Book picks similar to
The Beauty of Ordinary Things by Harriet Scott Chessman


fiction
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Huey: The Story of a Helicopter Assault Pilot in Vietnam


Jay Groen - 1984
    Army's UH-1H "Huey" Iroquois helicopter. He experiences screaming descents into hot landing zones to place military assault troops and rescue wounded soldiers. He has the clarity of mind to survive seven days of horror in a Vietnamese jungle swamp while the psychology of a fellow soldier is severely tested. He's got the guts to buck military orders and battle his own brass to pursue an investigation when a botched operation spells disaster for the men under him. Based on the authors' personal experiences in the Vietnam War, Huey is an authentic, action-filled book of historical fiction. Originally published 30 years ago, this moving novel became a New York Timesbestseller within days of publishing. Now it's available again on Kindle.

Indian Country


Philip Caputo - 1987
    After returning home from the war, his friend buried on the battlefield he left behind, Christian begins to make a life for himself. Yet years later, although he is happily married to June, a good-hearted social worker, and has two daughters, Christian is still fighting--with the searing memories of combat, with the paranoid visions that are clouding his marriage and threatening his career, and most of all with the ghost of Bonny George, who haunts his dreams and presses him to come to terms with a secret so powerful it could destroy everything he has built.

Dance Real Slow


Michael Grant Jaffe - 1996
    Calvin eats dirt.  He never actually swallows it, just places loose clumps onto his tongue and sucks, I think....He knows better, my son, but he is stillyoung and needs to be watched.So goes the poignant journey of discovery for Gordon Nash, a journey that began two years ago when his wife suddenly walked out on him, leaving him alone toraise their son.  Calvin is now four, fragile yet stubborn, devoted to his pet, a dead Portuguese man-o-war he calls Mom.  Faced daily with the struggle andjoys of raising this bright little boy, Gordon learns the vast reaches of his affection and the limits of his patience.  He plumbs the deep well of rage within himself, to find there disturbing echoes of his own father.  And he comes to understand that nothing is as important as this complex, imperfect love--a lesson he must turn to when his wife reappears one day, threatening to turn his and Calvin's world upside down once again

The Right To Bear Arms: After the Riots Begin


Mike Foster - 2012
    Who could have seen this coming? Many people, including myself, and that is why I wrote this story, to warn people of what could happen to this country if we stay on the present course. Taken from headlines from Hurricane Katrina and now Sandy, hospitals are particularly affected when the lights go out. Hard decisions have to be made and people die. People stand in the streets and shout at the cameras for the govenment to come to their rescue and take care of them instead of being prepared and helping themselves. This is a warning to readers, this book will be considered controversial and not politically correct by liberals and socialists. It is as much political treatise as a story of survival. If you do not believe in God, country and family, you might not like this book. It is about survival and includes guns, death, blood and guts. All the characters and events are just imaginary and fictional but the medical scenes depected here are exactly as they would be in real life and things I do and have done in my practice. I tried to tell a story as true to life as I could while making it as interesting as possible, so it is a fusion of politics and fiction. That being said, the story itself is about how the US economy collapses after America defaults on its loans to foreign countries. When the government is no longer able to send out checks widespread riots break out all across the country. Dr. Edwards is caught up in the riots in North Mississippi, just outside Memphis, Tn. He along with a few others are trapped inside while the violence rages on and destruction surrounds the hospital. As the riots rage on they struggle to save themselves and their patients. Dr. Edwards must also make sure his family is safe and try to rejoin them when and if he and some of his coworkers can escape the riots. Everyone surrounding the cities must cope with the effects of the mass exodus of people trying to escape the violence. Along with close friends and members of his own family, Dr. Edwards must come to grips with the aftermath of the riots and deal with the Takers and the refugees alike.

Gardens Of Stone


Nicholas Proffitt - 1983
    The film, which has been scheduled for release in April, will star James Caan, Anjelica Huston and James Earl Jones. (Entertainment)

The Forest of Assassins


David Forsmark - 2013
    It is must-read on every page.” ----THOMAS FLEMING: Author of A Disease in the Public Mind: A New Understanding of the Civil War“The Forest of Assassins is a great read, a novel as good as the best journalism, with vivid and accurate details driving a tale of danger and deception and betrayal during the Vietnam War. This book doesn't just feel researched, it feels lived. Whether tightening the suspense – our protagonist, Navy Lieutenant Hank Dillon eyeball to eyeball with a VC soldier and watching for the skin to whiten on the man’s finger curled around the trigger of his AK-47 – or describing the oppressive heat of an innocent afternoon on the Mekong Delta, David Forsmark and Timothy Imholt make you believe every word of it. I couldn't recommend it more highly.-ROBERT FERRIGNO, NY Times best-selling novelist, Prayers for the AssassinAs real as fiction gets. A non-stop ride into combat told with perfection.-BOB HAMER, veteran FBI undercover agent and the author of The Last UndercoverThe Forest of Assassins is a historic thriller set in the earliest days of the American involvement in the Vietnam War. It involved the earliest of Navy SEAL teams. It is set in a time when the NAVY still did not admit these men existed, much less had they determined if those units would survive until the next conflict, or if the experiment would be abandoned. The Forest of Assassins tells the story of Navy SEAL Lieutenant Hank Dillon, a squad commander, deep in the jungles of South Vietnam when America’s involvement in the war was still in the “advisor” stage. Dillon’s mission is to wreak havoc among the Viet Cong guerillas who are terrorizing the countryside.Their mission—and even their presence in the region—is top secret. But Hank has a problem even bigger than a deadly and determined enemy; he has a traitor in the ranks.Meanwhile, a suspicious NCIS cop is nosing around Hank’s mysterious operation, certain that it is a front for drug running and other illegal activities.Things are tense for the young Lieutenant who just wants to go home to his wife…intact.

Matterhorn


Karl Marlantes - 2009
    It is the timeless story of a young Marine lieutenant, Waino Mellas, and his comrades in Bravo Company, who are dropped into the mountain jungle of Vietnam as boys and forced to fight their way into manhood. Standing in their way are not merely the North Vietnamese but also monsoon rain and mud, leeches and tigers, disease and malnutrition. Almost as daunting, it turns out, are the obstacles they discover between each other: racial tension, competing ambitions, and duplicitous superior officers. But when the company finds itself surrounded and outnumbered by a massive enemy regiment, the Marines are thrust into the raw and all-consuming terror of combat. The experience will change them forever.Written over the course of thirty years by a highly decorated Vietnam veteran, Matterhorn is a visceral and spellbinding novel about what it is like to be a young man at war. It is an unforgettable novel that transforms the tragedy of Vietnam into a powerful and universal story of courage, camaraderie, and sacrifice: a parable not only of the war in Vietnam but of all war, and a testament to the redemptive power of literature.A graduate of Yale University and a Rhodes Scholar at Oxford University, Karl Marlantes served as a Marine in Vietnam, where he was awarded the Navy Cross, the Bronze Star, two Navy Commendation Medals for valor, two Purple Hearts, and ten air medals. This is his first novel. He lives in rural Washington State.

The Joneses


Shelia M. Goss - 2014
    In this intriguing novel full of drama and plot twists, one family tries to hold on to their “perfect” life before their secrets, lies, and scandals are exposed.On the outside, the Joneses seem like the ideal family: Royce Jones, a funeral home mogul, and his wife, Lexi, are parents to Charity, Hope, and Lovie—and everybody wants to be them. But it’s true that money can’t buy happiness, and the Joneses are harboring secrets that can’t stay hidden forever… The funeral home business has been slow lately, and Royce is in serious trouble. When Lexi learns of their financial strain, she vows to hold on to her status by any means necessary—even if it means going behind her husband’s back. Lovie, seeing his beloved mother so stressed, will do whatever it takes to put a smile back on her face. And sibling rivalries tense up when Charity and Hope both fall for the same guy. On top of this, they all have secrets they’re hiding not only from people outside their family—but from each other. It’s only a matter of time before the Joneses’ perfect life goes spinning out of control and they’re revealed for who they truly are.

Dark Horse


Ralph Reed - 2008
    When Stanley triumphs, Long's delegates walk out, the media has a field day, and Long and his team -- including ace political strategist Jay Noble -- pack their bags and go home, knowing that whether Stanley fought fair or not, it's the end of the line.Unless...Would Long consider running as an independent? Independent campaigns of the past, such as those of Ross Perot and Ralph Nader, have been more gesture than genuine threat -- but how might the Internet and modern communications technology change that? And are the American people so disgusted at the partisanship and gridlock of the two-party system -- in particular, is the right wing so fed up with the Republican Party -- that they would vote for an independent? Would Long even be able to get on the ballot in all fifty states?A lively cast of characters struggles with issues of their own:- Michael Kaplan, Senator Stanley's consigliere and alter ego, is a shrewd and ruthless campaigner -- but this time, has he gone too far? Can he avoid being indicted as scandal consumes the campaign?- Harrison Flaherty is the incumbent vice president and the Republican nominee for president. He is confident of victory, but there remain major obstacles to his inauguration -- some that he is aware of, some that he cannot foresee...and some that can kill.- Dr. A ndrew S tanton is a mega-church pastor and religious broadcaster whose millions of listeners (and their financial support) give him great influence in Washington. Vice President Flaherty wants and expects Stanton's support...but will Flaherty get it?- Rassem el Zafarshan is in the United States with a band of terrorists, unlimited financing, and only one goal: to create an act of terrorism so horrific that it will make Americans forget about September 11, 2001 -- and bring about war between the United States and Iran. And in this election year, he knows just how to do it.- Claire L ong, the wife of the governor, wants revenge against her husband's enemies, so she supports his presidential candidacy without question. But she has just one slight problem...- Jay Noble has met a beautiful young woman who loves him, and he gets a second shot at winning a presidential campaign, one more chance to go out on top. But as the campaign grinds on, he has to wonder: Did he pick the right horse? And is the woman just too good to be true?Author Ralph Reed's many years of political involvement at the highest levels have prepared him to identify and portray in fiction some of the most glaring problems in our current political system -- and to tell that story with characters so true to life that they could well be subjects of a news story.

You Remind Me of Me


Dan Chaon - 2004
    He is a writer, observes the "Chicago Tribune," who can "convincingly squeeze whole lives into a mere twenty pages or so." Now Chaon marshals his notable talents in his much-anticipated debut novel. "You Remind Me of Me" begins with a series of separate incidents: In 1977, a little boy is savagely attacked by his mother's pet Doberman; in 1997 another little boy disappears from his grandmother's backyard on a sunny summer morning; in 1966, a pregnant teenager admits herself to a maternity home, with the intention of giving her child up for adoption; in 1991, a young man drifts toward a career as a drug dealer, even as he hopes for something better. With penetrating insight and a deep devotion to his characters, Dan Chaon" "explores the secret connections that irrevocably link them. In the process he examines questions of identity, fate, and circumstance: Why do we become the people that we become? How do we end up stuck in lives that we never wanted? And can we change the course of what seems inevitable? In language that is both unflinching and exquisite, Chaon moves deftly between the past and the present in the small-town prairie Midwest and shows us the extraordinary lives of "ordinary" people.

Ransom Seaborn


Bill Deasy - 2006
    Deasy quietly explores the ties that bind, and the evolution of a heart that everyone will recognize, and root for" -- Jane McCafferty, author of "One Heart" --- Ransom Seaborn is an astonishing literary debut in the spirit of Gatsby and Holden Caulfield.

Picking Up The Brass


Eddy Nugent - 2006
    It follows Eddy Nugent, a bored fifteen-year-old, living in Manchester, as he travels through the drinking, swearing and sex-obsessed world of our nation's finest.

Walking Wounded


William McIlvanney - 1989
    The walking wounded. These are the stories of ordinary people.

The Tao of Poo: Legend of Li Chang


Dirk McFergus - 2011
    This outrageous and inventive short story is not just focused solely on crap itself, but the spirituality of crap. This parody of the Tao Te Ching begs the question: Is everything crap? McFergus translates Li Chang's master work from an ancient roll of toilet paper, a minor Chinese national treasure purchased on eBay, to uncover the lost legend of Li Chang.DISCLAIMER: There is no Winnie the Pooh bear in this story. There is no piglet. The only honey pot in this story has crap in it. THIS IS NOT THE TAO OF POOH.

Commando


Griff Hosker - 2015
    Caught in the desperate retreat to Dunkirk, Tom Harsker, son of a World War 1 ace, discovers he is a natural soldier. Escaping to England and with complete disaster narrowly averted, Tom is selected to join the newly formed Commandos. With Britain standing alone and the seemingly inexorable German forces massing across the Channel for invasion, Tom and his fellow Commandos must battle against all odds in daring raids to buy precious time.