Mastics-Moriches-Shirley Community Library Reader Advisory Blog: Upcoming Performance: Anne of Green Gables

Attention parents, grandparents, caregivers of children, and children-at-heart! The Friends of the Arts at Mastics-Moriches-Shirley Community Library is proud to present a theatrical performance of the children's classic Anne of Green Gables. The program will be held on Saturday, January 15 at 2:00 pm; tickets are still available at the Children's Desk and cost only $2 for adults/$1 for students & seniors. Share your love of reading and literature with a special young person in your life! And if you find you can't get enough of Anne, try checking out the original book, watching the movie version, or reading similar classics featuring determined female orphans, such as Heidi, Pollyanna, or a hilarious parody of such children's classics, The Willoughbys.

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

Upcoming Performance: Anne of Green Gables

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