Movies to Salute the Military and Honor the Fallen

Veteran's Day was established in 1918 by President Woodrow Wilson and commemorates the date when the WWI armistice was signed. It's an American holiday created in honor of military veterans. Hollywood has always loved the military and saluted them with films depicting our veterans at home and abroad, and especially American veterans returning home after tours of duty.

In the following documentaries, the lives of various veterans are skillfully displayed with humanity and honesty and show some of the best work in documentary filmmaking.

Restrepo (2010)
Chronicles the 2nd Platoon of Battle Co. as they travel to the Korengal Valley, Afghanistan, considered then as "one of the deadliest places on Earth."

Stray Dog (2014)
A portrait of Ron "Stray Dog" Hall, a Vietnam vet, who spends his day contemplating the hazy past while trying to help others cope with their own experiences of war.

Lioness (2008)
Tells the story of the first program in American history to send women into direct combat. They were sent to high risk zones without the proper training that their male counterparts had, yet served with ingenuity and courage as the fewer and the prouder.

Most Honorable Son (2007)
Ben Kuroki, 23 years old, joined the U.S. Army Air Force in response to the attack on Pearl Harbor.
This film reveals his courage and commitment to serve his country despite anti-Japanese sentiment. He flew 58 combat missions and spoke out against the internment of Japanese Americans.

The Great Escape (2005)
The feature film The great escape was based on this true event. Over six hundred Allied prisoners dug three highly sophisticated tunnels in a plan to escape from Stalag Luft III. On the night of March 24, 1944 two hundred prisoners began their escape. The German guards spotted the seventy-seventh man coming out of the tunnel, but seventy-six prisoners made their escape.

Nanking (2008)
Tells the story of the Japanese invasion of Nanking, China in the early days of World War II and focuses on the efforts of a small group of unarmed Westerners who established a Safety Zone where over 200,000 Chinese found refuge.

Return to Tarawa (2017) 
A World War II veteran returns to the site of a battle in which he took part sixty five years earlier. He learns many disturbing things about that site. The remains of several hundred Americans still lie neglected and forgotten on that island. Also, there is live ammunition scattered everywhere on the densely populated island. Finally, huge piles of garbage lie on Red Beach, hallowed ground, where hundreds of Americans were killed and wounded by Japanese gunfire. Available to download through Hoopla. 

Battle for Midway (2001)
National Geographic follows underwater explorer Bob Ballard as he searches for the aircraft carrier sunk during the Battle of Midway. Available to download through Hoopla. 

Arlington: Field of Honor (2004)
Field of Honor is a documentary which examines the history of one of the world's largest cemeteries, the people who care for the grounds and maintain the facilities, and some of the brave Americans who are memorialized there.

Just to round out the list, here are a couple of the best fictional films about veterans returning home and facing myriad challenges:

Best Years of Our Lives (1946)
Truly moving drama about 3 U.S. servicemen readjusting to life back home after returning from the battlefields.

The Messenger (2009)
An army staff sergeant returns home from Iraq as a hero, only to find a strange reward.

What are your recommendations for great documentaries or dramas about veterans coming back home?

World War 1: Novels

This week marks the 100-year anniversary of the Armistice with Germany and the Allies that ended the fighting on land, air and sea during World War 1. The formal end of the war wouldn't occur for seven more months when the Treat of Versailles was signed on June 28, 1919. World War 1 hasn't been written about as extensively as World War 2 however, there are wonderful novels written by noted authors. I've chosen five classic novels and I hope you enjoy one or all them.



Regeneration by Pat Barker
Stressed by the war, poet, pacifist, and protester Siegfried Sassoon is sent to Craiglockhart Hospital, where his views challenge the patriotic vision of Dr. William Rives, a neurologist assigned to repair the stability of shell-shocked soldiers. Part 1, Regeneration trilogy

The Girl at the Lion D'or by Sebastian Faulks
The appearance of a pretty but troubled girl at a dingy hotel in 1930's France spells troubgle for a married veteran of the Great War.  Part 1, French trilogy

The Fall of Giants by Ken Follett
This novel follows five families through the earth shattering dramas of  World War 1, the Russian Revolution, and the struggle for votes for women. Part 1, Century trilogy

A Farewell to Arms by Ernest Hemingway
The epic love story of American ambulance driver Frederic Henry and British nurse Catherine Barkley, drawn together yet torn apart by the tides of war in Italy during World War 1.

All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque
The testament of Paul Baumer, who enlists with his classmates in the German army of World War 1, illuminates the viciousness and senselessness of war.

World War II -German POWs on the American Homefront?

I just finished facilitating the May Page Turner's book discussion of the book entitled The Cherry Harvest by Lucy Sanna. It's a memorable, suspenseful coming-of-age and love story which explores a hidden side of the home front during World War II when German POWs were put to work in the Wisconsin farm community of Door County. Struggling to feed their family while keeping their farm going, Thomas and Charlotte Christiansen persuade local authorities to allow German prisoners of war from a nearby camp assist with their upcoming cherry harvest.This is a great book for readers who like historical fiction and family drama. I decided to blog about this when I discovered that the majority of our group, myself included, did not realize that during WWII thousands of WWII prisoners ended up in mills, farm fields and even dining rooms across the United States, especially in the Midwest. Once military base camp labor needs were met, POWs were placed in other areas to be employed by private business owners. In Wisconsin, POWs worked primarily in seasonal agricultural employment, although some worked in the lumber industry or manufacturing. Their labor filled a desperate worker shortage. In fact, there was a prisoner-of-war camp, Camp Skokie Valley in Glenview.

This realization piqued my interest in other books on this topic.

For nonfiction, check out -

Nazi Prisoners of War in America by Arnold Krammer which tells the full story of how the U.S. government between 1942 and 1945, detained nearly half a million Nazi prisoners of war in 511 camps across the country. Krammer describes how the handling of these foreign prisoners led to the hasty conversion of CCC camps, high school gyms, local fairgrounds, and race tracks to serve as holding areas.

For fiction books similar to The Cherry Harvest that share the same genre (historical fiction) and subjects of the World War II and family relationships, check out -

All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr
This novel is about a blind French girl and a German boy whose paths collide in occupied France as both try to survive the devastation of WW II.

The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah
This novel is about two sisters struggling to survive during World War II in France. One sister is rebellious and intent on fighting for France while the other simply wants to survive the war with her family intact. Both sisters learn who they are and what they are capable of as the war wages on.

The Lilac Girls by Martha Hall Kelly
This is about the Ravensbruck Rabbits: seventy-four women prisoners in the Ravensbruck concentration camp. Using alternating first-person narratives, the characters relate their experiences from 1939 through 1959. Drawing upon a decade of research, Hall reconstructs what life was like in Ravensbruck. More than a war story, this is a tale of how the strength of women’s bonds can carry them through even the most difficult situations

The Orphan's Tale by Pam Jenoff
This is an emotional, heartwarming, and heartbreaking story about a traveling circus in Europe during WW II and the friendship and sorrow of two women aerialist performers.

Vietnam War Fiction

This fall, documentary filmmakers, Ken Burns and Lynn Novick, aired a new PBS series about the Vietnam War. Their 10-year project has culminated in an excellent 18-hour, 10-part documentary. If you have been watching this documentary, you may be interested deepening your understanding of this war even further. Below is a selected list of fiction written about the Vietnam War and its legacy. Two of the authors listed below have featured interviews in the PBS documentary.

The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien
Heroic young men carry the emotional weight of their lives to war in Vietnam in a patchwork account of a modern journey in the heart of darkness.

Matterhorn by Karl Marlantes
In a story by a decorated Marine veteran who fought in the Vietnam War, Lieutenant Waino Mellas and his fellow Marines venture into the mountain jungle of Vietnam as boys and fight their way into manhood. They meet not only external obstacles but also internal ones, including racial tension, competing ambitions and underhanded officers.

The Sympathizer by Viet Thanh Nguyen
This Pulitzer Prize-winning novel follows a Viet Cong agent as he spies on a South Vietnamese army general and his compatriots as they start a new life in 1975 Los Angeles.

The Quiet American by Graham Green
The setting of this novel is Saigon in the violent years when the French were desperately trying to hold their footing in the Far East. The principal characters are a skeptical British Journalist, his attractive Vietnamese mistress, and an eager young American sent out by Washington on a mysterious mission.

The Lotus Eaters by Tatjana Soli
Helen Adams, an American combat photographer during the Vietnam War, captures the wrenching chaos of battle on film and finds herself torn between the love of two men, one an American war correspondent and the other his Vietnamese underling.

The Lotus and the Storm by Lan Cao
A tale set during the decades following the Vietnam War is told through the experiences of a Vietnamese-American family, including former South Vietnamese soldier Minh and his daughter, Mai, who move to a close-knit immigrant community in Virginia where they confront devastating secrets.

Remembering Our Fallen Heroes on Memorial Day: War Novels

Memorial Day, originally called Decoration Day, is a day of remembrance for those who have died in service of the United States of America. Celebrated on the last Monday in May many people visit cemeteries and memorials to honor those who have died in military service. Did you know that there are ten national cemeteries in Illinois? Below is a list of  novels organized by war, pick one up for the long holiday weekend.

 American Revolution
Patriot Hearts: A Novel of the Founding Mothers by Barbara Hambly
The Hornet's Nest: A Novel of the Revolutionary War by Jimmy Carter
Rise to Rebellion by Jeff Shaara
Redcoat by Bernard Cornwell

Civil War
Red Badge of Courage by Stephen Crane
North and South by John Jakes
Cold Mountain by Charles Frazier
March by E.L. Doctorow

World War I
All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque
A Farewell to Arms by Ernest Hemingway
To the Last Man by Jeff Shaara
The First of July by Elizabeth Speller

World War II
The Rising Tide: A Novel of World War II by Jeff Shaara
The Winds of War by Herman Wouk
Battle Cry by Leon Uris
Pearl Harbor: A Novel of December 8th by Newt Gingrich

Korean War
War Trash by Ha Jin
The Frozen Hours: A Novel of the Korean War by Jeff Shaara
The Marines of Autumn: A Novel of the Korean War by James Brady
The Hunters by James Salter

Vietnam War
Matterhorn: A Novel of the Vietnam War by Karl Marlantes
The Sympathizer by Viet Thanh Nguyen
The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien
Word of Honor: A Novel of Vietnam by Nelson DeMille

Persian Gulf War/Iraq War
Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk by Ben Fountain
Redeployment by Phil Klay
The Yellow Birds by Kevin Powers
Fives and Twenty-Fives by Michael Pirtre

David Downing

David Downing’s series featuring British journalist John Russell, is set in Germany under Nazi occupation. While fictional, these books are filled with vivid descriptions of places, characters, and situations that ordinary people faced. Russell and his girlfriend, famous film actress Effi, must navigate the difficulties of life during wartime as John tries to work with the Allies yet remain in Germany. Gritty, but human, each title is the name of a Berlin train station. Begin with Zoo Station set in 1939 Berlin.

Zoo Station

Silesian Station

Stettin Station

Potsdam Station

Lehrter Station

Masaryk Station

The Refugee Experience

Reading is an important way to view the world from a different perspective, a way to connect with those in circumstances you may never face. Many refugees have encountered terrible hardship as they struggle to find a new life. The novels below, not without some moments of hope, give a sample of what they have endured.  

Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

A young woman from Nigeria leaves behind her home and her first love to start a new life in America, only to find her dreams are not all she expected.

When the Moon Is Low by Nadia Hashimi

When her happy middle-class life in Afghanistan is shattered by the rise of the Taliban and her husband's murder by fundamentalists, former schoolteacher Fereiba embarks on a high-risk effort to escape to England with her three children.

What Is the What by Dave Eggers

In a heartrending and astonishing novel, Eggers illuminates the history of the civil war in Sudan through the eyes of refugee Valentino Achak Deng, one of the estimated 17,000 "lost boys of Sudan," now living in the United States. 

Historical Fiction- World War 11 Japanese-American Incarceration Camps

Over 127,000 United States citizens were imprisoned during World War 11. Their crime? Being of Japanese heritage. Even though there wasn't any actual evidence, Japanese-Americans were suspected of remaining loyal to their ancestral land. On February 19, 1942 President Roosevelt signed an executive order ordering the relocation of all Americans of Japanese heritage to concentration camps. While the American concentration camps never reached the levels of Nazi death camps as far as atrocities are concerned, they remain a dark mark on the nation's record of respecting civil liberties and cultural differences. Check out one of these historical fiction novels based on a little talked about historical fact.

When the Emperor Was Divine by Julie Otsuka
A story told from five different points of view, accounts the experiences of Japanese-Americans caught up in the nightmare of the World War 11 internment camps. (2002)

The Japanese Lover by Isabel Allende
Irina is a young Moldavian immigrant with a troubled past. She works at an assisted living home where she meets, Alma, a Holocaust survivor. Alma falls in love Ichi, a young Japanese gardener, who survived Topaz, the Japanese internment camp.  Despite man's cruelty to one another, art, beauty and love prevail.  (2015)

Garden of Stones by Sophie Littlefield
After bombs stream down on Pearl Harbor, 14-year old Lucy Takeda and her mother, Miyako, are rounded up--along with thousands of other innocent Japanese-Americans and taken to the Manzanar prison camp where they endure abuse and harsh living conditions until Miyako makes the ultimate sacrifice. (2013)

Bridge of Scarlet Leaves by Kristina McMorris
Violinist Maddie elopes with Lane Moritomo, the motivated son of Japanese immigrants, but after Pearl Harbor is bombed by the Japanese, Lane is seen as the enemy and Maddie must sacrifice her Julliard ambitions when he is interned at a war relocation camp. (2012)

Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford
When relics from Japanese families sent to internment camps during World War 11 are uncovered during restorations at a Seattle hotel, Henry Lee embarks on a mission that leads to memories of growing up Chinese in a city rife with anti-Japanese sentiment. (2009)

Tallgrass by Sandra Dallas
Her life turned upside-down when a Japanese internment camp is opened in their small Colorado town, Rennie witnesses the way her community places doubt on the newcomers when a young girl is murdered. (2007)

Color of the Sea by John Hamamura
Separated from his Japanese-American family and girlfriend by the internment practices of World War 11, martial arts master Sam Hamada is conscripted by the U.S. Army for a secret mission in Japan, where he finds himself torn between cultures. (2006)

Silent Honor by Danielle Steel
A Japanese girl living with her uncle in California to attend college, Hiroko becomes caught up in the horrors of World War 11 after the bombing of Pearl harbor when she and her uncle's family are forced into an internment camp with other Japanese-Americans. (1996)

If You Liked Kristin Hannah's The Nightingale...

One of the recent favorites for readers has been Kristin Hannah's The Nightingale.  If this a book that you really enjoyed, here are some other great reads.

The Light in the Ruins -  Christopher Bohjalian

Hoping to safeguard themselves from the ravages of World War II within the walls of their ancient villa in Florence, the noble Rosatis family become prisoners in their home when eighteen-year-old Cristina's courtship by a German lieutenant prompts the Nazis to take over the estate, a situation that leads to a serial murder investigation years later.





Charlotte Gray - Sebastian Faulks

A young Scottish woman who falls in love with a World War II RAF pilot shortly before his plane is lost over France joins the Resistance movement to find him, only to discover a larger meaning in her new role.









The Diplomat's Wife - Pam Jenoff

1945. Surviving the brutality of a Nazi prison camp, Marta is lucky to have escaped with her life. When the American soldier she plans to wed is killed in a plane crash, she discovers she is pregnant, and marries a British diplomat in an attempt to create a happier life.







The Undertaking - Audrey Magee

In a desperate bid to escape the trenches of the Eastern front, Peter Faber, an ordinary German soldier, marries Katharina Spinell, a woman he has never met, in a marriage of convenience that promises 'honeymoon' leave for him and a pension for her should he die in the war. With ten days' leave secured, Peter visits his new wife in Berlin, and both are surprised by the passion that develops between them. When Peter returns to the horror of the front, it is only the dream of Katharina that sustains him as he approaches Stalingrad. Back in Berlin, Katharina, goaded on by her desperate and delusional parents, ruthlessly works her way into Nazi high society, wedding herself, her young husband, and her unborn child to the regime. But when the tide of war turns and Berlin falls, Peter and Katharina find their simple dream of family cast in tragic light and increasingly hard to hold on to.

Suite Française - Irène Némirovsky

A story of life in France under the Nazi occupation includes two parts--"Storm in June," set amid the chaotic 1940 exodus from Paris, and "Dolce," set in a German-occupied village rife with resentment, resistance, and collaboration.

The Great War

Need help with that square? Historical Fiction
Summer Reading Program 2016 Read for the Win! 

Now over 100 years ago, the struggle and loss of World War I still seems modern and provides a haunting backdrop for stories both tragic and hopeful.

Birdsong by Sebastian Faulks 

The intertwining of two stories, that of British soldier Stephen Wraysford, remembering his liaison with a French woman before the war, and that of his granddaughter sixty years later. Strong and poetic.

Regeneration by Pat Barker

Set in a psychiatric hospital in Scotland, Dr. William Rivers treats soldiers devastated by the war, including poet, Siegfried Sassoon. Their discussions examine the costs of war. Is it moral to “cure” men only to return them to the horrors of trench warfare?

A Duty to the Dead by Charles Todd

British army nurse, Bess Crawford keeps her promise to a dying soldier and delivers a message to his family. When she stays on to help provide nursing care to his ailing brother, she finds herself enmeshed in family secrets. First mystery in a series.

If You Liked Me Before You by JoJo Moyes

Are you looking forward to seeing Me Before You by JoJo Moyes on the big screen this June?  Looking for books that might give you that feel-good tingle?  Check out these great reads!

Lighthouse Bay by Kimberley Freeman



Two women from Lighthouse Bay, Australia, separated by one hundred years of history, learn that letting go of the past is the best way to move forward.


The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah


Reunited when the elder's husband is sent to fight in World War II, French sisters Vianne and Isabelle find their bond as well as their respective beliefs tested by a world that changes in horrific ways.

Blackberry Winter by Sarah Jio




Vera Ray kisses her three-year-old son, Daniel, good night and reluctantly leaves for work. She hates the night shift, but it's the only way she can earn enough to keep destitution at bay. In the morning--even though it's the second of May--a heavy snow is falling. Vera rushes to wake Daniel, but his bed is empty. His teddy bear lies outside in the snow. Seattle, present day. On the second of May, Seattle Herald reporter Claire Aldridge awakens to another late-season snowstorm.

The Lost Wife by Alyson Richman


During the last moments of calm in prewar Prague, Lenka, a young art student, and Josef, who is studying medicine, fall in love. With the promise of a better future, they marry--only to have their dreams shattered by the imminent Nazi invasion. Like so many others, they are torn apart by the currents of war.


See Me by Nicholas Sparks




A young man with a dark, destructive past has his plans to remain single challenged by a hardworking lawyer. 

Women in War Time

Kristin Hannah’s The Nightingale, is a moving story of two sisters in occupied France during World War II. Life during wartime could be horrible for those in battle, but what was it like for those not in the direct line of fire?

The Postmistress by Sarah Blake

An emotional story of three women, an American journalist in London, the postmistress of a small town in Cape Cod, and the wife of the town doctor, whose lives intertwine as World War II begins.

Charlotte Gray by Sebastian Faulks

After leaving Scotland, Charlotte meets and falls in love with an RAF pilot. When he is lost over occupied France, she volunteers to join the Resistance to find him.

City of Women by David Gillham

Berlin, 1943. With her husband away in the army, Sigurd’s life is tense and difficult, but she has a secret, a Jewish lover. As the war continues, she is drawn ever deeper into the struggle to survive and what it means to those involved.

Trapeze by Simon Mawer

Nineteen years old and fluent in French, Marian Sutro is recruited by the British to work in German-occupied France as a saboteur. Her mission: go to Paris and convince an old flame, an atomic physicist, to work for the Allies.

Lisette’s List by Susan Vreeland

Sent to Provence to care for her husband’s ailing grandfather, Lisette discovers he is the owner of a fabulous art collection. Her husband hid the paintings before being sent to the front. As the Germans move in, she must find a way to protect the priceless works of art.

World War I in Fiction

This summer marks the beginning of the centenary of World War I. To commemorate the anniversary, many new books featuring World War I as a backdrop are being published and older, more "classic" titles are receiving renewed attention.

There is a diverse range of fiction written about this time period. Some novels tell of the brutal experience of war in the trenches, while others focus on the struggle to adjust to life after the shattering experiences of war ...or on the grief of those left behind. If you have an interest in reading fiction about this historical time period, below are some new and notable World War I fiction titles. Perhaps one or two will pique your interest.

Letters from Skye by Jessica Brockmole (2013)
A love story told in letters spans two world wars and follows the correspondence between a poet on the Scottish Isle of Skye and an American volunteer ambulance driver for the French Army, an affair that is discovered years later when the poet disappears.

The Cartographer of No Man's Land by P.S. Duffy (2013)
When his beloved brother-in-law goes missing at the front in 1916, Angus defies his pacifist upbringing to join the war and find him. Assured a position as a cartographer in London, he is instead sent directly into the visceral shock of battle.

Wake by Anna Hope (2014)
Three women confront the aftershocks of World War I and its impact on the men in their lives, including dance teacher, Hettie, who pursues a dubious relationship; Pensions Exchange worker, Evelyn, who mourns, the changes in her brother; and Ada, who sees her missing son everywhere.

The Daughters of Mars by Thomas Keneally (2013)
Joining the war effort as nurses in 1915, two spirited Australian sisters, carrying a guilty secret, become the friends they never were at home and find themselves courageous in the face of extreme danger.

In Falling Snow by Mary-Rose MacColl (2012)
Traveling to France during World War I to bring home her 15-year-old brother who ran away to enlist, Iris, a young Australian nurse, decides to stay in Paris to help establish a field hospital staffed entirely by women.

The Canal Bridge: A Novel of Ireland, Love, and the First World War by Tom Phelan (2014)
After suffering the horrors of World War I, two friends return to a changed Ireland, as the effect of the war make them violent participants in the Irish struggle for freedom from Britain.

Stella Bain by Anita Shreve (2013)
Suffering from shell shock and memory loss from her time spent as a nurse's aide on a French battlefield during World War I, American Stella Bain is taken in by London surgeon August Bridge and his wife.

The First of July by Elizabeth Speller (2013)
This novel follows the lives of four very different men--Frank, Benedict, Jean-Batiste, and Harry--as their fates converge on the most terrible and destructive day of World War I, the first day of the Battle of the Somme.

For mystery lovers...Charles Todd (the pseudonym of a mother/son writing team) has a new 2014 title in the Inspector Ian Rutledge mystery series. Hunting Shadows is Book 16 in the series that began in 1996 with A Test of Wills. Inspector Ian Rutledge, a shell-shocked veteran of World War I, tries to pick up the pieces of his previous Scotland Yard career. Horrors of the war haunt each book of the series set in post-World War I England.

For even more World War I fiction titles, view the list recently created by the Reader Services Department here.

Iraqi War Fiction

I just finished reading "The Yellow Birds" by Kevin Powers, a powerful novel which follows two young soldiers during their tour of duty in Iraq and the struggles one of them faces upon his return home.   It's a moving study of combat, guilt and friendship which I found immensely sad.  But it also helped me better understand the causes and repercussions of PTSD and I recommend it to anyone who wants to gain insight into the experiences of the young men and women who have served in combat.

Here are a few more fiction titles that examine the Iraqi War experience.

Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk by Ben Fountain
A ferocious firefight with Iraqi insurgents at 'the battle of Al-Ansakar Canal', three minutes and forty-three seconds of intense warfare caught on tape by an embedded Fox News crew, has transformed the eight surviving men of Bravo Squad into America's most sought-after heroes. For the past two weeks, the Bush administration has sent them on a media-intensive nationwide Victory Tour to reinvigorate public support for the war.

Sand Queen by Helen Benedict
Nineteen-year-old Kate Brady's vision of bringing honor to her family and democracy to the Middle East is tarnished when she joins the Army only to be assigned to a forgotten corner of the Iraq desert in 2003 as a prison guard, but she become acquainted with Naema Jassim, an Iraqi medical student whose father and brother are detainees, and through their parallel struggles to survive and hold tight to the people they love, the young women have a profound affect on each other's lives.

The Sandbox by David Zimmerman

Operating Base Cornucopia: A three hundred-year-old fortress in the remote Iraqi desert where a few dozen soldiers wait for their next assignment; among them, Private Toby Durrant, a self-described "broke nobody." Then a deadly ambush touches off events that put Durrant in the middle of a far-reaching
More »

Operating Base Cornucopia: A three hundred-year-old fortress in the remote Iraqi desert where a few dozen soldiers wait for their next assignment; among them, Private Toby Durrant, a self-described "broke nobody." Then a deadly ambush touches off events that put Durrant in the middle of a far-reaching conspiracy.

Wrongful Death by Robert Dugoni
Reluctantly aiding a bereaved widow in a wrongful death lawsuit against the government and military for the death of her Iraq war soldier husband, attorney David Sloane uncovers evidence of a dangerous adversary who retaliates by threatening David's family.

Betrayal by John Lescroart
When Dismas Hardy agrees to clean up the caseload of recently disappeared attorney Charlie Bowen, he thinks it will be easy. But one of the cases is far from small-time--the sensational clash between National Guard reservist Evan Scholler and an ex-Navy SEAL and private contractor named Ron Nolan. Two rapid-fire events in Iraq conspired to bring the men into fatal conflict: Nolan's relationship with Evan's girlfriend, Tara, a beautiful school-teacher back home in the states, followed by a deadly incidentin which Nolan's apparent mistake results in the death of an innocent Iraqi family as well as seven men in Evan's platoon. As the murky relationship between the US government and its private contractors plays out in the personal drama of these two men, and the consequences become a desperate matter of life and death, Dismas Hardy begins to uncover a terrible and perilous truth that takes him far beyond the case and into the realm of assassination and treason.--From publisher description.

Fobbit by David Abrams
At Foreward Operating Base Triumph, a combat-avoiding staff sergeant named Chance Gooding spends his time composing press releases that spin grim events into statements more palatable to the public.

Last One In by Nicholas Kulish
Jimmy Stephens makes the worst mistake of his career as a gossip columnist when he wrongly accuses a big star of cheating on his wife. With lawsuits pending, Jimmy's imperious new editor blackmails him into taking the place of the paper's injured front-line war correspondent. Shipped off to the desert and embedded with a group of foulmouthed but fraternal Marines, Jimmy provides a bewildered but unfiltered view of the invasion of Iraq that is alternately hair-raising, hilarious, and heartbreaking.



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Remembering World War II: Fiction for Memorial Day

Our history is sadly defined by the wars we engage. Our collection is rife with nonfiction accounts of strategies and battles, with World War II attracting the most attention.  The actual re-telling of victories and defeats is essential to our understanding of the era.  However, it is the novels, through the authors' imagination, creativity and vision that capture the true "feelings" of war and the "mood" of the times.

Spend some time this Memorial Day weekend with the following novelists writing about

World War II:

Dream When You're Feeling Blue by Elizabeth Berg

After sending their men off to fight in the war, sisters Kitty and Louise Heaney join their flirtatious younger sister, Tish, in writing letters to servicemen overseas.

Shining Through by Susan Isaacs

The ordinary life of legal secretary Linda Voss explodes into passion with her handsome boss and into danger as an OSS spy caught in the heart of Nazi Germany.

Milkweed by Jerry Spinelli

Captures the hardships and cruelty of life in the ghettos of Warsaw during the Nazi occupation of World War II, through the eyes of a Jewish orphan who must use all his wits and courage to survive unimaginable events and circumstances.

When the Emperor Was Divine by Julie Otsuka
A story told from five different points of view, chronicles the experiences of Japanese Americans caught up in the nightmare of the World War II internment camps.

The Plot Against America by Philip Roth
In a novel of alternative history, aviation hero Charles A. Lindbergh defeats Franklin Roosevelt in the 1940 presidential election, negotiating an accord with Adolf Hitler and accepting his conquest of Europe and anti-Semitic policies.

Life and Fate by Vasily Grossman
Suppressed by the KGB, Life and Fate is a rich and vivid account of what the Second World War meant to the Soviet Union.

Catch-22 by Joseph Heller
Presents the contemporary classic depicting the struggles of a United States airman attempting to survive the lunacy and depravity of a World War II airbase.

Kindly Ones by Jonathan Littell
Hiding his past as a Nazi officer while living the life of an entrepreneur and family man in northern France, Dr. Max Aue remembers horrifying acts of violence he committed during World War II.

Sword of Honour Trilogy by Evelyn Waugh

It consists of three novels, Men At Arms (1952), Officers and Gentlemen (1955) and Unconditional Surrender (1961, published as The End of the Battle in the U.S.).

This trilogy of novels about World War II, largely based on his own experiences as an army officer, is the crowning achievement of Evelyn Waugh’s career. Its central character is Guy Crouchback, head of an ancient but decayed Catholic family, who at first discovers new purpose in the challenge to defend Christian values against Nazi barbarism, but then gradually finds the complexities and cruelties of war too much for him.

If you just can't get enough of Downton Abbey...

Fans of the popular television drama "Downton Abbey" may be a bit panicked (!) that Season 2 is about to end. If you're one of those who can’t bear the thought of months without the Crawleys and their servants, perhaps the following reading suggestions might help to fill the void before Season 3 arrives. Simply click on the links below to find book summaries, title availability or to place holds. For additional reading suggestions, always feel free to speak with someone at the Reader Services desk.

If you're intrigued with British high society, you might consider reading:

The Fox’s Walk by Annabel Davis-Goff
The American Heiress by Daisy Goodwin
The House at Riverton by Kate Morton
A Room with a View by E.M. Foster
The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro
The Buccaneers by Edith Wharton
Howards End by E.M. Forster

If you’re interested in nonfiction about Britain on the brink of great societal and political change, you might try:

The Sisters: The Saga of the Mitford Family by Mary S. Lovell

The Perfect Summer: England 1911, Just before the Storm by Juliet Nicolson

The Bolter by Frances Osborne

If you'd like to further explore World War I, try these possibilities:

Regeneration by Pat Barker (Book 1 of the Regeneration trilogy)    

Fall of Giants by Ken Follett  

A Farewell to Arms by Ernest Hemingway

All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque

To End All Wars: A Story of Loyalty and Rebellion, 1914-1918 by Adam Hochschild (nonfiction)

If you enjoy mysteries set against the historical backdrop of World War I and the post-war years, you might like:

River of Darkness by Rennie Airth (Book 1 in the John Madden trilogy)

The Crimson Rooms by Katharine McMahon
No Graves as Yet: A Novel of World War I by Anne Perry (Book 1 of the World War I novels)

The Return of Captain John Emmett by Elizabeth Speller
A Duty to the Dead by Charles Todd (1^st in the Bess Crawford mysteries)

Maisie Dobbs by Jacqueline Winspear (Book 1 in the Maisie Dobbs series)

If you’d like to read nonfiction directly related to the Downton Abbey television series, you might check out:

Lady Almina and the Real Downton Abbey: The Lost Legacy of Highclere Castle by Fiona Carnarvon
The World of Downton Abbey by Jessica Fellowes

Below Stairs: The Classic Kitchen Maid's Memoir That Inspired "Upstairs, Downstairs" and "Downton Abbey" by Margaret Powell