Mastics-Moriches-Shirley Community Library Reader Advisory Blog: World War I Picks

In honor of this month's 100th anniversary of the start of World War I, we have put together a display on the main floor filled with books (and movies) about this monumental war including:

The Sleepwalkers: How Europe Went to War on 1914 by Christopher Clark

Nothing Less than War: a New History of America's Entry into World War I by Justus D. Doenecke

Line of Fire: Women Writers of World War I edited by Margaret R. Higonnet

To End All Wars: A Story of Layalty and Rebellion, 1914-1918 by Adam Hochschild

The Fateful Alliance: France Russia and the Coming of the First World War by George F. Kennan

A Patriot's Handbook by Caroline Kennedy

A World Undone: the Story of the Great War 1914-1918 by G. J. Meyer

The Last of the Doughboys by Richard Rubin

For more information and books about World War I, stop by the display on our main floor and speak to our reference librarians at the information desk.

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

World War I Picks

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