Mastics-Moriches-Shirley Community Library Reader Advisory Blog: Gingerbread Bump-Off

Think your holiday season has been stressful? Escape from endless shopping lists and also gain a little perspective with Gingerbread Bump-Off, in which Phyllis Newsom, overwhelmed with Christmas baking and prepping her house for her town's annual Christmas Tour of Homes, discovers the attempted murder of a close friend on her own front porch. The 6th in the "Fresh-Baked Mystery" series starting with A Peach of a Murder, Gingerbread Bump-Off is also a good stand-alone story that includes recipes as a bonus. Fans of Joanne Fluke (Devil's Food Cake Murder) should not miss this cozy culinary mystery.

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

Gingerbread Bump-Off

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