Mastics-Moriches-Shirley Community Library Reader Advisory Blog: 'Moby Duck' didn't float this reader's boat

Ouch! A Mastics-Moriches-Shirley Community Library Winter Reading Club member recently posted a scathing review of Donovan Hohn's Moby Duck: the true story of 28,800 bath toys lost at sea and of the beachcombers, oceanographers, environmentalists, and fools, including the author, who went in search of them. The post is republished below:

"THIS BOOK IS TERRIBLE! Caution: if you dont want to fall asleep after reading two pages then I suggest that you do not read this book. Hohn is WAY too descriptive in the way that he takes two pages to describe what a piece of seaweed looks like. I found his book incredibly hard to read because of the marine biology terms and I would not recommend this to anyone I know. Do not waste your time reading this because there is no reason for Hohn to have written it in the first place, I am just warning you that you will regret it!"

Not yet a Winter Reading Club member? Mastics-Moriches-Shirley Community Library cardholders can sign up here - it's free & for every book review you contribute to the site, you'll be entered to win the raffle prize of the week!

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

'Moby Duck' didn't float this reader's boat

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