Memorial Day is almost here, and most of you will probably have the day off from work or school. If you’re looking for something to read that day, why not try a book that fits the occasion?

Please keep in mind that all JMRL locations will be closed in observance of Memorial Day on Monday, May 26, so plan ahead! You can pick up one of these titles at Greene County Library:

The Utility of Force: The Art of War in the Modern World by Rupert Smith – A career British military officer offers a thought-provoking analysis of why we use military force to solve political problems, why victory on the battlefield does not solve the problems, and other important issues, while calling for a new approach that adapts the methods of warfare to each individual conflict.

Warriors: Portraits from the Battlefield by Max Hastings – Assessing the experiences of thirteen soldiers, airmen, and sailors, a military historian and author of Armageddon sheds new light on what it means to be a warrior during the wars of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, examining their individual triumphs, tragedies, follies, and motivations.

Beyond Band of Brothers: The War Memoirs of Major Dick Winters by Dick Winters – The commander of Easy Company provides a firsthand memoir of combat during World War II, describing the role of a group immortalized as the “Band of Brothers” during the D-Day invasion, the Battle of the Bulge, the march into Germany, the liberation of an S.S. death camp, and beyond.

Black Hawk Down: A Story of Modern War by Mark Bowden – A searing portrayal of modern warfare recounts a 1993 firefight in Mogadishu, Somalia, that resulted in the deaths of eighteen Americans and more than five hundred Somalis, examining the rationales behind the disastrous raid.

Memorial Day by Vince Flynn – Learning about an imminent terrorist attack, CIA operative Mitch Rapp takes the lead in a commando raid into northern Pakistan, where he obtains information about a planned nuclear attack but suspects that a greater threat exists.