Mastics-Moriches-Shirley Community Library Reader Advisory Blog: slaughterhouse five

Are you intimidated by a "science fiction" spine label? Don't be! Check out these novels that are so good, you won't even realize you're reading sci fi!

The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood: A look at the near future presents the tale of Offred, a handmaid in Gilead, once the United States, an oppressive world where women are no longer allowed to read and are valuable only as long as they are viable for reproduction.

Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut: Billy Pilgrim returns home from the Second World War only to be kidnapped by aliens who teach him that time is an eternal present.

The Yiddish Policemen's Union by Michael Chabon: In a world in which Alaska, rather than Israel, has become the homeland for Jews following World War II, Detective Meyer Landsman, and his half Tlingit partner, Berko, investigate the death of a heroin addicted chess prodigy.

Fledgling by Octavia Butler: A young girl suffering from amnesia awakens to find she is actually a middle aged vampire.

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

Science Fiction for People Who Don't Read Science Fiction

Unbanned Books: Slaughterhouse Five & Twenty Boy Summer