Mastics-Moriches-Shirley Community Library Reader Advisory Blog: Moonwalking with Einstein: Read-alikes

Can't get enough of Joshua Foer's exciting new book Moonwalking with Einstein? Here are three read-alikes recommended by NoveList, the readers' advisory database available for free to Mastics-Moriches-Shirley cardholders.

Presents the astonishing first-person account of living with the only diagnosed case of a remarkable superior memory condition, whereby the author remembers all the days of her life since age 14 in astonishing and unstoppable detail.

Warns that the huge burden of information overload and multitasking can exceed the limits of our slowly evolving stone-age brain. Includes keen writing on the impact on working memory of problem solving, meditation, computer games, caffeine and the existence of attention deficit disorder.

A tour of brain science explores the disparity between the brain's seemingly endless capacity and its tendency to fail at even simple tasks, in an account by a famous autistic savant that incorporates elements of his own story.

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

Moonwalking with Einstein: Read-alikes

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