Mastics-Moriches-Shirley Community Library Reader Advisory Blog: New Street Lit

Street lit aka urban fiction is one of the hottest genres in libraries everywhere. Check out these hot off the press titles available soon at your Community Library.

Real Wifeys: Hustle Hard by Meesha Mink: This installment in the Real Wifey series focuses on Suga Alvarez, who has a degree in finance and pulls in more than 50,000 grand a year. A dark cloud looms over her life after her fiancee is arrested by the Feds. Suga is determined to find out who set him up and take revenge.

Gangsta Divas by De'Nesha Diamond: A brutal war rages between two rival gangs and at the center of it all are two estranged sisters, Ta'Shara and LeShelle, who have vowed to kill one another on sight.

Animal by Kwan: The latest in the Hood Rat series focuses on Animal, the rapper turned killer that everyone was sure was dead. The streets are tense as the crews of King James and Shai Clark sense a major gang war is about to erupt. Cruising on the perimeter is Animal who is waiting to take revenge on the shooter who targeted his woman, Gucci.

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

New Street Lit

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