Summertime, and the reading is awesome: July 2015 "Quick Lit"

Today I'm linking up with Modern Mrs. Darcy for "Quick Lit" to share what I've been reading this past month:  specifically, an excellent novel and two great pieces of nonfiction.

The Light Between Oceans

by M.L. Stedman 

Modern Mrs. Darcy herself is reviewing this novel this month. Like her, I felt like everyone else had read this. Now having read it myself, I think, why did I wait so long? But it was worth waiting for.  Lighthouse-keeper Tom and his wife Isabel live on a remote island where Tom can escape the memories of his time on the Western Front. After Isabel endures two miscarriages and a stillbirth, she considers it a miracle when a boat washes ashore with a dead man and a living baby in it. Although Tom knows he should immediately report the incident, Isabel begs him not to, and they keep the baby and raise her. But two idyllic years later, when they return to the mainland, they must face the consequences: the baby and the dead man have left behind a grieving family.

This book has a page-turner plot and raises some important and difficult moral questions. It is also beautifully written. I loved this passage describing Tom's first time viewing the sea from the lighthouse:

For the first time he took in the scale of the view.  Hundreds of feet above sea level, he was mesmerized by the drop to the ocean crashing against the cliffs directly below. The water sloshed like white paint, milky-thick, the foam occasionally scraped off long enough to reveal a deep blue undercoat.  At the other end of the island a row of immense boulders created a break against the surf and left the water inside it as calm as a bath. He had the impression he was hanging from the sky, not rising from the earth. Very slowly, he turned a full circle, taking in the nothingness of it all.  It seemed his lungs could never be large enough to breathe in this much air, his eyes could never see this much space, nor could he hear the full extent of the rolling, roaring ocean. For the briefest moment, he had no edges.
 

I'd highly recommend this gripping, thought-provoking novel.  It would be great for a book-club discussion.

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Amazing Grace:  William Wilberforce 
and the Heroic Campaign to End Slavery 

by Eric Metaxas

An engaging biography of the English politician and abolitionist William Wilberforce. I knew few details beforehand about Wilberforce's life story, so it was fascinating to read of his life-changing conversion, his unflagging determination to abolish slavery and the slave trade, and his efforts at cultural reform and improvement of the lot of the poor.

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Being Mortal:  Medicine 

and What Matters in the End 

by Atul Gawande

 This engrossing book explores how and why end-of-life decisions are made by the elderly, those with terminal illness, and their families. Gawande argues that our highly medicalized society, in its determination to treat illness and prolong life, often ignores the fears, wishes, and priorities that dying people have both for today and for their final days. For example, safety -- which is a valid consideration -- often becomes the primary criterion in deciding where the frail elderly should live; yet safety without some level of freedom, independence, and purpose can be more like imprisonment than real living. Using interesting case studies (including that of his own father, who developed cancer while in his seventies), Gawande discusses the process of aging, the history of nursing home care and assisted living, and the role of hospice and palliative care.  This book makes some excellent points about  the desire we all have to live meaningfully and well to the end of our days. 

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Have you read any of these books? If so, what did you think?  And what have you been reading?