Mastics-Moriches-Shirley Community Library Reader Advisory Blog: Know Before You Go: Abraham Lincoln

Next month, Steven Spielberg's long awaited historical drama, Lincoln, hits the big screen. Starring Daniel Day-Lewis and Joseph Gordon Levitt, the film chronicles the last four months of the sixteenth President's life. Looking to brush up on history before the movie comes out? Check out acclaimed historian Doris Kearns Goodwin's book, Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln, a thoroughly original work which details how a one term congressman and prairie lawyer became one of the greatest leaders in our nation's history.

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

Know Before You Go: Abraham Lincoln

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