Jarhead by Anthony Swofford:

#1 impression after reading this book: the US military and the US Marines in particular are one fucked up bunch of guys. Talk about dysfunctional - these already marginal kids are pummeled and brainwashed into narcissistic killing machines. But after reading this Gulf War memoir you can't help but feel for them - many of them realize that they are mercenaries of a government that has been hijacked by the cronies of the private oil industry, yet they can't speak their minds to reporters (under penalty of death, disloyalty = treason) and they are left in a pretty fucked up situation. Swofford tells all in voice that has the right balance of dispassion/distance and "I was in the middle of this shit and this is what it was like."

Darwin's Radio by Greg Bear

I think Ward Kadel may have told me about this book, or if he hasn't he should read it because he would no doubt understand the science much better than I do. I've only 100 pages in or so but the gist of it is that chunks of inactive human DNA (so-called junk DNA, copies of old viruses embedded in our genome, etc.) suddenly become active and all hell breaks loose. I haven't really gotten to the all hell breaks loose part yet but it's quite the sci-fi thriller, and the science is much "harder" (sci-fi slang for realistic) than, say, 28 Days, my most recent example of virus gone wrong entertainment. All kinds of cool shit with phages (viruses that attack bacteria), strange STD's, and a subplot with early human "Icemen" being discovered in the Alps.

Both worth reading if you're into the respective subject matter. Actually Jarhead I would recommend to everybody - simply to get a different perspective on the Gulf War and military culture.