Modern Death: how medicine changed the end of life/Haider Warraich/324 pgs.

Awhile ago, I read Dr. Atul Gawande's Being mortal : medicine and what matters in the end. Dr. Warraich's Modern Death complements Dr. Gawande's book. Both books describe how advances in modern medicine make it difficult at times to provide the patient with a "peaceful" death. Dr. Warraich discusses what has been defined as "death" throughout time, in addition to the moral and ethical issues involved in dealing with terminal illness patients. He provides the reader with patient cases he and his colleagues have struggled with, plus court cases that have tried to define when treatment goes beyond the patient's wishes. It's an intriguing read about an issue most of us will face at some time in our lives. Highly recommended!

Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers / Mary Roach / 303 pages

Bonus category: Audiobook

Not for the faint of stomach!

Mary Roach is the master of really digging in and approaching a subject from every angle--this time with corpses. It may seem like a strange subject for a book, but most adults in my acquaintance have thought about death at some point in their lives, as well as what they may or may not want done with their bodies after the fact.

Roach divides her chapters by different methods of body "disposal." She discusses bodies that have been donated to science and various scientific studies that need to use a human body for accurate testing--anatomy, decomposition, crash injuries, and more. Then she writes about the history of these studies and others. There's even some information about differences between cultures and variations on the memorial ritual. Lastly, Roach discusses some advances that have been made in the field of ecologically-improved burial methods, as well as her thoughts and decisions on what she wants done with her own body when she dies.

As I said before, Stiff is not for the squeamish. It's very detailed, and even I had trouble eating breakfast while listening to the chapter on decomposition studies. But it gave me a lot to think about and a well-rounded viewpoint on why donated corpses are needed for scientific studies. If you're a science buff or even just vaguely fascinated in studies on the human body, this book is for you!

A Death in the Family / James Agee / 320 pgs

Gosh, what a boring book. Seriously, most of the book is just people sitting around waiting to find out if the dad in the book is alive or dead after suffering a car crash, and then, sitting around grieving after finding out that he did, indeed, die. This isn't a spoiler. The name of the book already tells you that someone dies. If you thought that perhaps there's some sort of twist in the book, that someone else besides the dad dies, well, you'd be mistaken. There's no twists. There's no character development. There's no real story.  I only finished the book because it is on my list of 100 classic novels to read before I die.

The Fault in Our Stars / John Green / 318 p.

I can certainly see why this book is such a hit with teens. John Green captures the teen voice very well and that makes this a better than average YA novel. When you add in the pathos of cancer, you have a very engaging novel. Hazel and Gus live constantly with the sword of death hanging over them and Hazel has had no expectation of romance before dying.  But Augustus Waters changes all of that.

See you at Harry's / Johanna Knowles / 310 pgs.

"Twelve-year-old Fern feels invisible in her family, where grumpy eighteen-year-old Sarah is working at the family restaurant, fourteen-year-old Holden is struggling with school bullies and his emerging homosexuality, and adorable, three-year-old Charlie is always the center of attention, and when tragedy strikes, the fragile bond holding the family together is stretched almost to the breaking point." - From Catalog.

Once in awhile, the right book falls into the hands of the right person at the right time; and it is Exactly what they needed.  This is what happened to me as I just grabbed this book off the shelf only because it was a Truman Award Nominee and I had a three day 4th of July weekend coming up.  I had only started the book when I left for the holiday weekend to visit family.  When I returned, I was shaken and saddened over a terrible tragedy that befell one of my distant relatives over that weekend.  Overall I just felt helpless in not knowing what I could say or do to help and comfort my family members

I was at first disturbed when I continued reading this book only to find out that the "tragedy" was very close to what had just occurred in my family's life.  However, I kept reading because I wanted to see if the book had any insights into how to explain the un-explainable.  Why do terrible things seem to randomly happen in life?   and when tragedy strikes, what can we do to pick up the pieces?  Of course the book cannot explain why bad things happen, but it acknowledges that life can be terribly unfair at times.

I would never suggest that someone who has been directly affected by a loss and is grieving be given this book "to make things better".  But I am suggesting that anybody, especially teens, that want to understand what kinds of thoughts and emotions a grieving person goes through should read this book.  The book does a great job showing the main character's process and conflicting emotions from anger, helplessness, loss of faith, feelings of guilt and blame, extreme sadness, and loneliness.  It also shows the things people do and say to help bring a grieving family back to life after such sadness.

Girls/Frederick Busch/279 pages

Jack and Fanny are still trying to come to terms with the death of the young daughter when Jack is asked to talk to the parents of a girl who disappeared on her way home from Sunday School. Jack is a campus police officer on the local prestigious college campus and a Vietnam veteran and MP who specialized in interrogation. Jack gets wrapped up in the girl's disappearance and the campus' drug trade while his marriage continues to fall apart.

There's a secret about the death of their daughter that eventually comes out at the end of the book. This is an older book that is worth your time if you're caught up on all your current titles.

The World Without You/ Joshua Henkin/ 321 pages

The family of Leo Frankel was devastated by his death the year before. He was a journalist covering the war in Afghanistan, was captured and then executed. His public ordeal and death affected his parents, three sisters and widow differently. Now they are coming together for a memorial service and the unveiling of his tombstone. With the whole family staying in one house, old conflicts and new problems rise to the surface.

Girl Who Chased the Moon / Sarah Addison Allen 287 p.

Emily Benedict, orphan, comes to live with her giant 8-ft. grandfather in Mullaby, N.C. There she finds acceptance troublesome from the Coffey's, except for high school senior Win. Neighbor Julia Winterson, a classmate of Emily's mother Dulcie, befriends her. Julia's staying in town just long enough to turn her late father's BBQ Restaurant around before she returns to Baltimore to open Blue-eyed Girl Bakery. Meanwhile she bakes delightful cakes, always leaving the window open--only she knows why. There is history between Julia and Alexander Sawyer, now she gives him a cold shoulder. Emily keeps running into secrets, secrets about her mother that her mother never ever shared. Magic is the only explanation as wallpaper changes to suit Emily's mood, Sawyer's has the family gift--a gifted sense for sweet, and the night lights of Mullaby.

How they Croaked / Georgia Bragg 184 p.

Georgia Bragg tells the "awful ends of the awfully famous" with panache and humor. In chronological order, the deaths of 17 world figures including King Tut, Christopher Columbus, Henry VIII, Mozart, Charles Darwin, and Albert Einstein are described. King Tut’s illustrated how the Egyptians prepared mummies. A short biography tells of the importance of the person. Then comes the gore, rooted in medicine and science, about how each died. Medical practices were rather horrific. Some may find this disturbing. Kevin O’Malley’s cartoon illustrations complement Bragg’s approach to the subject.

2012 Notable Children's Books

Monster Calls / Patrick Ness 205 p.

Patrick Ness writes this tale about a young boy and a monster from the final story of idea Siobhan Dowd. A monster takes the form of a giant yew tree and comes walking at 12:07 a.m. to tell three ambiguous tales to Connor and gives the command that Connor is tell the fourth tale and that is one that that “will tell me your truth”. Thirteen Connor’s beloved mom is running out of treatment options for her breast cancer. Connor is being bullied at school. He has alienated his friend. His father lives in the U.S. with a new wife and baby. What he most dearly wants is his mother to survive. Ness captures Connor’s emotional rollercoaster ride as he learns to accept his mother’s death. A memorable story.

2012 Notable Children's Books