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

Hundreds of books are challenged every year. Last year alone, the American Library Association's Office of Intellectual Freedom received 326 reports of challenges or bans to books. Here are the top three most challenged from 2011. Do any surprise you? Celebrate the freedom to read by checking one out at your Community Library. You can find a complete listing of banned and challenged books by year here.

ttyl;, by Lauren Myracle
Reasons: offensive language; religious viewpoint; unsuited to age group
The Color of Earth, by Kim Dong Hwa
Reasons: nudity; unsuited to age group
The Hunger Games, by Suzanne Collins
Reasons: anti-ethnic; anti-family; insensitivity; offensive language; occult/satanic; violence

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 II

No comments:

Post a Comment