Publication year 2011
Genre Book, Nonfiction
Themes Nation, Politics & Government, Colonialism
Tags US History, American Revolution, Politics & Government, Military & War, American Literature, World History
Memorial Day Reads
Our selection of Memorial Day Reads highlights the voices of writers with experience serving in the military or living through conflict. Exploring the concepts of war and peace, these selections expound on the nature of conflict and its impacts on the people affected by it.
Liberty's Exiles
Life After Life
Life and Fate
Life and Times of Frederick Douglass
Lifeboat 12
Life in a Jar: The Irena Sendler
Life of Black Hawk
Lilac Girls
Lincoln on Leadership
Lincoln's Second Inaugural Address
Lines of Courage
Little Princes
Lone Survivor
Lost in the Pacific 1942
Lost Names
Lost Roses
Lovely War
Lysistrata
Machete Season
Make Your Bed
Publication year 2011
Genre Book, Nonfiction
Themes Nation, Politics & Government, Colonialism
Tags US History, American Revolution, Politics & Government, Military & War, American Literature, World History
Publication year 2013
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Grief, Love, Family, War
Tags Historical Fiction, Fantasy, World War II, Science Fiction, Military & War, World History
Life After Life is a work of adult historical fiction written by acclaimed British author Kate Atkinson and published in 2013. Atkinson’s debut novel, Behind the Scenes at the Museum, won the Whitbread Book of the Year prize and her subsequent novels have all been international bestsellers, including the mystery series featuring Jackson Brodie, which has been adapted to a BBC show. Other works by this author include Case Histories, A God in Ruins, and... Read Life After Life Summary
Publication year 1960
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Death, War, Good & Evil
Tags Classic Fiction, Military & War, Historical Fiction, Russian Literature, World War II
Publication year 1881
Genre Autobiography / Memoir, Nonfiction
Themes Race, Equality, Justice
Tags US History, American Civil War, Race & Racism, Military & War, World History, Classic Fiction, Biography
Publication year 2018
Genre Novel/Book in Verse, Fiction
Themes Emotions/Behavior: Courage, Coming of Age, Environment
Tags Historical Fiction, Survival Fiction, World War II, Action & Adventure, Children`s Literature, Military & War, World History
Publication year 2005
Genre Book, Nonfiction
Themes Family
Tags Children`s Literature, European History, World War II, Military & War, World History, Biography
Life in a Jar: The Irena Sendler Project is a work of creative nonfiction written by Jack Mayer and originally published in 2010. The book tells two overlapping stories. One is about Irena Sendler, a Polish social worker who helped save 2,500 Jewish children in Warsaw from the Nazis during World War II. The other is about three high school girls—Liz Cambers, Megan Stewart, and Sabrina Coons. In 1999, the girls, with the help of... Read Life in a Jar: The Irena Sendler Summary
Publication year 1833
Genre Autobiography / Memoir, Nonfiction
Themes Indigenous Identity, War, Colonialism
Tags US History, Military & War, World History, Classic Fiction, Biography
Publication year 2016
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Forgiveness
Tags Historical Fiction, World War II, Military & War, World History
Lilac Girls is a historical fiction novel by Martha Hall Kelly. Published in 2016, Kelly’s debut novel is inspired by the true story of New York City activist and socialite Caroline Ferriday. Kelly was also inspired by the true story of the Ravensbrück Rabbits, a group of Polish women who were victims of torturous medical experiments during the Second World War. The novel explores the themes of hope, sacrifice, and forgiveness in the face of... Read Lilac Girls Summary
Publication year 1992
Genre Book, Nonfiction
Themes Politics & Government, Power & Greed, Teamwork
Tags Military & War, US History, Politics & Government, American Civil War, Education, Education, Leadership, Business & Economics, World History, Biography, Self-Improvement
Publication year 1865
Genre Essay / Speech, Nonfiction
Themes Nation, Hope, Race, Death, Colonialism, Politics & Government, War
Tags US History, Politics & Government, Military & War, American Civil War, American Literature, World History, Classic Fiction
Publication year 2022
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Emotions/Behavior: Courage, Perseverance, Coming of Age, Friendship, War, Justice
Tags Historical Fiction, Action & Adventure, Military & War, World War I, Children`s Literature, World History
Publication year 2011
Genre Autobiography / Memoir, Nonfiction
Themes War, Guilt, Family, Friendship, Teamwork
Tags Travel Literature, Inspirational, Trauma & Abuse, Military & War, Love & Sexuality, Social Justice, Biography
Publication year 2007
Genre Autobiography / Memoir, Nonfiction
Themes Memory, Community, Fear
Tags Military & War, Middle Eastern History, Iraq War, Action & Adventure, World History, Biography
Lone Survivor: The Eyewitness Account of Operation Redwing and the Lost Heroes of SEAL Team 10 (2007) is a military-themed memoir by former Navy SEAL, Marcus Luttrell, with the help of ghostwriter Patrick Robinson. Based on a 2005 mission in Afghanistan, the book examines the intricacies of warfare. The narrative explores themes such as valor, self-sacrifice, and the multifaceted nature of combat. The book became a New York Times bestseller and subsequently inspired a 2013... Read Lone Survivor Summary
Publication year 2016
Genre Book, Nonfiction
Tags Children`s Literature, World History, Military & War, World War II, Action & Adventure
Written by Tod Olson and published in 2016, Lost in the Pacific, 1942 is a fictionalized account of the true story of soldiers lost at sea during World War II. The text begins with a Prologue describing a plane crash that strands the soldiers in the Pacific Ocean. The B-17 transport plane’s pilot, Captain Bill Cherry, plans to land at Canton Island to refuel. However, due to a faulty navigational antenna and a problem with... Read Lost in the Pacific 1942 Summary
Publication year 1970
Genre Novel, Fiction
Tags Historical Fiction, Asian Literature, Korean Literature, Education, Education, Military & War, Asian Literature, World History, Japanese Literature
Lost Names: Scenes from a Korean Boyhood is a fictionalized autobiography and bildungsroman by author and literature professor Richard E. Kim (1932-2009). Originally published in 1970, Lost Names is a collection of seven scenes from Kim’s life from 1932 (birth) to 1945 (age 13). Kim examines the Korean experience of Japanese colonial occupation through the eyes of himself as a child. Though it is autobiographical, Kim was ambivalent about its status as fiction or nonfiction:... Read Lost Names Summary
Publication year 2019
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Friendship, Emotions/Behavior: Courage, Mothers, Social Class, War
Tags Historical Fiction, Life-Inspired Fiction, Poverty, World War I, Russian Literature, World War II, Military & War, World History
Publication year 2019
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Love, Race, Mental Health, War, Beauty, Music
Tags Historical Fiction, Romance, Mythology, Civil Rights & Jim Crow South, Grief & Death, World History, Love & Sexuality, Military & War, Music, Race & Racism, Trauma & Abuse, World War I, World War II, Fantasy
Genre Play, Fiction
Themes Politics & Government, War, Femininity
Tags Classic Fiction, Ancient Greece, Comedy & Satire, Gender & Feminism, Politics & Government, Military & War, Education, Education, Dramatic Literature, Humor
Lysistrata (411 BCE) was written by the best-known Greek comic poet, the Athenian playwright Aristophanes. We know little of Aristophanes’ life outside of his work. His birth and death cannot be firmly dated, but he was believed to have been born around 460 BCE and died sometime in the mid-380s BCE. His active period, though, is more certain— around 425 to 388 BCE—making him a contemporary of other fifth-century Athenian luminaries like Socrates, Euripides, and... Read Lysistrata Summary
Publication year 2003
Genre Biography, Nonfiction
Tags History: African , Education, Education, Military & War, World History, Psychology, Psychology, Politics & Government
Machete Season: The Killers in Rwanda Speak (2003), by French journalist Jean Hatzfeld, presents ten accounts of ordinary contributors to the Rwandan genocide, which killed 800,000 Tutsis in just two months in 1994. Each survivor is from the same relatively small city and goes into depth about the neighbors they murdered (or helped murder). The work was first translated into English by Linda Coverdale.Its themes include personal responsibility, the horrors of groupthink, and mass dehumanization... Read Machete Season Summary
Publication year 2017
Genre Book, Nonfiction
Themes Wins & Losses, Teamwork, Masculinity
Tags Self-Improvement, Inspirational, Psychology, Leadership, Military & War, Business & Economics, Psychology, Biography
Make Your Bed: Little Things That Can Change Your Life…and Maybe the World is a work of self-help psychology by Admiral William H. McRaven. The book is a continuation and expansion of a commencement speech McRaven delivered at the University of Texas at Austin in 2014, which went viral on the internet. Formerly a high-ranking officer of the US Navy and Commander of US Special Operations Command, McRaven relates his experiences in Navy SEAL training to... Read Make Your Bed Summary