Mastics-Moriches-Shirley Community Library Reader Advisory Blog: Celebrate the Freedom to Read Part I

September 30 to October 6 marks Banned Books Week. This annual campaign celebrates the freedom to read by encouraging people of all ages to read books that have been banned or challenged. Check out the these frequently challenged classics at your Community Library. Get a complete list of frequently challenged classic books here.

Lord of the Flies by William Golding has been frequently challenged and banned in school libraries.

Since its publication, J.D. Salinger's The Catcher In The Rye has been a favorite target of censors.

Ulysses by James Joyce was burned in the United States, Ireland, Canada, and England.

In 1987, F. Scott Fitzgerald's great American novel, The Great Gatsby, was challenged at the Baptist College in South Carolina.

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

Celebrate the Freedom to Read Part I

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