Mastics-Moriches-Shirley Community Library Reader Advisory Blog: These books 'make the rockin' world go round'

For readers who appreciate curvaceous women, here are a few books featuring plus-sized heroines, available here at your Community Library:

Sassy real estate agent Charisse Tyson is preparing for a stressful wedding at the same time that she discovers some ugly secrets about people close to her in Got a Right to Be Wrong
Plus-sized Victoria Dawson must learn to love herself for who she is after her sister gets engaged to a carbon copy of her narcissistic father in Danielle Steel's Big Girl
Cannie Shapiro is humiliated to discover that her ex-boyfriend has been chronicling their sex life in a series of articles called "Loving a Larger Woman" in Jennifer Weiner's humorous book Good in Bed. The story continues in the sequel, Certain Girls.
Savannah Reid is a full-figured private investigator in G.A. McKevett's mystery series, the most recent installment of which is Buried in Buttercream.
Hell hath no fury like Graciela "Ace" Jones in Diary of a Mad Fat Girl by Stephanie McAfee. Her no-good boyfriend better watch out!

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

These books 'make the rockin' world go round'

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