Being Mortal: Medicine and What Matters in the End

In a way, this is a brutally tough read. But that's because Gawande does an excellent job of making you comprehend the helpless sense of imprisonment that besets the elderly and terminally ill.

The concept of the patient's conditions for treatment, “I want to be able to watch football and eat chocolate ice cream,” is a profoundly simple but effective way to diminish the burden on your loved ones. There's so much in this book along these lines and while the subject matter is grim, it fills a massive void in end of life wisdom that I doubt many of us would otherwise encounter until it's too late for our loved ones.