Mastics-Moriches-Shirley Community Library Reader Advisory Blog: Stones for Bread

Stones for Bread by Christa Parrish: Liesl McNamara’s life can be described in one word: bread. From her earliest memory, her mother and grandmother passed down the mystery of baking and the importance of this deceptively simple food. And now, as the owner of Wild Rise bake house, Liesl spends every day up to her elbows in dough, nourishing and perfecting her craft.

But the simple life she has cultivated is becoming quite complicated and when Wild Rise is featured on television and long-hidden family secrets are revealed, her quiet existence appears a thing of the past. With her precious heritage crumbling around her, Liesl must make a choice: allow herself to be buried in detachment and remorse, or take a leap of faith into a new life.

"In Parrish's (The Air We Breathe, 2012) beautifully written novel, the vitality of close relationships is powerfully depicted in Liesl's struggle to let go of her past and embrace the future right in front of her. Readers will definitely relate to her struggle of faith and confidence." (Booklist Reviews)

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

Stones for Bread

No comments:

Post a Comment