Mastics-Moriches-Shirley Community Library Reader Advisory Blog: Do You Love Orange Is The New Black?

If you find yourself eagerly anticipating the next season of the dramedy Orange Is The New Black, check out these books.

No Choirboy: Murder, Violence, and Teenagers on Death Row by Susan Kuklin: A depressing but compelling read, No Choirboy chronicles the lives of teenage inmates living on death row, exploring the inequalities that frequently lead them there.

Running the Books: The Adventures of an Accidental Prison Librarian by Avi Steinberg: Avi Steinberg recounts his time as the librarian for a tough Boston prison, which lead him to places he never would have guessed (including being robbed by a recently paroled ex-con). For a different perspective from someone with a unique experience with inmates, this book is a great read.

Inside: Life Behind Bars in America by Michael G. Santos: One of many books about the current state of American incarceration, Inside is unique in that it’s written by someone who has spent enough time inside to be a true expert on the subject. Michael Santos paints a picture of a complex and disturbing system that Orange Is The New Black only begins to capture.

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

Do You Love Orange Is The New Black?

No comments:

Post a Comment