Mastics-Moriches-Shirley Community Library Reader Advisory Blog: A.J. Jacobs tells it like it is in 'Drop Dead Healthy'

A.J. Jacobs, author of The Year of Living Biblically, tackles a different challenge in his new book Drop Dead Healthy. To achieve his goal of optimal health, he consulted with various experts who offered differing opinions on everything from his diet to his sex life, and now he tells his readers all in his trademark funny style. For another humorous look at health, readers can also try Trust me, I'm Dr. Ozzy: Advice from rock's ultimate survivor. Novelist, one of your Community Library's online discovery tools, also recommends Man Made: A Stupid Quest for Masculinity by Joel Stein and Exercises for Gentlemen by Alfred B. Olsen. Try Novelist for yourself - log in with your library card to search for similar reads by your favorite authors.

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

A.J. Jacobs tells it like it is in 'Drop Dead Healthy'

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