FREE BOOK FRIDAY!!

Hey There CHICKS!!

IT's FRIDAY!!!

Standing By

The Making of a Military Family

in the Time of War

by Alison Buckholtz

Whatever your political affiliations may be, I hope that you support our men and women serving and who have served both here and over seas. As both an Air Force veteran and wife, I have lived the military for my entire adult life. I have no idea what it would be like to not have this family, these friends, this connection to our country that makes my heart swell everytime I listen to the National Anthem.

There are not enough good things for me to say about this book. The author, Alison Buckholtz, married her Navy Pilot husband, shortly after Septemper 11th, 2001. Having never experienced military life first hand, this is the story of her family, and some of the families they have served with. With sensitivity and respect, the author tells the story of the heroes who stay home, the husbands, wives and children who are left behind while their loved ones are serving.

The Author is honest in her views, and does not pull any punches. She describes herself as a "warrior on behalf of her family" which I feel is an incredibly accurate depiction of the family members of todays military.

This is NOT a book about politics, it seeks to show the reader what life is like for military families today. I've never read or seen anything that puts this life into words so well. I kept earmarking passages as I went through, there are just too many to put them all here...but for me in the first few pages Buckholtz is able to sum it up like no one ever has:

" Supporting America as a military family has little to do with who sits in the Oval Office, which political party dominates Congress, or even how we feel about the Global War on Terorism. I feel strongly that terms like "pro-war" and "antiwar" don't apply anymore because the complexity of the situation we find ourselves in as a country transcends past positions. My feelings about service members and their families, however, are not complicated. I have never met people who worked harder, spoke more earnestly, or internalized a stronger sense of responsibility towards their fellow citizens. Marrying into the military granted me a passport to an America I never knew existed, populated by a people whose overwhemling public silence masks lives lived at an intensity that would crush most mortals."

See what I mean?

I am giving away my copy of this book to one lucky reader!

To Enter:

1. Leave a comment WITH your email

and I will also be adding this to our book group at

Goodreads.com

Want to join? Just sign up at Goodreads and look under groups

for ChicBookChick and join us!!

Today's Random Linky winner is:

Mary (meah56)

Every Friday I pick someone who

has put my linky on their sidebar for a

random act of reading happiness

Winner of Joshilyn Jackson's

The Girl Who Stopped Swimming

are

Christine (Scullylove)

Nightdweller

Jackie (jacquelinez)

Kristen (whitreidsmama)

Jessica (livingthesilverdream)

Chicks, you'll be getting an email from me!!

that's it for today!!

READ On CHICKS!!