For most people summer is vacation time. In this part of the country that usually means a trip to the beach or the Smoky Mountains, depending on whether you want to enjoy the heat or escape it for cooler weather. Regardless of where you go taking time off normally includes packing along some reading material. I don't read a lot of fiction, but I know I can't go wrong with Stephen Hunter's works, which almost all of them have good gunplay. The first book I read by him was "Point Of Impact," which was made into the movie "Shooter." The book, much better than the movie, hooked me, and I've read about everything Hunter has written. A lot of his work centers on the Swagger family, covering several generations of law and military men who are called to do the hard thing. Now, some non-fiction: "Three Sips Of Gin," is an autobiography by Tim Bax about his time in Rhodesia's Selous Scouts. This isn't your typical military type book, but covers Bax's life in the service and includes great anecdotes of being in an elite unit and the unique characters he encountered. I found this one hard to put down. For those interested in World War II I highly recommend Andrew Roberts' "The Storm Of War." I probably wouldn't have picked this one up on my own. I mean after all, another book on WWII? But, my friend Harry gave it to me, saying it was well worth reading. We discuss books a lot so I took his word, and I have to say he was right. This is an intensive record of the war and includes a lot of details and participants I wasn't familiar with. This prompted additional research and reading on my part, which for me is the sign of a good book. My dad was in the Special Forces, and had a lot of reading material on Vietnam. I raided his shelves and picked up "Reflections of a Warrior," by Medal of Honor recipient CSM Franklin Miller, and "War Stories of the Green Berets," by Hans Halberstadt. Both books cover the Vietnam War from the spec-ops world. Miller served six tours, most of it in MAC-V-SOG, the Military Assistance Command-Vietnam and the Studies and Observations Group, which performed all types of special missions. Halberstadt's book is a collection of stories, some funny, some serious, that all together provide an inside look at the famous and infamous teams and individuals operating under the "Green Beret." Both books are split up into short chapters, making them perfect for summer reading. Reading is just as educational as your practice and training. The more you know the better prepared you are to face the problems that pop up in life. It's good to learn from the experiences of others, and you never know when something you've read will provide you with an answer to an unusual question you come across. Plus, sharing in the lives of others creates personal growth in us as individuals. Tiger McKee is director of Shootrite Firearms Academy, located in northern Alabama. He is the author of "The Book of Two Guns" - http://shootrite.org/book/book.html writes for several firearms/tactical publications, and is featured on GunTalk's DVD, "Fighting With The 1911 - http://shootrite.org/dvd/dvd.html Website: www.shootrite.org http://www.facebook.com/pages/Shootrite-Firearms-Academy/156608611038230?ref=ts