Mastics-Moriches-Shirley Community Library Reader Advisory Blog: Page Turning Crime Fiction

Denise Mina, winner of the Crime Novel of the Year award for her last book, The End of the Wasp Season, returns with a new novel featuring Detective Superintendent Alex Morrow. In Gods and Beasts, Morrow, who was heavily pregnant earlier, is now the exhausted mother of twins, and worries that parenthood is making her soft at work. A Post Office becomes a scene of carnage as a grandfather is gunned down in front of his grandson just before Christmas. Morrow heads the investigation, thrusting her into the worlds of both politics and organized crime. This is no simple piece of sleuthing though, as Mina uses all Glasgow as her canvas, painting a picture of collusion, corruption and grubby compromise. This page turning police procedural solidifies Mina's place at the head of the crime writing pack.

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

Page Turning Crime Fiction

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