Mastics-Moriches-Shirley Community Library Reader Advisory Blog: Mermaids are splashing into fiction

Tired of vampires and werewolves? Mermaids may be the hot new trend in paranormal romance, according to this article from USA Today. Even Stephenie Meyer, whose fame was built on the Twilight vampire series, is currently working on a story involving mermaids. Mermaid: A Twist on the Classic Tale by Carolyn Turgeon (which received a five-star review by a Mastics-Moriches-Shirley cardholder in this year's Winter Reading Club) is only one of many new mermaid titles. There's also Catch of a Lifetime, in which an environmentally-conscious mermaid convinces a gruff fisherman to join her fight against water pollution, and Siren's Surrender, about woman who denies her mermaid heritage until forced to work with covert agent Blake Whittaker to track the evil mermaid queen. Keep an eye out for forthcoming mermaid-themed books as this trend takes off.

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

Mermaids are splashing into fiction

1 comment: