Memorial Day Reads

Did you know Memorial Day was started by the former Confederate States after the Civil War? It was a day set aside to decorate the graves of soldiers who had died serving their country. Each state picked their own day to honor the dead, but now it has become a federal holiday, always on the last Monday of May. We at the Bartow Library have compiled a list of books that tell soldiers' stories (under Military Reads), and you might want to check one out for the long weekend. Here are a few selections.

Redeployment by Phil Klay. This recent publication got a lot of buzz last year, and was up for numerous awards. It tells a few different stories of soldiers returning home from the horrors of war, and how they cope with the trials they experienced and how those episodes affect them now. Many are already calling it a classic in the war stories genre.

Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk by Ben Fountain. Published a few years ago, this satire focuses on the surviving members of Bravo Squad and become celebrated heroes going on a victory media tour to drum up support for the war in Iraq, meeting the Dallas Cowboys during one stop. We follow Billy Lynn as he struggles to cope with the loss of his fellow soldiers and the fame the rest of them got. Is being released as a film featuring Vin Diesel next year.

From Here to Eternity by James Jones. The title is probably more well-known as the name of an Academy Award-winning film starring Frank Sinatra, but the book came first! This book follows the lives of a few soldiers stationed in Hawaii leading up to the attack on Pearl Harbor as they navigate their careers and love lives, and is a heralded exploration of military life. Regarded as one of the best books of the 20th century.


Thank a soldier this weekend!

Black History Month

Celebrate Black History Month with us at the Bartow County Library System! We have a list up in our Reader's Corner of books to read after watching the film Selma as one way to go if you want to focus on non-fiction. But if you want to try some fiction titles, here are a few to try:

Kindred by Octavia Butler. This is a science fiction novel that takes the main character back and forth between 1970s California and the Old South. She doesn't exactly know why, but she is drawn to the slave-holding family again and again. A staple in the scifi genre. 

Some Sing, Some Cry by Ntozake Shange. A hefty but deliciously well-written epic of a novel that follows a family from their time at a plantation at the time of the Civil War through to modern day. 

Sag Harbor by Whitehead Colson. A privileged teen finds escape in his family's summer retreat in the mid-1980s as he goes through usual teenage-mishaps and starts to form his identity.

Let us know your favorites!

Serial Read-Alikes

Serial is a true crime podcast that investigates the 1999 Baltimore murder of Hae Min Lee. Creator Sarah Koenig unfolds new pieces of the story in a weekly serialized narrative. The podcast has acquired many fans over the last few months. Unfortnately, this season and story has come to an end. If you are lamenting the end of season 1, or are just a true crime fan, try these other chillingly true stories.

The Devil in the White City intertwines the stories of Daniel H. Burnham, the architect of the 1893 Chicago World's Fair, and H. H. Holmes, who used the cover of his hotel to lure victims. Or read about registered nurse Charlie Cullen in The Good Nurse, who used his profession to carry out his murderous intentions in nine hospitals. For a true crime classic, try Ann Rule's The Stranger Beside Me. She tells the story of Ted Bundy, a man with whom she was friends and coworkers before he was a known serial killer. For more suggestions come in to the Cartersville Public Library to see our Serial read-alikes display and bookmark. Ask our Readers Advisory twitter @BartowLibRA for more recommendations! Let's talk about books!