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The Yellow Birds
The Yellow Birds | Kevin Powers
An unforgettable depiction of the psychological impact of war, by a young Iraq veteran and poet, THE YELLOW BIRDS is already being hailed as a modern classic. WINNER OF THE GUARDIAN FIRST BOOK AWARD 2012NATIONAL BOOK AWARD FINALISTAN AMAZON EDITOR'S PICK: BEST BOOKS OF 2012 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLERA TLS BOOK OF THE YEARAN EVENING STANDARD BOOK OF THE YEARA GUARDIAN BOOK OF THE YEAR A NEW YORK TIMES BOOK OF THE YEARA SUNDAY HERALD BOOK OF THE YEARAN INDEPENDENT BEST WINTER READAn unforgettable depiction of the psychological impact of war, by a young Iraq veteran and poet, THE YELLOW BIRDS is already being hailed as a modern classic.Everywhere John looks, he sees Murph.He flinches when cars drive past. His fingers clasp around the rifle he hasn't held for months. Wide-eyed strangers praise him as a hero, but he can feel himself disappearing. Back home after a year in Iraq, memories swarm around him: bodies burning in the crisp morning air. Sunlight falling through branches; bullets kicking up dust; ripples on a pond wavering like plucked strings. The promise he made, to a young man's mother, that her son would be brought home safely.With THE YELLOW BIRDS, poet and veteran Kevin Powers has composed an unforgettable account of friendship and loss. It vividly captures the desperation and brutality of war, and its terrible after-effects. But it is also a story of love, of great courage, and of extraordinary human survival. Written with profound emotional insight, especially into the effects of a hidden war on families at home, THE YELLOW BIRDS is one of the most haunting, true and powerful novels of our time.
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Anna40
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Pickpick

“Grief is a practical mechanism, and we only grieved those we knew. All others who died in Al Tafar were part of the landscape, as if something had sown seeds in that city that made bodies rise from the earth, in the dirt or up through the pavement like flowers after a frost, dried and withering under a cold, bright sun.”

The narrator, Private Bartle, takes us from Richmond, Virginia in 2005 to Al Tafar, Iraq in 2004 and back. We

Anna40 follow him into battle and return home from battle, where he struggles with the memories of having killed, having lost fellow soldiers and having survived combat. It will sound crazy, but this is one of the most beautiful books I‘ve read about the fragility of our souls. It reads like poetry. Wow! 1y
32 likes1 comment
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La_Cori
Yellow Birds | Kevin Powers
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Marco66
The Yellow Birds | Kevin Powers
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Pickpick

How does war destroy the mind ? Powers, who served in Iraq, describes how the horrors of war seep into the mind of Bartle the narrator and anihilate all sense of humanity. Chapters about Iraq alternate with ones describing life in Virginia before and after combat time. Bartle tries hard to avoid his mind flying already home to the US, « while his ass is still in Iraq », because this would most likely mean death. This book is a slap in the face.

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TheSpineView
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#RememberNovember @Klou
Day 10: The Messenger

The tagged book explores the cost of war on the home front. It looks especially at the emotional toil it takes on families.

Klou Great choice!! Sounds like a great, but emotional book. 4y
60 likes2 stack adds1 comment
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La_Cori
The Yellow Birds | Kevin Powers
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#ManicMonday @JoScho

📚 Yellow Birds by Kevin Powers
✒ A.B. Yehoshua
📽 Young Frankenstein
📺 Young Hercules
🎶 You Are Not by Young Guns (song & band with Y!)
https://open.spotify.com/track/0Dl0dKEnkw4eTI7c10N2Kf?si=jfV8hylTR-qHQqa0TuMbhw

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TheSpineView
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Eggs Sounds so good 😓 4y
Leftcoastzen I‘ve been meaning to read this! 4y
TheSpineView @Eggs Yes, it's been on my TBR list for a while. 4y
60 likes4 comments
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KirstieE
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Pickpick

A story about two boys forming a friendship on the battlefield of the war. Something different to what I usually read but I really enjoyed this book ❤️

5 🌟

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KirstieE
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#BookMail 🥰🥳

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Clevercactus
The Yellow Birds | Kevin Powers
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Next up on #litsyatoz #booksintofilm is The Yellow Birds by Kevin Powers.

3 likes1 stack add
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Smrloomis
The Yellow Birds | Kevin Powers
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Ebook deal for 2.99 USD in various formats 🎉 This is moving and beautifully written. Powers is a veteran and served in the most recent Iraq war. It was adapted into a movie recently but I doubt that the film version is as good as the original book so you should get a copy of the book instead!

83 likes1 stack add
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APLitlife
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Assigned this for my Seniors. Can‘t believe it is coming out as a movie! Hope they do it justice.

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DarcysMom
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@Beckys_Books Your package should arrive in about 3 days. I will email you the tracking info.

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DarcysMom
The Yellow Birds | Kevin Powers
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Pickpick

🌟🌟🌟🌟
@Beckys_Books I will get this in the mail to you tomorrow. Wow! Beautiful and heartbreaking! I needed several breaks to get through it.
#LMBPC #GroupC

Beckys_Books Your review was spot on. It was heartbreaking to read. 7y
DarcysMom @Beckys_Books But so worth the tears! 7y
65 likes2 comments
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Phlamboyant
Yellow Birds | Kevin Powers
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You know that moment when you order an ebook for a book club pick because it's cheaper than a print copy and then find out weeks later that you already own a print copy? Thanks, #orange, for bringing another one of those moments to me.

#ReadingResolutions #March
@Jess7

Lcsmcat I‘ve done that ! 7y
24 likes1 comment
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Readerann
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Pickpick

Not since ‘All Quiet on the Western Front‘ have I been so powerfully affected by a war novel. I feel emotionally empty, but don‘t regret for a minute reading this wonderful book. I think it‘s important to be reminded of the horrors of war in a way that doesn‘t destroy the human spirit.

rmaclean4 Thank you for the review!! Makes me want to pick this one up. 7y
14 likes3 stack adds1 comment
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DarcysMom
The Yellow Birds | Kevin Powers
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Smrloomis Loved this 👍🏽 7y
71 likes1 comment
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DarcysMom
The Yellow Birds | Kevin Powers
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I will be starting this one today.
@Lissa00 @Beckys_Books @slategreyskies
#LMBPC
#GroupC

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Lissa00
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Finished another #lmpbc #groupc book! So good...and so fun to read with annotations. I‘m going to try to send this off tomorrow...otherwise it might get forgotten in the holiday shuffle😜.

APLitlife This was a selection for my AP kids to read. 7y
DarcysMom I am impressed! I am not going to be able to give my book the focus it deserves until my winter break begins tomorrow afternoon. 7y
slategreyskies Hey lady!!! I just checked the mail today and found this packet in my box! It might have been there for a couple days, because I think I forgot to check the mail on Saturday. Thanks so much for the pens and the card!! You‘re awesome!! *hugs* 💜 7y
Lissa00 @slategreyskies Glad you got it! 7y
104 likes1 stack add4 comments
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Lissa00
Yellow Birds | Kevin Powers
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@Beckys_Books My #lmpbc #groupc book arrived!

DarcysMom Excellent! I plan to mail mine on Friday. I need to make sure I am clear in who I am mailing it to. #GroupC may be getting an email from me. 😛 7y
Beckys_Books That was quick! I just mailed it late Monday! I hope I mailed it to the right person. 7y
Lissa00 @Beckys_Books @DarcysMom That was fast then! I think you mail to the person below you, except for me because I‘m last, so I go to the top. 7y
ClairesReads Oh this book!!! 7y
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Beckys_Books
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@Lissa00 this one is on its way to you! #LMPBC #GroupC

Lissa00 Yay!! 7y
42 likes1 comment
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Beckys_Books
Pickpick

This book was a punch to the gut. How does anyone mentally survive after fighting in a war?

ClairesReads Such a great book right?! 7y
50 likes2 stack adds1 comment
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Beckys_Books
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My vacation has officially started. My plan is to finish this book this weekend so I can get it in the mail for #LMPBC on Monday.

@Lissa00 @slategreyskies @DarcysMom

Lissa00 I‘m hoping to get mine in the mail next week too! 7y
Tamra Lucky you! (edited) 7y
DarcysMom I am planning on getting mine out next week as well. 7y
70 likes3 comments
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Beckys_Books
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What a week of 15 hour days! I'm halfway through and really just wanting to read my #LMPBC #GroupC selection. Only about 50 pages in, but lots of passages to note. Hope you like it @slategreyskies @Lissa00 @DarcysMom !!

Lissa00 I can‘t wait! I‘m about where you are in my book. 7y
Tamra So many I keep thinking I REALLY want to read - like this one! 7y
DarcysMom Oh My! This looks fantastic. I can't wait to get my grabby hands on it! 🤗 7y
41 likes1 stack add3 comments
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TheCanuckReader
Yellow Birds | Kevin Powers
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My #24in48 companion. Alternating between preening and checking out the pages #birdsofLitsy #readathon

Bette ❤️🐦 8y
DebinHawaii Sweet! 🐦❤️ 8y
shanebeth aww!! 8y
Libby1 This was quite a book. 8y
minkyb Such a beauty! 8y
78 likes2 stack adds5 comments
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KrisConstantReader
The Yellow Birds | Kevin Powers
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Another eBook on sale--I'd never heard of this one but it looks amazing.

Lylah I've read it! I thought it was a bit average for a military story but if you like those kinds of books it's definitely for you. 8y
KrisConstantReader @Lylah thanks, I got it so will read it whenever I catch up on the zillions in my tbr pile. 8y
42 likes4 stack adds2 comments
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Smrloomis
The Yellow Birds | Kevin Powers
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I loved this when I read it a few years ago now. Written by an Iraq War #veteran, this was a National Book Award finalist. And now it's only $2.99 (USD)!

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tracyramone
The Yellow Birds | Kevin Powers
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Pickpick

Quick but a beautiful & powerful read.

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Sandre
Yellow Birds | Kevin Powers
Mehso-so

This book was well written but I found myself not caring about the protagonist. Perhaps I've listened to too much NPR coverage on the Middle East to find it shocking anymore?

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HardbackHeroine
The Yellow Birds | Kevin Powers
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The dominoes of moments, lined up symmetrically, then tumbling backward against the hazy and unsure push of cause, showed only that a fall is every object's destiny. It is not enough to say what happened. Everything happened. Everything fell.

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