The Navy has a recommended reading list. Well, the military in general has recommended reading lists and I imagine they are all, pretty much, the same thing. I just never paid attention to what the Army was recommending to its peeps. A few times during my Navy career I thought about tackling the entire list but I just can't get my head around reading a book just because it is on someone's list. Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card is part of the Navy's Junior Enlisted Collection. 
 The last couple of years of my career, as my duties were dwindling and I often found myself bored at work, I would wonder to the reading list bookshelf and poke at the books. Almost every time I would pick up Ender's Game, think that the covers cool, read the back, and immediately put it back on the shelf. I just wasn't interested. Until complete boredom got me one day and I flipped to the first page and started reading. That was almost two years ago. That's how riveting I found this book. I would read it for a while, put it down for 50 books or so, read some more, read other books for a year. Whatever. This year I decided that I have far too many unfinished books sitting around and I really need to clear out the "currently reading" shelf. 
 I understand why the military wants there peeps to read this book. It is knee deep in strategy. Actually, I think I found myself drowning in it. Also, it showcases why it is sometimes best to lie to your people about what the hell is going on. Oh, and kids will do anything if you tell them it's a game. 
 Something happened while I was reading this book that really bugs me. I use Goodreads and my book updates post to my personal Facebook account. As I got within 100 pages of finishing, someone commented that Ender's Game is a really great book and that I would love it. They didn't notice that it was taking me almost two years to read the damn thing. I had to contain myself from calling my friend names and simply respond with a "not so much." I'm cool with people telling me that they loved a book but don't try to tell me how I'm going to feel about a book. Obviously, I don't love a book that is taking 2 years to read. 
 I didn't hate it. Really. I just couldn't get my head around a 10-year-old being The One to save The World but then they tricked him to do it. I'd like to say that I'm tired of the storyline of The Only One that can do whatever but this book might have been the start of all that. At least, it's been around much longer than the current trend in YA fiction. Is this YA fiction? I've seen it lately on some YA fiction lists and I find that amusing since it's also on military recommended reading list. That makes me wonder which rank collection The Hunger Games is on.