Special Mentions:
This selection of books really give a very personal, accurate account of service members' time down range. They don't only focus on combat operations, but also on the day to day life. Read these to get a real 'feel' for what service members deal with down range.
Bristol's Bastards: In Iraq with the 2nd Battalion, 136th Infantry of Minnesota's National Guard
American Spartan: The Promise, the Mission, and the Betrayal of Special Forces Major Jim Gant
My War: Killing Time in Iraq
War (by: Sebastian Junger)
Wheels on Fire: My Year of Driving (and Surviving ) in Iraq
Good Reads:
Red Platoon: A True Story of American Valor
Outlaw Platoon: Heroes, Renegades, Infidels, and the Brotherhood of War in Afghanistan
Danger Close: Tactical Air Controllers in Afghanistan and Iraq
Dog Company: A True Story of American Soldiers Abandoned by Their High Command
Echo in Ramadi: The Firsthand Story of US Marines in Iraq's Deadliest City
The Chosen Few: A Company of Paratroopers and Its Heroic Struggle to Survive in the Mountains of Afghanistan
The Only Thing Worth Dying For: How Eleven Green Berets Fought for a New Afghanistan
The Outpost: An Untold Story of American Valor
12 Strong: The Declassified True Story of the Horse Soldiers
Saber’s Edge: A Combat Medic in Ramadi, Iraq
Gentlemen Bastards: On the Ground in Afghanistan with America's Elite Special Forces
American Sniper: The Autobiography of the Most Lethal Sniper in U.S. Military History
No True Glory: A Frontline Account of the Battle for Fallujah
Operation Iraqi Freedom I: A Year in the Sunni Triangle: The History of the 4th Infantry Division and Task Force Ironhorse in Iraq, April 2003 to April 2004
The Fighting 69th: From Ground Zero to Baghdad
Private Soldiers: A Year in Iraq with a Wisconsin National Guard Unit
Angels in Sadr City: The Final Battle for Baghdad, Iraq
Thank You for Your Service
The Good Soldiers
The Things They Cannot Say: Stories Soldiers Won’t Tell You About What They’ve Seen, Done or Failed to Do in War
Two Scoops of Hooah!: The T-Wall Art of Kuwait and Iraq
In the Company of Soldiers: A Chronicle of Combat
HOGs in the Shadows: Combat Stories from Marine Snipers in Iraq
Shooter: The Autobiography of the Top-Ranked Marine Sniper
My Men are My Heroes: The Brad Kasal Story
Carnivore: A Memoir by One of the Deadliest American Soldiers of All Time
The Devil's Sandbox: With the 2nd Battalion, 162nd Infantry at War in Iraq
Living with Honor: A Memoir