Mastics-Moriches-Shirley Community Library Reader Advisory Blog: napoleon

Showing posts with label napoleon. Show all posts

New Historical Fiction: The Second Empress

Unable to bear children, Napoleon's beautiful wife, Josephine, is cast aside for him to marry Marie-Louise of Austria. Arriving in Paris, Marie-Louise is shocked by the extravagance of the French court and the duplicity of Napoleon's sister, Pauline, who is doing everything in her power to encourage Napoleon to divorce his new wife. Told from various perspectives and based on primary sources, this is the story of the last six years of Napoleon's reign, his wild court, and the women who tried to control it. Be transported to the fascinating time of Napoleonic France while reading The Second Empress by Michelle Moran!

Released at last! 7th book in amazing alternate-history 'Temeraire' series

Fans of Naomi Novik will be delighted that Crucible of Gold, the newest book in the bestselling Temeraire series, is now available at their Community Library. In this alternate-history universe sure to appeal to fans of sea stories, dragon stories, and military history alike, dragons serve in battle as living airships. Crucible of Gold tells the story of the noble Captain Laurence and his indefatigable fighting dragon Temeraire, who travel to South America to negotiate with the Incas as part of a plan to stop Napoleon's campaign for world domination. New to the series? Start with book 1, His Majesty's Dragon. You won't be disappointed.

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