Mastics-Moriches-Shirley Community Library Reader Advisory Blog: riding lessons

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Inspirational Horse Stories

Inspired in part by the success of the film adaptation of Michael Morpurgo's War Horse, both fictional and nonfictional horse stories have also experienced a resurgence in interest. One brand-new addition to the genre is The Eighty-Dollar Champion: Snowman, The Horse That Inspired a Nation. Similar nonfiction reads recommended by Novelist include Seabiscuit: An American Legend (also a movie) and The Horse God Built: The Untold Story of Secretariat. For horsey fiction, try Riding Lessons and its sequel Flying Changes by the bestselling author of Water for Elephants (also a movie). Happy reading, neigh-bors!

Book to Movie: Water for Elephants

Sarah Gruen's acclaimed novel Water for Elephants premieres as a movie in one month, on April 22, 2011. Read the book before you see the film; reserve a copy today! Already read it? Try one of Sara Gruen's three other novels: Ape House, Riding Lessons or Flying Changes. Or try other circus/carnival-themed stories, such as: The Blue Moon Circus, The Circus in Winter, or Metropolis.

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