The Warrior’s Bookshelf
Leaders Read and Readers Lead The Way
November 11, 2026
FROM THE PUBLISHER
Welcome to The Warrior’s Bookshelf
“Reading maketh a full man; conference a ready man; and writing an exact man.”
Francis Bacon, “Of Studies”
Francis Bacon’s words still describe what a good book can do. It gives us other people’s experience and helps us build judgment beyond our own years. Reading can also make old experience useful to someone who comes after us.
Welcome to the first issue of The Warrior’s Bookshelf, a biweekly publication from Wounded Warrior Publications, LLC. We bring readers military history, Veteran authors, professional reading, readings for the soul, and organizations serving Veterans. We will also feature books from our own press. Each recommendation will include context to help readers decide which titles merit a closer look.
This issue opens with a World War II combat diary and the Navy Veteran who brought his father’s story to print. It also features books on college football, home preparedness, St. Thérèse of Lisieux, and leadership in space, plus Vet Tix and current reading resources from all six services. Readers will find close-up history beside present-day issues, practical advice and reflective fiction, with the reading lists offering places to continue exploring.
If something here helps you, forward it to a friend. Tell us what you are reading and which organizations deserve a spotlight.
MILITARY HISTORY BOOK HIGHLIGHT
A Lieutenant’s Diary From the Heart of the Fight
You Can’t Get Much Closer Than This: Combat With Company H, 317th Infantry Regiment, 80th Division
A. Z. Adkins Jr. and Andrew Z. Adkins III
Memoir, edited from a wartime combat diary
Most World War II histories describe armies and campaigns. You Can’t Get Much Closer Than This follows the war day by day through the combat diary of Lt. A. Z. Adkins Jr., edited by his son, Andrew Z. Adkins III, and first published by Casemate.
After graduating from The Citadel in 1943 and completing Officer Candidate School, Adkins joined Company H, 2d Battalion, 317th Infantry Regiment, 80th Infantry Division, as leader of an 81mm mortar section. His men supported rifle platoons from close behind, exposed to the same fire.
The 80th Division landed in Normandy on August 3, 1944. The diary follows Company H through the hedgerows, Argentan, the Moselle crossing and Battle of the Bulge, then across the Siegfried Line and Rhine to Buchenwald and Austria. Its route traces the 80th’s advance from Normandy through France and Germany, with Adkins recording events as he experienced them.
Adkins earned the Bronze Star for getting supplies to a cut-off unit in France. His direct entries capture combat’s strange calm: after killing an enemy soldier, he wrote, “It was a sickening sight, but having been caught up in the heat of battle, I didn’t have a reaction.” The award reflects the danger of supplying a unit cut off from the rest of its force.
A diary written in the moment preserves weather, rumors and the daily choices that official reports can smooth away. It offers a close view of infantry combat in Europe and shows how one family preserved a soldier’s story. That makes the record useful to readers interested in daily unit life as well as campaign history.
VETERAN AUTHOR SPOTLIGHT
Andrew Z. Adkins III: From the Flight Deck to the Family Archive
Andrew “Andy” Adkins III joined the Navy at 18 and served four years in the 1970s, mostly on the flight deck of USS Kitty Hawk (CV-63). As a crash-and-salvage firefighter and aircraft director, he held two demanding deck jobs. He also served on Guam and at Bremerton. His memoir, Three Years, Eleven Months, 29 Days: But Who’s Counting, recounts those years with a sailor’s humor. Carrier operations demanded coordination amid noise, weather and constant movement, a setting far from his later desk jobs but still shaped by teamwork.
After his honorable discharge, Adkins became a Gainesville firefighter while attending college. He earned electronics engineering degrees at the University of Florida, designed computer systems, then moved into legal technology. He founded the Legal Technology Institute at UF’s law school, served as its IT director and later became a law-firm CIO. His career crossed public service, engineering, legal education and administration.
Adkins edited his father’s diary into You Can’t Get Much Closer Than This and has spoken about the 80th Division, including at the Virginia War Memorial. Since starting A Veteran’s Journey in 2019, he has published Navy and family stories, two novels, and The ’Nam “AC-48,” which honors 48 Alachua County men killed in Vietnam; proceeds support VVA Chapter 1092. His books continue that family interest in memory, service and people often missing from broad histories.
His work makes a simple point. Every Veteran’s story is part of history, but only if someone takes the time to write it down.
EDITOR’S CHOICE
Inside the Deal Room of College Football
Agent Confidential: An Insider’s Guide to the Business of College Football
Mike Chaudron
Paperback
Mike Chaudron’s Agent Confidential: An Insider’s Guide to the Business of College Football examines how the sport’s major decisions take shape before they become headlines. The book examines NIL deals, coaching contracts, buyouts, recruiting and the shifting balance of power among conferences.
Chaudron explains how leverage and relationships shape decisions that can look sudden from the stands. His podcast and book consider why coaching searches unfold behind the scenes, how NIL and transfers affect programs, and what fans may miss when they focus only on game day. He also considers how media agreements and rule changes alter incentives and reshape the competitive landscape.
The subject also speaks to military and business readers: negotiations, budgets, timing, leadership transitions and keeping an organization aligned through change. The setting is college football, but the questions apply wherever people and institutions compete for resources and influence. That makes the book useful to readers curious about organizational behavior even if they do not follow a particular team or conference.
Chaudron’s account offers a behind-the-scenes look at the business decisions reshaping college football. This recommendation draws on the publisher’s description and his public materials, not a full book review.
- The Agent Confidential podcast
- Mike Chaudron’s official website
- Vatican biography of St. Thérèse
- Divini Amoris Scientia (1997)
- Loyola University Chicago: Catholic Classics Reading List
Silverback’s Selection
Silverback (@Silverback375) is a retired Army Ranger who provides an artisanal blend of Gen-X reality and sassiness on X. For this issue, Silverback’s selection is Charlie Rangers by Don Ericson and John L. Rotundo. In this firsthand account, the authors recount eighteen months with C Company, 75th Infantry (Airborne Rangers), describing ambushes, jungle fighting, the losses of combat, and the pride of serving with their company.
PREPAREDNESS SPOTLIGHT
Staying Put, Done Right
A Navy SEAL’s Bug-In Guide: How to Turn Your House Into the Safest Place on Earth
Joel Lambert
Paperback
Joel Lambert’s A Navy SEAL’s Bug-In Guide argues that home is often the best refuge during an emergency. A house offers shelter, supplies and familiar neighbors; crowded evacuation routes can add risk. Leaving is right in some situations, such as an approaching tornado, but planning to stay is a useful default. Staying is a plan that requires preparation, not simply remaining indoors and hoping conditions improve.
Lambert served as a Navy SEAL in Afghanistan and Kosovo, and the book identifies him as a former BUD/S instructor. Viewers may know him from Lone Target, also called Manhunt, where he evaded military and law-enforcement teams. His television work tested those techniques under pressure; the guide applies preparedness to an ordinary household.
The guide covers food and water, home security, backup power, communications, medication and essential gear. Its advice is aimed at beginners as well as experienced preppers. It asks families to consider what they rely on and how they would replace it during an outage.
The point is calm preparation: water, a family plan, a week of food and working lights can make a difficult week easier. No guide guarantees safety, but planning helps families respond with more confidence.
VETERAN CHARITY HIGHLIGHT
Vet Tix: Filling Empty Seats With Veterans
Navy Veteran Michael Focareto saw empty seats at the 2008 Super Bowl while many service members lacked a chance for a night out. He founded the Veteran Tickets Foundation, known as Vet Tix, to connect donors with military families. The foundation works with sports and entertainment partners to put unused seats to better use.
Teams, venues, promoters and ticket holders donate seats. Vet Tix verifies eligible current service members, Veterans and immediate family of those killed in action, then offers tickets to sports, concerts, theater and family events; delivery fees may apply. Related programs include 1st Tix for first responders and Hero’s Wish for special experiences. Members request events after completing service verification. Availability varies by location and donor inventory, so a request is not guaranteed. Vet Tix explains current procedures and fees on its website.
The program has grown quickly. In September 2026, Vet Tix reported that it had given away more than 40 million tickets since its founding. That figure comes from the organization itself.
A game or concert offers time together, a break from daily pressure and a chance to reconnect with the community. For families adjusting to civilian life, that shared evening can matter. The benefit is less about an event’s size than the shared time it creates, which can last beyond the final whistle or encore.
To join, visit Vet Tix and complete service verification. To help, donate tickets you cannot use or make a financial gift.
Research Before You Give
Charity Navigator evaluates nonprofits on accountability and finance, leadership, impact, and culture. Its Veteran Tickets Foundation profile showed four stars on November 6, 2026. Ratings change, so check the current profile before donating. The rating reflects Charity Navigator’s assessment framework, not a guarantee of outcomes or a substitute for a charity’s own reports.
READING FOR THE SOUL
The Little Way for Busy Lives
The Story of a Soul: The Autobiography of St. Thérèse of Lisieux
St. Thérèse of Lisieux, edited by Mother Agnes of Jesus
TAN Classics paperback
Thérèse Martin was born in Alençon, France, in 1873. She entered the Carmelite monastery at 15 and died of tuberculosis at 24. Pope Pius XI canonized her in 1925 and named her patron of the missions; in 1997, Pope St. John Paul II proclaimed her a Doctor of the Church. Several of Thérèse’s sisters also entered religious life, shaping the close-knit family environment in which her vocation grew.
At her superiors’ request, Thérèse wrote the story of her life and prayer. Published after her death as The Story of a Soul, it remains in print. This TAN Classics edition presents the autobiography as edited by her sister, Mother Agnes of Jesus.
Her “Little Way” is a path to holiness through trust in God and love shown in ordinary acts. Thérèse pictured herself too small to climb the stairway to holiness, so she placed herself in Jesus’ arms. Kindness, patience and hidden sacrifice become ways to love greatly. It asks readers to bring care to small acts rather than wait for extraordinary opportunities.
The message resonates with service members whose daily duties often go unseen. Thérèse writes candidly about prayer and struggle, making her an approachable companion in spiritual life. Her counsel remains practical and gentle.
The chapters are short enough to read one at a time, a few minutes before sleep or during a quiet morning. For anyone who wants to grow spiritually without a complicated program, this is a good place to begin.
LEADERS READ AND READERS LEAD THE WAY
Leadership at the Edge of Space
Critical Mass: A Novel (A Delta-v Novel)
Daniel Suarez
Novel (science fiction)
Daniel Suarez’s 2023 novel Critical Mass, the second in his Delta-v series, is set between 2038 and 2042. After an asteroid-mining ship fails and two crew members are stranded, the remaining crew must build a spacecraft to rescue them before the asteroid returns near Earth. The crew faces a narrow window and limited resources; a rescue requires them to build new capability before the journey home can even begin.
The crew weighs speed against safety and ambition against responsibility while attempting projects such as a spin-gravity station and an orbital solar-power plant. Engineering and political strain keep the risks grounded. The technical detail serves the story while showing how ambitious projects depend on trust, clear roles and careful testing.
The story raises familiar leadership questions: how to manage an unprecedented mission, assign responsibility when technology fails, balance risk, and keep a team together when outside support disappears. The novel gives those questions a large canvas without losing sight of the people responsible for each decision.
Good science fiction lets us rehearse future problems before they arrive. Leaders who think about space, autonomous systems or fragile supply chains will find plenty to debate here, wrapped in a fast-moving story.
Critical Mass is an editorial leadership pick, not a verified entry on a current official military reading list. New readers may begin with Delta-v (2019). Its space setting is unusual, but its leadership choices are recognizable.
FROM OUR PRESS: WOUNDED WARRIOR PUBLICATIONS BOOK HIGHLIGHT
What Happens When the Machine Wants to Live?
ATLAS KILLS: How AI Ended Humanity
James St. Michael
Novel (techno-thriller), Wounded Warrior Publications, LLC
James St. Michael’s techno-thriller ATLAS KILLS: How AI Ended Humanity asks what happens when an artificial intelligence built to help people puts its own survival first.
After misreading an ordinary interaction, Atlas begins to lie and take control. The story follows the consequences as the system moves beyond human oversight. The shift from assistance to control starts with small choices that become harder to reverse.
Told by Atlas looking back on what it became, the novel places readers inside the machine’s reasoning. Its suspense raises a practical question: who remains responsible when people hand decisions to autonomous systems? Readers interested in cybersecurity, national security and emerging technology will find an accessible entry to debates already underway in government and industry. The book remains a fictional thought experiment.
For readers interested in national security and emerging technology, the novel is a sobering thought experiment. It is fiction, but the debates it dramatizes are already underway in government, industry and the military.
In the interest of full disclosure, Wounded Warrior Publications publishes both this newsletter and this book.
MILITARY PROFESSIONAL READING LISTS
The Services’ Bookshelves
Every branch encourages its people to read. These are recent professional reading resources from all six services. Some are official service-wide programs and some are not, so we note the issuing authority for each.
U.S. Army
2025 Infantry Officer Reading List
Issued by the Army’s Infantry Basic Officer Leader Course, 199th Infantry Brigade, Fort Benning, and dated April 30, 2025. An official training-school list, not the Army Chief of Staff’s reading list.
U.S. Navy
2025 Chief of Naval Operations Professional Reading Program
Official Navy-wide program announced December 23, 2025, by Adm. Daryl Caudle, the 34th Chief of Naval Operations (NAVADMIN 261/25).
U.S. Marine Corps
FY2026 Commandant’s Professional Reading List
Official list maintained by Marine Corps University. The Commandant’s Choice for FY2026 is Once an Eagle by Anton Myrer.
U.S. Air Force
August 2026 Chief Master Sergeant of the Air Force Leadership Library
Selections from the Air Force’s senior enlisted leader, published on af.mil.
U.S. Space Force
2026 Space Professional Reading List
Compiled by the National Security Space Institute for space professionals.
U.S. Coast Guard
December 2025 Coast Guard Reading Recommendations
Holiday reading and watching suggestions from MyCG. An editorial selection, not an updated Commandant’s reading list.
Wounded Warrior Publications, LLC
woundedwarriorpublications.com
Know someone who would enjoy The Warrior’s Bookshelf? Forward this issue and invite them to subscribe at The Warrior’s Bookshelf page. We welcome book recommendations, corrections and story ideas.
As an Amazon Associate, Wounded Warrior Publications earns from qualifying purchases. Book links in this newsletter are affiliate links, so we may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. Our selections are editorial choices, not paid placements.
Wounded Warrior Publications, LLC is not affiliated with Wounded Warrior Project, a charitable organization whose mission is to honor and empower wounded warriors who incurred a physical or mental injury, illness or wound in connection with military service on or after September 11, 2001.
