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

Showing posts with label popular. Show all posts

Reader Review: The Help by Kathryn Stockett

The Help by Kathryn Stockett has enjoyed continued success since its original publication in 2009 (as evidenced by the fact that your Community Library owns over 20 copies and still has trouble keeping them on the shelf!). Here's a quick plot summary: "Twenty-two-year-old Skeeter has just returned home after graduating from Ole Miss. She may have a degree, but it is 1962, Mississippi, and her mother will not be happy till Skeeter has a ring on her finger. Skeeter would normally find solace with her beloved maid Constantine, the woman who raised her, but Constantine has disappeared and no one will tell Skeeter where she has gone." Interested? One Summer Reading Club member puts it best: "Hurry up and read it before the movie comes out."

Rising Stars: Popular New Titles

Wondering what others are reading? Goodreads, a social networking site for booklovers, has pointed out three titles that are soaring in popularity among its users: Jamrach's Menagerie, Murder of the Century, and Joy for Beginners. Embark on a 19th century high seas adventure with loveable street urchin Jaffy, discover the true story of a 1897 New York City murder, or follow a Seattle cancer survivor's daring pact with her friends to do one thing that's always scared them. For additional popular titles, try the New York Times bestseller list; your Community Library always has multiples of these often-requested books.

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