A man in an Air Force uniform sits in a chair reading a book.

Air Mobility Command at the Library

By Mr. Joseph Fontanazza, Staff Writer

Most Airmen have at least one book they want to read. Maybe it is a military history title someone mentioned, a memoir a teammate recommended, or something from the Air Force Leadership Reading List that caught their eye. But as the week picks up and duty days get longer, the hard copy version of that book often ends up sitting in the car, on the desk, or by the bed—for a while.

Audiobooks and e-books may fit more naturally into the busy lives most Airmen lead. When squeezing in a few minutes to read between shifts or during lunch, sitting down with a physical book can become a moment that never comes. The Department of Defense (DoD) Morale, Welfare, and Recreation (MWR) Libraries collection offers e-books, audiobooks, and magazines through Libby, a web and mobile app developed by OverDrive, providing access to reading material. Military OneSource links to the same digital library and adds resources like academic support, test prep, and professional development tools, all available to check out whenever the moment arises.

Libby includes many of the books Airmen gravitate toward. Military history remains popular because it chronicles others making difficult decisions, facing setbacks, and trying again. In such stories, plans are often stretched too far, warnings are ignored, or someone convinces themselves to push forward even when in unimaginable situations. The details, such as names, locations, and gear, may differ, but the mistakes and the lessons feel familiar. These stories do not stay stuck in the past.

Storytelling is most genuine when themes and plots unfold naturally. A good history book leaves the reader with a bad decision while the characters involved still believe they can fix it. As the narrative progresses, confidence hardens into stubbornness—because that shift happens at the wrong moment—and the consequences grow even larger. That progression resembles how real decisions unfold far more than the neatly packaged lessons that characters receive at a novel’s conclusion.

Leadership books are also popular; the best ones rarely seem like leadership books. They read like real accounts of people making tough choices without knowing how events will end. What sticks with readers is not the polished takeaway, but the unsettled moments along the way. Like the people they are reading about, readers are on an emotional rollercoaster, feeling the pressures, experiencing second-guessing, sensing the weight of making a decision, and living with the outcome. These moments stay with readers longer than any quote on a presentation slide because the character exhibits how responsibility actually works.

For such books, Airmen already have a good place to start. The July 2025 Chief of Staff of the U.S. Air Force (CSAF) Leadership Library featured “Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance,” the ChinaPower podcast episode “Rethinking Strategic Competition with China: A Conversation with Mr. Elbridge Colby,” and “Concrete Sky: Air Base Hardening in the Western Pacific.” Together, these selections offer storytelling that blends resilience, strategic competition, and modern warfighting without requiring readers to sort through endless options first.

For additional titles, it helps to see what other branches of the U.S. armed forces are reading. The U.S. Marine Corps recently updated its Commandant’s Professional Reading List for fiscal year 2026, with categories like Commandant’s Choice, Heritage, Innovation, Leadership, Strategy, and Foundational Reading. Reviewing titles the Marines recommend can also give Airmen fresh ideas for what to read next.

Air Mobility Command at the Library is most helpful when it makes the step from hearing about good reading material to actually starting to read. Most Airmen already know there are books worth reading. The hard part is picking one up before the interest fades. If a book keeps appearing on a screen or in conversations, that is likely a sign that it is worth downloading before a trip, listening to during a drive, or tangibly opening at the end of the day.