Mastics-Moriches-Shirley Community Library Reader Advisory Blog: Looking Ahead to Next Year...

Married to a successful doctor, two beautiful daughters and a secure future...what more could Gabby want? She finds out when she goes out to a bar for girls night and finds herself attracted to a younger man, and better yet, he's into her too. Matt makes forty-three year old Gabby feel young again, attractive, sparkly and full of life. As the relationship evolves and eventually reaches the point of no return, Gabby must face the fact that she could lose everything...and ultimately find out what really matters most in her life.

Tempting Fate by Jane Green releases next March. Place your hold today to be tops on the wait list!

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

Looking Ahead to Next Year...

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