The first time I read this, I didn't understand how serious striking a superior officer during war was, but I could tell Hendricks was a fool. The officers blaming themselves for letting him break the rule stuck with me, though.
Now, after I've read the Hornblower series, I knew exactly what the potential punishment could have been, and was screaming at the kid to take a hint and shut up.
As for the rest, I like the examination of how boot camp works, showing how it's exactly as hard as it needs to be.
First chapter is a classic throw you into the action and see who the protagonist will become tactic. Quite effective. The reader gets overwhelmed (but not too much so) with everything going on and all the things Johnnie has to think about. The cool power armor gets shown off well, and most importantly, so does the attitude of the men of the Mobile Infantry.
Second chapter I like for all the things you expect to happen that don't. The recruiting office does everything it can to discourage young idiots from joining, but they never reject anyone on technicalities. They accept that they're going to get plenty of duds and roll with it.
Books: Anything by Larry Correia. Monster Hunter (urban fantasy, nothing like the video games) is his main series, but I recommend starting with Hard Magic, book 1 of the Grimnoir Chronicles. Complete trilogy, started after Monster Hunter so it's a better indicator of his writing than book 1 of Monster Hunter. It's an alternate history set in the 1930s where a lot of people have magic. Kind of a noir X-men story. His blog (http://monsterhunternation.com/) is pretty good when he updates it.
Jim Butcher is another great author. The Dresden Files started as modern noir with the detective being a wizard, but has evolved into a bigger scope epic urban fantasy. Start with book 3 (Grave Peril) here and go back to the first 2 once you're hooked on the series, as they're kind of rough in places.
An often-overlooked detective series is Nero Wolfe, by Rex Stout. The guy had the brilliant idea to pair up the armchair detective with the noir detective. So you have a Sam Spade working for a Mycroft Holmes (Sherlock's brother who would be a better detective if he ever went out). First book is Fer-de-Lance, but it doesn't much matter where you start. Also made into a great TV series, but you'll probably have to find that on YouTube.
If you haven't already, read the classics. Treasure Island, Huckleberry Finn, Robin Hood, A Princess of Mars, Ender's Game, Chronicles of Narnia (do not start with The Magician's Nephew, no matter what the stupid publishers say), Lord of the Rings.
On that topic, the YT/podcast Young Heretics is great for covering the big classics like the Odyssey or Plato and how they can inform us about modern day. (Called Heretics because "Screw you, universities, we're reading Homer anyway")
Games: I can't offer much here beyond what's already well known, but check out Snoman Gaming's YT channel to find indie games that are actually good instead of homogenized corporate gruel.
Music: Piano Guys are bloody amazing. Peter Hollens is great acapella. FamilyJules is a good metal guitarist. Puddles Pity Party is a sad clown with a fantastic voice. Postmodern Jukebox plays new songs in older (better) music styles. I've also been listening to a lot of electro swing, which mixes new and old. Here's some examples: Mr. Sandman The Afterbeat Star Wars Cantina band
As a digital forensics examiner, I've seen pedophiles collect images exactly like this countless times. If I saw this on somebody's computer, I would flag it for an investigator to take a look at, but it almost certainly wouldn't get prosecuted without actual exposed genitals. Maybe if there was a huge amount of them and matching search terms.
I don't have time—or really, the inclination—to read this one again, since I just did so last year. Good luck. It's dense and tough to get through, but powerful.