Mastics-Moriches-Shirley Community Library Reader Advisory Blog: Missing Downton Abbey?

Are you already missing Downton Abbey and can't wait for season 5? Why not check out some of these Downton Abbey read-alikes from the Community Library:

Lady Almina and the Real Downton Abbey: the Lost Legacy of Highclere Castle by the Countess of Carnarvon.

Lady Catherine, the Earl, and the Real Downton Abbey by the Countess of Carnarvon

Mr. Churchill's Secretary by Susan Elia MacNeal

Lady Almina and the Real Downton Abbey: the Lost Legacy of Highclere Castle by the Countess of Carnarvon tells the story of the daughter of a wealthy industrialist marrying the Earl of Carnarvon, becoming the 5th Countess of Carnarvon, whose dowry serves as a crucial link to preserving Highclere Castle estate. "Gossipy and fun, with a good history lesson sure to delight Downton Abbey fans." - Kirkus Reviews

Lady Catherine, the Earl, and the Real Downton Abbey by the Countess of Carnarvon: Catherine Wendell, a beautiful and spirited American woman who married Lady Almina’s son, the man who would become the 6th Earl of Carnarvon, presides over the grand estate of Highclere Castle during a tumultuous time for the British aristocracy: the new political and social world of the 1920s and 1930s. As war loomed, Highclere’s survival as the family home of the Carnarvons was again in the balance—as was peace between the nations of Europe.

Park Lane by Frances Osborne: When eighteen-year-old Grace Campbell arrives in London in 1914, she’s unable to fulfill her family’s ambitions and find a position as an office secretary. Lying to her parents and her brother, Michael, she takes a job as a housemaid at Number 35, Park Lane, where she is quickly caught up in lives of its inhabitants—in particular, those of its privileged son, Edward, and daughter, Beatrice, who is recovering from a failed relationship that would have taken her away from an increasingly stifling life.

Mr. Churchill's Secretary by Susan Elia MacNeil: After German Luftwaffe bomb London, Maggie Hope--trained in math and code breaking, but only able to find a job as Winston Churchill's secretary--uses the access her position demands to try to unravel an assassinate plot.

For more Downton Abbey read-alikes, visit the display on the ground floor at the library, ask a librarian, and search this blog for entries tagged "Downton Abbey."

Being Mortal by Atul Gawande

Genre: Adult Non-Fiction
Rating: 5 out of 5

"Being Mortal is about the limitations of what modern medicine can provide for people as their lives draw to a close. Gawande argues that the objective of medicine should not merely be treatment and survival; medical care should also ensure dignity in death and having control over one's final moments. He argues that instead of aggressively fighting the inescapable realities of aging, we should ask the hard questions of ourselves and our loved ones -- What makes life worth living? When should we try to extend our lives, and when should we choose a better quality of our remaining days over extending their quantity?

This book is difficult to read. Not because of the way Gawande writes -- his style is highly engaging, and he never lapses into excessively scientific jargon or overly simplistic explanations -- but because of the tough subject matter. Gawande draws on his own experiences as a doctor and peppers his book with honest and humane stories of his patients, friends, and family; the stories he tells make the book more accessible, and also more heartbreaking. (And that's not a bad thing.)

No one likes to think about their loved ones', or their own, impending mortality. But it's important to have these hard conversations, because as Gawande says, "endings matter." - Amanda

Missing Downton Abbey?

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