Mastics-Moriches-Shirley Community Library Reader Advisory Blog

Title: Miracle on the 17th Green

Genre: Adult Fiction

Author: James, Patterson

Rating: 5

Review: Have you ever felt the "gorilla of self-loathing" on your back only to realize at some point in your life that you are not better or worse than anyone else but just as good. Once you realize you are "good enough" do you shy away from being good at what you do in embarrassment? This book is so much more. It's refreshing to read a Patterson book that's not a thriller filled with brutal killings. Instead, Miracle on the 17th Green is a simple, short, fast-read seemingly about golf but it's really more about life. Travis loses his job and decides to live out his dream -to become a pro-golfer. Is living the dream really the only important aspect of your life? This book is about love, family and chasing your dream and sometimes...living it.

Reviewed by: el

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

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