called the "real robotic revolution," Agent Lara Keegan is teamed up with a robot that is less Terminator and far more of a useful, and highly intelligent, law enforcement tool. Perhaps the most interesting part: Just about everything that happens in the story can be traced back to technologies that are being researched today. You can read Task & Purpose's interview with the authors here. [Buy]

 - James Clark, senior reporter

SAS: Rogue Heroes by Ben MacIntyre

Like WWII? Like a band of eccentric daredevils wreaking havoc on fascists? Then you'll love SAS: Rogue Heroes, which re-tells some truly insane heists performed by one of the first modern special forces units. Best of all, Ben MacIntyre grounds his history in a compassionate, balanced tone that displays both the best and worst of the SAS men, who are, like anyone else, only human after all. [Buy]

 - David Roza, Air Force reporter

The Alice Network by Kate Quinn

The Alice Network is a gripping novel which follows two courageous women through different time periods — one living in the aftermath of World War II, determined to find out what has happened to someone she loves, and the other working in a secret network of spies behind enemy lines during World War I. This gripping historical fiction is based on the true story of a network that infiltrated German lines in France during The Great War and weaves a tale so packed full of drama, suspense, and tragedy that you won’t be able to put it down. [Buy]

Katherine Rondina, Anchor Books

“Because I published a new book this year, I've been answering questions about my inspirations. This means I've been thinking about and so thankful for The Girl in the Flammable Skirt by Aimee Bender. I can't credit it with making me want to be a writer — that desire was already there — but it inspired me to write stories where the fantastical complicates the ordinary, and the impossible becomes possible. A girl in a nice dress with no one to appreciate it. An unremarkable boy with a remarkable knack for finding things. The stories in this book taught me that the everydayness of my world could become magical and strange, and in that strangeness I could find a new kind of truth.”

Diane Cook is the author of the novel The New Wilderness, which was long-listed for the 2020 Booker Prize, and the story collection Man V. Nature, which was a finalist for the Guardian First Book Award, the Believer Book Award, the PEN/Hemingway Award, and the Los Angeles Times Award for First Fiction. Read an excerpt from The New Wilderness.

Bill Johnston, University of California Press

“I’ve revisited a lot of old favorites in this grim year of fear and isolation, and have been most thankful of all for The Collected Poems of Frank O’Hara. Witty, reflexive, intimate, queer, disarmingly occasional and monumentally serious all at once, they’ve been a constant balm and inspiration. ‘The only thing to do is simply continue,’ he wrote, in 'Adieu to Norman, Bon Jour to Joan and Jean-Paul'; ‘is that simple/yes, it is simple because it is the only thing to do/can you do it/yes, you can because it is the only thing to do.’”

Helen Macdonald is a nature essayist with a semiregular column in the New York Times Magazine. Her latest novel, Vesper Flights, is a collection of her best-loved essays, and her debut book, H Is for Hawk, won the Samuel Johnson Prize for Nonfiction and the Costa Book Award, and was a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award and the Kirkus Prize for Nonfiction.

Andrea Scher, Scholastic Press

“This year, I’m so grateful for You Should See Me in a Crown by Leah Johnson. Reading — like everything else — has been a struggle for me in 2020. It’s been tough to let go of all of my anxieties about the state of the world and our country and get swept away by a story. But You Should See Me in a Crown pulled me in right away; for the blissful time that I was reading it, it made me think about a world outside of 2020 and it made me smile from ear to ear. Joy has been hard to come by this year, and I’m so thankful for this book for the joy it brought me.”

Jasmine Guillory is the New York Times bestselling author of five romance novels, including this year’s Party of Two. Her work has appeared in O, The Oprah Magazine, Cosmopolitan, Real Simple, and Time.

Nelson Fitch, Random House

“Last year, stuck in a prolonged reading rut that left me wondering if I even liked books anymore, I stumbled across Tenth of December by George Saunders, a collection of stories Saunders wrote between 1995 and 2012 that are at turns funny, moving, startling, weird, profound, and often all of those things at the same time. As a writer, what I crave most from books is to find one so excellent it makes me feel like I'd be better off quitting — and so wonderful that it reminds me what it is to be purely a reader again, encountering new worlds and revelations every time I turn a page. Tenth of December is that, and I'm so grateful that it fell off a high shelf and into my life.”

Veronica Roth is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Divergent series and the Carve the Mark duology. Her latest novel, Chosen Ones, is her first novel for adults. Read an excerpt from Chosen Ones.

Ian Byers-Gamber, Blazevox Books

“Waking up today to the prospect of some hours spent reading away part of another day of this disastrous, delirious pandemic year, I’m most grateful for the book in my hands, one itself full of gratitude for a life spent reading: Gloria Frym’s How Proust Ruined My Life. Frym’s essays — on Marcel Proust, yes, and Walt Whitman, and Lucia Berlin, but also peppermint-stick candy and Allen Ginsburg’s knees, among other Proustian memory-prompts — restore me to my sense of my eerie luck at a life spent rushing to the next book, the next page, the next word.”

Jonathan Lethem is the author of a number of critically acclaimed novels, including The Fortress of Solitude and the National Book Critics Circle Award winner Motherless Brooklyn. His latest novel, The Arrest, is a postapocalyptic tale about two siblings, the man that came between them, and a nuclear-powered super car.

David Heska Wanbli Weiden, Riverhead

“I’m incredibly grateful for the magnificent The Heartbeat of Wounded Knee by David Treuer. This book — a mélange of history, memoir, and reportage — is the reconceptualization of Native life that’s been urgently needed since the last great indigenous history, Dee Brown’s Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee. It’s at once a counternarrative and a replacement for Brown’s book, and it rejects the standard tale of Native victimization, conquest, and defeat. Even though I teach Native American studies to college students, I found new insights and revelations in almost every chapter. Not only a great read, the book is a tremendous contribution to Native American — and American — intellectual and cultural history.”

David Heska Wanbli Weiden, an enrolled member of the Sicangu Lakota Nation, is author of the novel Winter Counts, which is BuzzFeed Book Club’s November pick. He is also the author of the children’s book Spotted Tail, which won the 2020 Spur Award from the Western Writers of America. Read an excerpt from Winter Counts.

Valerie Mosley, Tordotcom

“In 2020, I've been lucky to finish a single book within 30 days, but I burned through this 507-page brick in the span of a weekend. Harrow the Ninth reminded me that even when absolutely everything is terrible, it's still possible to feel deep, gratifying, brain-buzzing admiration for brilliant art. Thank you, Harrow, for being one of the brightest spots in a dark year and for keeping the home fires burning.”

Casey McQuiston is the New York Times bestselling author of Red, White & Royal Blue, and her next book, One Last Stop, comes out in 2021.

"I'm grateful for V.S. Naipaul's troubling masterpiece, A Bend in the River — which not only made me see the world anew, but made me see what literature could do. It's a book that's lucid enough to reveal the brutality of the forces shaping our world and its politics; yet soulful enough to penetrate the most recondite secrets of human interiority. A book of great beauty without a moment of mercy. A marriage of opposites that continues to shape my own deeper sense of just how much a writer can actually accomplish."

Ayad Akhtar is a novelist and playwright, and his latest novel, Homeland Elegies, is about an American son and his immigrant father searching for belonging in a post-9/11 country. He is the winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Drama and an Award in Literature from the American Academy of Arts and Letters.

Vanessa German, Feminist Press

“I'm most thankful for Daddy Was a Number Runner by Louise Meriwether. It's a YA book set in 1930s Harlem, and it was the first Black-girl-coming-of-age book I ever read, the first time I ever saw myself in a book. I appreciate how it expanded my world and my understanding that books can speak to you right where you are and take you on a journey, at the same time.”

Deesha Philyaw’s debut short story collection, The Secret Lives of Church Ladies, was a finalist for the 2020 National Book Award for Fiction. She is also the co-author of Co-Parenting 101: Helping Your Kids Thrive in Two Households After Divorce, written in collaboration with her ex-husband. Philyaw’s writing on race, parenting, gender, and culture has appeared in the New York Times, the Washington Post, McSweeney’s, the Rumpus, and elsewhere. Read a story from The Secret Lives of Church Ladies.

Philippa Gedge, W. W. Norton & Company

“As both a writer and a reader I am hugely grateful for Patricia Highsmith’s plotting and writing suspense fiction. As a writer I’m thankful for Highsmith’s generosity with her wisdom and experience: She talks us through how to tease out the narrative strands and develop character, how to know when things are going awry, even how to decide to give things up as a bad job. She’s unabashed about sharing her own ‘failures,’ and in my experience, there’s nothing more encouraging for a writer than learning that our literary gods are mortal! As a reader, it provides a fascinating insight into the genesis of one of my favorite novels of all time — The Talented Mr. Ripley, as well as the rest of her brilliant oeuvre. And because it’s Highsmith, it’s so much more than just a how-to guide: It’s hugely engaging and, while accessible, also provides a glimpse into the mind of a genius. I’ve read it twice — while working on each of my thrillers, The Hunting Party and The Guest List — and I know I’ll be returning to the well-thumbed copy on my shelf again soon!”

Lucy Foley is the New York Times bestselling author of the thrillers The Guest List and The Hunting Party. She has also written two historical fiction novels and previously worked in the publishing industry as a fiction editor.

“The books I'm most thankful for this year are a three-book series titled Tales from the Gas Station by Jack Townsend. Walking a fine line between comedy and horror (which is much harder than people think), the books follow Jack, an employee at a gas station in a nameless town where all manner of horrifyingly fantastical things happen. And while the monsters are scary and more than a little ridiculous, it's Jack's bone-dry narration, along with his best friend/emotional support human, Jerry, that elevates the books into something that are as lovely as they are absurd.”

T.J. Klune is a Lambda Literary Award–winning author and an ex-claims examiner for an insurance company. His novels include The House in the Cerulean Sea and The Extraordinaries.

Sylvernus Darku (Team Black Image Studio), Ayebia Clarke Publishing

"Nervous Conditions is a book that I have read several times over the years, including this year. The novel covers the themes of gender and race and has at its heart Tambu, a young girl in 1960s Rhodesia determined to get an education and to create a better life for herself. Dangarembga’s prose is evocative and witty, and the story is thought-provoking. I’ve been inspired anew by Tambu each time I’ve read this book."

Peace Adzo Medie is Senior Lecturer in Gender and International Politics at the University of Bristol. She is the author of Global Norms and Local Action: The Campaigns to End Violence against Women in Africa (Oxford University Press, 2020). His Only Wife is her debut novel.

Jenna Maurice, HarperCollins

“The book I'm most thankful for? Where the Sidewalk Ends by Shel Silverstein. My mother and father would read me poems from it before bed — I'm convinced it infused me not only with a sense of poetic cadence, but also a wry sense of humor.”

Victoria “V.E.” Schwab is the bestselling author of more than a dozen books, including Vicious, the Shades of Magic series, and This Savage Song. Her latest novel, The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue, is BuzzFeed Book Club’s December pick. Read an excerpt from The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue.

Meg Vázquez, Square Fish

“My childhood best friend gave me Troubling a Star by Madeleine L'Engle for Hanukkah when I was 11 years old, and it's still my favorite book of all time. I love the way it defies genre (it's a political thriller/YA romance that includes a lot of scientific research and also poetry??), and the way it values smartness, gutsiness, vulnerability, kindness, and a sense of adventure. The book follows 16-year-old Vicky Austin's life-altering trip to Antarctica; her trip changed my life, too. In a year when safe travel is almost impossible, I'm so grateful to be able to return to her story again and again.”

Kate Stayman-London's debut novel, One to Watch, is about a plus-size blogger who’s been asked to star on a Bachelorette-like reality show. Stayman-London served as lead digital writer for Hillary Rodham Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign and has written for notable figures, from former president Obama and Malala Yousafzai to Anna Wintour and Cher.

Katharine McGee is grateful for the Redwall series by Brian Jacques. Chris Bailey Photography, Firebird

“I’m thankful for the Redwall books by Brian Jacques. I discovered the series in elementary school, and it sparked a love of big, epic stories that has never left me. (If you read my books, you know I can’t resist a broad cast of characters!) I used to read the books aloud to my younger sister, using funny voices for all the narrators. Now that I have a little boy of my own, I can’t wait to someday share Redwall with him.”

Katharine McGee is the New York Times bestselling author of American Royals and its sequel, Majesty. She is also the author of the Thousandth Floor trilogy.

Beth Gwinn, Time-Life Books

"I am thankful most for books that carry me out of the world and back again, and while I find it painful to choose among them, here's one early and one late: Zen Cho's Black Water Sister, which comes out in 2021 but I devoured just two days ago, and the long out-of-print Wizards and Witches volume of the Time-Life Enchanted World series, which is where I first read about the legend of the Scholomance."

Naomi Novik is the New York Times bestselling author of the Nebula Award–winning novel Uprooted, Spinning Silver, and the nine-volume Temeraire series. Her latest novel, A Deadly Education, is the first of the Scholomance trilogy.

Christina Lauren are grateful for the Twilight series by Stephenie Meyer. Christina Lauren, Little, Brown and Company

"We are thankful for the Twilight series for about a million reasons, not the least of which it's what brought the two of us together. Writing fanfic in a space where we could be silly and messy together taught us that we don't have to be perfect, but there's no harm in trying to get better with every attempt. It also cemented for us that the best relationships are the ones in which you can be your real, authentic self, even when you're struggling to do things you never thought you'd be brave enough to attempt. Twilight brought millions of readers back into the fold and inspired hundreds of romance authors. We really do thank Stephenie Meyer every day for the gift of Twilight and the fandom it created."