Mastics-Moriches-Shirley Community Library Reader Advisory Blog: 2011

It's that time of year again! Everyone with an opinion is busy compiling 'best-of lists' for 2011, and the book world is no exception. Here is The New York Times's recently released list "10 Best Books of 2011:"

The Art of Fielding by Chad Harbach
11/22/63 by Stephen King
Swamplandia! by Karen Russell
Ten Thousand Saints by Eleanor Henderson
The Tiger's Wife by Téa Obreht
Arguably: Essays by Christopher Hitchens
The Boy in the Moon: A Father's Journey to Understand His Extraordinary Son by Ian Brown
Malcolm X: A Life of Reinvention by Manning Marable
Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman
A World on Fire: Britain's Crucial Role in the American Civil War by Amanda Foreman

Do you think the New York Times missed one? Share your opinions - comment!

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

NYT 10 Best Books of 2011