Mastics-Moriches-Shirley Community Library Reader Advisory Blog: Urban Lit: What is it and where can I get it?

Are you curious about the genre that Novelist describes as "extraordinarily popular, thanks to page-turning storylines, contemporary urban settings, and realistic characters (usually African-Americans)"? If so, urban lit (aka hip-hop lit) might be for you. The three main types of urban lit are street lit, which explores themes of survival in a world filled with drugs and violence (try Hoodlum by K'Wan), drama lit, which emphasizes interpersonal relationships (try Big Girls Do Cry by Carl Weber), and urban erotica, which features explicit descriptions of sexual encounters (try The Hot Box by Zane). Mastics-Moriches-Shirley Community Library has a display of urban lit books near the readers' advisory desk; feel free explore this growing genre by checking out these titles or by visiting sites like StreetFiction.org. Also, did you know that you can search our catalog not just by title or author, but also by publisher? Try Triple Crown, Strebor Books, Urban Books, or Augustus. And don't forget to look for the "UF" sticker on the spines of books in the fiction section.

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

Urban Lit: What is it and where can I get it?

1 comment: