Mastics-Moriches-Shirley Community Library Reader Advisory Blog: Book Review: Hood

S.Winter said...
The King Raven Trilogy-HOOD(1st book) and SCARLET (2nd book).by Stephen LawheadLawhead has reimagined or recreated the tale of Robin Hood, Rhi Bran Y Hud. The story takes place not in Sherwood Forest or during the reign of Richard the Lionhearted. Instead the story takes place during the tumultuous time just after the Norman invasion of England in 1066. Robin Hood is a welsh prince fighting for his stolen land and for the safety of his people.Stephen Lawhead has the ability to make the reader think that what he has written truly happend. The pain and loss that the welsh people have felt, you feel it too. Scarlet is a follow up to Hood-Lawheads serial version of Robin Hood or Rhi Bran Y Hud. If you are a lover of historical fiction or of Robin Hood then this is a must read, if you haven't read it yet you are missing out.

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

Book Review: Hood

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