For those of you who are like me, non-fiction is not the first section that we visit when we enter the library, but when reading paradise general by Dave Hnida, I was just as excited to read as I am any other genre. This exciting page turner was about the adventures of a trauma doctor for the war in Iraq. This book covers the mental and physical aspects of the torture that war inflicts on people. Taking care if both the soldiers that protect our freedom and the insurgents that are hurting our soldiers, Hnida allows you to follow him through the struggles of his humanity over his wanting to let those who hurt our soldiers die as he decides how to help everyone that crosses the threshold of his hospital no matter what side they are on.

The whole excursion starts as his dad is driving him to his first year of college. His father had never talked about the war too explicitly but on this ride, the haunting stories that his father encountered during his time as a soldier leaked out. It forced Hnida to be more curious about how the war effected his father. Hnida joins the army because of the stories that his father tells him haunt him into knowing why his father was never out playing catch but instead was fighting to stay sane in the comfort of a bottle. He ends up as a trauma doctor for a hospital that all of the medics and nurses call paradise general. The first couple of days were hard as he had to command those who had been there for much longer than him. The worry of losing the life of someone that fought for his everyday hung over him. After many hard experiences and many saved lives, he creates bonds with the ones that are working with him that are inseparable. Hnida lures you in with his personal account of finding strength through the path that his father took. This book will have you begging to read more and will pull you in further with every word. You will find yourself stopping to ask yourself what you would do in the situations that he is placed in. I truly couldn’t put this book down, it touched me personally.