Mastics-Moriches-Shirley Community Library Reader Advisory Blog

Announcing 2011 Christian Book Award Finalists

The list of finalists for the 2011 Christian Book Awards (sponsored by the Evangelical Christian Publishers Association) has arrived! There are five finalists in each of six categories: Bibles, Bible Reference, Non-Fiction, Fiction, Children, and Inspiration. Winners from each category will be announced May 2. Here are a few of the nominated titles available at your Community Library (additional titles available through inter-library loan):

First Contact: Scientific Breakthroughs in the Hunt for Life beyond Earth by Marc Kaufman

Is there life beyond Earth? First Contact is a highly-anticipated new work of non-fiction that strives to answer this question. Marc Kaufman, the science reporter for the Washington Post, authors this critically-acclaimed book that summarizes the current state of research into extraterrestrial life. Reserve your copy of this new release today!

Real-Life Adventures: April Book Display

Check out your Community Library's new display of Real-Life Adventures, located on the lower level near the Readers' Advisory Desk! These librarian-selected titles are the best of the library's collection for exciting true stories about journeys to the world's remotest places, from the rivers of Mongolia to the treacherous peaks of the Alps. Go undercover with a detective to recover stolen treasures in Priceless, journey across Africa in Dark Star Safari, or trek alongside airplane crash survivors in Miracle in the Andes, all without leaving the comfort of your chair. Can't make it to the library? Browse this brochure for the complete list of titles on display. All items can be reserved from the catalog by clicking the "request" link and entering your library barcode and PIN/password.

Wildthorn by Jane Eagland: Reader Review

Wildthorn by Jane Eagland

Rating: 5 out of 5 (excellent)

Review: One of the best books I've read in a while, Wildthorn is a historical novel set in Victorian England at a time when a woman's choices were extremely limited. Seventeen year-old Louisa Cosgrove wants to be a doctor just like her father and that just is not acceptable, even though a medical school for women had just opened in London. Louisa (if that's her real name) find herself locked up in a mental asylum without a clue as to why or who did this to her. It is a page-turner.

Reviewed by: Kathy C.

Man Booker International Prize Shortlist Announced

Thirteen authors are on the shortlist for this year's prestigious Man Booker Prize, awarded to "one writer for his or her achievement in fiction." The thirteen finalists include three Americans: Philip Roth, Anne Tyler, and Marilynne Robinson. Read all about these three and the ten others in this recent article from the Guardian.

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