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

Looking for some discussion-worthy titles? Here are the top ten book club picks from the over 30,000 book discussion groups registered at bookmovement.com, as reported here in the Shelf Awareness newsletter:

1. The Help by Kathryn Stockett (with the movie now out in theaters, this is no surprise)
2. Room by Emma Donoghue (the absolutely chilling book trailer sums it up best)

3. Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience and Redemption by Laura Hillenbrand (staff pick of the month for August 2011)

4. The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot (a true story of medical ethics in stem cell research)

5. The Paris Wife by Paula McLain

6. The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins (this has been one of the library's most popular books for years, and will probably become more in-demand as the release date of the planned movie draws nearer)

7. Little Bee by Chris Cleave

8. Half Broke Horses by Jeannette Walls

9. Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese

10. Girl in Translation by Jean Kwok (the moving story of a Chinese immigrant family who sacrifices a great deal to live the American dream)

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

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