Mastics-Moriches-Shirley Community Library Reader Advisory Blog: personal change

Looking to make a personal change in this coming year? Here is a list of 5 potentially useful new books recommended by the January 2011 issue Book Page and available through your community library.

Twelve Steps to a Compassionate Life by Karen Armstrong (on order)
Peace and Plenty: Finding Your Path to Financial Serenity by Sarah Ban (currently available from partner libraries)
Your Creative Brain: Seven Steps to Maximize Imagination, Productivity, and Innovation in Your Life by Shelley Carson (currently available from partner libraries)
The Chemistry of Calm A Powerful, Drug-Free Plan to Quiet Your Fears & Overcome Your Anxiety by Henry Emmons
The New Normal: An Agenda for Responsible Living by David Wann (on order)

Share your New Year's resolutions with your community library; comment on this post!

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

2011: A New You