Mastics-Moriches-Shirley Community Library Reader Advisory Blog: Not for the easily offended: Lightning Rods

How can sexual tension at the workplace be ended? If you're Joe, the main character of the new book Lightning Rods, your solution is going to be rather unorthodox: hire 'lightning rod' women who service their coworkers in addition to doing regular office work. Joe gets nervous when the FBI starts investigating his use of female employees as 'lightning rods,' only to find out that the government agency wants to implement his system, too. Not for the easily offended, Lightning Rods is a darkly humorous social commentary that Library Journal describes as "a total hoot" for the right person.

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

Not for the easily offended: Lightning Rods

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