Hi, I’m John, a 20-year Explosive Ordnance Disposal Officer. Five Years ago I nearly failed my Commanding Officer Board when I could not come up with a good answer to the question “What are you reading?” After a good Naval flogging, I learned from the mistake and decided to chronicle my journey of lifelong learning and reading through DODReads.com. Read the complete story here. So, come join me on the Journey of reading, lifelong learning, leadership, and personal development, then reach out to me and let me know “What are you Reading?
John Laney

DODReads: A story of teasing success through failure



The Official Military Reading Lists from all services include the FBI, DIA, CIA, and DAU.
If you are a Military Leader start with the books on these lists first.

Authors Interviews. Top Military and Leadership authors discuss their writing process, the value they place on reading, mistakes they made along the way, and lessons for a junior leader

Care to Lead?
If you are in the Military leadership is not just part of the job description, it is THE job description.
” Leaders are Readers ” – Truman

Frustrated Reading a book and then forgetting what you read 6 months later?
Our Back Page Notes summarize the best Military books in 1-2 pages.

Lessons from Military Transitions

Stories from transitioning Military. What did you wish you learned when moving from the Military to the Civilian World?

Military Books By Military Reviewers
Before picking up a book check out our reviews.
If you would like to write for DODReads, reviews are the best place to start.

Not all readers are leaders…. but all leaders are readers….

— President Truman

Military leaders coming off successful command tours share their best day in command, worst day in command and the lessons they learned along the way.

Reading is essential for those who seek to rise above the ordinary

-– Jim Rohn

Care Package for the Brain

DODReads Podcast

What are you reading? is a podcast dedicated to inspiring a culture of scholarship and lifelong learning in the Armed Forces We interview top leaders to tease out what are they reading, how are they thinking, and how is that makes them a better leader

Other Resources

If you are a XO, CO, or Commodore in the USN, USCG, or USMC join the leadership team in the LinkedIn Commanders Group.
We also have one for Air Force and Army Commanders

Commanders Business – Resources, tools and Guidance for Military Commanding Officers.

FREE BOOKS, What’s not to like about that?
Every month DODReads sends out a newsletter with a hand full of free books. As always first priority for the free books go to our active duty Military.

“If you haven’t read hundreds of books, you are functionally illiterate, and you will be incompetent, because your personal experiences alone aren’t broad enough to sustain you.”

Jim Mattis

A collection of tools, PDFs, and freebees designed for the Professional Naval Officer. If you need a tool that is not here, let us know and we would be happy to build it.


Thanks for visiting. Now go follow us on LinkedIn and let me know “What are you Reading?”

(Be sure to let me know you found me through DODReads, or I may ignore the request…)