By Claire Wood
With summer in full swing, perhaps you find yourself with a little extra time for reading. Whether you’re at the community pool, on a beach vacation, or hiding in a hotel bathroom to escape the stress of your summer PCS, carving out a few moments to revive your spirit with the written word can be the perfect addition no matter where you are.
There are hundreds of well-written books in the military community, many penned by or for Military Spouses in particular. You might have seen a handful of those same titles circulating around book lists for years. Certainly, there are some “best of the best” out there, but what about the “newest of the new”?
If you are looking to check out the latest selection of books that every Military Spouse should read, consider these 10 reads released in the last year.
Helpful Info:
Brush Up on Your Resume-Writing Skills
In 2021, this title was the winner of both the Independent Press Award and the Ben Franklin Award. Written by a federal jobs trainer, Federal Resume Guidebook: Federal Resume Writing Featuring the Outline Format Federal Resume offers great insight on how to compose your federal resume with standout efficiency and efficacy.
Written by Kathryn K. Troutman, John Gagnon, and Emily Troutman
Make Military Benefits Work Better for You
John Letaw has written the handbook on Tricare for all active duty, reservists, National Guard, retirees, and surviving family members. In his book, Tricare Around the World: Getting the Most from Your Military Medical Benefits, he covers topics like choosing a plan, who is covered, finding a provider, filing a claim, and where to go for help. If you are stateside or overseas, Letaw will help guide you.
Get What You Deserve from Your Career
David Pere ― active duty Marine, real estate investor, and host of the Military Millionaire Podcast ― aims to help you create a successful career in the military while building the life of your dreams for after service. In The No B.S. Guide to Mlitary Life: How to Build Wealth, Get Promoted, and Achieve Greatness, servicemembers and Veterans will learn how to achieve financial freedom, have a successful career, maximize Veteran benefits, use their VA Loan, invest to build wealth, transition out of the military, and become a Military Millionaire.
Advice + Self-Help:
Find the Insights You Need
As a 20-year Military Spouse, Dr. Eugenia Gardner, Ph. D. experienced frequent moves, separations, setbacks, and celebrations that all military families experience. Her book, PLANT: A Military Spouse’s Guide to Cultivating Life, helps Military Spouses begin to implement an action plan to create a bountiful life garden.
You Can Hack That!
From Amazon, Life Hacks for Military Spouses: Advice, Wit, and Humor from Those Who Served Behind the Scenes is described as: “A colorful collection of tips and tricks for getting the most out of the nomadic military lifestyle. Told through humorous anecdotes by those with years of unique experiences, these life hacks reveal a special culture with expectations and numerous obstacles to be faced along the way.”
By Allison Wood, Tracey Enerson Wood, Kristen Riffle, and Kaitlin Walsh (Illustrator)
Family:
Become Your Own Mission Accomplished
Michael and Myra Holmes share the wisdom they’ve gained after four decades married, twenty-seven years of military service, and two decades of coaching couples. They share exactly what couples need to know to make their military marriages work. Filled with practical tips, exercises, and resources in Fighting for Your Military Marriage: 7 Critical Skills to Ensure Mission Success with Your Lifemate. This guidebook promises to transform your marriage from struggling to phenomenal.
Live Your Best MilFam Life
From Amazon, Growing Your Family: Learn How to Flourish and Thrive as a Military Family by Pearl Gifty Alimo “is a raw testimony of how one immigrant Military Spouse and ambitious career woman is raising her family with grit, grace, and style. Sharing her extraordinary experience in creating her home from the scratch and with nothing, saying countless tearful goodbyes with young children, and helping her military family thrive in the COVID-19 pandemic, Pearl provides rare gems of wisdom and her unadulterated perspective on how to make the military lifestyle work.”
Follow Along on the Journey
In 2017, Tracey D’Amore’s life changed when she says she went from being a regular mom to a “Military Mom,” as the mother of an Airman and a Marine. In her book, she shares the wisdom she’s gained and lessons she has learned along the way as a mom to servicemembers. A short 56 pages, she packs her message full into The Mind of the Military Mom: Tips and Advice on How to Survive the Journey with special focus on fear and anxiety, pride and excitement, and strength and resilience.
Coming Soon:
The Right Words at the Right Time
Known in military circles as The Seasoned Spouse, Lizann Lightfoot shares a book of letters she’s written full of intimate insight, wisdom, experience, and heart for many of the rites of passage a Military Spouse might face. Open When: Letters of Encouragement for Military Spouses (coming September 2021) includes topics on military balls, deployment, making new friends (again), and finding support in the military community.
Learn the Survival Skills You Didn’t Know You Need
In her new book Surviving Deployment: A Guide for Military Families (coming October 2021), Karen Pavlicin shares personal stories, practical ideas, and checklists that help readers know what to expect, how to prepare, and how to personally grow as individuals and families. This updated second edition includes new information about longer repeat and multiple deployments, self-care and wellness, and stories and examples from recent conflicts.
Have any books you’re looking forward to reading before the end of the year? Let us know in the comments below.
Claire Wood is a military spouse who calls home anywhere the Army sends her. She loves reading, hosting friends, and keeping houseplants alive. She shares on Instagram @home_sweet_military_home and her 2015 book, Mission Ready Marriage is available on Amazon.
