Mastics-Moriches-Shirley Community Library Reader Advisory Blog: armed forces

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Veteran's Day Display

Today is Veteran's day - a day to honor the men and woman who serve or have served in the United States armed forces. Visit our display "In Honor of Veteran's Day" where you'll find these and many more books about military servicemen and women:

Carnivore: a Memoir by One of the Deadliest American Soldiers of All Time by Dillard Johnson and James Tarr

Joe's War: My Father Decoded by Annette Kobak

Without Hesitation: the Odyssey of an American Warrior by Hugh Shelton with Ronald Levinson and Malcolm McConnell

With the Old Breed: at Peleliu and Okinawa by E.B. Sledge

Brave Men, Gentle Heroes: American Fathers and Sons in World War II and Vietnam by Michael Takiff

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