Mastics-Moriches-Shirley Community Library Reader Advisory Blog: end of molasses classes

Happy birthday to these new books, officially published today, July 26, 2011!

Bannon Brothers: Trust by Janet Dailey reopens the decades-old case of a missing girl abducted from a Virginia mansion.

Northwest Corner by John Burnham Schwartz is a sequel set 12 years after the tragic events of Reservation Road.

Muzzled: The Assault on Honest Debate by Juan Williams explores what the Fox News analyst sees as political correctness in the media.

The Real Girl Next Door by Denise Richards reveals the personal struggles of the actress.

The End of Molasses Classes: Getting Our Kids Unstuck--101 Extraordinary Solutions for Parents and Teachers by Ron Clark makes the case for education reform.

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

Hot off the Press: Brand-New Fiction & Nonfiction