Books give our soldiers short respite from war

Books give our soldiers short respite from war: An organization called Operation Paperback (www.operationpaperback.org) takes requests for specific titles, authors and genres — or just fiction or non-fiction — and passes these on to volunteers. These people scour used-book sales, flea markets, garage sales and ask their friends, families and co-workers for books. Many are parents or relatives of soldiers deployed to Iraq, Afghanistan or on a ship in the Persian Gulf.