Mastics-Moriches-Shirley Community Library Reader Advisory Blog: The original "John Carter" stories

Although The Hunger Games is perhaps the most anticipated book to be released as a movie this season, John Carter is another book-based movie that people are eagerly awaiting. John Carter (coming to theaters on March 9) is actually based on the series of books, starting with A Princess of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs. Yes, THAT Edgar Rice Burroughs, the one who wrote Tarzan exactly a century ago in 1912. Check out The Mars Trilogy to read the first three books in the John Carter series - A Princess of Mars, The Gods of Mars, and The Warlord of Mars. Also, good news for ebook lovers - these books are old enough that their copyrights have expired, and are therefore available as free ebooks at Project Gutenberg.

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

The original "John Carter" stories

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